Shotstack $0.30 per minute vs Sume's $0.10 Timeline render rate

Shotstack's pricing page lists pay-as-you-go rendering at $0.30 per minute of output, and subscriptions from $39 a month at $0.20 per minute. One credit is one minute, and videos are rounded down to the second. Sume's Timeline render is $0.10 per output minute, rounded up to the next whole minute (ceil), so a 61-second render costs two minutes.

Shotstack figures are from its pricing page, read 2026-10-01; the Sume rate is from the Timeline docs. This compares billing rules and arithmetic, not render quality or features.

How does Shotstack bill a render?

Per the page: one credit equals one minute of rendered video, and a video is rounded down to the second, so billing follows the second rather than the minute. Pay-as-you-go is $0.30 per minute, subscriptions start at $39 a month at $0.20 per minute, and 10 free credits come with the account. The page lists 1080p as the maximum, with 4K on high-volume plans, and says overage is charged at a 30% premium.

How does Sume bill the same render?

Timeline 1.0 bills ceil(audio.duration_seconds / 60) minutes at $0.10 each, with no per-resolution surcharge in the docs. The reserve is held at submit from the same duration. POST /v1/timeline-1.0/plan returns billable_minutes and an estimate without creating a job or reserving credits. A 5.5% agent fee applies by default on top.

What does a 30-second, 61-second and 5-minute render cost?

Arithmetic from the stated rates, before Sume's agent fee. Shotstack's column assumes the per-second proration the page describes.

When does the rounding rule matter?

Short renders are where ceil bites on Sume: any output from 1 to 60 seconds is one minute, so 10-second and 60-second clips cost the same. Shotstack's per-second rule favors very short outputs. If you render many sub-minute clips, multiply by the count first; if you render few long ones, the gap is the minute rate. Keep a single render under 1,800 seconds, the Timeline audio limit.