Refund policies across AI video tools

On 23 August 2026 we pulled the pricing pages of 24 AI video tools directly over HTTP, without running JavaScript. 17 pages returned their prices in readable form. 7 did not. This article reports what that measurement shows about how each tool presents its costs before you pay, and where refund information sits in relation to it.

The short answer

We have not measured refund outcomes for any tool in this category. What we measured on 23 August 2026 is whether each pricing page states its prices in a form you can read before JavaScript runs, and what those stated prices are. 17 of 24 tools publish readable prices. 7 do not, including StoryShort, Submagic, Fliki and VEED. If a vendor does not state its price in readable form, treat its refund policy with the same caution: check it in writing before paying, because we cannot verify either figure or policy from the page alone.

Which tools publish prices you can read

The measurement was simple: fetch the pricing page, strip scripts and styles, count what remains. A page that returns its full plan table server-side passes. A page that returns navigation only fails.

Of the 24 tools checked on 23 August 2026, these returned readable prices:

Tool	Entry plan	Price	Billing basis
Fluxnote	Rise	$10/month	Monthly ($8.33/mo billed yearly)
Klap	Basic	$14/mo	Yearly
Vicsee	Starter	$15/month	Monthly ($10/mo billed yearly)
Opus Clip	Starter	$15/month	Monthly
Clippie	Lite	$19.99/month	Monthly
Quso	Lite	$29/month	Monthly ($19/mo billed yearly)
Faceless.so	Starter	$29/month	Monthly ($24/mo billed yearly)
HeyGen	Creator	$29/month	Monthly ($24/mo billed yearly)
Pictory	Starter	$25/mo	Yearly ($29/mo monthly)
Revid	Hobby	$39/month	Monthly
Virvid	Lite	$39/month	Monthly
Medeo	Pro	$39/month	Monthly ($314/year)
Crayo	Hobby	$13/mo	Yearly only visible
InVideo	Plus	$17/mo	Yearly
Descript	Hobbyist	$16/mo	Yearly ($24/mo monthly)
TubeGen	Starter	$149/month	Monthly
ViewMade	Starter	$29/month	Monthly only

Opus Clip also offers a Free tier at $0, and Vicsee offers a Free tier at $0 with a one-time 20 credits and watermarked output.

Seven tools failed the readability test. StoryShort's pricing page returned 4 words server-side. AutoShorts returned 10, CapCut 13, VEED 531 words of navigation with no price, Hooked 776 words with no price, and Vizard 913 words rendering every tier at $0 until JavaScript runs. For these seven, the entry price is not published in a readable form.

Why billing basis matters more than the headline number

Several vendors show only one side of the monthly-versus-yearly split, and the two sides differ by large amounts. Crayo's displayed state on 23 August 2026 was "Annual Discount Save 30%", so the visible figures of $13, $27 and $55 per month equivalent are yearly-billing rates; the monthly rates were not visible in that state. Klap's three figures, $14, $39 and $94, are all labelled yearly. Short.ai's Basic tier at $19 is likewise "Billed yearly", with the monthly rate absent from the server response.

Others show both clearly. Descript's Hobbyist is $16 per person per month on yearly billing against $24 monthly, a 35% yearly discount stated on the page. HeyGen's Creator is $29 monthly or $24 monthly on yearly billing. Pictory's Starter is $25 monthly on yearly billing against $29 monthly.

One page contradicts itself. Medeo's Pro tier shows "$28/month" on the page while the same page lists a yearly total of $314, which works out to $26.17 per month. Both figures appear on the page. We report both rather than picking one. If you subscribe to Medeo Pro on yearly billing, your invoice will be the yearly total of $314, and the page's own "$28/month" figure does not match it, so confirm the final amount at checkout before you pay.

Before you pay, note which basis the checkout charges. If the page showed a yearly rate but the checkout defaults to monthly, your first invoice will be roughly double the rate you read.

What to do before you pay

Three steps, based on what the measurement found:

1. Find the refund policy before entering card details, not after a bad render. We did not measure any vendor's refund terms, so we cannot tell you which are generous. What we can say is that on 23 August 2026, 7 of 24 pricing pages hid their prices behind JavaScript. A vendor that hides its price often hides its refund window in the same place. Open the terms link, search for "refund", and screenshot what you find.
2. Match the billing basis to the number you read. If you saw $13 for Crayo Hobby, confirm at checkout that you are buying the yearly plan, because the monthly rate was not shown in the state we measured.
3. Prefer a first month on monthly billing when unsure. Tools that offer both bases, such as Descript, HeyGen, Pictory and Quso, let you test output quality on the monthly rate before committing to the discounted yearly total. Quso doubles your monthly credit allocation on yearly billing (100 credits monthly versus 600 on the Essential tier), which rewards commitment but locks you in first.

If you use ViewMade, the same rule applies: the Starter plan at $29 per month is monthly-only, there is no yearly option, and production starts after successful payment. That structure means a single monthly charge is at stake rather than an annual one, which caps what a disputed charge can cost you.

What this does not tell you

This article does not answer whether any specific vendor grants refunds. We measured pricing-page readability and stated prices on 23 August 2026; we did not measure refund windows, dispute processes, proration behaviour on cancellation, or how any vendor treats partial months. We also did not measure whether hidden-price vendors refund well or badly, only that their prices were not readable without JavaScript. Prices change: every figure here carries its 23 August 2026 measurement date, and several vendors run discount toggles that change what the page shows by default. If you need a refund guarantee, ask the vendor in writing before paying. That question is outside this dataset.

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Frequently asked questions

Do any AI video tools have free tiers I can test instead of relying on refunds? Yes, two in our 23 August 2026 measurement. Opus Clip lists a Free tier at $0, and its page notes the trial needs no card. Vicsee lists a Free tier at $0 with a one-time 20 credits, up to 1 video, with watermark. A free tier answers the quality question without touching your card at all.

Which tool is cheapest to try if I want the lowest possible entry cost? Fluxnote's Rise plan at $10 per month was the lowest readable entry price in our measurement, or $8.33 per month on yearly billing ($100 per year). Its page describes the video allowance as a fixed slot cap: 10 videos per month on 1000 credits. Vicsee's Starter at $10 per month billed yearly ($120 per year) is close behind on the yearly basis.

How much do the mid-tier plans cost once I outgrow the entry plan? Measured entry-to-mid jumps vary widely. Crayo goes from $13 to $27 per month equivalent on yearly billing. Descript goes from $16 to $24 per person per month yearly. Faceless.so goes from $24 to $32 per month on yearly billing. TubeGen jumps from $149 to $297 per month, and its page publishes the resulting real cost per published minute: $2.47 on Starter, $2.01 on Pro, computed by the page itself as credit spend divided by video length.

Why do some pricing pages show nothing when I view source? Because the page renders client-side. On 23 August 2026, StoryShort's pricing page returned 4 words of body text without JavaScript, AutoShorts 10, and CapCut 13. Vizard returned 913 words but rendered every tier at $0 until its slider ran. This does not mean the product lacks prices; it means the prices load after the initial HTML. It also means automated checks, comparison scrapers and readers on slow connections see an empty table.