Comparison · Video
Wan 3.0 vs MiniMax H3
Wan 3.0 vs MiniMax H3 (Hailuo 03): up to 30 s, 4K, documents as input, or fast 15 s clips at a cheaper 2K with stereo. Image, speech and speed tested.
What each one accepts
| Wan 3.0 | MiniMax H3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Alibaba | MiniMax |
| Type | Video | Video |
| Modes | text-to-video image-to-video first-last-frame reference-to-video | text-to-video image-to-video first-last-frame reference-to-video |
| Released | 2026-08 | 2026-07 |
| Duration | 2-30 s or auto (-1) | 4-15 s |
| Resolutions | 480p, 720p, 1080p, 2K, 4K | 768p, 2K |
| Aspect ratios | adaptive, 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4 | 21:9, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16, adaptive |
| Reference images | up to 10 | up to 9 |
| Reference videos | up to 5 | up to 3 |
| Frames | first and last frame | first and last frame |
| Audio | built in, can be turned off | built in |
| Prompt length | up to 20,000 chars | up to 7,000 chars |
Rates and clip costs
| Model | Variant | Rate | 5 s clip | 10 s clip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wan 3.0 | 480p | $0.0777 / s | $0.388 | $0.777 |
| 720p | $0.155 / s | $0.777 | $1.55 | |
| 1080p | $0.311 / s | $1.55 | $3.11 | |
| 2K | $0.453 / s | $2.27 | $4.53 | |
| 4K | $0.521 / s | $2.61 | $5.21 | |
| MiniMax H3 | 768p | $0.161 / s | $0.804 | $1.61 |
| 2K | $0.261 / s | $1.30 | $2.61 |
Charged from a prepaid USD balance, no taxes added. A failed generation is $0.
Wan 3.0 is the choice for long scenes up to 30 seconds, for 4K and for projects fed by lots of references or even a document. MiniMax H3, also released as Hailuo 03, suits short shots up to 15 seconds at 2K with a stereo track, when turnaround and the 2K price count. In my test H3 handled a Polish sentence better, and Wan made the nicer picture.
When to pick Wan 3.0
- One continuous 20-30 s scene.
- 4K output, or the cheapest possible drafts at 480P.
- A clip generated from a slide deck, a report or a product page.
- More than 3 reference clips or audio files.
When to pick MiniMax H3
- Footage at 2K, where H3 costs clearly less.
- A short spoken line in Polish: one wrong word out of 12 in my test.
- Rapid iteration: H3 returned clips in 14-28 s, Wan took 154-170 s.
- A wide 21:9 frame, which Wan does not offer.
Differences you will notice
- Price. Wan 3.0 costs from $0.0777 per second at 1080P, MiniMax H3 from $0.161 per second at 2K. At the bottom tiers they are almost even (H3 at 768P about 4% above Wan at 720P). At 2K Wan is about 1.74x H3, and H3's 2K is cheaper than Wan's 1080P (Wan about 1.19x). 480P and 4K exist only in Wan.
- Length and resolution. Wan: 2-30 s at 480P, 720P, 1080P, 2K or 4K. H3: 4-15 s at 768P (1344x768) or 2K (2560x1440).
- Sound. H3 always produces a stereo track you describe in the prompt, with no switch. Wan has sound on by default and lets you turn it off with
generate_audio: false. Neither charges for audio. - Inputs. Wan: up to 10 images, 5 clips, 5 audio clips, plus a document or web page. H3: up to 9 images, 3 clips and 3 audio files for identity, motion and voice; images six to nine cost extra. Reference clip seconds are billed in both.
- Formats and prompt. H3 has 7 ratios including 21:9; Wan has 6 without it. Prompts: 20,000 characters in Wan, 7,000 in H3.
How to decide
- Long, 4K or document-driven: Wan 3.0.
- Short, 2K, speech-heavy or time-critical: MiniMax H3.
Scores on 5-second clips through other APIs, H3 at 768p: Wan 7.75/10, H3 7.25. On the coffee shot Wan got 8.0 and H3 6.5, because the porcelain looked see-through. On the Polish sentence H3 got 8.0 with one mangled word, Wan 7.5 with two. Timings may differ here. In Wan, duration: -1 is billed as 30 s. More in the MiniMax H3 (Hailuo) guide; tiers on /pricing.
Questions
Which one is cheaper overall?
It depends on the tier: nearly even at the bottom, H3 cheaper at 2K, and only Wan offers 480P and 4K at all.
Can I make H3 render silently?
No, the stereo track is part of every clip. Mute it in the edit, or use Wan with audio off.
Can H3 read a PDF brief like Wan does?
No. Building a clip from a document or web page is a Wan 3.0 feature.
Samples from the makers
Wan 3.0
MiniMax H3
These clips and images come from the vendors, not from my runs.