xAI launched Grok Imagine 1.0 for video generation and Aurora for images. Video at $0.05 per second. Aurora produces images in under 5 seconds. We tested both against Runway, Seedance and Midjourney.
Grok Imagine 1.0 is xAI's entry into AI video generation, launched February 1 2026 and updated multiple times through April. The product includes two distinct capabilities: Imagine for video and Aurora for images. Aurora is the headline image product — generating images in under 5 seconds with quality comparable to Midjourney v6. Grok Imagine video generates clips from text prompts at $0.05 per second for 720p resolution, which works out to approximately $0.50 for a 10-second clip — competitive pricing against Runway ML and Kling AI. The API is available at this pricing via OpenRouter, making Grok Imagine accessible to developers without a SuperGrok subscription. Integration with xAI's Grok chatbot means you can generate images and videos directly within a Grok conversation.
Aurora produces images in under 5 seconds — significantly faster than Midjourney's typical 15 to 30 second generation time. Quality is competitive with Midjourney v6 on photorealistic subjects: accurate anatomy, consistent lighting and believable textures. Where Aurora falls behind Midjourney is on highly stylised artistic prompts — Midjourney has trained specifically on artistic output and produces aesthetics that Aurora's more general training does not match. On text rendering within images — a historically difficult task — Aurora performs comparably to Nano Banana 2 and better than standard Midjourney versions. For users already inside the Grok ecosystem, Aurora removes the need to switch to a separate image generation tool. For pure artistic output, Midjourney still leads.
Grok Imagine video quality in April 2026 is behind the leading tools on cinematic output. The honest assessment: clips are competent and improving rapidly but do not match Runway Gen-4's camera movement, Seedance 2.0's human motion quality or Veo 3.1's audio-visual coherence. The most visible limitation is quality degradation after multiple clip extensions — chaining clips using the Extend from Frame feature causes visual artefacts and style drift that xAI has not published a fix timeline for. For short standalone clips the quality is acceptable at the $0.05/second price point. For longer narrative sequences requiring consistent visual quality across multiple shots, Runway or Seedance is the better choice at current quality levels.
Grok Imagine video at $0.05 per second is competitive but not the cheapest option available. Seedance 2.0 is free for daily credits. Kling AI free tier produces 1080p. The $0.05/second pricing makes most sense for API users building applications who need a simple integration with the Grok ecosystem and OpenRouter compatibility. Aurora image generation for SuperGrok subscribers ($30/month) is included at no additional cost — if you are already paying for SuperGrok for Grok 4.20's multi-agent capabilities, Aurora adds meaningful value. Standalone, Aurora is not worth paying $30/month — Midjourney at $10/month produces better artistic output and Nano Banana 2 is free.