HAI by HCloud vs Luma AI: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence
Full comparison of HAI by HCloud and Luma AI — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.
HAI by HCloud
Japan-based inference — zero data retention, JPY pricing, TEE-secured Kimi K3
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference platform based in Japan, offering DeepSeek, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and Gemma 4 models with a zero data retention policy. Prices are in JPY per 1M tokens, tax included. The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs in a Trusted Execution Environment for confidential inference. Suited for Japanese enterprises and APAC workloads requiring data residency.
Luma AI
Dream Machine — high-quality video generation from text and image prompts
Luma AI develops Dream Machine, a video generation model accessible via API. Dream Machine v1.6 generates high-quality video clips from text or image prompts. The 4K variant produces higher-resolution output. Pricing is per second of generated video rather than per token.
Key metric comparison
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Live token pricing
Strengths and weaknesses
HAI by HCloud
Luma AI
Key differentiators
Japan-based inference with zero data retention and a TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential workloads.
Dream Machine v1.6 delivers high-quality text-to-video and image-to-video generation via a simple per-second API — with a 4K variant for production-quality output.
Frequently asked questions
HAI by HCloud FAQs
What is HAI by HCloud?
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference API based in Japan. It offers DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3 (TEE), and Gemma 4 31B with a zero data retention policy and JPY pricing. See hai.hcloud.ltd/pricing for current rates.
What is the Kimi K3 TEE variant?
The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs inside a Trusted Execution Environment, providing hardware-level isolation for confidential inference. This is suited for workloads where prompt and response data must not be accessible to the infrastructure operator.
Does HAI retain my data?
No. HAI operates a zero data retention policy — prompts and responses are not stored after the request completes.
Luma AI FAQs
How is Luma AI priced?
Luma AI charges per second of generated video. Dream Machine v1.6 is $0.190/second and the 4K variant is $0.750/second. See lumalabs.ai/dream-machine/api/pricing for current rates.
What is Dream Machine?
Dream Machine is Luma AI's video generation model. v1.6 generates high-quality video clips from text or image prompts, with strong temporal consistency and motion quality.
Does Luma AI support image-to-video?
Yes. Dream Machine supports both text-to-video and image-to-video generation, allowing you to animate a still image or generate video from a text description.
Provider resources
HAI by HCloud — Japan-based inference — zero data retention, JPY pricing, TEE-secured Kimi K3
HAI is HCloud's LLM inference platform based in Japan, offering DeepSeek, GLM-5.3, Kimi K3, and Gemma 4 models with a zero data retention policy. Prices are in JPY per 1M tokens, tax included. The Kimi K3 (TEE) variant runs in a Trusted Execution Environment for confidential inference. Suited for Japanese enterprises and APAC workloads requiring data residency.
Japan-based inference with zero data retention and a TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential workloads.
Luma AI — Dream Machine — high-quality video generation from text and image prompts
Luma AI develops Dream Machine, a video generation model accessible via API. Dream Machine v1.6 generates high-quality video clips from text or image prompts. The 4K variant produces higher-resolution output. Pricing is per second of generated video rather than per token.
Dream Machine v1.6 delivers high-quality text-to-video and image-to-video generation via a simple per-second API — with a 4K variant for production-quality output.
Key strengths compared
HAI by HCloud
- Zero data retention policy — suitable for privacy-sensitive workloads
- Japan-based infrastructure — low latency for APAC users
- TEE-secured Kimi K3 variant for confidential inference
- JPY pricing excluded from USD cross-provider comparisons
- Smaller catalog vs global inference hubs
Luma AI
- Dream Machine v1.6 produces high-quality, temporally consistent video clips
- Supports both text-to-video and image-to-video generation
- 4K variant available for higher-resolution output
- Video generation only — no text, image, or audio models
- Per-second pricing can be expensive for long clips
Key weaknesses compared
HAI by HCloud
- JPY pricing excluded from USD cross-provider comparisons
- Smaller catalog vs global inference hubs
- Newer provider — limited third-party benchmark transparency
Luma AI
- Video generation only — no text, image, or audio models
- Per-second pricing can be expensive for long clips
- Generation latency is higher than text inference
- Maximum clip length limited compared to some competitors
Provider category context
HAI by HCloud is a inference api, founded in 2024. Luma AI is a frontier lab, founded in 2021. HAI by HCloud as an inference API provider hosts open-weight models — typically offering lower prices for equivalent capability tiers. Luma AI as a frontier lab trains and serves proprietary models with capabilities not available elsewhere.
How to choose between them
Choose HAI by HCloud if you need Privacy-sensitive workloads. Choose Luma AI if you need Video generation. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.