Veo free: where Google gives you Veo 3.1 without paying and what the limits are

Veo 3.1 is a video model from Google DeepMind that makes a clip with sound built in: speech, effects and music. There is free access to it, but not where people usually look: not in the Gemini app and not in the API. Using Google’s help pages and announcements, we worked out where Veo is free, what the limits are, what changed in September 2026 and how to work with Veo elsewhere.

Veo free: where Google gives the model away

The data comes from Google’s help pages and announcements as of October 2, 2026.

Where	Model	Free	Limits
Google Vids	Veo 3.1, from September 23 Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash	yes, for personal accounts	6 videos a month, shared with avatars
Gemini app	Gemini Omni	no	only with a Google AI plan, 18+
Gemini API and AI Studio	Veo 3.1, Fast, Lite	no	billed per second of video
Google Cloud trial	Veo 3.1 via Vertex AI	$300 for 90 days for new customers	needs a card valid for the whole period
YouTube Shorts and YouTube Create	Gemini Omni	yes	18+, clips up to 10 s, Create in 5 countries
AI2Face	Veo 3.1, Fast and Lite	welcome credits after sign-up	after that, a subscription or a credit pack

Google Vids: Veo 3.1 free

Google Vids is Google’s video editor, where a video is assembled from scenes, text, voiceover and generated clips. On April 2, 2026 Google announced that any Google account holder can generate clips with Veo 3.1 for free. The limit then was 10 generations a month.

The Vids help page now gives different numbers. A personal account gets 6 video clips a month, a limit shared with AI avatars, and 50 credits for the other AI features.

Account	AI video clips in Vids
Personal, free	6 a month, shared with avatars
Google AI Pro	500 seconds a month
Google AI Ultra 5x	2,500 seconds a month
Google AI Ultra 20x	10,000 seconds a month

On September 23, 2026 Google moved free generation in Vids to Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash: 1080p, exact clip length and scene extension. Whether Veo 3.1 stays in Vids, Google’s announcement doesn’t say. Every clip is marked with an invisible SynthID watermark.

The Vids help page adds two more limits. The features work in countries where Google Workspace accounts are available, and many AI features still understand only English, so it’s best to write the prompt in English.

Gemini app: video only with a subscription

The Gemini app has no free video. Google’s help says that generating video needs a Google AI plan on a personal account, or a suitable Workspace license on a work or school one. The feature isn’t available to users under 18. The help names Gemini Omni as the video model in Gemini.

Gemini API and Google Cloud: no free Veo

In the Gemini API price list the free tier is marked as unavailable for every Veo 3.1 version. You pay only for successfully created videos, by the second.

Model	720p	1080p	4K
Veo 3.1	$0.40/s	$0.40/s	$0.60/s
Veo 3.1 Fast	$0.10/s	$0.12/s	$0.30/s
Veo 3.1 Lite	$0.05/s	$0.08/s	not available

An 8-second Veo 3.1 clip in 1080p costs $3.20 in the API, and the same clip in Lite costs $0.64.

Google Cloud gives new customers $300 in welcome credits for 90 days. That’s a way to try Veo through Vertex AI without paying separately, but signing up needs a bank card that stays valid for the whole trial. For more on the Fast and Lite versions, see the overview of Veo 3.1.

“Veo free” sites

Searches for “veo free” turn up many sites with Veo in the domain. Some copy the look of Google AI Studio or claim that Google has “opened full free access to Veo 3.1”. The official routes to Veo are Google’s services and the API, and the only free one among them is Google Vids, with a limit.

Before you use a third-party site, check:

• which model it is: Veo 3.1, Veo 3.1 Lite or the old Veo 3, which differ in price and quality;
• whether there’s sound, Veo’s main advantage, which is often switched off to save money;
• what a video costs after the bonuses and whether purchased credits expire.

Veo outside Google’s services

The official routes to Veo mean a Google AI plan, a paid API or the Vids limit of 6 videos a month, which since September has run on a different model.

In AI2Face, Veo 3.1 is available in the generator:

• sign in with email or Google, with no separate Google AI plan;
• Veo 3.1, Fast and Lite: the full version for the final cut, the fast ones for drafts;
• pay by card, crypto or another convenient method, and the cost of each generation is shown before you start;
• credits that don’t expire: besides a subscription you can buy a credit pack, and the balance carries over to the next month;
• welcome credits after sign-up: enough for your first videos with sound.

The same generator has Gemini Omni, Seedance and Kling, which makes it easy to compare models on one prompt.

How not to waste Veo attempts

A Veo clip lasts 4, 6 or 8 seconds, and every failed attempt costs the same as a good one. These techniques help you get it right on the first or second try.

1. Put lines in quotation marks and say who is speaking. Veo generates speech together with the picture. If you name the speaker and the exact line, the model syncs the lips and doesn’t make up text of its own. Put the sounds of the scene on a separate line.

Two elderly friends at a small table in an old railway station cafe, soft overcast light.
The woman in the green coat smiles and says: "You haven't changed a bit."
The man in the tweed cap laughs quietly.
Sound: clinking teacups, a distant train announcement, rain on the glass roof.

2. Hold the character with references. Veo 3.1 accepts up to three images: a character, an object and a place. The model assembles a scene from them and keeps the character’s looks instead of inventing new ones on every attempt. You can generate a missing reference in Nano Banana Pro.

3. Draft in Lite or Fast. Check composition, camera movement and lines on the fast versions: in the API, Lite is 5–8 times cheaper than full Veo 3.1. Run the full version and 4K when the prompt already works.

Veo versus other video models

In the Arena ranking, where users compare clips blind on one prompt, the difference is clear.

Model	Arena rank (Sept 21, 2026)	Sound	Free
Gemini Omni	1–2 of 48	yes	Google Vids, YouTube
Seedance 2.0	5 of 48	yes	Dreamina daily credits
Veo (versions with sound)	12–24 of 48	yes	Google Vids, monthly limit
Kling Pro	29 of 48	yes	daily credits with a watermark

For a detailed comparison of free video services, see the article on free AI video generators; the terms of neighboring models are in the guides Seedance free and Kling free.

Bottom line

Veo is free, but only in Google Vids: since April 2, 2026 Veo 3.1 has been available to personal Google accounts, now at 6 videos a month shared with avatars, and since September 23 free generation in Vids has run on Gemini Omni. In the Gemini app video needs a subscription, and the API has no free tier. If you need Veo for real work (ads, social clips, client projects), start with AI2Face welcome credits: Veo 3.1, Fast and Lite are there, with Gemini Omni and Seedance alongside for comparison.