Is Grok Imagine Free in 2026? What You Get Without Paying
Grok Imagine is only partly free in 2026. On grok.com the free plan includes limited image generation and no video; video starts at the $30/month Premium plan. Here is what each plan includes, what pay-as-you-go costs, and how to make Grok Imagine videos for free on a third-party site.
Short answer: partly. On grok.com and the Grok apps, the Free plan includes a limited image allowance, and video is not included. Grok Imagine video starts with the Premium plan at $30/month. If you just want to try Grok Imagine video without a subscription, you need a third-party site that offers the model through xAI's API, such as ours.
We checked everything below on October 28, 2026, using xAI's pricing page, its Grok FAQ (last updated October 20, 2026) and its API pricing. Plans changed on October 12, 2026, so articles written before then may describe plans that no longer exist.
Disclosure: imagine-grok.com is an independent platform. It is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by xAI. We give you access to the Grok Imagine models and other image and video models through official APIs.
What the official Grok plans include
On October 12, 2026, xAI replaced SuperGrok, SuperGrok Heavy and X Premium (for new buyers) with a single lineup. Here is what each plan includes for Grok Imagine, taken from the comparison table on x.ai/pricing:
| Plan | Price (US, monthly) | Image generation | Video generation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited | Not included |
| Plus | $8 | Included | Not included |
| Premium | $30 | Included | Included |
| Super | $100 | Included | Included |
| Ultra | $200 | Included | Included |
Prices exclude tax. Paid plans share one weekly usage pool across Chat, Imagine, Voice and other features; higher plans get a larger pool. If you already had SuperGrok or X Premium, you can keep your old plan.
How many free images do you get?
xAI does not publish a number for the Free plan. It just says "Limited". Paid usage resets weekly, on a schedule shown in the Usage tab of your Grok settings. Be careful with any site that quotes an exact daily count for free images: we could not find one in xAI's own documentation.
What happened to free Grok Imagine video?
In March 2026, free users started seeing a subscription prompt when they tried to use Imagine, and an xAI employee said it would be paid-only "near term" (PiunikaWeb). Today the pricing page lists free image generation as "Limited", and video as "Not included" on both the Free and $8 Plus plans.
Pay-as-you-go: is there a way to avoid a monthly plan?
There are three ways to pay only for what you use:
| Option | How it works | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Grok Extra Usage Credits | Paid subscribers top up after their weekly usage runs out. Web only; credits expire one year after purchase | From $5; "standard rates", so more per action than plan usage |
| xAI API | Developers call the model directly and pay per second of video | grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite: $0.02–$0.14/s; grok-imagine-video: $0.05/s at 480p, $0.07/s at 720p; grok-imagine-video-1.5: $0.08–$0.25/s (480p–1080p) |
| Third-party sites | Sites that use the API sell their own credits | Varies; see our numbers below |
The Grok top-ups need a subscription first, so they don't help if you want to avoid one. The API is pay-per-use but needs code and an API key. That leaves third-party sites for most people.
How to make Grok Imagine videos for free on imagine-grok.com
Our free plan exists so you can try Grok Imagine video before paying anyone. Here is exactly what you get:
| Free plan | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Account | Sign in with Google. No credit card, no X account, no Grok subscription |
| Sign-up gift | 6 credits, valid 30 days, enough for one 6-second 480p video |
| Daily check-in | Claim 5–10 credits a day (5, 5, 5, 7, 5, 5, 10; 42 a week). Each claim expires after 7 days |
| Free models | Grok Imagine (video) and Grok Imagine (image) |
| Generate and preview | Yes, for both images and videos |
| Downloads | Images: free. Videos: paid plan required |
| Failed generations | Credits refunded automatically |
Grok Imagine video costs 1 credit per second at 480p and 4 credits per second at 720p. So a week of check-ins (42 credits) covers seven 6-second 480p clips, or one 6-second 720p clip with credits to spare.
To try it:
- Open the Grok Imagine video generator and sign in with Google.
- Type a prompt, or upload a photo to animate (up to 7 reference images).
- Choose 480p and 6 seconds to stay within the free credits.
- Generate, then preview the result in your browser.
If you decide to pay
We are not cheaper than xAI for heavy use, and we won't pretend otherwise. The trade-offs are:
| Grok Premium | imagine-grok.com Starter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $30/month | $22.90/month for 250 credits, or $39.90 one-time for 500 credits |
| Grok Imagine video | Yes | Yes, 6–30 seconds per generation at 480p or 720p |
| Other video models | No | Kling, Veo, Sora, Seedance, Hailuo, Wan |
| Watermark | Grok watermark on all output | Watermark-free video downloads on paid plans |
| Also includes | Grok Chat, Voice, Build and more | Image models such as Nano Banana, Flux 2, GPT Image, Imagen 4 |
If you also use Grok for chat and coding, Premium is the better deal. If you only want to make videos and want to compare Grok Imagine with other models in one place, a credit-based site makes more sense. See pricing for all plans.
Watermarks
Videos made in the official Grok app carry a Grok watermark, on every plan. xAI's FAQ says there is no setting to remove it and that removing or obscuring it is prohibited under its Acceptable Use Policy. Don't use watermark-removal tools on Grok output.
On imagine-grok.com, video downloads on paid plans are watermark-free.
Do you need an X account?
No. The grok.com sign-in page offers Google, Apple, GitHub, email and X. Linking your X account is optional; it only matters if you pay for an X subscription and want its benefits in Grok. On imagine-grok.com you sign in with Google. For every way to use Grok Imagine without X, the app or a subscription, see How to Use Grok Imagine Without an X Account.
Frequently asked questions
Is Grok Imagine free?
Partly. On grok.com and the Grok apps, the Free plan includes limited image generation, but video generation is not included. Video starts with the Premium plan at $30/month (checked on x.ai/pricing on October 28, 2026).
Can I make Grok Imagine videos for free?
Not on the official Free or Plus plans. You can generate Grok Imagine videos for free on imagine-grok.com, an independent site that is not affiliated with xAI: new accounts get 6 credits (one 6-second 480p video) and daily check-ins add 42 credits a week. Downloading videos requires a paid plan there.
Do I need an X account to use Grok Imagine?
No. grok.com lets you sign in with Google, Apple, GitHub, email or X. Linking an X account is optional and only matters if you want X subscription benefits to apply.
Is there a pay-as-you-go option for Grok Imagine?
On grok.com, paid subscribers can buy Extra Usage Credits from $5 on the web after their weekly usage runs out; they expire one year after purchase. Developers can pay per second through the xAI API, from $0.02/s for grok-imagine-video-1.5-lite at 480p. imagine-grok.com sells a one-time 500-credit pack for $39.90 with no subscription.
Can I remove the Grok watermark from Grok Imagine videos?
Not on grok.com. xAI's FAQ says images and videos generated in Grok include a watermark, there is no setting to remove it, and removing it breaks the Acceptable Use Policy.
How many free Grok Imagine images do I get per day?
xAI does not publish a number. The Free plan's image allowance is listed only as Limited, and usage resets on a schedule shown in the Usage tab of your Grok settings.
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