How to Use Grok Imagine Without an X Account, the App or a Subscription (2026)
You don't need X, the Grok app or SuperGrok to use Grok Imagine. Compare the five ways to use it in 2026: grok.com in a browser, imagine-grok.com, fal, Replicate and Runway, with sign-in, free usage, video specs and prices for each.
You don't need an X account, the Grok app or a SuperGrok subscription to use Grok Imagine. You can sign in to grok.com with Google, Apple, GitHub or email and use it in a browser. Or you can use a third-party site that offers the Grok Imagine models through xAI's API. The catch on grok.com is that video needs the $30/month Premium plan. Third-party sites let you pay per video instead.
Below are the five ways to use Grok Imagine in 2026, checked on October 28, 2026.
Disclosure: we run imagine-grok.com, one of the options below. It is an independent platform, not operated by or affiliated with xAI. We've listed the other options with their own prices and links so you can compare.
The five options at a glance
| Option | Sign-in | Free usage | Grok Imagine video | Price for video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| grok.com (official) | Google, Apple, GitHub, email or X | Limited images, no video | Up to 1080p | Premium plan, $30/month |
| imagine-grok.com | 6 credits at sign-up + daily check-in credits | 480p or 720p, 6–30 s | From 1 credit/s; plans from $22.90/month or $39.90 one-time | |
| fal | fal account | 5 free videos/day in the sandbox with a card on file | Full model family, up to 1080p, up to 15 s | $0.05–$0.25 per second |
| Replicate | Replicate account | None listed | grok-imagine-video and 1.5 | $0.05 per second (grok-imagine-video) |
| Runway | Runway account | Depends on your Runway plan | Grok Imagine 1.5, up to 1080p, up to 15 s | 10, 16 or 29 Runway credits per second (480p, 720p, 1080p) |
Prices come from each site's public pages on October 28, 2026. We didn't test generation quality on fal, Replicate or Runway.
1. grok.com in your browser (no X account needed)
The official Grok Imagine works at grok.com/imagine without the app. The sign-in page offers Google, X, Apple, GitHub and email. According to xAI's FAQ, linking an X account is optional; it only matters if you pay for an X subscription and want its benefits in Grok.
What you get depends on the plan (x.ai/pricing):
- Free: limited image generation, no video.
- Plus, $8/month: images, still no video.
- Premium, $30/month and up: images and video.
All Grok output carries a Grok watermark, and xAI's FAQ says it can't be removed. More detail in our guide Is Grok Imagine free?.
Best for: people who also want Grok chat and are happy to pay $30/month for video.
2. imagine-grok.com (Google sign-in, free credits, no subscription)
imagine-grok.com is our web workspace for Grok Imagine and other image and video models. You sign in with Google; no X account, no Grok plan and no credit card are needed to start.
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| Free credits | 6 at sign-up (valid 30 days), plus 5–10 a day by manual check-in (42 a week, each claim valid 7 days) |
| Grok Imagine (video) | Text to video and image to video, optional reference images (up to 7), 6–30 s, 480p or 720p. Free plan: yes |
| Grok Imagine 1.5 | Image to video with 1–7 reference images, 1–15 s, 480p or 720p. Paid plans |
| Grok Imagine (image) | Text to image and image to image, up to 5 reference images. Free plan: yes |
| Cost | 1 credit/s at 480p, 4 credits/s at 720p; 5 credits per image |
| Downloads | Images free; videos on paid plans, without a watermark |
| Other models | Kling, Veo, Sora, Seedance, Hailuo, Wan, Nano Banana, Flux 2, GPT Image, Imagen 4 |
To try it: open the Grok Imagine video generator, sign in with Google, write a prompt or upload a photo, choose 480p and 6 seconds, and generate. The sign-up gift covers exactly one 6-second 480p clip.
Best for: trying Grok Imagine video for free, and comparing it with other video models in one place.
Limits to know: free accounts can preview videos but not download them, and we don't offer 1080p for Grok Imagine.
3. fal (pay per second, full model family)
fal is an AI model platform aimed at developers, but every Grok Imagine endpoint has a browser playground, so you can use it without writing code. It has the widest set of Grok Imagine models: text to video, image to video, reference to video, edit, extend, and the Grok Imagine Image models.
grok-imagine-video: $0.05/s at 480p, $0.07/s at 720p (a 6-second 480p clip costs about $0.30).grok-imagine-video1.5: $0.08/s at 480p, $0.14/s at 720p, $0.25/s at 1080p.- fal says its sandbox includes 5 free videos a day once you have an account with a card on file.
Best for: 1080p, editing or extending videos, and paying only for what you use.
4. Replicate (pay per second, API-first)
Replicate hosts official xAI models, including grok-imagine-video at $0.05 per second of output (20 seconds for $1), plus Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and video extension. It is mainly built for running models through an API.
Best for: developers who already use Replicate.
5. Runway (inside an existing Runway plan)
Runway offers Grok Imagine 1.5 Video as a third-party model. It takes text, image and audio inputs, makes clips up to 15 seconds at 480p, 720p or 1080p, and costs 10, 16 or 29 Runway credits per second at those resolutions, plus 1 credit per reference image.
Best for: people who already pay for Runway and edit their videos there.
Which one should you use?
- Just want to try Grok Imagine video for free: imagine-grok.com (sign-up credits and daily check-ins) or fal's sandbox (needs a card on file).
- Want 1080p or video editing: fal, or Runway if you already use it.
- Want Grok chat as well: grok.com Premium.
- Building an app: the xAI API directly, or fal or Replicate.
Whichever you pick, make sure the site names the exact Grok Imagine model and version it runs. Some "Grok" sites use other models under a Grok-style name.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Grok Imagine without an X account?
Yes. grok.com lets you sign in with Google, Apple, GitHub or email as well as X. Third-party sites such as imagine-grok.com, fal, Replicate and Runway use their own accounts and never ask for an X login.
Can I use Grok Imagine without downloading the Grok app?
Yes. Grok Imagine runs in the browser at grok.com/imagine, and third-party sites such as imagine-grok.com, fal and Runway also run in the browser on desktop and mobile.
Can I use Grok Imagine on a third-party website?
Yes. xAI sells Grok Imagine through its API, so other sites can offer the real model. imagine-grok.com, fal, Replicate and Runway all list Grok Imagine models. None of them is operated by xAI, so accounts, prices and support are handled by each site.
What is the cheapest way to make Grok Imagine videos without a subscription?
For a few clips, free credits: imagine-grok.com gives 6 credits at sign-up (one 6-second 480p video) plus daily check-in credits, and fal says its sandbox includes 5 free videos a day once a card is on file. For regular use, pay-per-second options start at $0.05 per second for 480p grok-imagine-video on fal and Replicate.
Is a third-party Grok Imagine site the same model as grok.com?
It can be. Sites that call xAI's API run the same Grok Imagine models, but each site chooses which versions, durations and resolutions to offer. Check that the site names the exact model, such as grok-imagine-video or Grok Imagine 1.5, before you pay.
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