First-party API notes · not a Studio route

Pika Soundtrack API: Pricing, Video-to-Audio and Integration

Pika Soundtrack is a video-conditioned audio model. It takes a source clip plus an optional instruction and writes a synchronized soundtrack of sound effects, voice, music, and ambience back onto the same picture. Pika introduced it on 18 August 2026. An API exists today. OfflineCreator Studio does not route it.

List price: $0.005 / sec
Charged when: Successful runs only
Access: Pika API Club
Studio route: Not in catalog

Last verified 2026-09-15 against Pika's model specification and pricing catalog.

What Pika Soundtrack does

Pika's launch post describes four practical output categories: motion-aware sound effects, voice, music, and ambience. Generation is conditioned on visual and temporal information from the source video and on an optional natural-language instruction that can emphasize, include, or leave sounds out.

The model specification is more mechanical. The required video field is a URL. Visuals and duration are preserved; only the soundtrack is replaced. The completed job returns an MP4 at output.video.url. Delivery is async: a submit returns a job, usually queued, not the finished file.

Pika Soundtrack is not Pika SFX and not Pika Music. SFX is text-to-audio at $0.0002 per second. Music is a reference-to-audio model at $0.015 per minute. Those sibling operations share Club access and the same job-polling envelope. They do not accept a video as the primary conditioner.

Pika Soundtrack API pricing

The runtime source of truth is the operation specification at pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack. It lists $0.005 per second and states that only successful generations are charged. Ten-, thirty-, and sixty-second figures below are calculations from that rate, not separate published SKUs.

Verified generation rate and calculated examples
Item	Current verified value
Pika Soundtrack	$0.005 / sec
10-second video	$0.05 calculated
30-second video	$0.15 calculated
60-second video	$0.30 calculated
Failed runs	Pika says only successful runs are charged
Access	Pika API Club · $10/month membership, $10 first-month usage credit (club announcement)

Membership is a separate access fee. This page does not fold the $10 monthly Club charge into the per-second generation estimate. Re-check Pika's pricing catalog before you budget.

API workflow

Endpoint names, fields, and polling below are copied from Pika's live Soundtrack specification. Do not send the API key from a browser. Use the PIKA_API_KEY environment variable on a server.

Open Pika's model spec

01
Authenticate
Send the Pika API key in the X-API-Key header. Keep the key on the server. The same key can read GET /billing/balance, which Pika documents as free.
02
Provide the source video
Pass a reachable video URL in the video field. For a local file, POST /v1/media/uploads with content_type and size_bytes, PUT the bytes to the returned upload_url with the signed headers, then use the permanent url.
03
Submit Soundtrack
POST /v1/media/pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack with required video and optional instruction and seed. A successful submit returns a job object, normally queued, not the finished file.
04
Poll to a terminal state
GET /v1/media/jobs/{id} until status is completed or failed. Completed jobs expose output.video.url as an MP4. Failed jobs include error.code. Replay a failure with a fresh Idempotency-Key.

Code examples

These snippets use the documented path, X-API-Key header, required video field, and optional instruction and seed. They poll /v1/media/jobs/{id} until completed or failed. Replace the example URL with a reachable H.264 or HEVC clip.

cURL

curl -X POST https://api.dev.pika.art/v1/media/pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack \
  -H "X-API-Key: $PIKA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "video": "https://example.com/clip.mp4",
    "instruction": "Natural room tone and footsteps only. No music.",
    "seed": -1
  }'

Python

import os
import time
import requests

API = "https://api.dev.pika.art"
headers = {
    "X-API-Key": os.environ["PIKA_API_KEY"],
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}

submitted = requests.post(
    "https://api.dev.pika.art/v1/media/pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack",
    headers=headers,
    json={
        "video": "https://example.com/clip.mp4",
        "instruction": "Natural room tone and footsteps only. No music.",  # optional
        "seed": -1,  # optional; -1 picks a random seed
    },
    timeout=30,
)
submitted.raise_for_status()
job = submitted.json()
job_id = job["id"]

while True:
    polled = requests.get(
        f"{API}/v1/media/jobs/{job_id}",
        headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["PIKA_API_KEY"]},
        timeout=30,
    )
    polled.raise_for_status()
    payload = polled.json()
    if payload["status"] in {"completed", "failed"}:
        break
    time.sleep(2)

if payload["status"] != "completed":
    raise SystemExit(payload.get("error", payload))
print(payload["output"]["video"]["url"])

TypeScript

const apiKey = process.env.PIKA_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) throw new Error("Set PIKA_API_KEY in the server environment.");

const submitted = await fetch("https://api.dev.pika.art/v1/media/pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "X-API-Key": apiKey,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    video: "https://example.com/clip.mp4",
    instruction: "Natural room tone and footsteps only. No music.", // optional
    seed: -1, // optional
  }),
});
if (!submitted.ok) {
  throw new Error(await submitted.text());
}
const job = (await submitted.json()) as { id: string; status: string };

let payload: {
  status: string;
  output?: { video?: { url?: string } };
  error?: { code?: string; message?: string };
};
for (;;) {
  const polled = await fetch(`https://api.dev.pika.art/v1/media/jobs/${job.id}`, {
    headers: { "X-API-Key": apiKey },
  });
  if (!polled.ok) throw new Error(await polled.text());
  payload = await polled.json();
  if (payload.status === "completed" || payload.status === "failed") break;
  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 2000));
}

if (payload.status !== "completed" || !payload.output?.video?.url) {
  throw new Error(payload.error?.message ?? payload.status);
}
console.log(payload.output.video.url);

Inputs, outputs, and practical limits

Values below are taken from the current Soundtrack specification. Where Pika does not publish a number, this page says so instead of guessing.

Documented Soundtrack constraints
Topic	Verified value
Input	Video URL. Codecs H.264 or HEVC. Container and file extension do not matter; the codec is read from the file.
Duration	At most 1200 seconds (20 minutes)
Size	At most 2 GB
Working resolution	A source below about 576×320 for 16:9 is upscaled. Audio is still produced; the model has less visual detail to work from.
Optional instruction	Verbatim direction for effects, ambience, dialogue, music, or style. Blank or omitted uses the video alone.
Output	MP4 video with the original picture and a replaced soundtrack
Async	Job statuses: queued, running, completed, failed
Content policy	A `content_moderation` error code exists. A public policy text for Soundtrack was not specified on the model page.
Rate and concurrency	429 responses mention requests per minute, per day, or concurrent jobs. Numeric limits are not publicly specified on the model page.

Pika Soundtrack vs alternatives

This table uses first-party or clearly labeled host prices rechecked on 2026-09-15. It does not call Pika cheapest or best. Membership, credits, and reseller markups change the effective unit cost.

Video-to-audio APIs with revalidated public facts
API / model	Output focus	Video-conditioned	Price unit	30s normalized	Max duration	Voice	Music	SFX	Access
Pika Soundtrack	Full-scene soundtrack on the source MP4	Yes	$0.005 / input second	$0.15 generation (calculated)	1,200 seconds (20 minutes)	Documented	Documented	Documented	Pika API Club
Sonilo Video → Music	Video-aligned music, not a combined Foley+voice+score track	Yes	$0.009 / output second	$0.27 (calculated)	6 minutes	Not the product focus	Yes	Separate Video → SFX API	Sonilo API (pay as you go)
Sonilo Video → SFX	Video-aligned sound effects	Yes	$0.009 / output second	$0.27 (calculated)	480 seconds (8 minutes)	Not the product focus	Separate Video → Music API	Yes	Sonilo API (pay as you go)
Mirelo SFX 1.6 API	Video- or text-conditioned sound effects	Yes (video-to-SFX)	10 credits / generated second / variant	300 credits (calculated); first-party USD list not published	Not publicly specified on the usage-rate page	Preserve Speech add-on (+8 credits/sec when speech is detected)	Music 1.0 is not publicly offered on the API	Yes	Mirelo API (credit plans)
HunyuanVideo-Foley (fal host)	Video-conditioned Foley / sound effects	Yes	$0.10 / 10 seconds on fal ($0.01/sec)	$0.30 on fal (calculated)	Not independently verified from Tencent's first-party list	Not claimed here	Not claimed here	Yes (Foley)	Open-source weights; hosted price is the fal list, not Tencent official

Kling publishes a video-to-audio API reference. Reseller hosts advertise per-call prices that do not agree with each other. A first-party Kling list price was not independently verified in this pass, so Kling is omitted from the numeric rows.

When to use Pika Soundtrack

Adding synchronized scene sound to an already generated or shot video.
Rapid sound-design prototyping from picture plus a short instruction.
Generating ambience and effects that follow visible action.
Asking for a combined soundtrack — effects, voice, music, and room — from one video-conditioned call.

This page does not claim professional mastering quality, real-time generation, broadcast licensing, or drop-in compatibility with OfflineCreator Studio, fal, or any other host.

OfflineCreator Studio product connection

The live Studio catalog has no Pika model and no video-to-audio workflow. Studio does not route, wrap, or price Pika Soundtrack. There is no partnership, endorsement, or drop-in compatibility claim on this page.

If you need picture first, Studio publishes its own video models with a credit quote before generation. Finishing those clips with Pika Soundtrack is a separate first-party Pika integration, not a Studio button.

First-party sources

Pika Soundtrack API FAQ

What is the Pika Soundtrack API?

Pika Soundtrack is Pika's video-conditioned audio model. The current API operation is pika/pika-audio/pika-soundtrack. It accepts a source video URL plus an optional instruction and returns an asynchronous job whose completed output is an MP4 with the original picture and a generated soundtrack.

How much does Pika Soundtrack cost?

Pika's current model specification lists $0.005 per second of input video and says only successful generations are charged. Access is through the Pika API Club, which Pika's club announcement lists as $10 per month with $10 in first-month usage credit. Membership is a separate fee from the per-second generation rate.

How much does a 30-second generation cost?

At the verified $0.005 per second rate, a 30-second successful run calculates to $0.15 in generation charges. That figure does not include the API Club membership fee.

Does it generate sound effects and music?

Pika's launch post describes motion-aware sound effects, voice, music, and ambience conditioned on the source video and an optional instruction. Those are Pika's documented output categories, not an OfflineCreator quality score.

Can I give it text instructions?

Yes. The instruction field is optional. Pika's spec says it reaches the model verbatim and can describe sound effects, ambience, dialogue, music, or overall style. Omit it, or leave it blank, for sound design derived from the video alone.

Is it the same as Pika SFX or Pika Music?

No. Soundtrack is video-to-video: it replaces the soundtrack on a source clip. Pika SFX is text-to-audio at $0.0002 per second. Pika Music is a reference-to-audio music model at $0.015 per minute. They share the same Pika API Club access path and job-polling pattern, not the same input contract.

What are the best alternatives?

There is no single best alternative. Sonilo publishes separate video-to-music and video-to-SFX APIs at $0.009 per second each. Mirelo's public SFX 1.6 API is billed in credits (10 credits per generated second). HunyuanVideo-Foley is open-source; fal hosted it at $0.10 per 10 seconds when last checked. Kling publishes a video-to-audio API reference, but a first-party Kling list price was not independently verified here. Compare output type, duration limits, and access terms rather than a single cheapest label.

Does OfflineCreatorStudio support Pika Soundtrack?

No. The live OfflineCreator Studio model catalog and workflow list do not include Pika Soundtrack or any Pika audio operation. This page documents Pika's first-party API. Studio can generate video through its published catalog; it does not route, wrap, or price Pika Soundtrack.

Generate the picture in Studio. Score it on Pika's API.

Studio keeps published video models and credit quotes visible before you submit. Soundtrack remains a first-party Pika call until a catalog row says otherwise.

Open the Studio video generator Compare published Studio models

What Pika Soundtrack does

Pika Soundtrack API pricing

API workflow

Authenticate

Provide the source video

Submit Soundtrack

Poll to a terminal state