Highlander

Highlander is a realtime AI video generation API built on MiniMax Fast H3, serving efficient video streams from a single 8xH100 node in Palo Alto, CA. It targets developers who want programmatic access to high-quality video generation without subscriptions, seat minimums, or sales calls. The service is live and publicly accessible, with $1.00 of free credit on signup and no credit card required to start.

What It Is

Highlander is a usage-based video generation API that wraps the FastH3 VSA checkpoint — a distilled version of MiniMax H3 — and exposes it through a simple HTTP interface at api.highlander.sh. Every request produces a 1344×768 MP4 at 24 fps with a native synchronized audio track generated in the same model pass. The service positions itself as the cheapest realtime video option at its quality level, with a single model and a single rate rather than a tiered quality ladder.

How the Pricing Model Works

Highlander charges per second of generated video output, not per seat or per month. The default schedule uses 5 diffusion steps; raising the step count scales the price proportionally because steps are where the compute is consumed. Failed, timed-out, or worker-rejected generations are automatically refunded — users are never charged for a clip they did not receive. Credit is purchased as one-off prepaid payments through Stripe and never expires.

Output Specs and Performance

• Resolution: 1344×768
• Frame rate: 24 fps
• Audio: Native synchronized audio generated in the same model pass as video
• Render speed: Approximately 0.94× realtime end-to-end at the default 5-step schedule
• Clip lengths: 90 frames (~3.75 s) up to 345 frames (~14.375 s) at the default schedule
• Infrastructure: Single 8xH100 node, one job at a time

The homepage displays unedited MiniMax Fast H3 output transcoded for the web, covering cinematic scenarios such as city renders, motorcycle chases, and FPV canyon runs.

Deployment Model and Capacity

The current deployment is a single 8xH100 node serving one job at a time. The pricing page notes that dedicated capacity or concurrency requires direct contact before building against it. The prepaid credit model is also framed as a security feature: a leaked API key can never spend more than the balance behind it, and no unexpected invoices are generated.

Who It Is For

Highlander targets developers and technical users who want API-level access to realtime video generation for prototyping, production pipelines, or experimentation. The playground at highlander.sh/playground allows prompt-based generation without writing code, while the docs at highlander.sh/docs provide the full request/response reference for API integration.