What off-peak mode is
Vidu's off-peak mode is a way to generate video more cheaply by trading speed for cost. Instead of running your task immediately on the standard generation channel, you queue it and Vidu executes it during low-traffic periods — typically when fewer users are active. The trade is simple: you wait longer, and in return you either pay less or pay nothing, depending on which Vidu product you use.
There are two distinct off-peak offers, and they are easy to confuse. One applies to the web app subscription, the other to the API. Treat them as separate features that happen to share a name.
Web app: free generations on the Ultimate plan
On the Vidu web app, off-peak mode is tied to the Ultimate plan (US$99/month, or US$79/month billed annually). The benefit is direct: during off-peak hours you get up to 200 free video generations per day, with no credit deduction. Vidu's own marketing describes the off-peak mode as "unlimited credits" for unlimited free generation, and the Ultimate tier is the one that carries the exclusive off-peak allowance.
The catch is the wait. Off-peak tasks are queued and processed when capacity is available, so generation times are longer than on the fast or high-speed channels. That makes the mode well suited to non-urgent work — batch testing, asset exploration, and anything where a few extra minutes do not matter.
API: off-peak billing at half price
For API users, off-peak is a pricing mechanic rather than a free allowance. Tasks submitted with off-peak billing are charged at 50% of the standard credit rate, with any fractional credit rounded up. If a standard generation costs 24 credits per second, the off-peak version costs 12. The discount is applied per task type and only to capabilities that support it.
| Model | Standard (credits/sec) | Off-peak (credits/sec) | Off-peak supported? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3-pro (1080p) | 24 | 12 | Yes, audio=true only |
| Q3-turbo (1080p) | 13 | 7 | Yes, audio=true only |
| Q3-mix (reference) | 24–29 | — | No |
| Q1 (5s, 1080p) | 80 | 40 | Yes |
| Q4-preview | 9–78 by resolution | Not listed | Not published |
Two constraints matter. First, for the Q3-pro and Q3-turbo models, off-peak pricing is only available when the audio parameter is enabled — text, image, and first-last-frame tasks without audio are billed at the standard rate. Second, the reference-to-video Q3-mix model does not support off-peak at all, and the newer Q4-preview model had no off-peak price published in its pricing documentation at the time of writing.
When off-peak makes sense
- Batch testing and iteration. Generating many variants to compare prompts or references is the clearest fit — the saving compounds across volume.
- Non-time-sensitive deliverables. Background assets, stock-style clips, and internal drafts tolerate the longer queue.
- Cost-sensitive projects. On the API, halving per-second cost directly improves margin on high-volume generation.
- Exploratory work. When you are learning what a model can do, free or cheap generations remove the friction of experimentation.
Trade-offs and limits
- Wait time. This is the entire premise — off-peak is slower by design.
- Model and capability exclusions. Not every model or task type qualifies; check the pricing table before assuming a discount.
- No published fixed window. Vidu does not advertise a fixed clock-based off-peak window; the mode routes to low-traffic periods, which can shift. Plan around the allowance, not a schedule.
- Tier gating on the web app. The free daily allowance is an Ultimate-plan benefit, not a free-tier feature.
Should you use it
Use off-peak when the work is volume-heavy or time-insensitive and the model you need actually supports it. On the web app, the Ultimate plan's daily free allowance is the strongest offer for anyone generating in bulk. On the API, enable off-peak billing wherever the audio-enabled task type qualifies, and keep standard generation for anything deadline-bound. The one thing to verify before relying on it is model support — the discount is not universal.