# Luma AI API vs Pika API

> Luma AI API has a score of 48.7 (D) against Pika API's 47.8 (D). Both do video generate. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 40 points. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/luma-vs-pika.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-05

Luma AI API has a score of 48.7 (D) against Pika API's 47.8 (D). Both do video generate. The largest gap is schema & documentation, 40 points.

- Luma AI API: grade D, 48.7/100, rank #374 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/luma.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/luma.json
- Pika API: grade D, 47.8/100, rank #382 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pika.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/pika.json

## Which one, for what

Pick Luma AI API for reliability (+15), security & auth (+15), maintenance & community (+37), transparency & trust (+9).

Pick Pika API for schema & documentation (+40), agent ergonomics (+14).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Luma AI API | Pika API | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 35 | Luma AI API +15 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 43 | 83 | Pika API +40 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 80 | Pika API +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 33 | Luma AI API +15 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 20 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 20 | Luma AI API +37 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 58 | 49 | Luma AI API +9 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **48.7 · D** | **47.8 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Luma AI API | Pika API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Luma AI | Pika (Mellis, Inc.) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://agents.lumalabs.ai/v1` | `https://api.dev.pika.art` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs) | none |
| Tools exposed | none | none |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| MCP registry | not listed | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-08-05 | none |
| Popularity | 2 stars, 982 npm/wk, 212 PyPI/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (2) | 4/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Luma AI API.** Dollar prices per clip, $0.30 for 5 seconds at 720p, no credits to convert. Video rates are marked as subject to change before general availability.

**Pika API.** Keyless catalogue with live prices and JSON input schemas for 162 operations. $10 a month membership before any usage, and no free generation.

## Before you call either

### Luma AI API

1. Send model `ray-3.2` and type `video`, with resolution and duration inside `video`. Older model names are rejected
2. Poll GET /v1/generations/{id} until completed or failed, then copy the presigned URL
3. On 429, read `detail`. Rate limit exceeded means wait Retry-After, Too many concurrent jobs means wait for a job to finish
4. Use keyframes with `keyframe_indexes` for 10 second clips. start_frame and end_frame only work at 5 seconds

### Pika API

1. Call `GET /catalog/apis/{api_id}?expand=inputs` first. It's free and returns the path, schema and price
2. Check GET /billing/balance before a submit. A 403 can mean an inactive key or an empty balance
3. Send an Idempotency-Key on every submit, and a fresh one only when you change the body
4. Record cost from `billing.charge_micro_usd` only once `billing.state` is settled

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