How to Sign Up for MiniMax H3: Hailuo, API and Free Credits (2026)

To sign up for MiniMax H3, create a Hailuo AI account at hailuoai.video with Google, Apple, Facebook or email, or register on the MiniMax API Platform with email, Google or GitHub if you want an API key. As of 5 November 2026, neither sign-in screen asks you to pay up front, but real H3 use needs a Hailuo plan or a funded API balance. You can also skip a MiniMax account altogether and run H3 through a third-party studio.

We opened MiniMax's own sign-in screens, plan page and docs on 5 November 2026 for this guide. Where MiniMax does not state something, such as a full list of supported countries, we say so instead of guessing.

What are the ways to get access to MiniMax H3?

MiniMax launched H3 on 31 July 2026, and there are four practical routes today. Which one you need depends on whether you want a website, an API or your own hardware.

How do you sign up for MiniMax H3 on Hailuo AI?

Hailuo AI is MiniMax's consumer app, and its site lists H3 in the model picker. This is the shortest official route if you do not write code.

1. Go to hailuoai.video and click Sign In at the bottom of the left sidebar.
2. Choose Continue with Google, Continue with Apple, Continue with Facebook or Log in with Email. The dialog says that signing in means you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
3. Open Create Video and pick MiniMax H3 in the model menu.
4. Set the mode, resolution, length and ratio. The credit cost shows beside the Create button.
5. If your balance is too low, open the plan page, where you can subscribe, top up credits or redeem a code.

On our visit, the default setup of Omni Reference, 2K and 5 seconds showed 60 next to Create. That matches the plan page, where 1,000 credits buy about 84 seconds of H3 at 2K, or roughly 12 credits a second.

Can you get MiniMax H3 free on Hailuo?

Possibly a small amount, but the terms are not clear, so treat any free H3 clip as a trial and not as ongoing access. Here is what the site showed on 5 November 2026:

• A sign-up card says new users receive free credits, with a badge reading "Get 80".
• A top banner offers 3,000 free credits if you download MiniMax Design.
• The Free plan lists 0 monthly credits and "One-time free trial credits", with the note "Hailuo models only".

The Free plan does not list H3 by name, while every paid plan does. We did not create an account to test whether the trial credits can be spent on H3. MyClaw's October guide reports that welcome credits expire after three days and that free downloads carry a watermark, but that is a third-party report, so check your own account before you plan around it.

What do Hailuo plans cost for H3?

These are the prices our signed-out browser saw on 5 November 2026. They carry promotional discounts and may vary by region or date.

For a full breakdown across every tier and reseller, see our MiniMax H3 pricing guide.

How do you sign up for the MiniMax H3 API?

The API is the right route for developers, and it is a separate sign-in screen from the Hailuo app. Hailuo offers Apple and Facebook, while the platform offers GitHub, and no MiniMax page we read says the two accounts are linked. Assume you need to register for each one until you confirm otherwise.

1. Open the MiniMax API Platform login, which the quickstart points to.
2. Enter your email, or choose Continue with Google or Continue With Github. You need to tick the box agreeing to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and the page is protected by reCAPTCHA.
3. Go to API Keys and choose Create new secret key. Store it in an environment variable, not in your code.
4. Add funds under Billing / Balance. The pricing page says usage is deducted from your account balance. It does not state a minimum top-up.
5. Send a request to POST /v2/video_generation on https://api.minimax.io with the model MiniMax-H3, then poll the task until the video is ready.

Do MiniMax video packages include H3?

No. This catches people out, because MiniMax also sells video packages on the platform. Its pricing page says those packages support Hailuo video models and that H3 is not supported yet, and the video guide tells you to select the pay-as-you-go API for H3. An empty balance returns an "insufficient balance" error, so fund the account before your first request.

Which H3 model ID and price should you pick?

The API lists four H3 models. Prices below are per second of output on MiniMax's pricing page, read on 5 November 2026.

Only MiniMax-H3 reaches 2K directly. Start on Lite while you test your integration, since a failed prompt there costs the least.

Do you need a MiniMax account to use H3?

No. A MiniMax or Hailuo account only matters if you buy from MiniMax directly. H3 is also offered by third-party studios, which use their own logins, credits and limits.

• Kenerate AI runs H3 in the browser with no API key, as covered below.
• OpenArt lists H3 in its video tools. Its H3 page offers a "Start Creating for Free" button but did not show a free amount or per-second price when we read it.
• Segmind sells API access. Its August explainer listed $0.1625 per second at 2K, so check the current rate before you build on it.

Third-party access always comes on that company's terms. Read what you are buying: the resolution offered, whether sound is included, and what happens to unused credits.

How do you use MiniMax H3 on Kenerate AI?

Kenerate is the option for people who want H3 in a browser, without keys or code, on one balance shared with other video models. It is not the cheapest route per second. Our pricing guide puts it at roughly 2.5 to 4 times MiniMax's API rate at the same resolution, so developers rendering at volume should use the API.

1. Create a Kenerate account with Google or email. New accounts get 25 credits, which work on image tools.
2. Buy a one-time credit pack, because video needs a paid plan. Packs start at $15 for 1,300 credits, with no subscription.
3. Open the MiniMax H3 model page and launch it in the video studio.
4. Pick H3 or H3 Pro, then your resolution and length, and generate.

These rates are for plain text-to-video and image-to-video output, as of 5 November 2026. Reference mode can cost more: on the MiniMax H3 tier it runs at 12.5 credits a second at 480p and 31.25 at 768p, plus 5 credits per reference image. On the Pro tier, reference clip seconds are billed like output seconds, and images beyond the first five cost 15 credits each.

Once you are in, our MiniMax H3 prompt guide shows how to brief references and shots. If you also want older Hailuo models, the Hailuo AI video generator page covers them. Still deciding on a model? Read MiniMax H3 vs Seedance 2.0.

Is MiniMax H3 available in your country?

The hosted and self-hosted answers differ. MiniMax's licence Q&A describes the API as globally available. It also says the open-weight licence does not currently cover the EU, UK, South Korea and the US, and that organisations there can apply for a formal licence.

That Q&A only covers the API and the weights. We found no country list for the Hailuo app on the pages we could read, and the Terms of Service page did not load for us. If you are unsure, confirm in the app's terms before you pay.

Can you skip sign-up by running H3 yourself?

Only if you have the hardware and the licence allows it. The weights are published at MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-H3 on Hugging Face under the MiniMax H3 Community License. This is a 33B-parameter model, so it is not a casual install, and the regional limits above still apply. For most people a hosted route is simpler.

Which MiniMax H3 sign-up route should you choose?

What should you do if MiniMax H3 sign-up fails?

• The Create button does nothing or the model is locked. Check your credit balance and plan first. The Free plan's trial credits may not cover H3.
• The API returns an insufficient balance error. Top up under Billing / Balance. A video package will not fix this for H3.
• You logged in but see no API keys. You may be in the Hailuo app. API keys live on platform.minimax.io, not on hailuoai.video.
• You see a different price from this guide. Plan prices are promotional and can change. Trust the live plan page or API pricing page.