
"Hailuo AI & MiniMax M2 API Guide: Video and Text Generation for Developers"
What Are Hailuo AI and MiniMax?#
MiniMax is a leading Chinese AI company that develops both text and video generation models. Their consumer-facing product, Hailuo AI, gained massive popularity for its video generation capabilities — creating high-quality AI videos from text prompts.
For developers, MiniMax offers:
- MiniMax M2 — a powerful text generation model competitive with GPT-4 class models
- Hailuo Video API — text-to-video generation with impressive quality
- Hailuo Voice — text-to-speech with natural-sounding voices
The MiniMax M2 model is particularly interesting because it offers strong multilingual performance (especially Chinese and English) at competitive pricing, making it a solid alternative to more expensive frontier models.
MiniMax M2 Text Generation#
Quick Start with Python#
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
api_key="your-crazyrouter-key",
base_url="https://api.crazyrouter.com/v1"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="MiniMax-M2",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant specializing in Chinese and English content."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Compare the tech ecosystems of Silicon Valley and Shenzhen"}
],
temperature=0.7,
max_tokens=2048
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
Node.js Example#
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const client = new OpenAI({
apiKey: 'your-crazyrouter-key',
baseURL: 'https://api.crazyrouter.com/v1'
});
const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: 'MiniMax-M2',
messages: [
{ role: 'user', content: 'Write a product description for an AI-powered code review tool' }
],
stream: true
});
for await (const chunk of response) {
process.stdout.write(chunk.choices[0]?.delta?.content || '');
}
cURL Example#
curl https://api.crazyrouter.com/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer your-crazyrouter-key" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "MiniMax-M2",
"messages": [
{"role": "user", "content": "Explain transformer architecture in simple terms"}
]
}'
MiniMax M2 Key Capabilities#
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Context Window | 128K tokens |
| Languages | Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, and more |
| Streaming | Full SSE support |
| Function Calling | Supported |
| JSON Mode | Supported |
| Vision | Text-only (use Hailuo for multimodal) |
What MiniMax M2 Excels At#
- Bilingual content — seamless Chinese-English tasks, translation, and cross-cultural content
- Long-form writing — articles, reports, and creative content with good coherence
- Coding — competitive code generation and debugging
- Instruction following — reliable structured output generation
- Cost efficiency — strong performance at a fraction of GPT-4 pricing
Hailuo Video Generation API#
Hailuo's video generation is one of the most impressive in the market. Here's how to use it:
Generate a Video from Text#
import requests
import time
API_KEY = "your-crazyrouter-key"
BASE_URL = "https://api.crazyrouter.com"
# Submit video generation request
response = requests.post(
f"{BASE_URL}/hailuo/submit/video",
headers={
"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
json={
"prompt": "A golden retriever running through a field of sunflowers at sunset, cinematic quality, slow motion",
"duration": 5,
"resolution": "720p"
}
)
task_id = response.json()["data"]["task_id"]
print(f"Video generation started: {task_id}")
# Poll for completion
while True:
status = requests.get(
f"{BASE_URL}/hailuo/fetch/{task_id}",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"}
).json()
if status["data"]["status"] == "completed":
print(f"Video URL: {status['data']['video_url']}")
break
elif status["data"]["status"] == "failed":
print(f"Failed: {status['data']['error']}")
break
time.sleep(15)
Image-to-Video Generation#
# Animate a static image
response = requests.post(
f"{BASE_URL}/hailuo/submit/video",
headers={
"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}",
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
json={
"prompt": "The character slowly turns their head and smiles, gentle wind blowing hair",
"image_url": "https://example.com/portrait.jpg",
"duration": 5
}
)
Pricing Comparison#
MiniMax M2 Text Model#
| Provider | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) |
|---|---|---|
| MiniMax Official | $0.50 | $2.00 |
| Crazyrouter | $0.35 | $1.40 |
| GPT-4o (for comparison) | $2.50 | $10.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $3.00 | $15.00 |
MiniMax M2 is 5-10x cheaper than GPT-4o while delivering competitive quality for most tasks.
Hailuo Video Generation#
| Provider | Cost per Video (5s) | Cost per Video (10s) |
|---|---|---|
| Hailuo Official | ~$0.30 | ~$0.50 |
| Crazyrouter | ~$0.20 | ~$0.35 |
| Runway Gen-3 | ~$0.50 | ~$1.00 |
| Kling AI | ~$0.25 | ~$0.45 |
Through Crazyrouter, you get competitive pricing with pay-as-you-go billing — no subscription required.
MiniMax M2 vs Competitors#
| Aspect | MiniMax M2 | GPT-4o | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | DeepSeek V3.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | ⭐ Excellent | Good | Good | ⭐ Excellent |
| English | Good | ⭐ Excellent | ⭐ Excellent | Good |
| Coding | Good | ⭐ Very Good | ⭐ Very Good | ⭐ Very Good |
| Price | ⭐ Very Cheap | Expensive | Expensive | ⭐ Cheapest |
| Context | 128K | 128K | 200K | 128K |
| Video Gen | ⭐ Hailuo | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
The unique advantage of the MiniMax ecosystem is the combination of text and video generation under one provider.
Use Cases#
1. Bilingual Content Platform#
# Generate content in both languages
for lang, prompt in [
("en", "Write a product launch announcement for an AI coding tool"),
("zh", "为一款AI编程工具撰写产品发布公告")
]:
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="MiniMax-M2",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
)
print(f"\n--- {lang.upper()} ---")
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
2. Video Content Pipeline#
# Generate script → Generate video → Complete content pipeline
script = client.chat.completions.create(
model="MiniMax-M2",
messages=[{
"role": "user",
"content": "Write a 30-second video script for a tech product demo"
}]
).choices[0].message.content
# Use the script to generate video
video_response = requests.post(
f"{BASE_URL}/hailuo/submit/video",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json"},
json={"prompt": script, "duration": 5}
)
3. Customer Support Bot#
MiniMax M2's strong bilingual capabilities make it ideal for customer support serving both Chinese and English users:
def handle_support_query(user_message, detected_language):
system_prompt = {
"zh": "你是一个友好的客服助手,用中文回答用户问题。",
"en": "You are a friendly support assistant. Answer in English."
}
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="MiniMax-M2",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": system_prompt.get(detected_language, system_prompt["en"])},
{"role": "user", "content": user_message}
],
temperature=0.3
)
return response.choices[0].message.content
FAQ#
What is the difference between MiniMax and Hailuo?#
MiniMax is the company; Hailuo is their consumer-facing AI product brand. MiniMax M2 is their text generation model, while Hailuo Video is their video generation product. Through APIs, you can access both.
Is MiniMax M2 good for English tasks?#
Yes. While MiniMax M2 particularly excels at Chinese, its English performance is competitive with models like GPT-4o-mini and Gemini Flash. For pure English tasks, it's a cost-effective alternative.
How long does Hailuo video generation take?#
Typically 2-5 minutes for a 5-second video. Longer videos and higher resolutions take more time. The API is asynchronous — submit a request and poll for completion.
Can I use Hailuo for commercial projects?#
Yes, with appropriate licensing. Through Crazyrouter's API access, generated content can be used commercially. Check the latest terms for specific restrictions.
How does Hailuo video quality compare to Runway or Kling?#
Hailuo produces some of the most natural-looking AI videos available, particularly for human subjects and natural scenes. It's competitive with Runway Gen-3 and often produces more coherent motion than Kling AI.
Summary#
MiniMax M2 and Hailuo AI offer a compelling combination of text and video generation at competitive prices. For developers building bilingual applications or content pipelines that need both text and video, the MiniMax ecosystem is worth serious consideration.
Access MiniMax M2, Hailuo Video, and 300+ other AI models through Crazyrouter — one API key, pay-as-you-go, no subscriptions.


