ByteDance Seedance 2 Pricing: Credit Costs From 480p to 4K

ByteDance Seedance 2 on VdoBloom is priced from a fixed per-duration table rather than a flat per-clip fee: a 5-second clip costs 38 credits at 480p, 82 at 720p, 204 at 1080p and 416 at 4K — about $1.90 to $20.80 at the Lite plan rate of $0.05 per credit. It is the most expensive model in the Seedance family because it is the only one that reaches 4K and the only one whose 1080p tier is a true flagship render. Knowing exactly where the steps land is the difference between a controlled budget and a surprise.

What sets the price

Seedance 2 takes a text prompt or a starting image, generates any whole-second duration from 4 to 15 seconds, and outputs at 480p, 720p, 1080p or 4K across six aspect ratios including cinema-wide 21:9. Of those settings, here is what does and does not move the bill:

Resolution is the big lever. Going from 480p to 4K at the same length multiplies the cost by roughly eleven.
Duration scales close to linearly — each extra second adds a fixed slice.
Aspect ratio is free. A 21:9 trailer frame costs exactly what a 9:16 vertical costs.
Input mode is free at 480p, 720p and 1080p — text-to-video and image-to-video are charged identically. At 4K only, supplying a reference video is charged at a lower per-second rate than text or image input, counted on the reference clip’s seconds plus the output’s.

Seedance 2 credit costs in full

Dollar figures use the Lite rate, where $15 a month buys 300 credits and one credit is $0.05. These are the real numbers the credit engine charges, not estimates.

Duration	480p	720p	1080p	4K
4 seconds	31 cr — $1.55	66 cr — $3.30	164 cr — $8.20	333 cr — $16.65
5 seconds	38 cr — $1.90	82 cr — $4.10	204 cr — $10.20	416 cr — $20.80
6 seconds	45 cr — $2.25	98 cr — $4.90	245 cr — $12.25	500 cr — $25.00
8 seconds	61 cr — $3.05	131 cr — $6.55	327 cr — $16.35	666 cr — $33.30
10 seconds	76 cr — $3.80	163 cr — $8.15	408 cr — $20.40	832 cr — $41.60
12 seconds	90 cr — $4.50	196 cr — $9.80	490 cr — $24.50	999 cr — $49.95
15 seconds	113 cr — $5.65	244 cr — $12.20	612 cr — $30.60	1,248 cr — $62.40

The intermediate durations not listed — 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14 seconds — sit on the same curve. Working per second, 480p is roughly 7.6 credits a second, 720p roughly 16.3, 1080p roughly 40.8 and 4K roughly 83.2.

The 4K reference-video rate

At 4K, when the generation is driven by a reference video rather than by text or a still image, the per-second rate drops — but the reference clip’s own seconds are billed too, so the reference length decides whether it saves anything:

4K job	5 seconds	10 seconds	15 seconds
From text or an image	416 cr — $20.80	832 cr — $41.60	1,248 cr — $62.40
With a 2-second reference video	359 cr — $17.95	615 cr — $30.75	871 cr — $43.55
With a 10-second reference video	768 cr — $38.40	1024 cr — $51.20	1,280 cr — $64.00

One caveat that catches people out: when a reference video is supplied, the meter counts both the output length and the input clip’s length at the same per-second rate, with the input capped at 15 seconds. Feeding a 10-second reference video into a 10-second 4K render is therefore billed closer to 20 seconds of output, not 10. Trim reference clips to the shortest usable segment before uploading — it is the single largest saving available on this model.

Cheaper doors into the same family

Seedance 2 shares its duration ladder and all six aspect ratios with two smaller siblings, so a composition proven on either transfers to the flagship without re-prompting. Their prices are in a different class.

Model	5 s at 480p	5 s at 720p	Resolution ceiling	Best for
Seedance 2	38 cr — $1.90	82 cr — $4.10	4K	Hero shots, trailers, large-screen delivery
Seedance 2 Fast	24 cr — $1.20	50 cr — $2.50	720p	Faster iteration on the same look
Seedance 2 Mini	8 cr — $0.40	17 cr — $0.85	720p	Volume drafting and prompt experiments
Seedance 1.5 Pro	4 cr — $0.20	8 cr — $0.40	1080p	Cheapest 1080p in the family

Read that table honestly and it tells you when not to use Seedance 2. If your delivery target is a social feed that will re-compress everything anyway, Mini at 17 credits does the job for one fifth of what the flagship charges at the same resolution. If you need 1080p on a budget, the previous generation is cheaper still. Seedance 2 earns its price when the output will be seen large — a landing-page hero loop, a trailer beat, a 21:9 cinema frame — or when you specifically need 4K, which nothing else in the family offers.

A realistic 4K budget

Suppose you need one 8-second 4K 21:9 hero loop. Do not start at 4K. Run six prompt variations on Mini at 480p (7 credits each at 4 seconds, 42 credits total, $2.10), pick two, extend them to 8 seconds on Seedance 2 Fast at 720p (80 credits each, 160 credits, $8.00) to confirm the motion holds, then render the winner once at 4K for 8 seconds — 666 credits, $33.30. Total: 868 credits, roughly $43.40 at the Lite rate.

Going straight to 4K and iterating there would have cost 666 credits per attempt. Three attempts is 1,998 credits, near $100. The staged approach costs about 40 percent of that and produces a better-tested shot. On annual billing at the 2,000-credit Pro tier, where a credit works out near $0.025, the same staged run is closer to $21.27.

Ways to lower the per-credit price

The $0.05 per credit used throughout this page is the monthly Lite rate, which is the most expensive way to buy. Annual Lite billing is $10 a month for the same 300 credits, bringing a credit to about $0.033, and the 2,000-credit Pro tier on annual billing at $49 a month brings it near $0.025 — so a 15-second 1080p render swings from $30.60 to roughly $15.00 depending purely on how you bought the credits. One-time credit packs start at $10.39 for 200 credits and never expire, which suits an occasional 4K job better than a subscription does. Current plans are listed on the pricing page, and new accounts start with 10 free credits and no card.

Seedance 2 sits on both the text-to-video and image-to-video tabs, and the exact cost for your chosen duration and resolution is shown before you generate. Prompt structures that suit the family are collected in the Seedance prompt library.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Seedance 2 so much more expensive than Seedance 1.5 Pro?

It is a heavier model with a higher ceiling. Seedance 2 renders 4K and runs to 15 seconds; 1.5 Pro stops at 1080p and 14 seconds. At a matched 5 seconds and 720p the gap is 82 credits against 8, so unless you need what the flagship adds, the older generation is far better value.

Does image-to-video cost more than text-to-video on Seedance 2?

At 480p, 720p and 1080p the two modes cost exactly the same. The only split is at 4K, where a job driven by a reference video bills at the lower per-second rate shown above, on reference plus output seconds, while text and image inputs bill at the standard 4K rate.

What is the cheapest possible Seedance 2 generation?

A 4-second clip at 480p, which is 31 credits, or $1.55 at the Lite rate. If that is still more than a draft is worth, Seedance 2 Mini starts at 7 credits for the same 4 seconds at 480p and shares the identical duration and aspect-ratio options.

Does a 21:9 or vertical render cost extra?

No. All six aspect ratios — 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4 and 21:9 — are charged the same. You can produce matching landscape, vertical and cinema-wide cuts of the same length for identical credit costs.

What happens to my credits if a generation fails?

Credits are deducted when the job is accepted and refunded automatically if the generation fails, so a failed 4K render does not cost you 666 credits. The cost for your exact settings is always displayed before you press generate.