A 10-second Seedance 2.5 clip costs 4.84 credits at 480p, 10.87 at 720p and 26.89 at 1080p in ChatCut. At ChatCut’s list prices of $0.18 to $0.25 per credit, that is roughly $0.85–$1.21, $1.91–$2.72 and $4.72–$6.72 per clip. ByteDance’s own API charges about $2.31 for the same 720p clip and $5.69 for 1080p, billed by video tokens.
All prices on this page were checked on November 13, 2026. ChatCut figures are live quotes from the editor for a 16:9 clip with no reference video; the editor always shows the exact quote before anything is charged. API figures come from BytePlus and Volcengine price tables linked below. Seedance 2.5 Flash and Seedance 2.5 4K are newer variants with their own sections: Flash isn’t in ChatCut yet, and 4K has just been added.
Key Takeaways
- Seedance 2.5 is billed by length and resolution. Twice the seconds costs twice the credits. 1080p costs about 2.5 times 720p.
- A 480p clip in ChatCut is a draft. You can turn it into the 1080p final of the same shot within 7 days for 26.89 credits per 10 seconds, the same price as generating 1080p directly.
- Drafting first only saves money when you reject takes. On our own shoots it cut the bill by 26% when we kept 5 of 9 ideas, and by 2% when we kept 4 of 5.
- Flash is about 34% cheaper per token than Seedance 2.5 at 720p, according to ByteDance. Its API opens on November 15, 2026; it is not in ChatCut yet.
- There is no unlimited free Seedance 2.5. Free and trial offers exist, but they are small, short or renew into a paid plan.
How much does a Seedance 2.5 clip cost in ChatCut?
ChatCut charges Seedance 2.5 by the seconds you generate and the resolution you pick. These are the editor’s quotes for a 16:9 text-to-video clip, taken on November 13, 2026.
| Clip length | 480p (draft) | 720p | 1080p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 seconds | 2.43 credits | 5.46 credits | 13.50 credits | 21.74 credits |
| 10 seconds | 4.84 credits | 10.87 credits | 26.89 credits | 43.29 credits |
| 15 seconds | 7.24 credits | 16.27 credits | 40.27 credits | 64.85 credits |
| 30 seconds | 14.46 credits | 32.50 credits | 80.43 credits | 129.51 credits |
4K on Seedance 2.5 is new in ChatCut, so its column comes from ChatCut’s pricing rules, which give exactly the editor’s quotes above for the other resolutions. A 4K clip costs about 1.6 times the same clip at 1080p.
Turning a 10-second 480p draft into its 1080p final costs 26.89 credits, so a draft plus its final costs 31.73 credits in total. A 4K final is priced like any 4K clip: 43.29 credits for 10 seconds, or 48.13 with its draft.
What that is in dollars depends on your plan. ChatCut sells credits in monthly or annual plans from 100 to 2,000 credits. On the pricing page, the 100-credit monthly plan works out to $0.25 per credit and the 2,000-credit annual plan to about $0.18. At those two ends, a 10-second 1080p clip costs $6.72 or $4.72.
Two things change the quote:
- Reference videos. Seedance 2.5 counts the length of any reference or source video as extra input, so a clip guided by a 10-second reference costs more than the same clip from text or images. The editor adds that input to the quote before you send. See the credits policy for how input is counted.
- Older Seedance models. Seedance 2.0 is cheaper per second and also renders native 4K, for clips up to 15 seconds. Seedance 2.0 Fast and mini are cheaper again, at up to 720p.
| 10-second clip in ChatCut | 480p | 720p | 1080p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 | 4.84 | 10.87 | 26.89 | 43.29 |
| Seedance 2.0 | 3.32 | 7.14 | 17.81 | 36.31 |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast | 2.67 | 5.75 | not offered | not offered |
| Seedance 2.0 mini | 1.66 | 3.57 | not offered | not offered |
What does a 480p draft get you?
A draft is the cheapest way to see a Seedance 2.5 shot before you pay for it in full. It uses the same model, prompt and references as the final, so the composition, motion and timing you approve are the ones you get back at 1080p.
On the draft-to-final pairs we made for our model pages, the final kept the shot every time. The details are re-rendered, though: in one clip a castle’s towers came back with a slightly different outline. If a small detail must be exact, such as a logo or a line of text, check it in the final before you use it.
The draft route has two limits in ChatCut. A draft can only become a 1080p final, and it has to be turned into one within 7 days. To change the prompt, length or references, make a new draft.
Does drafting first save money?
Only when you would have thrown some takes away. A draft adds 4.84 credits to a 26.89-credit final, so if you keep every shot you try, drafting costs 18% more than generating 1080p directly. It starts to pay off once you reject more than about one take in five.
Here is what it did on two real jobs: the opening clips we made for our Seedance 2.5 Flash and 4K model pages.
Three ways to spend less per clip you actually use:
- Test the idea short. A 5-second 480p draft costs 2.43 credits. If the look is wrong at 5 seconds, it will be wrong at 30.
- Draft the shots you are unsure about, not every shot. A product close-up you have already nailed can go straight to 1080p.
- Match resolution to where the video goes. A vertical social clip watched on a phone rarely needs more than 720p, which costs 40% of 1080p.
What does ByteDance charge for the Seedance 2.5 API?
ByteDance sells Seedance through BytePlus ModelArk outside China and Volcengine Ark in China. Both bill by video tokens, not by clip. The BytePlus price table gives the formula:
tokens ≈ (input video seconds + output seconds) × width × height × frames per second ÷ 1,024
A 10-second 720p clip at 24 fps with no reference video is 1280 × 720 × 24 × 10 ÷ 1,024 = 216,000 tokens. At $10.70 per million tokens, that is about $2.31.
| Model | Resolution | BytePlus, per 1M tokens (no video input) | Volcengine, per 1M tokens | 10-second clip, our calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedance 2.5 | 480p, 720p | $10.70 | ¥70 | 720p: $2.31 |
| Seedance 2.5 | 1080p | $11.70 | ¥77 | $5.69 |
| Seedance 2.5 Flash | 480p, 720p | $7.00 | ¥46 | 720p: $1.51 |
| Seedance 2.0 | 480p, 720p | $7.00 | ¥46 | 720p: $1.51 |
| Seedance 2.0 | 1080p | $7.70 | ¥51 | $3.74 |
| Seedance 2.0 | 4K | $4.00 | ¥26 | $7.78 |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast | 480p, 720p | $5.60 | ¥37 | 720p: $1.21 |
Sources: BytePlus ModelArk pricing and Volcengine Ark pricing, checked November 13, 2026. Requests that include a reference video use a lower per-token rate, but the reference’s seconds are added to the token count.
Two details matter when you compare these numbers with a per-clip price:
- The token price drops at 4K, the bill doesn’t. Seedance 2.0’s 4K rate is the lowest per token, but a 4K frame has four times the pixels of 1080p, so a 10-second 4K clip still costs about twice a 1080p one.
- A draft and its final are two bills. ModelArk charges the 480p draft at the 480p rate and the final at its own resolution, the same as ChatCut does.
The API is the cheapest route per token, but you need a BytePlus or Volcengine account, an API key and your own code to call it. ChatCut’s per-clip price lands in the same range as the API, with the editor, timeline and quote screen included.
How much cheaper is Seedance 2.5 Flash?
ByteDance announced Seedance 2.5 Flash on November 12, 2026, as nearly twice as fast as Seedance 2.5 and about 34% cheaper for 720p text-to-video and image-to-video. In the price table, that is $7.00 per million tokens against $10.70: a 10-second 720p clip drops from about $2.31 to $1.51. (BytePlus announcement)
What the discount doesn’t cover:
- No 1080p. Flash generates 480p and 720p only. For a 1080p or 4K version you generate the shot again on the full model, which is a new take, not an upscale of your Flash clip.
- No draft-to-final link. A Flash clip is a finished 480p or 720p clip. Unlike a Seedance 2.5 draft, it can’t be turned into a matching final.
- Not available yet. The official API and online trial open on November 15, 2026 at 14:00 (UTC+8). Flash is not in ChatCut at the time of writing.
Our Seedance 2.5 Flash page covers what the model does, and the Flash, draft or 4K guide helps you pick between them for a shot.
What does Seedance 4K cost?
There are two native 4K Seedance options in ChatCut.
- Seedance 2.0 at 4K costs 36.31 credits for 10 seconds in ChatCut (18.23 for 5 seconds), about twice the 1080p price. The ByteDance API works out to about $7.78 for 10 seconds. In our test, a 5-second 4K clip took about 10 minutes to generate, against about 4 for the same prompt at 1080p.
- Seedance 2.5 at 4K costs 43.29 credits for 10 seconds in ChatCut (21.74 for 5 seconds, 129.51 for 30), about 1.6 times its 1080p price, and a 480p draft can finish at 4K. On ByteDance’s API, Seedance 2.5 4K went to selected enterprise customers in October 2026 without a public price. Our Seedance 2.5 4K page shows what it does.
Whether 4K is worth the extra credits depends on where the video ends up. Our native 4K guide puts 4K, 1080p and an upscale side by side so you can judge.
What does Seedance 2.5 cost on other platforms?
Many sites resell Seedance 2.5. Their prices for one 10-second, 16:9 clip with no reference video, as published on November 13, 2026:
| Platform | 10 s at 720p | 10 s at 1080p | How it bills |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatCut | 10.87 credits (about $1.91–$2.72) | 26.89 credits (about $4.72–$6.72) | Credits from a monthly or annual plan |
| Replicate | $2.31 | not listed | Per output second |
| Segmind | about $2.43 | about $5.99 | Per second, prepaid |
| Kie.ai | $3.15 | $7.90 | Prepaid credits |
| BudgetPixel | $3.30 | $7.50 | Pay-as-you-go credits |
| WaveSpeed | $3.60 | $9.00 | Per clip, list price |
| Higgsfield | about $3.43 | about $7.84 | Credits; estimated from $49 per 1,000 credits |
| fal | about $4.73 | about $11.64 | Per 1,000 tokens |
Prices on these sites change often and some depend on plan size, discounts or promotional windows. Use the table to see the range, then check the quote on the site you choose.
Is Seedance 2.5 free?
Not in a way that covers real work. Here is what we found on November 13, 2026:
- ChatCut: the editor is free, but video generation needs a Pro plan and uses credits. There are no free Seedance clips.
- Dreamina (CapCut): eligible new US users can get a first month of the Basic plan for $0.29 with 1,575 credits, enough for about four 10-second 720p clips. It renews at $15 a month. (Dreamina pricing)
- Higgsfield: advertises a three-day trial that includes all models and renews into a paid plan automatically. (Higgsfield offer)
- Kie.ai and BudgetPixel: both give small starter or monthly credit allowances, but by their own rates neither covers a single 4-second Seedance 2.5 clip.
“Unlimited” Seedance 2.5 offers exist, but every one we checked requires a paid plan and limits the queue, resolution or time window. Read those terms before you subscribe for them.
How to read the price before you generate in ChatCut
- Switch the AI composer to Video Gen and choose Seedance 2.5 from the model name below the composer.
- Open Video settings and set Resolution and Duration. Pick 480p if you want a draft.
- Add any images or videos you want as references.
- Read the credit estimate beside Send. It already includes reference video input.
- After the clip is done, open Credits history → Detail to see the exact amount charged.
If you work from Claude Code or Codex with the ChatCut plugin, the agent can ask ChatCut for the same quote before it submits a clip. See plans and credits for how to check your balance.
