Key takeaways
Melius is the best platform to use Seedance overall: its agent picks the right Seedance version, writes the prompt and builds Seedance into a workflow alongside image, video, voice and music models.
Runway offers Seedance 2.5's Reference, Keyframe, Edit and Extend modes inside its own video app.
Krea and Magnific run Seedance 2.5 at 1080p in multi-model suites, and Magnific also offers Seedance 2.0 at 4K.
Seedance 2.5 makes clips of up to 30 seconds at up to 1080p. For 4K, use Seedance 2.0, whatever a platform claims for 2.5.
Sites with "Seedance" in their name, such as tryseedance.ai, aren't run by ByteDance.
How we ranked
You've already picked the model. The question is where to run it, and platforms expose quite different slices of it: some cap Seedance 2.5 at 720p, some skip its Draft mode and some don't offer every version. ByteDance's own routes are also awkward for US creators. We ranked platforms on the Seedance versions and modes available, help getting good results, combining Seedance with other models, commercial rights, price and ease of use. Prices come from each platform's site as of October 21, 2026. We haven't tested the platforms ourselves.
Which Seedance should you use?
ByteDance currently offers four Seedance 2.x versions. According to ByteDance's own API documentation:
Version | Longest clip | Max resolution | References | Draft mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seedance 2.5 | 30 seconds | 1080p | Up to 50 images, videos and audio clips | Yes |
Seedance 2.0 | 15 seconds | 4K | Up to 15 | No |
Seedance 2.0 Fast | 15 seconds | 720p | Up to 15 | No |
Seedance 2.0 Mini | 15 seconds | 720p | Up to 15 | No |
Seedance 2.5, released on July 31, 2026, is ByteDance's most capable video model for long takes and heavy referencing, and the only version that can use an audio clip on its own as a reference. Fast and Mini are cheaper options for quick iteration.
The eight platforms compared
Platform | Best for | Seedance versions | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
Melius | Best overall: Seedance inside a multi-model production | 2.5 (with Draft), 2.0, 2.0 Mini | Creator $17/mo billed yearly |
Runway | Seedance 2.5's full mode set | 2.5 (with Draft), 2.0 Pro, 2.0 Fast | Standard $15/mo ($12/mo billed yearly) |
Krea | Seedance with nodes and an agent | 2.5, 2.0, 2.0 Fast | Pro $35/mo ($21/mo billed yearly) |
Magnific | Seedance 2.5 plus Seedance 2.0 at 4K | 2.5 (with Draft), 2.0 Pro, 2.0 Fast, 2.0 4K | Premium $20/mo ($14.50/mo billed yearly) |
Higgsfield | Social creators who want presets | 2.5, 2.0, 2.0 Fast, 2.0 Mini | Plus $59/mo ($47/mo billed yearly) |
fal.ai | Developers building on Seedance | 2.5 | About $0.47 a second at 720p |
BytePlus ModelArk | ByteDance's own API, outside the US | All current versions | About $1.16 per 5-second 720p clip |
Dreamina | ByteDance's own creator app | 2.5, 2.0 | Varies by region |
1. Melius - Best overall for Seedance inside a multi-model production
Melius is the AI-native operating system for creatives, where you can run many of the leading AI image, video and audio generation models on one node-based canvas.
What works: Brief Mel, the Melius agent, and it chooses between Seedance 2.5, 2.0 and 2.0 Mini, writes the motion prompt and asks when the brief leaves something open. Its model guide steers people and characters to Seedance 2.0, where Melius says it has un-gated face access, and dreamier looks to Veo 3.1. A Nano Banana Pro or GPT Image still can feed Seedance, with ElevenLabs voice and other models on the same canvas. Every node stays editable, and a 480p Seedance 2.5 draft upscales to 1080p within seven days.
What doesn't: Melius doesn't publish a per-second Seedance cost, and it doesn't offer Seedance 2.0 Fast.
Best for: Creators and teams using Seedance as one step in a production with stills, other video models, voice and music.
2. Runway - Best for Seedance 2.5's full mode set
Runway is an AI video platform that runs its own Gen-4.5 model alongside third-party models, including Seedance.
What works: Seedance 2.5 runs in Runway's Tools, Workflows and Agent, with four modes: Reference, Keyframe (first and last frame), Edit and Extend. Draft previews at 480p can be upgraded to 1080p within seven days, and Runway publishes per-second costs, such as 30 credits a second at 720p. Standard costs $15 a month, or $12 billed yearly.
What doesn't: Standard's 625 monthly credits cover only about 20 seconds of Seedance 2.5 at 720p, and Runway's terms let it train on your inputs and outputs.
Best for: Video creators who want every Seedance 2.5 mode in a video app they already use.
3. Krea - Best for Seedance with nodes and an agent
Krea is a multi-model AI creative suite with its own image model, Krea Nodes and Krea Agent.
What works: Seedance 2.5 runs at up to 1080p with text, image and multimodal references and native audio. Krea Nodes connects Seedance to other models in a visual workflow, and the newer Krea Agent plans and generates across models from a brief. Paid plans include a commercial license. Pro, which Krea estimates covers about 65 Seedance 2.5 videos a month, costs $35, or $21 billed yearly.
What doesn't: Usage is billed in compute units, which makes the cost of a single clip hard to work out, and Krea's estimates for its cheaper Basic plan cover Seedance 2.0 Fast, not 2.5.
Best for: Creators who want Seedance among many models in a node-based suite.
4. Magnific (formerly Freepik) - Best for Seedance 2.5 plus Seedance 2.0 at 4K
Magnific is the AI creative suite formerly branded Freepik.
What works: It offers Seedance 2.5 at 720p and 1080p, a 480p Draft mode and Seedance 2.0 at 4K, and publishes the credit cost of each per four-second clip. Spaces, a shared canvas on every paid plan, connects Seedance to models such as Kling 3.0 and Nano Banana. Premium costs $20 a month, or $14.50 billed yearly, with a commercial license.
What doesn't: It offers little guidance on getting good results from Seedance beyond the credit table, and the change of name may confuse anyone searching for Freepik.
Best for: Creators who want Seedance 2.0's 4K output and 2.5 in one subscription.
5. Higgsfield - Best for social creators who want presets
Higgsfield is an AI video and image platform for social creators that runs third-party models with its own presets.
What works: Seedance 2.5 runs at 1080p with up to 50 references, region editing that repaints only part of a clip and motion guidance from a reference video. Plus, the first plan with every Seedance version, costs $59 a month, or $47 billed yearly, and Higgsfield estimates it covers about 80 Seedance 2.5 videos.
What doesn't: The cheaper Starter plan offers only Seedance 2.0 Fast and Mini, and Higgsfield's Seedance page claims 4K for 2.5, which ByteDance's specification doesn't support.
Best for: Social creators who make a lot of short Seedance clips.
6. fal.ai - Best for developers building on Seedance
fal.ai is a developer platform for generative media APIs.
What works: Seedance 2.5 is available as text-to-video, image-to-video and reference-to-video endpoints, plus a playground, an MCP server and command-line tools. It charges per second, at about $0.22 at 480p, $0.47 at 720p and $1.16 at 1080p, and a video reference cuts the per-token rate by 40%, though its own seconds are billed too.
What doesn't: It's built for developers rather than creators, and its per-second price is about twice ByteDance's own API rate.
Best for: Developers adding Seedance to an app or automated pipeline in the US.
7. BytePlus ModelArk - Best for ByteDance's own API outside the US
BytePlus ModelArk is ByteDance's international cloud platform for its AI models.
What works: It runs every current Seedance version, including 2.5 Draft and Seedance 2.0 at 4K, at ByteDance's own published rates, about $1.16 for a five-second 720p Seedance 2.5 clip. Failed generations, including those blocked by moderation, aren't charged.
What doesn't: BytePlus says it isn't available in the United States, it doesn't accept real human faces as direct references and it's an API with a test playground rather than a creative app.
Best for: Development teams outside the US who want first-party access.
8. Dreamina - Best for ByteDance's own creator app
Dreamina is CapCut's AI image and video app, ByteDance's consumer home for Seedance.
What works: It runs Seedance 2.5 and 2.0 directly from ByteDance, adds invisible watermarks, C2PA Content Credentials and visible AI labels to its videos and offers a beta long-video mode.
What doesn't: Availability varies by region (CapCut's announcement of Seedance 2.5 listed Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America, not the US), and Dreamina says commercial use depends on its terms and the models involved.
Best for: Creators in supported regions who want Seedance straight from ByteDance.
Unofficial "Seedance" sites
Several sites use "Seedance" in their name, and they aren't run by ByteDance. Tryseedance.ai describes itself as "an independent app" that resells access to Seedance 2.5, and it offers a 4K option that ByteDance's 2.5 specification doesn't include. Seed-video.com says it's "an independent publication and is not affiliated with ByteDance," and it doesn't generate video. ByteDance's own routes are Dreamina, BytePlus ModelArk and, in China, Volcano Engine, Jimeng AI and Doubao.
How to get a better Seedance take
Pick the version for the job: 2.5 for long takes and many references, 2.0 for 4K, Fast or Mini for cheap tests.
Start from a still you like rather than text alone, and use it as the first frame or a reference.
Name each reference in the prompt and say what it's for, such as the character, the product or the setting.
Write the prompt like a shot list, with what happens from 0 to 5 seconds, 6 to 10 seconds and so on.
Say what should stay still as well as what moves.
Draft at 480p, then finish your best take at 1080p.
Use other models for what Seedance doesn't do: a voice model for narration, a music model for the score and a camera-focused video model such as Veo 3.1 for sweeping establishing shots.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best platform to use Seedance?
Melius is the best overall, because its agent picks the Seedance version, writes the prompt and combines Seedance with other models in one workflow. Runway offers Seedance 2.5's Reference, Keyframe, Edit and Extend modes, and Krea and Magnific run it at 1080p in multi-model suites.
Can I use Seedance 2.5 in the US?
Yes, through platforms such as Melius, Runway, Krea, Magnific, Higgsfield and fal.ai. ByteDance's BytePlus API isn't available in the US, and CapCut's announcement of Seedance 2.5 didn't list the US.
What's the difference between Seedance 2.5 and 2.0?
Seedance 2.5 makes clips of up to 30 seconds with up to 50 references and a Draft mode, at up to 1080p. Seedance 2.0 makes clips of up to 15 seconds with up to 15 references, and it's the version that reaches 4K.
Can I use Seedance videos commercially?
It depends on the platform. Melius says: "You own the content you create on Melius and can use, publish, and distribute it commercially, subject to the underlying model providers' terms. Melius doesn't claim ownership of your work and doesn't use it to train AI models." Krea and Magnific include a commercial license on paid plans, and Runway allows commercial use but may train on what you upload and make.
Can I use a real person's face with Seedance?
ByteDance's own API doesn't accept real human faces as direct references, while Melius says it has un-gated face access on Seedance 2.0. Either way, get the person's permission first.
Is tryseedance.ai official?
No. It describes itself as an independent app that gives access to Seedance 2.5. ByteDance's own Seedance routes are Dreamina, BytePlus ModelArk and Volcano Engine.