What is Seedance 2.5?

Seedance 2.5 is ByteDance's newest video model on NightCafe. It launched in September 2026 as a single PRO model for AI Enthusiast and above, and it runs on purchased Fast Credits.

Use it for text-to-video or image-to-video. Clips can be 4–30 seconds at 480p, 720p, or 1080p (720p is the default). Studio still starts new videos on PixVerse V6 — switch to Seedance 2.5 in the picker when you want this model.

Seedance 2.0, 2.0 Fast, and 2.0 Mini stay in Studio for shorter, cheaper Seedance clips. Seedance 1.5 Pro is retiring on November 11, 2026 — prefer 2.5 or 2.0 instead. See Deprecation of Seedance 1.5 Pro.

What it's good at

• Longer clips — up to 30 seconds in one generate. Most other NightCafe video models cap around 15 seconds.
• 1080p — higher-resolution output than Seedance 2.0 Fast or Mini.
• Image-to-video — optional start frame plus optional end frame, or up to nine reference images instead (not together).
• Start and end frames — lock the first shot, then choose None, Loop, or a custom last-frame image.
• Native audio — turn on Generate Audio and describe the sound in your prompt (dialogue, ambience, music).
• Aspect ratios — 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16, 21:9.

How to use it

In Studio, open the Video form and pick Seedance 2.5. Write a prompt that covers the scene, the action, camera motion, and (if you want sound) the audio. Optionally add a start image and an end frame, or reference images instead.

Example prompt:

A white teddy bear in sunglasses swims toward the camera at a cloudy Caribbean sunset. Arms and feet paddle, water splashes. Slow dramatic zoom in. Soft tropical wave sound and distant gulls, no music.

For image-to-video, upload a realistic still as the start frame and describe only the motion and sound. End frame options are None, Loop (the clip ends where it started), or Image (upload a custom last frame). After you generate, the creation settings panel shows the Video End Frame you chose. Do not upload a start image of a real person — Seedance 2.5 blocks realistic human faces as a start frame.

Credits and access

Seedance 2.5 needs AI Enthusiast or higher and purchased Fast Credits (not earned credits in relax mode). Credits are charged per second of video. The default is a 5-second, 720p clip (~125 credits). Longer clips and higher resolutions cost more.

A 30-second 720p clip is about 750 credits. Credit cost does not change when you turn audio on or off.

Which Seedance should I pick?

• Seedance 2.5 — use when you want clips longer than 15 seconds, 1080p output, or start/end-frame control on this family.
• Seedance 2.0 / 2.0 Fast / 2.0 Mini — cheaper for short clips. Independent Artificial Analysis video arenas still list Seedance 2.0 (not 2.5) near the top of text-to-video-with-audio.
• P-Video-2 Fast — a much cheaper any-PRO option for 5–20 second 720p/1080p clips (~8 credits for 5s at 720p). See P-Video-2 and P-Video-2 Pro on NightCafe.
• MiniMax H3 Max Turbo — the stronger value pick for 5–15 second clips if you want native audio on any PRO plan and the current arena leader. See MiniMax H3 Max, Turbo and Fast on NightCafe.

Good to know

• Reference images and a start/end frame cannot be used together.
• End frames need a start image. Options are None, Loop, or a custom Image.
• If you hide the start image on a video, other people will not see the end-frame image either.
• Audio is optional. Turn on Generate Audio and describe the sound in the prompt — there is no separate audio prompt box.
• Durations are 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, or 30 seconds. Default is 5 seconds.

See also Creating Videos on NightCafe and the NightCafe AI Models Guide.