Runway Seedance 2.0 at 4K costs 3.75x 1080p: $1.50 vs $0.40 a second
Runway lists Seedance 2.0 at 40 credits per second for 1080p and 150 for 4K: $0.40 against $1.50. A 5-second 4K clip is $7.50, $2.00 at 1080p. Do you need 4K?
Runway's pricing guide lists Seedance 2.0 at 36, 36, 40 and 150 credits per second across its four resolution tiers, the last being 4K. At $0.01 per credit, 1080p is $0.40 per second and 4K is $1.50, so 4K costs 150 / 40 = 3.75x as much. A 5-second 4K clip is $7.50 against $2.00 at 1080p. The figures are from the Runway pricing guide (read 2026-10-04).
Sume's video docs list seedance-2 up to 1080p, so there is no 4K row to compare on the Sume side.
| Tier | Credits per second | Dollars per second | 5 seconds | 10 seconds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower tiers (two of them) | 36 | $0.36 | $1.80 | $3.60 |
| 1080p | 40 | $0.40 | $2.00 | $4.00 |
| 4K | 150 | $1.50 | $7.50 | $15.00 |
The step up
The jump from 1080p to 4K is $1.50 - $0.40 = $1.10 more per second. On a 10-second clip that is $15.00 - $4.00 = $11.00. Against the first two tiers at 36 credits, 4K is 150 / 36 = 4.17x.
The step from the lowest tiers to 1080p is small, 40 against 36, an 11% increase ($0.04 per second), so 1080p is the natural default and 4K is the premium choice.
Is 4K worth it
Most delivery targets, such as mobile feeds and web embeds, are 1080p or lower, and a 4K master can be downscaled but not the reverse. If a clip will be cropped for reframing, extra pixels can pay for themselves. Otherwise generate at 1080p, and if one shot deserves 4K, spend on that shot only.
- Social vertical: 1080p.
- Cropped or zoomed in post: 4K on the hero shots.
- Review drafts: lowest tier first, $0.36 per second.
Steps
- Draft the shot at the lowest tier: 5 seconds is $1.80.
- Re-run the winning prompt at 1080p, $2.00.
- Re-run at 4K only if the framing needs it, $7.50.
- Total for the three passes on one 5-second shot: $1.80 + $2.00 + $7.50 = $11.30.
A 12-shot sequence
Twelve 5-second shots, all at 1080p, cost 12 x $2.00 = $24. All at 4K they cost 12 x $7.50 = $90. Eight at 1080p and four hero shots at 4K cost 8 x $2.00 + 4 x $7.50 = $16 + $30 = $46, a $44 saving against all-4K.
Caveats
I read the four credit numbers in order and treated the final one as 4K; check the table's tier labels before you budget. Seedance 2.5 uses a different credit scale with an 80-credit minimum per clip. Prices read 2026-10-04.
Sources
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Written by Sume