Seedance tokens: how video tokens turn into dollars

A Seedance token is a video token: a unit that measures how big the output clip is, not how long your prompt is. Sume's pricing code counts width × height × seconds × 24 frames ÷ 1,024, rounds up, and bills per 1,000 tokens, so a 5-second 720p 16:9 clip is 108,000 tokens and reserves $1.89 on seedance-2 before the agent fee.

The formula, rates and rounding below are read from Sume's pricing code on 2026-09-28; the model ids and limits come from the Video generation docs. This is the arithmetic behind the Seedance line in How much does an AI video cost?, worked through for every Seedance id.

How many Seedance tokens is one second of video?

It depends only on the frame size, because the frame rate in the formula is fixed at 24. The pricing code counts a 720p 16:9 frame as 1280 × 720 pixels, so one second is 1280 × 720 × 24 ÷ 1,024 tokens. For 16:9 clips:

• 480p: 10,044 tokens a second.
• 720p: 21,600 tokens a second.
• 1080p: 48,600 tokens a second, on seedance-2.5 and seedance-2 only.
• Length multiplies directly: a 10-second clip is twice the tokens of a 5-second one at the same resolution.
• Other aspect ratios have slightly different pixel counts, so their token counts differ a little from 16:9.

How much does a Seedance token cost?

Each Seedance id has its own list rate per 1,000 tokens, and Sume bills that rate × 1.25. seedance-2.5 has a separate, higher rate at 1080p. The rest of the price is the token count, which resolution, aspect ratio and length set.

Why does a reference video cost more?

Sume's pricing code prices a reference video as extra input tokens. When a request carries one, the code assumes 15 seconds of input, adds them to the clip length, and then multiplies the price by 0.6. The 5-second 720p seedance-2 clip above becomes 432,000 billable tokens and reserves $4.54 instead of $1.89.

In current code only a reference video triggers that rule; reference images and audio do not. What each reference type does is covered in Seedance 2.5 API: 30-second clips.

What is a Seedance token plan?

BytePlus lists Seedance plans (Light, Production and Premium), each valid for 3 months. Its product page says a plan "offsets usage based on per-token pricing, up to ~1:1.8 across resolutions and input modes", and sizes each plan in seconds of 480p video. The plan prices did not load in the page text read on 2026-09-28, so they are not quoted here.

Sume has no token plan. Each request is reserved on submit from the workspace's USD balance at provider list × 1.25, plus a 5.5% agent fee by default. Sume vs Seedance compares buying from BytePlus with buying through Sume.

How do I check the price before I submit?

Four checks keep the reserve close to what you expect:

• Send resolution, aspect_ratio and duration explicitly: they are the three inputs to the token count.
• Read each model's pricing_skus from GET /v1/videos/models; Seedance ids are priced per 1,000 video tokens there.
• Keep 1080p for seedance-2.5 and seedance-2, and 16–30 second clips for seedance-2.5; the other ids stop at 15 seconds.
• After the job completes, the poll response's usage.cost is the Sume billable amount.