Three Wan 480p drafts then one Seedance 2.5 1080p final: $24.13

Three 15-second drafts on Wan 3.0 at 480p cost 3 x $0.9375 = $2.8125, and one 15-second final on Seedance 2.5 at 1080p costs 15 x $1.42155 = $21.32325. Together that is $24.13575, about $24.14 as shown at cent precision. The final is 88 percent of the spend.

A two-model workflow

Drafting on a cheap model and finishing on a better one is common, but the two models are different, so a Wan draft previews framing and pacing of your prompt, not how Seedance 2.5 will render it. The draft saves money only if it rules out ideas, not if it promises the final look.

Alternatives at the same length

If the final is done on Seedance 2.5 at 720p instead, it costs 15 x 0.5778 = $8.667 and the total falls to $11.4795. If the drafts and final are all Seedance 2.5 at 480p, one take is $4.030155 and four takes are $16.12062, which keeps one model throughout and avoids the mismatch.

A reasonable rule: draft on the same model when look consistency matters, and on a cheaper model when you are testing the idea.

• Drafts at 480p are 4.3 times cheaper than 480p on Seedance 2.5 (0.268677 / 0.0625).
• Add $0.125 for a music track and $0.02 to $0.10 for finishing jobs.
• If a job fails, the docs say the reservation is released or refunded where applicable; a take that completes but looks wrong is still captured.

How many drafts pay off

Each Wan 480p draft costs $0.9375, and the final costs $21.32. If a draft has a one-in-four chance of letting you skip a failed final, the expected saving is a quarter of $21.32, or $5.33, which exceeds the draft cost. If the chance is one in twenty, the saving is $1.07, only slightly more than the draft. This is a model of your own risk, not a measured property of the models.

A cheaper pattern is to draft on Seedance 2.5 at 480p ($4.03 per 15 s) when you want the same model's motion, then pay the 1080p final. Four 480p drafts plus a final is 4 x $4.03 + $21.32 = $37.44, more than the Wan route ($24.14), so you pay about $13 for model consistency.

Sources

Rates: catalog. Durations and routes: video generation docs.