How to use Seedance in the US: Dreamina, Higgsfield or the API, step by step

To use Seedance in November 2026, open it inside an app that runs ByteDance's model: for US readers that's Dreamina, CapCut's AI studio, on the web or in ByteDance's own Dreamina app, or Higgsfield, where Seedance 2.5 needs the Plus plan. ByteDance's own Seedance site only describes the model, and its developer API, BytePlus ModelArk, says it isn't available in the United States. We read every route's own pages on November 8, 2026 (prices from our November 3 and 7 checks, each dated) and ran Seedance 2.5 ourselves on Higgsfield on November 3 and 7. For Seedance's prices, free credits, fixes and comparisons in one place, start at our Seedance hub: every version, route and price.

Jimeng and Doubao, ByteDance's apps for China, also run Seedance 2.5; ByteDance named them in its July 31 launch post. We haven't covered them because they're China-facing.

Where can I use Seedance?

ByteDance makes Seedance but doesn't host a generator under that name. Its research team, ByteDance Seed, describes Seedance 2.5 at seed.bytedance.com as a model that can "Create videos up to 30 seconds in a single generation", and its buttons send you elsewhere: "Try Dola" goes to dola.com and "Try in Playground" to the BytePlus AI playground (read Nov 8). So "how to use Seedance" really means picking one of the apps in the table above.

For a US reader, three facts narrow it down fast:

• The API is out. BytePlus, ByteDance's cloud for developers, ends its Seedance 2.5 announcement with "(Note: BytePlus is not available in the United States)" (read Nov 3 and Nov 7).
• Two Higgsfield options are out. Its changelog says Seedance 2.5 Draft Mode is available in "all regions except the US", and on November 3 it showed "Seedance 2.0 Mini is not available in US" under that model.
• Dreamina is in. Its free-credits page says "Free accounts in the US receive 120 credits per day", so Dreamina is the one ByteDance-run route that names the US.

If you want Seedance next to other models on one bill, Higgsfield is the other route. If you only want Seedance, Dreamina is the direct one.

Which Seedance version should I pick?

Seedance 2.5 for anything you'll publish; an older version for cheap tests. ByteDance Seed launched 2.5 on July 31, 2026 as an "audio-video joint generation model, built for 30-second storytelling". BytePlus's prompt guide (updated Nov 7) says it "can generate a single video up to 30 seconds long and accept up to 50 image, audio, and video reference assets in one request", in "more than 10 languages". On Higgsfield, Seedance 2.0 runs 4 to 15 seconds and is the version with 4K; 2.0 Fast is the budget one, at 480p or 720p.

There's no "Seedance 2.5 Mini" or "2.5 Fast": every page we read lists Mini and Fast as 2.0 versions. Our Kling vs Seedance comparison, with two same-brief tests covers when another model is the better pick altogether.

How do I use Seedance on Dreamina?

Dreamina's own Seedance 2.5 page gives three steps (read Nov 8, 2026). In its words, condensed:

What it costs: Dreamina's Seedance price page (dated Oct 27, read Nov 3) lists "37 credits/second for Seedance 2.5, 17 for Pro, 8 for Fast and 5 for Mini at 720p". A 5-second Seedance 2.5 clip is therefore 185 credits, and one free US day (120 credits) covers about 3 seconds of it, less than the shortest clip. Basic is $15 a month for 1,575 credits, and eligible US users were offered a $0.29 first month from October 21; it renews at $15. That's about $1.76 per 5-second 2.5 clip on Basic, before retries (our arithmetic).

Two things to know before you plan around free credits. Dreamina's pages disagree on what they reach: the free-credits page says the free tier covers "Seedance 2.0 for video", while the Seedance 2.5 page says "Dreamina provides free daily credits to test out Seedance 2.5" (re-read Nov 8). And free downloads carry a Dreamina watermark, while Dreamina's terms (updated Jan 22, 2026) have users agree not to use the services or content "for any commercial or unauthorized purposes". What Seedance's free credits really buy works through both.

How do I use Seedance on Higgsfield?

Higgsfield's Seedance help article (last modified Sep 9, read Nov 8, 2026) gives the workflow. It was written around Seedance 2.0; the same steps apply to 2.5 in the same model menu:

The settings you'll see for Seedance 2.5, from Higgsfield's catalogue (read Nov 8): 4 to 30 seconds, 480p, 720p or 1080p, aspect ratios from 21:9 to 9:16 plus auto, and four modes (text-to-video, references, video edit and video extension). Sound is on by default, and Higgsfield says "The sound toggle doesn't change the cost of a generation." Its panel also has a Bitrate setting; its changelog (Jun 19) says High gives "higher video quality at the same credit cost".

What it costs: on the Generate button a 5-second Seedance 2.5 clip was 15 credits at 480p (Nov 3), 35 at 720p and 80 at 1080p (both Nov 7). Plus is $59 a month or $47 billed yearly for 1,200 credits, so a 720p clip is about $1.72 on monthly Plus and $1.16 on yearly Ultra (our arithmetic). Every Seedance version and plan is priced in what Seedance costs on Higgsfield.

We've used this route ourselves. On November 7 a 5-second 720p Seedance 2.5 clip from a text prompt took about six minutes and came back at 720×1280 with a stereo track; on November 3, five reference-mode tries from one product photo gave three usable clips. Both clips are shown frame by frame in our Kling 4.0 vs Seedance 2.5 tests.

What does one Seedance clip cost on each route?

The same 5-second, 720p Seedance 2.5 clip, priced on each route's own page. Credit-based routes are our arithmetic: plan price divided by plan credits, times the credits per clip, assuming you use every credit.

Then multiply by your tries. In our November 3 product test Seedance 2.5 kept the product right in 3 of 5 tries, so each usable clip cost about 58 Higgsfield credits, not 35 (our 10-clip cost-per-usable-clip test). Draft at 480p or on Seedance 2.0 Fast, and render 720p or 1080p only once the prompt works.

How do I use the Seedance API and get an API key?

Through BytePlus ModelArk, ByteDance's model platform, and only from a country BytePlus serves; its own note says it "is not available in the United States". BytePlus's Quick start (updated Nov 7, read Nov 8, 2026) lays out four steps:

1. Get an API key. In the ModelArk console, switch to your project, click API Keys in the left menu, and create a ModelArk API key.
2. Store it as an environment variable, ARK_API_KEY, never in code you ship to a browser.
3. Activate the model on ModelArk's Model activation page. An account that hasn't is refused with a 404 ModelNotOpen error.
4. Create a video task, then poll it. Install the SDK (python -m pip install --upgrade arkruntime), send a text prompt to the Seedance 2.5 model ID, and check the task until its status is succeeded.

The video call in BytePlus's own Python sample, trimmed (the key stays in your environment; replace nothing in the code itself):

import os
from arkruntime import Ark

client = Ark(
    base_url="https://ark.ap-southeast.bytepluses.com/api/v3",
    api_key=os.environ.get("ARK_API_KEY"),
)
task = client.content_generation.tasks.create(
    model="dreamina-seedance-2-5-260628",
    content=[{"type": "text",
              "text": "<your prompt> --ratio 16:9 --resolution 720p --duration 5"}],
)
# then call client.content_generation.tasks.get(task_id=task.id)
# every few seconds until status == "succeeded"

Prices come from BytePlus's pricing page (read Nov 3, 2026): a 5-second, 16:9 Seedance 2.5 clip from text is $0.514 at 480p, $1.156 at 720p and $2.843 at 1080p, and "You are only charged for successfully generated videos." Its docs add that "ModelArk offers new users a free inference trial quota", set per model.

In the US there's no ByteDance API route. Higgsfield runs Seedance through its MCP connector and CLI as well as the website, but its Seedance article says generations "through Canvas, MCP, CLI, and Supercomputer always deduct credits regardless of any Unlimited access on the web" (read Nov 8). We haven't priced any other API reseller.

Is there a Seedance app?

Not under the name Seedance from ByteDance. The official phone route is Dreamina. In the US App Store on November 8, "Dreamina AI: Image&Video Maker" was listed by BYTEDANCE PTE. LTD., with "Basic Monthly Subscription" at $15.00 among its in-app purchases; its What's New notes say "Meet Cast: Powered by Dreamina Seedance 2.0". The same app, by Bytedance Pte. Ltd., was in Google Play's US results (package com.lemon.dreamina). We didn't install it, so we can't confirm that Seedance 2.5 is in the app's model list. CapCut, ByteDance's video editor, is a separate app.

Two things that look official and aren't:

• Apps named after Seedance. The same Google Play search on November 8 returned "Seedance 2.5 Video Generator" from WECODE LTD. and "SeeGen AI: Seedance 2.0 & 2.5" from Fillog Studio. Neither developer is ByteDance. We aren't saying what those apps do; we're saying they aren't ByteDance's.
• Websites named after Seedance. On November 3 the top Bing results for "seedance free" included seedance.tv and about a dozen similar domains, none of them ByteDance's. The official ones are seed.bytedance.com, dreamina.capcut.com, capcut.com and the byteplus.com domains.

Higgsfield has no app at all: its help center says "Higgsfield has no mobile apps and no desktop app." Use it in the phone's browser.

The questions Seedance users ask most

Where to access it, why it's locked, and why it's stuck. The first is answered above. The other two have documented causes:

• "Seedance is locked" or missing. On Higgsfield it's the plan: Seedance 2.5 needs Plus or higher. On Dreamina, check which models your free credits reach (its pages disagree). On BytePlus, activate the model first.
• Stuck or failed. Higgsfield refunds failed generations automatically, and BytePlus charges only for videos that generate. Dreamina publishes no failed-job rule on the pages we read. Every symptom and its fix is in Seedance not working: blocked, failed or stuck.
• Blocked for a name or logo. Higgsfield's help center says Seedance runs "its own separate IP check that Higgsfield can't override". Describe the thing instead of naming it.

Which route should you use?

• You want to try Seedance today, in the US, cheaply: Dreamina's website or app, free credits first, Basic if you keep going.
• You'll publish or sell the result: a paid plan on any route; free Dreamina output is watermarked and its terms limit commercial use. The best realistic AI video generator for people and products explains where Seedance leads.
• You also want Kling, Veo or Wan: Higgsfield's Plus plan, the cheapest that lists all its models.
• You're a developer outside the US: BytePlus ModelArk, the cheapest official per-clip price.
• You want clips longer than 30 seconds: Seedance 2.5 extends a clip on Higgsfield; the best AI video generator for long videos compares the other routes.
• You're still choosing a model: the best AI video generator for each job, or, for an app on your phone, the best AI video generator apps.

What we couldn't verify

• Seedance 2.5 in the Dreamina phone app. The App Store notes name Seedance 2.0; we didn't install the app.
• Which Seedance your free Dreamina credits reach. Dreamina's free-credits page says Seedance 2.0; its Seedance 2.5 page says free credits can test 2.5.
• Dreamina's 4K and long-video claims. Its Seedance 2.5 page (read Nov 8) speaks of 4K video and of extending clips to 180 seconds in a beta long-video mode. We didn't generate on Dreamina, and its own price page says Seedance generation there is not unlimited, although the 2.5 page's intro uses the word.
• Dola in the US. ByteDance's page links to it; Dola's terms say it may not be available everywhere, and we found no country list.
• Today's prices. Dreamina and BytePlus figures are from November 3, Higgsfield's from November 3 and 7, and Pika's from November 8. Dreamina's $0.29 first month may have ended.
• The BytePlus sample beyond reading it. We read BytePlus's Quick start; we didn't run the code, since BytePlus doesn't serve US accounts.