Seedance is an AI video generation model developed by ByteDance's Seed team—the same company behind TikTok and CapCut. Given a text prompt, reference images, or existing video footage, Seedance generates cinematic video clips with synchronized audio, accurate physics, and consistent characters. The current version, Seedance 2.0, launched February 10, 2026, and is widely considered the most capable AI video generator available.
What Seedance Does
At its core, Seedance turns your creative direction into video. Here's what that looks like in practice:
- Text-to-Video: Describe a scene in words → get a fully produced video clip with audio
- Image-to-Video: Upload photos → Seedance animates them into video, maintaining the original visual style
- Video-to-Video: Upload existing footage → transfer its motion, camera work, or style to new content
- AI Avatars: Upload a person's photo → generate them speaking with lip-synced dialogue
- Multi-Shot Storytelling: Generate multiple connected scenes with different camera angles in a single clip
- Native Audio: Dialogue, sound effects, music, and ambient sounds generated simultaneously with video
Key Specifications
| Spec | Seedance 2.0 |
|---|---|
| Developer | ByteDance Seed Team |
| Released | February 10, 2026 |
| Max Resolution | 2K |
| Max Duration | 15 seconds per generation |
| Frame Rate | 24 fps |
| Audio | Native (dialogue, SFX, music, ambient) |
| Reference Inputs | Up to 12 files (9 images + 3 videos + 3 audio) |
| Lip-Sync Languages | 8+ (English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) |
| Aspect Ratios | 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16 |
| Success Rate | 90%+ usable outputs on first attempt |
| Watermark | None |
How Seedance Evolved
Seedance didn't appear overnight. Understanding its evolution helps explain why 2.0 is such a significant leap.
| Version | Date | Key Advances |
|---|---|---|
| Seedance 1.0 | Mid-2025 | First release. Silent video only. 5-10 seconds max. 1080p. Single image input. Basic physics. |
| Seedance 1.5 Pro | December 2025 | MMDiT architecture. First native audio-visual generation. 8+ language lip-sync. Improved motion quality. Still limited to single image input. |
| Seedance 2.0 | February 10, 2026 | Dual-Branch Diffusion Transformer. 2K resolution. 15 seconds. Multimodal 12-file references with @ tags. Multi-shot storytelling. 90%+ success rate. |
The jump from 1.0 to 2.0 took roughly 8 months—an extraordinarily fast development cycle for this level of improvement. ByteDance has indicated that Seedance 2.5, targeting 4K output and real-time generation, is planned for mid-2026.
Who Built Seedance
Seedance is developed by ByteDance's Seed team, led by Wu Yonghui—formerly a principal scientist at Google Brain who worked on foundational Transformer research. The Seed team is estimated at roughly 1,500 people, making it one of the largest AI research groups in the world.
ByteDance's investment in AI video is strategic: as the company behind TikTok (the world's dominant short-form video platform), AI video generation technology directly feeds into their core business. Seedance is part of a broader AI ecosystem that includes Seedream (image generation), CapCut (video editing), and Dreamina (the AI creative platform).
How to Use Seedance
Seedance is accessible through several platforms:
| Platform | Best For | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Dreamina (Web/Desktop) | Full creative workflow with all features | 225 daily tokens (shared across tools) |
| Little Skylark (Mobile) | Quick testing and casual creation | 3 free gens + 120 daily points (~15s/day) |
| Third-party (Higgsfield, etc.) | Multi-model access | Varies by platform |
| API | Developer integration | Some providers offer free credits |
For detailed pricing across all platforms, see the Pricing Guide.
What Makes Seedance Special
The Multimodal Reference System
No other AI video generator lets you upload 12 reference files—images, videos, and audio—and direct each one with @ tags in your prompt. This gives you director-level control over characters, motion, backgrounds, and audio simultaneously. Sora 2 accepts only one image; Seedance accepts twelve.
Native Audio Generation
Seedance generates audio and video simultaneously using a Dual-Branch Diffusion Transformer—not as a post-processing step. This means dialogue is lip-synced, sound effects match visual events, and ambient audio fits the scene naturally.
90%+ Success Rate
Earlier AI video models produced usable results roughly 20% of the time, meaning 5 generations to get one good clip. Seedance 2.0's 90%+ usable output rate transforms the economics of AI video—you typically get what you need on the first or second try.
Fight Scenes and Action
Seedance is the first AI video model that can generate coherent fight choreography with accurate contact physics, slow motion, and bullet-time effects. This was previously impossible with any AI system.
Limitations to Know About
Seedance 2.0 is impressive, but it's not perfect. Being honest about limitations is important:
- 15-second maximum: Each generation produces up to 15 seconds. Longer content requires multiple generations assembled in an editor.
- Not real-time: Standard clips take ~60 seconds; complex multi-reference generations can take 10+ minutes.
- Text rendering issues: On-screen text (labels, signs, subtitles) sometimes contains garbled letters.
- Inconsistent results with identical inputs: The same prompt and settings can produce noticeably different outputs—sometimes called the "lottery-draw problem."
- Audio speed issues: When dialogue content exceeds the time limit, speech may be unnaturally fast.
- Queue times: During peak demand, wait times of 1+ hour have been reported.
Seedance vs The Competition
| Model | Strengths | Weaknesses vs Seedance |
|---|---|---|
| Sora 2 | Best physics simulation, emotional storytelling | Only 1 image input, no video/audio references, 1080p max |
| Kling 3.0 | Lower price per clip | No video/audio reference inputs, fewer features |
| Veo 3.1 | Best audio quality (Google) | Very expensive, limited access |
| Runway Gen-4 | Established professional tooling | Subscription model, fewer reference inputs |
For detailed comparisons, see: Seedance vs Sora 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Seedance free?
A: Partially. Free tiers exist through Little Skylark (~15 seconds daily) and Dreamina (225 shared tokens daily). Full access to all features requires a paid plan starting at ~$9.60/month. See the Pricing Guide for details.
Q: Is Seedance made by ByteDance?
A: Yes. Seedance is developed by ByteDance's Seed team, the same company behind TikTok and CapCut.
Q: Is Seedance better than Sora?
A: For multimodal control, action sequences, and production flexibility—yes. For physics accuracy and emotional storytelling—Sora 2 still leads. Neither model is objectively better across all tasks.
Q: What can I create with Seedance?
A: Product commercials, anime and animation, fight scenes, music videos, UGC influencer content, dramatic film scenes, educational content, avatar videos, and more. See our guides for text-to-video, image-to-video, video-to-video, and AI avatars.
Q: Is Seedance safe to use?
A: Seedance includes safety guardrails—biometric filters prevent deepfake creation, and voice cloning from photos was suspended shortly after launch. As with any AI tool, use it responsibly and review the platform's content policies.
Q: How do I get started?
A: The fastest free start is through Little Skylark (mobile app). For the full experience, sign up at Dreamina. Before generating, read the Prompt Guide to make the most of every generation.