Where to Use Seedance 2.0: Consumer Apps vs the API

Where can I use Seedance 2.0 is a different question from what Seedance 2.0 is, and it has a more annoying answer: it depends on whether you want to click a button or write a request.

Both routes exist. They cost differently, they cap differently, and the one that fits depends on whether you are making one video or a thousand.

TL;DR

• Consumer apps put Seedance behind a subscription with credits. Fastest to try, hardest to forecast.
• The API route bills per second of output with no subscription. On reAPI that is $0.095/s at 480p and $0.205/s at 720p from a text prompt.
• Uploading a source video drops the rate to $0.058/s and $0.125/s respectively.
• Duration is clamped to 4–15 seconds per call.
• Nano Banana runs the same split: consumer surfaces inside Google products, or the API for volume.
• Pick by volume, not by preference. Under a dozen clips a month, an app is fine. Above that, credits become the constraint.

The two routes

Consumer apps wrap the model in an editor. You sign in, type a prompt, get a video, and the cost is a monthly plan that converts into credits or points. Good for trying it, and for one-off work where the interface saves you more time than the pricing costs you.

The API gives you the model and nothing else. No editor, no timeline, no export presets. You send a request and poll for a URL. Billing is per second of generated output, so a 5-second clip costs five times the per-second rate and nothing else happens to your account.

The pattern that catches people out is starting on the app route because it is easier, then hitting a credit wall mid-project and discovering that the per-clip cost was never visible.

What the API route costs

Rates below are per second of output video, so multiply by clip length^[1].

A 5-second 720p clip is $1.03. A 10-second one is $2.05. There is no subscription underneath those numbers and no credit conversion in between.

One detail worth knowing before you model costs: the cheaper column applies only when the request carries an uploaded source video. Images and first/last-frame references stay on the base rate, which is a common budgeting error. We covered the full billing model in Seedance 2.0 cost per second.

Duration is clamped between 4 and 15 seconds per call, so a 3-second request bills as 4, and longer pieces are assembled from multiple generations.

Using it

Submit returns a task_id; poll until the video is ready.

curl https://reapi.ai/api/v1/videos/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "doubao-seedance-2.0",
    "prompt": "a slow dolly through a neon-lit alley after rain, cinematic",
    "resolution": "720p",
    "duration": 5
  }'

Two platform rules. Media inputs are public http(s) URLs only, so reference material has to be hosted before the call, with no base64 accepted. And live rates are on reapi.ai/models/seedance-2-0, which is the canonical source rather than any figure in an article.

Full request and response shapes are in the reapi.ai/docs/seedance-2-0 reference.

Where Nano Banana fits

Nano Banana follows the same split. Google surfaces it inside consumer products, and the model is also available as an API for volume work^[2].

On the API side the tiers matter more than with video, because they are priced differently and capped differently:

Lite is the draft tier: roughly four seconds per image, ten aspect ratios, 1K ceiling. Pro is the only tier Google rates high on reasoning, which matters when a composition has to be factually correct rather than merely attractive^[2].

The comparison in full is in Nano Banana Pro vs Nano Banana 2.

Choosing by volume

Under a dozen clips a month: use a consumer app. The editor is worth more than the pricing difference, and you will not hit a credit wall.

Dozens to hundreds: the API. At $1.03 for a 5-second 720p clip, a hundred clips is about $103 with no plan underneath it, and the number is knowable before you start.

Anything embedded in a product: the API, necessarily. A consumer app cannot generate video inside software you ship to other people.

Iterating on look and motion: draft at 480p on the fast tier, then render the approved shot once at the resolution you actually deliver. The 480p-to-4K spread is roughly 11x.

FAQ

Where can I use Seedance 2.0?

Through consumer apps that wrap it in an editor, or through an API that bills per second of output with no subscription. The API route is at reapi.ai/models/seedance-2-0.

Do I need a subscription to use Seedance 2.0?

Not on the API route. Billing is per second of generated video, so there is no plan and no credit conversion.

How much does a Seedance 2.0 video cost?

A 5-second 720p clip from a text prompt is about $1.03; the same clip driven by an uploaded video is about $0.63^[1].

How long can a single Seedance 2.0 generation be?

Between 4 and 15 seconds. Shorter requests bill as 4 seconds, and longer pieces are assembled from several generations.

Where can I use Nano Banana?

Inside Google's consumer surfaces, or through an API for volume work. On reAPI the Lite tier is $0.020 per image and Pro is $0.042^[2].

Can I use these models inside my own product?

Only through an API. Consumer apps cannot generate on behalf of your users.

Why is my image-to-video generation billed at the higher rate?

Because the cheaper rate applies only when an uploaded source video is present. Image and first/last-frame references stay on the base rate^[1].

Do these accept base64 image input?

No. Every model on the platform takes public http(s) URLs only for media inputs.

Picking the entry point that matches the job

The honest answer to where can I use Seedance 2.0 is that there are two doors and they are built for different people. An app sells you an interface and charges for a plan. An API sells you the model and charges for seconds.

The decision is volume, not preference. One video a week and the interface is worth paying for. A hundred videos a month, or any video generated inside a product you ship, and the per-second arithmetic is the only version of the question that has an answer you can plan around.

References

1. reAPI. Seedance 2.0 model page — live per-second rates by resolution, tier, and input mode. reapi.ai/models/seedance-2-0
2. reAPI. Nano Banana Pro vs Nano Banana 2 — tiers, resolution ceilings, and per-image rates. reapi.ai/blog/nano-banana-pro-vs-nano-banana-2

Further reading

• reAPI. Seedance 2.0 cost per second. reapi.ai/blog/seedance-2-0-cost-per-second
• reAPI. How to use Nano Banana 2 Lite. reapi.ai/blog/how-to-use-nano-banana-2-lite
• reAPI. Model catalog. reapi.ai/models