Seedance vs Veo 3.1: which video model to use, and what each clip costs

Seedance 2.0 is the better video model and Veo 3.1 is the cheaper one to draft with. Every number below comes from ByteDance, Google, Runway and Artificial Analysis pages read on 5 November 2026.

Is Seedance better than Veo?

Yes. Voters in Artificial Analysis's blind arena prefer Seedance 2.0 over Veo 3.1 by 175 Elo points for text to video and 180 for image to video.

Both boards are version 2.1 and include audio (text to video, image to video). Seedance 2.5 tops the image-to-video board outright. The three Veo 3.1 tiers sit within 10 points of each other on text to video, so paying for the standard model over Lite buys little on this measure.

What does an 8-second Seedance or Veo clip cost?

An 8-second Seedance 2.0 clip costs $2.99 on ByteDance's API and a Veo 3.1 clip with audio costs $3.20 on Google's, per Artificial Analysis's per-minute prices. Veo's Fast and Lite tiers cut that to $0.96 and $0.64.

Eight seconds is Veo 3.1's longest single clip, so it is the fair unit. The maker-API column divides Artificial Analysis's price per minute by 60 and multiplies by 8. The Runway column uses Runway's API rates at $0.01 a credit.

Seedance 2.0 at 720p on Runway is the best quality per dollar in the table: 1136 Elo for $2.40. Veo 3.1 without audio drops to 20 credits a second on Runway, $1.60 for 8 seconds. Seedance 2.5 on Runway adds 15 credits a second at 720p for any reference video you upload.

In apps, Google Flow charges 10 credits for a Lite generation, 20 for Fast and 100 for Quality (Flow credits). Dreamina charges 17 credits a second for Seedance 2.0 Pro at 720p, 8 for Fast and 5 for Mini (Dreamina). Full per-platform prices are in Seedance pricing and Google Veo 3 pricing.

How do Seedance and Veo compare on specs?

Seedance makes longer clips and takes more references; Veo makes native 4K and supports first-and-last-frame control and extension.

Sources: ByteDance Seed (dated 15 April 2026) and Google Cloud's Veo 3.1 page. Veo 3.1 Lite is still in preview there, while the standard and Fast models are generally available.

Where is Veo better than Seedance?

Veo is better for free daily drafts, native 4K and Google's own tooling.

• Free every day: Flow gives every account 50 credits a day, five Lite or two Fast generations. See how to use Veo 3 for free.
• Cheap tiers: Veo 3.1 Lite at $0.08 a second is a fifth of Seedance 2.0's API price.
• Native 4K on the standard model, and clip extension on every tier.
• Provenance: every Flow output carries an invisible SynthID watermark, and most users can toggle a visible one (Flow help). Google says it won't claim ownership of what you generate.

The Gemini API's Veo 3.1 preview models shut down on 22 October 2026, and Google's docs now point developers to Gemini Omni Flash or the GA Veo models on its enterprise platform. Gemini Omni Flash 1.1 scores 1129 on the text-to-video board at $9.12 a minute, close to Seedance 2.0 for less than half the price.

Where is Seedance better than Veo?

Seedance is better for quality, longer shots and reference-heavy scenes.

• Arena lead of 175 to 180 Elo on both boards.
• 15-second clips in one generation, against Veo's 8.
• Up to 15 reference files across images, video and audio.
• Cheaper than or level with standard Veo on every route in the table above.

For how Seedance stacks up against the other big model, see Seedance vs Kling. For Veo against OpenAI's model, see Veo 3 vs Sora 2.

Seedance or Veo: which should you choose?

Choose Seedance 2.0 for finished clips and Veo 3.1 Lite or Fast for cheap iteration.

1. Final social clips and ads: Seedance 2.0 at 720p, $2.40 for 8 seconds on Runway's API.
2. Best image-to-video at any price: Seedance 2.5.
3. Drafting dozens of ideas: Veo 3.1 Lite in Flow, free up to five a day.
4. 4K delivery: Veo 3.1 standard.
5. Clips over 8 seconds without stitching: Seedance.

If you would rather skip model choice entirely, HoneyVid turns a trending video template and your character photo into the finished clip.