Seedream 4.5 costs 1.54x Seedream 4.0 on Sume; 5.0 Lite sits between
On Sume, Seedream 4.0 bills $0.0325, 5.0 Lite $0.04375 and 4.5 $0.05 per image: $32.50, $43.75 and $50.00 per 1,000. The newest is not the dearest.
On the Sume image catalog Seedream 4.0 bills $0.0325 per image, Seedream 5.0 Lite $0.04375 and Seedream 4.5 $0.05. Seedream 4.5 therefore costs 1.54 times Seedream 4.0, and 5.0 Lite lands between them at 1.35 times. The newest of the three is the middle price, not the highest.
If you pick by version number you will pay more than you need to. This page lays out the three prices, what they total at 1,000 and 10,000 images, and the one capability that does not differ.
The three Seedream rows
All three are listed in the Sume image docs as bytedance-seed/seedream-4, bytedance-seed/seedream-4.5 and bytedance-seed/seedream-5-lite. Each bills the provider list price times 1.25 and each is a flat per-image price in the catalog source. The table orders them by price.
| Model | Billed per image | Per 1,000 | Per 10,000 | Versus 4.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seedream 4.0 | $0.0325 | $32.50 | $325.00 | 1.00x |
| Seedream 5.0 Lite | $0.04375 | $43.75 | $437.50 | 1.35x |
| Seedream 4.5 | $0.05 | $50.00 | $500.00 | 1.54x |
The gaps in dollars
The step from 4.0 to 5.0 Lite adds $0.01125 per image, or $11.25 per 1,000. The step from 5.0 Lite to 4.5 adds $0.00625, or $6.25 per 1,000. From 4.0 straight to 4.5 the difference is $0.0175 per image, which is $175.00 on a 10,000-image month.
These are small per image and noticeable at volume. A catalog thumbnail pipeline that renders 10,000 images a month spends $325.00 on 4.0 and $500.00 on 4.5.
What does not differ
All three take reference images in the catalog (edit-capable rows with a range of 0 to 10 references), and all three list up to four images per request by default. That means the choice is not a capability trade for the common jobs of text-to-image and reference edits. It is a price and a look trade.
Because Sume does not accept seed, you cannot hold the sample constant while changing the version. To judge the look, send the same ten prompts to each model and compare. Ten prompts on all three cost 10 x ($0.0325 + $0.04375 + $0.05) = $1.26.
Choosing by job, not by version
Version numbers suggest a ladder, but the prices do not follow it. When a newer model costs less than an older one, it is usually because the vendor positioned it as a lighter option, and that is what the Lite name signals for 5.0. Do not read a lower price as a lower grade or a higher one as a better fit; test it.
A practical test is ten prompts that represent your real work, sent to all three. The test costs $1.26, which is less than the cost of one wrong choice at 10,000 images.
Reading the cost back from the API
Each generation response carries usage.cost, the billed dollar amount. After a ten-image test on one Seedream row, add the ten values and compare with the table; they should match to the cent. If they do not, read the pricing line from the endpoint record, since that is the price the billing path uses.
How to pick
- Start with 4.0 at $0.0325 for high-volume drafts and backgrounds.
- Try 5.0 Lite at $0.04375 if 4.0 does not hold your style, since it is $0.00625 below 4.5.
- Pay for 4.5 at $0.05 only for the images where you have seen it do better on your own prompts.
- Read the
pricingline from the endpoint before each large run, since the catalog can change.
Sources
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