> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.aurous-labs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Models & pricing

> The Seedance rate card, the token formula, and the exact-price guarantee. Billed in Aurous credits.

Seedance tasks are billed in **Aurous credits** at **\$0.01 per credit** (so credits = dollars × 100). You pay for the video that was actually rendered: a ceiling is held while the task runs, and the final charge is metered from the provider's reported tokens at success. This page gives the day-one rate card, the formula behind it, and the guarantee that keeps the two aligned.

## Models

| Model               | Resolutions           | Best for                                       |
| ------------------- | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `seedance-2.0`      | 480p, 720p, 1080p, 4k | Full quality. The only tier with 1080p and 4k. |
| `seedance-2.0-fast` | 480p, 720p            | Faster and cheaper than Pro.                   |
| `seedance-2.0-mini` | 480p, 720p            | Lowest cost.                                   |

The full provider model ids (e.g. `dreamina-seedance-2-0-260128`) are accepted as `model` too. Live per-model rates and capabilities are on [`GET /v1/models`](/api-reference/openapi#tag/models).

## Rate card

Prices below are for a **5-second, 16:9** render. Per-second prices scale linearly (÷5), and are exact at 16:9 and pixel-true within ±\~3% at other aspect ratios.

### Text / image input (no reference video)

| Model    | 480p            | 720p                 | 1080p            | 4k               |
| -------- | --------------- | -------------------- | ---------------- | ---------------- |
| **Pro**  | \$0.54  (54 cr) | **\$1.23  (123 cr)** | \$2.74  (274 cr) | \$5.74  (574 cr) |
| **Fast** | \$0.44  (44 cr) | \$0.98  (98 cr)      | —                | —                |
| **Mini** | \$0.27  (27 cr) | \$0.61  (61 cr)      | —                | —                |

**Pro, per second (16:9):** $0.108 (480p) / $0.245 (720p) / $0.548 (1080p) / $1.148 (4k). Multiply by your output seconds for a fixed-duration text/image job.

### Video input (reference footage)

When your `content[]` includes a reference video, the price depends on how much footage you send. These ranges span a **2-second** reference (low) to a **15-second** reference (high), for a 5-second output:

| Model    | 480p                     | 720p                      | 1080p                     | 4k                           |
| -------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **Pro**  | \$0.45–1.30  (45–130 cr) | \$1.03–2.94  (103–294 cr) | \$2.30–6.58  (230–658 cr) | \$4.82–13.78  (482–1,378 cr) |
| **Fast** | \$0.37–1.06  (37–106 cr) | \$0.82–2.34  (82–234 cr)  | —                         | —                            |
| **Mini** | \$0.23–0.65  (23–65 cr)  | \$0.51–1.46  (51–146 cr)  | —                         | —                            |

## The token formula

Every price above comes from one formula. The provider meters the render in tokens:

```text theme={null}
tokens = (input_video_seconds + output_seconds) × W × H × 24 / 1024
```

Where `W × H` is the output pixel dimensions for your resolution and ratio, and `24` is the frame rate. The credit charge is `tokens × per-model rate`, at the anchor of \$0.01/credit.

### What moves your bill

* **Resolution — quadratic.** Cost tracks `W × H`. Stepping 720p → 1080p roughly doubles both dimensions, so it more than doubles the tokens. This is the biggest lever.
* **Duration — linear.** Each additional output second adds a fixed slice.
* **Reference video — adds input seconds.** A reference clip adds its own seconds into the formula. That is why video-input jobs are priced as a range.
* **Free:** generated audio, and image / text reference inputs. They do not change the price.

## The exact-price guarantee

> We meter your exact input and output seconds after the render completes and charge that — a ceiling is held while the task runs, and explicit `duration` + fixed `ratio` + no video input ⇒ hold equals the final charge exactly.

In practice:

* **Fixed, no video input** — pass an explicit `duration`, a fixed `ratio`, and no reference video, and the **held ceiling equals the final charge exactly**. Nothing to reconcile.
* **Adaptive duration (`duration: -1`)** — the hold covers the model's maximum length; the charge settles on the length actually delivered.
* **Video input** — the hold assumes the maximum 15 seconds of reference footage (we never fetch your clip to measure it), so the held ceiling is an **upper bound** and the settled charge is typically lower.

## How billing works

Billing rides on **response headers** — the response body carries no billing fields.

1. **Create** holds a credit ceiling → `Aurous-Credits-Held`. If your balance is below the ceiling, the request is rejected with [`balance_too_low`](/errors#balance_too_low) (402).
2. **Success** settles the charge on the provider's `usage.completion_tokens` → `Aurous-Credits-Charged` on the terminal [retrieve](/api-reference/seedance/retrieve-task#billing).
3. **`failed` / `expired` / (queued) `cancelled`** charge **0** and release the hold in full — you pay only for delivered videos.

Aurous runs on **prepaid team credits**: a create is admitted only if the ceiling fits your balance. Cancel a queued task to release its hold immediately (see [Cancel or delete](/api-reference/seedance/cancel-delete)).

### Reading the charge in usage

Each task shows up as a line item in [`GET /v1/usage`](/api-reference/openapi#tag/usage). The line's credit **`amount` is the total charged — not a sum of the breakdown rows.** While a task is held, its breakdown carries `tokens_max` (the ceiling basis); once complete, it carries `tokens` (the metered basis).

## Rates can change

Seedance rates are **DB-driven and may change without an `Aurous-Version` bump** — the same mutability asymmetry documented for [LLM pricing](/api-reference/chat/pricing#mutability-asymmetry-vs-images-and-videos). Always read the current per-model rate from [`GET /v1/models`](/api-reference/openapi#tag/models) rather than hard-coding the numbers above. Each charged task snapshots the rate in force when it was created, so the amount you were quoted is the amount you pay.