Seedream 5.5 launched with no official price — just one number quoted across the launch coverage: a 2K edit costs about ¥0.28. When the Volcano Ark price list went public on Nov 12, the arithmetic became complete: ¥0.23 output + ¥0.05 input. BytePlus internationally still has no per-image price as of Nov 14. This article lays out all three price lines — Volcano Ark, BytePlus, and third-party resellers.
Volcano Ark bills in two parts — input image + output image — with text tokens free. Output is priced by pixel count: ≤2.61MP (1K/1.5K tier) ¥0.13/image, >2.61MP (2K tier) ¥0.23/image; input images ¥0.05 each. A 2K square edit with one input image is ¥0.23 + ¥0.05 = ¥0.28. Pure text-to-image at 2K costs just ¥0.23, with no input fee.
The price list was read from Volcano Engine's docs by Seedance.io on Nov 12. The ¥0.28 figure traces back to Volcano Engine's launch notes, via Leiphone, IT Home and other outlets (this site couldn't open the original Leiphone article to verify directly).
5.5's 2K output at ¥0.23 is about 62% cheaper than 5.0 Pro's ¥0.60 (the vendor says "60% cheaper"); 1K/1.5K output at ¥0.13 is 57% cheaper than 5.0 Pro's ¥0.30. But 5.5 charges ¥0.05 for every input image, while 5.0 Pro's first input image is free (then ¥0.02) and 5.0 Lite's inputs are all free. So multi-reference edits narrow the gap: a 2K edit with 10 reference images costs ¥0.23 + ¥0.50 = ¥0.73 on 5.5, vs ¥0.60 + ¥0.18 = ¥0.78 on 5.0 Pro — a gap of just 6%. The more reference images, the smaller 5.5's price advantage. Pure text-to-image (no inputs) is where 5.5's advantage is largest.
As of Nov 14, BytePlus's price list and ModelArk API reference show no 5.5 per-image price or model ID (last third-party reads Nov 11–12). The product page sells image packs: Starter 700 images for $6.99 (first purchase, 30 days, ~$0.01/image), plus 1,800 images at 31% off and 3,500 at 29% off. Image packs are not per-image pricing — they don't tell you the cost of a single call and can't be used for pay-as-you-go comparison. nowrap reported Nov 13 that ModelArk lists Dola-Seedream-5.5 as available, with no price shown.
For reference: 5.0 Pro on BytePlus costs ≤2.61MP $0.045/image, >2.61MP $0.09/image; 5.0 Flash $0.018; 5.0 Lite $0.035; 4.5 $0.04. If 5.5's BytePlus pricing follows the Volcano Ark reduction (about 60%), a 2K per-image price might land near $0.035 — but that's speculation; nothing official confirms it.
One related fact: BytePlus does run an AI Affiliates Program (invitation-only, managed via Impact), and Seedream is on its referable-products list; but the page publishes no commission rate, and there is no Seedream 5.5-specific program or rate. This site provides no affiliate links.
Third-party API prices span a wide range and change often: WaveSpeed and OpenRouter both charge $0.02 (1K/1.5K) / $0.035 (2K) + $0.008 per input image; SeedRouter $0.017/$0.02975; Kie $0.018/$0.0315; Siray $0.02/$0.028; ComfyUI Partner Node ~$0.0286/$0.05; apimodels $0.03/$0.05. WaveSpeed's 2K price was $0.027 on Nov 9 and rose to $0.035 on Nov 10 — reseller prices move fast, so quote them with a date. Layer decomposition is billed separately, from $0.60 on WaveSpeed.
Artificial Analysis's measured costs cross-check the range: text-to-image $19.50/1,000 images (~$0.0195/image), editing $27.00/1,000 (~$0.027/image). That sits inside the third-party range and roughly matches WaveSpeed/OpenRouter's $0.02/$0.035.
First, budget at list price: Volcano Ark's ¥0.13/¥0.23 is official; third-party reseller prices move (WaveSpeed rose 30% in a day). Second, count input-image fees on multi-reference edits: 5.5 charges for every input image, so 10 reference images cost ¥0.50 — more than the output image itself. Third, the cost of 100-round editing: each round is an independent, separately billed generation, so 100 rounds of 2K editing (one input image per round) costs ¥28 at Volcano Ark prices — cheap, but remember it's not a one-time payment. Fourth, international users currently have only image packs and third parties; wait for BytePlus per-image pricing before comparing.
Reference: Seedance.io — Seedream 5.5 vs Seedream 5.0 same-prompt test (Volcano Ark price list) (rewritten and organized by ModelBrief; facts per the official source)