Micro-Drama Video: Wan 3.0 Is 3x Cheaper Than Seedance
Micro-drama is cut-heavy: dozens of short shots per episode, so one shot's price decides your budget. On Siray this week the two obvious models are far apart — Wan 3.0 is in Launch Week at 25% off, Seedance 2.5 is at list price. For how to shoot it, see our shot-level guide. This piece is only about the invoice.
Key Takeaways
- At 720p, Wan 3.0 t2v bills $0.090/s this week against Seedance 2.5's $0.290/s — a 3.22x gap.
- The gap widens with resolution — 2.98x at 480p, 3.22x at 720p, 3.95x at 1080p — because the models bill on different principles.
- Wan accepts a 2-second clip; Seedance's floor is 4 seconds. In cut-heavy work that pushes the real gap to 4.3x.
- Only Wan 3.0 is discounted — the Seedance 2.5 console page shows no reduced rate and no badge. Rates measured 25 August 2026.
The Gap Widens as Resolution Climbs
Output tier | Seedance 2.5 t2v (list) | Wan 3.0 t2v (Launch Week) | Wan advantage |
480p | $0.134/s | $0.045/s | 2.98x |
720p | $0.290/s | $0.090/s | 3.22x |
1080p | $0.711/s | $0.180/s | 3.95x |
The widening is structural, not promotional. Seedance bills by token count including frame area, so 720p to 1080p multiplies the bill by 2.45x. Wan bills by resolution tier: a flat 2.0x per step. Background: Seedance 2.5, Wan 3.0.
Why Micro-Drama Makes It Worse
Both cap at 30 seconds, so the ceiling is irrelevant. The floor is not. Wan 3.0's duration starts at 2, Seedance 2.5's at 4. Micro-drama runs on 2- and 3-second cuts, so on Seedance you pay for seconds the edit throws away.
Shot you want (720p) | Wan 3.0 | Seedance 2.5 | Gap |
2 seconds | $0.18 | not accepted | — |
3 seconds | $0.27 | $1.16 (billed as 4s) | 4.30x |
That $1.16 is printed in Seedance's own billing table, not derived by us.
One Episode, Two Invoices
A realistic episode: 20 cuts, 3 seconds each, 720p vertical. Both models offer 9:16, so framing is not the variable.
Volume (20 cuts x 3s, 720p) | Wan 3.0 | Seedance 2.5 | Difference |
1 episode | $5.40 | $23.20 | $17.80 |
100 episodes | $540.00 | $2,320.00 | $1,780.00 |
A hundred episodes is an ordinary slate, and there the endpoint choice outweighs most of the production budget.
Two Billing Rules That Point Opposite Ways
Feed reference footage in rather than generating from text and one rule reverses. Seedance 2.5 states that with video input its token rate drops from $0.013375 to $0.008 per 1K tokens, a 40.2% cut. Wan 3.0's ref2v does the opposite: billable duration is output duration plus input video duration, up to 5 seconds. So the ratios above hold for text-to-video only — on a reference-driven pipeline, recompute.
What This Comparison Does Not Settle
This is a price axis only: no blind quality test, and cost per second says nothing about which model nails the shot first try — one needing three attempts is not cheap at any rate.
Three further limits. Wan's rates are Launch Week rates and will end. The table covers t2v only: Seedance's ref2v is quoted as a range at 720p, which does not belong in a comparison table. Seedance 2.5 also has unpriced advantages here — audio_enable, a 21:9 ratio Wan lacks, and ref2v inputs of 30 images, 10 videos, 10 audio files. Wider view: our 2026 pricing breakdown.
FAQ
How much does one micro-drama episode cost to generate?
At 720p with 20 three-second cuts, Wan 3.0 comes to $5.40 per episode at Launch Week rates and Seedance 2.5 to $23.20. The gap is 4.3x because Seedance bills a 4-second minimum per shot.
Is Seedance 2.5 discounted on Siray right now?
No. As of 25 August 2026 the Seedance 2.5 console page shows its list rate with no reduced price and no discount badge. Wan 3.0 is the one in Launch Week, at up to 25% off.
Why does the price gap change with resolution?
Seedance 2.5 bills by token count including frame area, so 720p to 1080p costs 2.45x more. Wan 3.0 bills by resolution tier at a flat 2.0x per step. The gap grows from 2.98x at 480p to 3.95x at 1080p.
Price Your Slate on Siray
Wan 3.0 and Seedance 2.5 run off one API key, so you can price a test episode on both before committing a season. Create your free Siray account and read the Pricing block on each model page — Launch Week does not last.