Seedream

Overview

Seedream 4.5 is ByteDance's latest iteration of its AI image generation and editing model, released in late 2025 (ModelArk version identifier: seedream-4-5-251128). This version builds upon the unified text-to-image and editing architecture introduced in Seedream 4.0, with targeted enhancements in multi-image consistency, reference preservation, portrait quality, and typography rendering. The update focuses on professional creative workflows that require visual continuity across complex scenes and production-ready text integration.

The model targets design teams, e-commerce creators, and marketing professionals who produce branded visual materials requiring character consistency, precise reference matching, and legible text elements. Seedream 4.5 achieves measurable improvements in prompt adherence, semantic alignment, and aesthetic quality through comprehensive model scaling, as demonstrated on ByteDance's internal MagicBench evaluation framework.

ByteDance provides access to Seedream 4.5 through its official model page ("Try Now" experience) and BytePlus ModelArk API for commercial deployments. The model may also be available through various ByteDance consumer platforms, subject to regional availability and platform-specific rollout schedules.

What's New

Seedream 4.5 introduces five primary enhancements over version 4.0, all delivered through comprehensive model scaling and architectural refinements.

Multi-Image Subject Identification

The model now accurately identifies and preserves main subjects when processing multiple reference images simultaneously. This capability maintains consistent facial features, lighting conditions, and color tonality across complex editing scenarios. The improvement specifically addresses workflows where creators combine multiple reference sources for e-commerce product photography, character design iterations, and brand material expansions. Subject identity remains stable across reference images, reducing the iteration cycles typically required to achieve visual coherence.

Reference Image Detail Preservation

Seedream 4.5 strictly preserves fine-grained details from reference images including facial characteristics, lighting setups, and color grading. This enhancement enables more predictable outcomes when applying reference styles to new compositions or adapting existing visuals to different contexts. The capability particularly benefits portrait retouching, product advertising iteration, and style transfer applications where maintaining source identity is critical.

Enhanced Typography and Dense Text Rendering

Text rendering capabilities receive significant improvements, with enhanced support for small fonts, complex layouts, and dense text blocks. The model now generates more usable design outputs directly, reducing the need for post-processing in dedicated design tools. This advancement supports workflows producing posters, invitations, landing page graphics, and product detail pages with integrated textual content. The improvements target dense layouts and small font legibility, though detailed quantitative typography accuracy metrics are not publicly provided.

Portrait Enhancement

Seedream 4.5 delivers notable improvements in portrait rendering quality, specifically reducing artifacts in facial details and improving skin texture and lighting transitions compared to Seedream 4.0. This enhancement benefits portrait photography editing, character design, and any workflow requiring high-fidelity facial rendering with natural-looking results.

All-Round Quality Improvements

ByteDance reports comprehensive quality gains through model scaling, measured across prompt adherence, semantic alignment, and aesthetic quality dimensions on the internal MagicBench benchmark. The official model performance section presents comparative visualizations showing improvements over Seedream 4.0, though detailed scoring methodology and raw numerical benchmarks are not provided. These enhancements translate to more consistent interpretation of complex prompts and more reliable alignment between user intent and generated outputs.

Availability & Access

Seedream 4.5 is available through multiple ByteDance platforms and partner services. Access methods vary by user type and geographic availability.

Platform Access

Consumer Access: The official Seedream 4.5 model page provides a "Try Now" interactive experience for users to test the model's capabilities. Availability through specific ByteDance consumer applications depends on regional rollout schedules and platform-specific integration timelines.

Enterprise Integration: Commercial clients can integrate Seedream 4.5 through BytePlus ModelArk APIs, which provide OpenAI-compatible endpoints for programmatic access on a pay-as-you-go basis. Enterprise terms (quotas, support levels, and SLAs) are contract-dependent and should be confirmed directly with ByteDance or BytePlus representatives.

Geographic Availability: Seedream 4.5 availability varies by platform and region. Users should follow official availability guidelines and regional policies when accessing ByteDance AI services.

Account Requirements

Access to the "Try Now" experience and consumer platforms typically requires ByteDance account registration. Enterprise API access through BytePlus ModelArk requires account setup and API key configuration; additional enterprise verification processes (if any) depend on the specific contract and deployment requirements. The official documentation does not mention waitlist or invitation requirements.

Pricing & Plans

Seedream 4.5 pricing operates on a pay-as-you-go model through BytePlus ModelArk, with additional pricing options potentially available through consumer platforms.

Pay-as-You-Go Pricing (BytePlus ModelArk)

$0.04 per successfully generated image

• No resolution tier limitations (billing per successful generation)
• Standard Seedream 4.0 pricing: $0.03 per image
• API access through OpenAI-compatible endpoints
• Billing based on actual usage without upfront commitments

Consumer Platform Pricing

Pricing structures on ByteDance consumer applications (if available) may differ from API pricing and could include subscription tiers, bundled credits, or alternative billing models. Users should consult specific platform pricing pages for current consumer rates.

Enterprise Pricing

Organizations requiring volume commitments, dedicated support, or custom integration solutions can contact BytePlus or ByteDance enterprise representatives for tailored agreements. Enterprise terms are contract-dependent and may include discounted per-image rates, SLAs, and technical integration assistance.

Note: Pricing information is based on official BytePlus ModelArk documentation. Consumer platform pricing may vary and should be verified through platform-specific official channels.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Multi-reference consistency — Maintains subject identity and style coherence across multiple input images, supporting complex creative workflows requiring visual continuity
• Reference fidelity — Strictly preserves facial features, lighting, and color details from source images, enabling more predictable editing outcomes
• Portrait quality — Improved facial rendering with reduced artifacts in skin texture and lighting transitions compared to previous versions
• Enhanced typography — Generates legible small text and dense layouts directly, reducing post-processing requirements for text-heavy designs
• Unified workflow — Combines generation and editing in single architecture introduced in 4.0, eliminating tool switching when iterating designs
• Quality benchmarking — Official model performance section reports improvements on MagicBench across prompt adherence, semantic alignment, and aesthetics
• Flexible access — Available through official web experience and BytePlus ModelArk API with pay-per-use pricing, accommodating varied usage patterns

Cons

• Limited technical specifications — Public documentation does not specify latency benchmarks, maximum reference image limits, or detailed text rendering accuracy metrics
• Regional availability — Geographic access varies by platform and region, with availability subject to local policies and platform rollout schedules
• Pricing documentation — API pricing is documented through BytePlus ModelArk, but consumer platform pricing structures may vary and require platform-specific verification
• Benchmarking methodology — MagicBench performance visualizations lack published detailed scoring methodology and raw numerical data for independent verification
• Cross-language performance — Public materials emphasize improved text rendering but do not provide cross-language typography performance comparisons or multilingual benchmarks
• Community resources — Public English documentation and independent implementation examples appear relatively limited compared to some established competitors

Best For

• Design teams producing brand-consistent visual materials across multiple assets that require character and style continuity
• E-commerce creators generating product photography with background variations while maintaining subject consistency
• Marketing professionals creating poster campaigns, invitations, and landing page visuals with integrated text elements
• Content producers iterating on visual concepts where reference image fidelity and subject identity preservation are critical
• Organizations already integrated with ByteDance's ecosystem seeking AI-enhanced creative capabilities
• Teams requiring text-heavy design outputs like information graphics, event materials, and product detail pages with readable typography

FAQ