Seedream 5.0 Flash
Seedream 5.0 Flash is the fast, low-cost tier of ByteDance Seed's Seedream 5.0 family, below 5.0 Pro and 5.0 Lite. fal describes it as a fast image generation and editing model for work where speed and budget matter. It generates from text and edits from up to 10 reference images, at any size between 1024 by 1024 and 2048 by 2048 pixels in total, and costs a flat $0.027 an image on fal. ByteDance has not published a dated announcement we could find, and listings disagree on whether it arrived in September or on 1 October 2026, so this page gives no release date.
Anvisha Pai, Co-founder & CEO, Voyager
ByteDance
›What we asked for
A self-portrait of Seedream 5.0 Flash, ByteDance's fast image model: a high-speed photograph of a paper lantern bursting into a cloud of coloured confetti against a dusk sky, every flake frozen in mid-air, crisp motion-stopped detail.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
At a glance
- Price
- $0.027 an image on fal, generation or edit, at any allowed size.
- Sizes
- Any width and height whose total is between 1024 by 1024 and 2048 by 2048 pixels, or the auto_1K and auto_2K presets. We used 1024 square, 1024 by 1360, 1360 by 1024 and 2016 by 864.
- Speed
- 12 to 20 seconds a picture in our run, median about 15, against 23 to 39 for Seedream 5.0 Lite.
- Edits
- Up to 10 reference images per edit; the endpoint uses the last 10 if you send more.
Other Seedream models: Seedream 5.0 Pro, Seedream 5.0 Lite, Seedream 4.5. Compare all 4.
Anvisha's take
Flash is a better designer than its price suggests and a worse draughtsman. The poster is the most finished of the three Seedream 5.0 tiers we have run: all three lines correct, huge two-colour letterpress type and a drawing of the Roundhouse, where Lite left four-fifths of its sheet empty. The woodblock print has a proper bokashi sky and a Hokusai wave, and the five-object composition was exactly right, three ice cubes and all. Then the product shot turned the dripper into a footed bowl with slots cut through its side, and the chart has the bars at the right heights under labels that read 150 for March, 'Ap0' for April and 'June' for June's 260. The edit is good: green, a brass handle on the right, and the slots, hole and background untouched. It also turns prompt words into captions: the self-portrait came back with 'BYTE DANCE FAST IMAGE MODEL' printed across the sky. At 2.7 cents and about 15 seconds, it is a draft and volume model that will sometimes surprise you; check every number it writes.
Seedream 5.0 Flash real output: the same 12 prompts every model gets
Every image model on this site gets the same 12 prompts, so you can compare like with like. These are the pictures Seedream 5.0 Flash returned, one try each, nothing re-rolled or retouched. Generated on . The 12 pictures took 12 to 20 seconds each and cost $0.324 in total.
Spelling, kerning and hierarchy of three lines of set text.
›What we asked for
A concert poster that reads 'MODA SUMMER SESSIONS' in large bold type, with the subtitle 'Friday 12 June, 8pm, Roundhouse' and a smaller line 'Tickets at the door'. Risograph style, two colours, tangerine and navy, grainy ink texture.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Catalogue lighting, a clean seamless background and a believable contact shadow.
›What we asked for
Studio product photograph of a matte black ceramic pour-over coffee dripper on a seamless white background, soft top light, subtle contact shadow, centred, catalogue style.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
A natural face, correct finger count and hands holding an object.
›What we asked for
Close-up portrait of a woman in her 40s with short grey hair, laughing, holding a red ceramic mug with both hands, natural window light, 85mm lens, shallow depth of field.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
A flat single-colour mark with a legible wordmark and no gradients or photo texture.
›What we asked for
A flat vector logo mark for a bicycle repair shop called 'Spoke & Chain': a single-colour icon combining a chain link and a wheel spoke, with the wordmark below in a geometric sans-serif, black on white.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
Many distinct objects and people in one frame without merging or duplicating them.
›What we asked for
A crowded Saturday farmers market seen from slightly above: at least twelve stalls with striped awnings, shoppers carrying tote bags, a dog on a leash, crates of oranges, a musician with a guitar, bunting overhead, late morning light.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
A named historical style applied faithfully rather than a generic painterly look.
›What we asked for
A lighthouse on a rocky cliff during a storm, in the style of a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print, with visible wood grain texture, flat colour areas and a bokashi gradient sky.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Six labelled bars at the stated heights, in order, with readable axes.
›What we asked for
A clean bar chart titled 'Monthly active users' showing six months, January through June, with the values 120, 150, 180, 170, 220 and 260, labelled axes, white background, one accent colour, no 3D effects.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
A 21:9 composition that leaves the left third clear for headline text.
›What we asked for
Website hero banner: a wide panorama of a sunlit modern co-working space with plants, the left third of the frame kept as clear wall space for text, warm neutral palette.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":2016,"height":864}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 2016 by 864 pixels
Four numbered steps in the given order with their exact wording, plus an icon each.
›What we asked for
An infographic card titled 'How to brew pour-over' with four numbered steps in this order: 1. Rinse the filter, 2. Bloom for 30 seconds, 3. Pour in slow circles, 4. Wait 3 minutes. A simple icon beside each step, muted palette, clean sans-serif type.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1360}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1360 pixels
Appetising, menu-grade food with correct textures and no melted anatomy.
›What we asked for
Overhead photograph of a margherita pizza on a wooden board, fresh basil leaves, one slice pulled out with the cheese stretching, restaurant menu photography, natural light.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
Exact counts and left-right placement of five named objects.
›What we asked for
A glass of water on a wooden table with exactly three ice cubes in it, a yellow pencil resting across the rim of the glass, a blue book to the left of the glass and a red apple to the right, photographed from table height.
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image
image_size: {"width":1360,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1360 by 1024 pixels
Change one object's colour and add a part while leaving background, light and framing untouched.
›What we asked for
Change the coffee dripper to a deep forest green and add a small brass handle on its right side. Keep the background, lighting and composition exactly as they are. (applied to the product on white result above)
bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/edit
image_size: {"width":1024,"height":1024}, output_format: png, num_images: 1
returned 1024 by 1024 pixels
How the cost under each picture was worked out: fal's flat $0.027 per image for Seedream 5.0 Flash, generation and edit (fal model page, read 2026-10-22); fal does not return the charge.
Compare Seedream 5.0 Flash
Seedream 5.0 Flash pricing
| Where | Unit | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fal | Image Flat per image, text-to-image and edit alike, at any size the endpoint accepts. | $0.027 | fal model page, read |
| fal | Edited image | $0.027 | fal model page, edit, read |
Is Seedream 5.0 Flash free?
No free API tier. On fal it is a flat $0.027 an image. ByteDance's own apps give free daily credits for Seedream models, but we could not confirm that they offer the Flash tier.
- •fal: pay per image, no free allowance listed for this model.
- •Dreamina and ByteDance's China apps: free daily credits for Seedream; check the app for which tier it uses.
fal model page, read
Where to use Seedream 5.0 Flash
- fal · bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image and /flash/edit, flat price per image; the endpoints used for the samples below.
- BytePlus ModelArk · ByteDance's API for international customers.
- Voyager · Runs inside Voyager, the agent for creative work, with your own fal key.
Voyager
Run Seedream 5.0 Flash inside Voyager
Voyager is an agent for creative work that runs every model in this reference, Seedream 5.0 Flash included. Brief it, and it picks the model, makes the thing and hands back something you can edit. Create an account to get started.
What we noticed running Seedream 5.0 Flash
- •All three lines correct, in huge two-colour letterpress type with a drawing of the Roundhouse and small calendar and ticket icons. The circle clips the last S of SESSIONS. See the text in an image picture.
- •Bars at the right heights on a correct 0 to 300 axis, but the labels are wrong: March reads 150, April 'Ap0' and June's bar is labelled 'June' instead of 260. See the chart picture.
- •Not a dripper: a footed bowl with five slots and a hole cut through its side. See the product on white picture.
- •Both changes made, forest green and a brass handle on the right, with the slots, hole and white background unchanged. See the edit an existing image picture.
- •Book left, apple right, three ice cubes, pencil across the rim: exactly as asked. See the hard composition picture.
- •Four headings exactly as given, an icon each, plus a sentence of invented instructions under every step. See the infographic with steps picture.
- •Wordmark correct, but the mark is a T-shaped handle on a block, neither a chain link nor a spoke. See the logo mark picture.
- •A committed ukiyo-e print: Hokusai-style wave, bokashi sky, paper grain, flat colour. No seals or signature. See the specific art style picture.
- •The left third is a plain panelled wall with no text, though a sofa back runs along the bottom of the frame. See the wide aspect ratio picture.
- •The self-portrait hero printed 'SEEDREAM 5.0 FLASH', 'BYTE DANCE FAST IMAGE MODEL' and 'CRISP MOTION STOPPED DETAIL' over the photograph: it reads descriptive phrases in a prompt as copy to set.
Seedream 5.0 Flash limits and API parameters
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Output size | Between 1024 by 1024 and 2048 by 2048 pixels in total, aspect ratio from 1:16 to 16:1. fal API schema, read |
| Reference images | Up to 10 per edit; if more are sent, only the last 10 are used. fal API schema, read |
| Images per request | Up to 6 separate generations. fal API schema, read |
›Every setting, for developers
fal (bytedance/seedream/v5/flash/text-to-image and /edit)
fal API schema, read
| Parameter | Type | Values | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| prompt | string | Any text Required. | |
| image_size | enum or object | square_hd, square, portrait_4_3, portrait_16_9, landscape_4_3, landscape_16_9, auto_1K, auto_2K, or {width, height} Total pixels between 1024 by 1024 and 2048 by 2048; aspect ratio between 1:16 and 16:1. | auto_2K |
| image_urls | list of URLs | Up to 10 images Edit endpoint only, where it is required. | |
| num_images | integer | 1 to 6 | 1 |
| output_format | enum | jpeg, png | jpeg |
| enable_safety_checker | boolean | true, false Turning it off needs account authorisation. | true |
What Seedream 5.0 Flash will not draw
On fal it runs behind a safety checker that is on by default and can only be turned off with account authorisation, and fal marks it for commercial use. ByteDance's own rules for its apps and the BytePlus API cover the usual ground: sexual content, minors, violence and deceptive depictions of real people.
fal API schema, read
Alternatives to Seedream 5.0 Flash
Frequently asked questions
What is Seedream 5.0 Flash?
The fast, cheapest tier of ByteDance's Seedream 5.0 image family, below Pro and Lite. It generates from text and edits from up to 10 reference images at 1K to 2K.
How much does Seedream 5.0 Flash cost?
$0.027 an image on fal, generation or edit, at any allowed size, read on 22 October 2026.
Seedream 5.0 Flash or Lite?
On our prompts Flash designed a better poster, placed the composition test exactly and made a cleaner edit, about twice as fast and a little cheaper. Lite got the chart labels right and drew a believable dripper. Use Flash for drafts and layouts, and check its numbers.
Can Seedream 5.0 Flash edit images?
Yes, through its own edit endpoint at the same price. Our product edit changed the colour and added the handle without touching anything else.
How this page is made
Prices, limits and settings are read from the linked vendor and host pages on the dates shown. Every picture was generated by us through fal with the request shown under it, and the original files are kept unedited. A generation that failed is shown as a failure. Model and vendor names are used to identify the products; no vendor imagery appears on this page.
