Seedream 5 Lite API

About the Seedream 5 Lite API

What Seedream 5 Lite does, how it fits in the ByteDance model lineup, and why teams reach for it.

All Seedream 5 Lite API endpoints

4 endpoints available now on WaveSpeedAI — pick the variant that matches your workflow.

Sequential

Seedream 5.0 Lite Sequential generates multi-image sets with consistent characters and objects, unifying palette, lighting, and style across all outputs. Supports up to 4K results for campaigns, storyboards, and product lines. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

text-to-imagefrom $0.035

Seedream v5.0 Lite

Seedream 5.0 Lite by is a state-of-the-art text-to-image model with enhanced typography, clear text rendering for posters and brand visuals, superior prompt adherence, and up to 4K resolution. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

text-to-imagefrom $0.035

Edit Sequential

Seedream 5.0 Lite Edit Sequential performs multi-image editing while locking character and object identity across shots. It detects main subjects, preserves continuity, and applies controlled edits with up to 4K output. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

image-to-imagefrom $0.035

Edit

Seedream 5.0 Lite Edit by is a state-of-the-art image editing model preserving facial features, lighting, and color tones from reference images. Features high-fidelity editing with professional quality, superior prompt adherence, and up to 4K resolution. Ready-to-use REST inference API, best performance, no coldstarts, affordable pricing.

image-to-imagefrom $0.035

See Seedream 5 Lite in action

Real outputs generated by the Seedream 5 Lite API. Hover any video to preview, click to open the full-size viewer.

Street style photography, a stylish young woman in an oversized blazer and vintage sunglasses, urban backdrop, golden hour, shot on Leica

Close-up portrait of an elderly man with deep wrinkles and kind eyes, silver beard, warm directional lighting, shallow depth of field, photorealistic

A young woman with freckles and auburn hair, soft golden hour backlight, wind gently blowing her hair, natural makeup, editorial photography style

Dramatic low-key portrait of a woman with sharp cheekbones, half face in shadow, single light source from the side, black background, fine art photography

High fashion editorial shot, a model in a flowing crimson silk gown standing in a vast desert, wind catching the fabric, dramatic sky, Vogue style

2 images. First, a young princess in a torn royal dress sneaking through a dark castle corridor at night, holding a stolen map, torchlight flickering on stone walls, fear in her eyes, fantasy art, cinematic. Second, the princess and the cloaked figure riding together on horseback at dawn, the castle burning, she looks one last time with tears in her eyes, epic wide shot, golden hour, fantasy art, cinematic

2 images. First, A woman alone in a cozy apartment at night, reading a book on the couch, warm lamp light, rain on the window, peaceful and quiet atmosphere, thriller movie still, photorealistic. Second, The same woman freezing mid-page, eyes wide, staring at the front door where a shadow of a person is visible through the frosted glass, tension building, thriller movie still, photorealistic

2 images. First, The same young man sitting at the desk, but the books behind him start glowing with golden magical light, ancient runes floating out of the open book, his eyes wide with surprise, Harry Potter aesthetic, cinematic. Second, The young man back in the library, book closed, looking shaken at a tiny dragon sleeping on the stack of books beside him, warm cozy lighting, magical realism

How to use the Seedream 5 Lite API

Four steps from signup to a finished generation. Full Python, Node.js, and cURL examples are in the API section below.

1. 1

   Get an API key

   Sign up for a WaveSpeedAI account and copy your API key from the dashboard. New accounts come with free starter credits — enough to run the playground a few dozen times before billing kicks in.

2. 2

   Submit a prediction

   POST your input as JSON to https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/bytedance/seedream-v5.0-lite. The endpoint returns a prediction id immediately — generations are async so you don't hold an open connection during inference.

3. 3

   Poll for completion

   GET https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/{request_id}/result every 1-2 seconds. The response includes a status field; keep polling until it flips from "queued" or "processing" to "completed".

4. 4

   Read the output URL

   Once status is "completed", read the URL from data.outputs[0]. The URL points to your generated media on the WaveSpeedAI CDN — image, video, audio, or 3D file depending on the Seedream 5 Lite variant you called.

What you can build with Seedream 5 Lite

Common workflows developers and creators use the Seedream 5 Lite API for.

Tips for prompting Seedream 5 Lite

Practical advice for getting better outputs from Seedream 5 Lite — drawn from the patterns that work across image models in production pipelines.

Seedream 5 Lite API pricing

Pricing is per-output. The final charge scales with the parameters you set in each variant's playground (resolution, duration, output count, references).

Call the Seedream 5 Lite API

Sign up for an API key at wavespeed.ai/accesskey, then submit a prediction via REST. The playground generates ready-to-paste samples for any combination of inputs.

# 1. Submit a prediction
curl -X POST "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/bytedance/seedream-v5.0-lite" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY" \
  -d '{}'

# 2. Poll the result until status = "completed"
curl -X GET "https://api.wavespeed.ai/api/v3/predictions/{request_id}/result" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WAVESPEED_API_KEY"

# Read the output URL from data.outputs[0].

// npm install wavespeed
const WaveSpeed = require('wavespeed');
const client = new WaveSpeed(); // reads WAVESPEED_API_KEY

const result = await client.run("bytedance/seedream-v5.0-lite", {});
console.log(result.outputs[0]); // → URL of the generated output

# pip install wavespeed
import wavespeed

output = wavespeed.run(
    "bytedance/seedream-v5.0-lite",
    {}
)
print(output["outputs"][0])  # → URL of the generated output

Seedream 5 Lite vs alternatives

When to pick Seedream 5 Lite over similar models on WaveSpeedAI.

Seedream 5 Lite API — Frequently asked questions

Pricing, license, integration — common questions about running Seedream 5 Lite on WaveSpeedAI.

About ByteDance

The team behind Seedream 5 Lite and the broader ByteDance model lineup on WaveSpeedAI.

ByteDance — the company behind TikTok, CapCut, and Doubao — runs one of the largest AI research operations in the world. Its Seed and Doubao teams ship state-of-the-art models for video generation (Seedance), image generation and editing (Seedream, Nano Banana), and avatar / lip-sync work. Models are trained on internal-scale data and shipped to production through ByteDance's consumer apps before being released as APIs.

Related model APIs on WaveSpeedAI

Other AI APIs from ByteDance and the rest of the image model lineup — one API key, one billing account.