Seedream 5 Pro vs. Lite: Two New Routes to Better Images

ByteDance's Seedream 5 family is now available on Poly through OpenRouter. This release brings two models with a clear division of labor: Seedream 5.0 Pro for quality-sensitive generation and editing, and Seedream 5.0 Lite for faster, lower-cost production.

Both models accept text and image input, support a wide range of aspect ratios, and can work with as many as 14 reference images. That makes the family useful for more than isolated text-to-image prompts: it can support visual iteration, composition, and reference-driven creative work.

Seedream 5.0 Pro

Pro is the model to choose when the final image matters more than throughput. It supports 1K and 2K output, one image per request, and reference-based generation or editing.

OpenRouter currently lists standard output at $0.045 per image. High-resolution output is billed at a higher rate, and image references carry a small input charge. Use Pro for hero artwork, campaign concepts, key product visuals, and edits where consistency is worth the extra cost.

Seedream 5.0 Lite

Lite is the production route. It supports 2K and 4K output, can return up to four images in one request, and currently costs $0.035 per output image through OpenRouter.

That makes Lite attractive for batches of social assets, visual exploration, thumbnails, and any workflow where several candidates are more valuable than one highly refined output.

A Simple Choice

Choose Lite to explore and scale. Choose Pro for the selected direction and the final polish.

Poly makes that workflow natural because both models live in the same conversation. Generate several directions with Lite, keep the context and references attached, then move to Pro for the version that deserves a more careful pass.

Try Seedream 5 Lite Try Seedream 5 Pro

Sources: Seedream 5.0 Lite on OpenRouter and Seedream 5.0 Pro on OpenRouter.