Relaydance Review: Pricing & Comparison
Pivoted to video-generation relay: one API for Seedance 2.0/2.5, plus Claude/Grok text and image models
Last verified: 2026-08-15 · Visit official site →
From a “Grok/Doubao relay” to a “video-generation relay”
Relaydance (relaydance.com) went through a clear pivot in 2026. Its earlier positioning was a Grok/Doubao/Claude/GPT multi-model text relay; today the homepage presents a “Seedance video generation API” — ByteDance’s Seedance video models at the core, exposed through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint covering video, image, and a handful of text models.
As verified in August 2026, the platform routes 39 models across 6 upstreams: 13 text, 3 image, 23 video. The text side keeps Anthropic Claude (Fable 5 / Opus 4.6-4.8 / Sonnet 4.6) and xAI Grok (4.3/4.5/4.20). GPT text, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen and Kimi are no longer offered. The image side has gpt-image-2 and grok-imagine-image; the video side is the real centerpiece — Seedance 2.0 (480p/720p/1080p/native 4K), Seedance 2.0 Fast/Mini, Seedance 1.5 Pro, Seedance super-resolution, HappyHorse 1.0, Grok video 1.5, MiniMax H3 and more.
Pricing and payment: USD settlement, no minimum
Relaydance’s billing changed along with the pivot:
- Pay-as-you-go, $0 platform fee, no minimum top-up — you can explore without a credit card;
- Video is billed per output second; super-resolution is billed per second on top of the original generation cost; images per request;
- Failed or errored requests are never billed;
- Payment is USDT (crypto) or Stripe cards — Alipay/WeChat Pay are no longer supported;
- Exact per-model rates are not published on the site — you see live unit prices only after logging into the console; high volume can be negotiated.
For mainland developers, “no BytePlus enterprise account + no KYC” lowers the entry bar, but losing Alipay/WeChat top-ups is a real trade-off to weigh.
Who it’s for
Good fit:
- Developers who need reliable Seedance 2.0/2.5 access for video generation without applying for a ByteDance BytePlus enterprise account
- Teams that also need Claude/Grok text plus image generation and accept USD/USDT settlement
- Video-batch users who care a lot about “never billed on failure”
Not a fit:
- Developers who just need Claude/GPT general text APIs — GPT text is gone from the catalog, so look at Claude/GPT-focused relays
- Users who must pay directly in RMB via Alipay/WeChat
- Price-sensitive newcomers who need to estimate per-video cost precisely before committing
Information verified 2026-08-15. The platform has shifted from text relay to video generation; model list, billing model and payment methods changed substantially — check the live console on relaydance.com.
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Quick facts
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go, $0 platform fee, no minimum top-up; video billed per output second, images per request, failed requests never billed; USDT/Stripe payment |
|---|---|
| Model coverage | Video-first: ByteDance Seedance 2.0/2.5 (480p to native 4K), Seedance 1.5 Pro, HappyHorse, Grok video and 23 video models total; plus gpt-image-2-class image models and Claude Fable 5/Opus, Grok 4.x text models — 39 models overall |
| Latency / SLA | Single OpenAI-compatible endpoint; no public unified latency/SLA — verify by testing |
| Mainland direct connect | Direct connect |
| Best for | Developers |
| Referral program | No public affiliate program found so far. |
Pros
- Video-generation specialist: Seedance 2.0/2.5 (480p to native 4K), Seedance 1.5 Pro, HappyHorse, Grok video — 23 video models behind one OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- No-KYC entry: no BytePlus enterprise account required, top up with USDT or a Stripe card, and failed requests are never billed
- Text models still covered: Claude Fable 5/Opus/Sonnet and Grok 4.x, handy alongside video-generation workloads
Cons
- GPT text/Gemini/DeepSeek are no longer offered — for general LLM needs, pick another platform
- Payment is now USDT + Stripe only; Alipay/WeChat Pay are gone, so the domestic payment experience is weaker
- Videos are billed per second in USD — do your own math for large-batch usage
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