Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1 at a glance

Seedance 2.5 from ByteDance and HappyHorse 1.1 from Alibaba Cloud are both in the Video Generation category, available through the EmpirioLabs API.

Key differences

• Seedance 2.5 is the newer release (Aug 7, 2026); HappyHorse 1.1 was released on Jun 22, 2026.
• Input types only Seedance 2.5 accepts: Audio, Video.
• Capabilities listed only for Seedance 2.5: text to video, video editing, multimodal, camera control, character consistency, draft mode.
• Capabilities listed only for HappyHorse 1.1: video generation.

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: specs

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: API pricing

Live rates from the EmpirioLabs catalog for both models. Each rate card always matches what the API charges.

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: API parameters

Request parameters each model lists on EmpirioLabs, with the allowed values or range where one applies. A dash marks a parameter the model does not list.

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: limits and notes

Seedance 2.5

Next-generation Seedance built for long-form storytelling: one request can produce a coherent clip of up to 30 seconds, draw on up to 50 reference assets, and edit or extend existing footage.

Modes

• Text to video, first frame, or first and last frame.
• Multimodal reference to video from up to 30 images, 10 videos, and 10 audio clips. Audio-only input works on its own.
• To edit an attached clip or continue it, describe that in your prompt. The model reads the intent from your wording.

Output

• 480p, 720p, and 1080p at 24fps, 4 to 30 seconds, with native synchronized audio.
• MP4 by default. MOV carries higher color precision for grading and compositing, and some players cannot open it.
• When you supply a first frame, the output follows that image's aspect ratio, so aspect_ratio stays adaptive. Reference jobs, including ones with a reference video, accept any ratio.

Draft mode

• Set draft to true to render a 480p draft while you are still trying shots. Drafts render at 480p only.
• The response returns the draft's id as usage.draft_task_id. Send that back as draft_task_id to render the same shot at 1080p.
• The final render takes the prompt, reference assets, duration, aspect ratio, seed and audio setting from the draft, so anything you send alongside draft_task_id is ignored. A draft stays promotable for 7 days.

Input limits

• Images: jpeg, png, webp, bmp, tiff, gif, heic, or heif, 300 to 6000 px per side, under 30 MB each.
• Videos: MP4 or MOV, 2 to 30 seconds each and 30 seconds in total, under 200 MB each.
• Audio: WAV or MP3, 2 to 30 seconds each and 30 seconds in total, under 15 MB each.
• Reference uploads that contain real human faces are rejected by the model. To use your own face, email support@empiriolabs.ai.

Billing

• Without a reference video, you are billed per second of generated video at the rate for the output resolution.
• With a reference video, the model prices the reference clip's seconds alongside the generated seconds, at the lower video-input rate. Billed seconds are therefore reference duration plus output duration, so a request that includes a reference video costs more in total than the same output generated from text alone.
• Draft mode is not a discounted rate. A draft bills as a normal 480p generation and its final bills as a normal 1080p generation, so the saving comes from trying shots at 480p and rendering only your pick at 1080p.
• Worked example at 480p: a 4 second clip from a text prompt bills 4 seconds. A 4 second clip generated from a 5 second reference video bills 9 seconds at the video-input rate.

Uploaded media preprocessing

• Video inputs are capped to 30 seconds.
• Uploaded video inputs are normalized to provider-compatible MP4 when needed. Set preprocess_video to false to send a clip through untouched.

HappyHorse 1.1

Modes (in one model)

• Text-to-video
• Image-to-video
• Reference-to-video (up to 9 images)

Constraints

• 720p / 1080p, 3 to 15 seconds per generation
• Prompt up to 2,500 characters

Aspect ratios

• Text and reference modes: 16:9, 9:16, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4
• Image-to-video follows the source image

Native audio is generated automatically.

How to call Seedance 2.5 and HappyHorse 1.1

Seedance 2.5 runs through POST /v1/videos/generations. The request returns a job_id right away; poll GET /v1/jobs/{job_id} until the job completes and read the output URLs from the result. Both models are called through the same endpoint. Set model to seedance-2-5 or happyhorse-1-1. Get an API key from the EmpirioLabs dashboard.

curl https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1/videos/generations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIOLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "seedance-2-5",
    "prompt": "Describe what you want Seedance 2.5 to generate."
  }'

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: tests and guides

Prompt tests and comparison runs that cover both models.

Guides Seedance 2.5 vs MiniMax H3 vs Grok Imagine Video 1.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: image to video test Seedance 2.5, MiniMax H3, Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and HappyHorse 1.1 all animated the same vertical starting image across...

Seedance 2.5 vs HappyHorse 1.1: common questions

What is the difference between Seedance 2.5 and HappyHorse 1.1?

Seedance 2.5 is the newer release (Aug 7, 2026); HappyHorse 1.1 was released on Jun 22, 2026. Input types only Seedance 2.5 accepts: Audio, Video. Capabilities listed only for Seedance 2.5: text to video, video editing, multimodal, camera control, character consistency, draft mode. The specs, rate cards, and parameters on this page come from the live EmpirioLabs catalog.

Which is newer, Seedance 2.5 or HappyHorse 1.1?

Seedance 2.5 is the newer release (Aug 7, 2026); HappyHorse 1.1 was released on Jun 22, 2026.

Which has the lower rate, Seedance 2.5 or HappyHorse 1.1?

The two models are priced on different units or tiers, so compare the live rate cards on this page. They always match what the API charges.

Can I switch between Seedance 2.5 and HappyHorse 1.1 without rebuilding my integration?

Yes. Both models use POST /v1/videos/generations with the same EmpirioLabs API key, so most integrations switch by changing the model value. Check the parameters table on this page first if you rely on a model-specific parameter.

Can I try Seedance 2.5 and HappyHorse 1.1 in the browser before integrating?

Yes. Open each model in the EmpirioLabs playground and run the same prompt on both, with the parameters the API exposes.