Quickstart

This guide takes you from zero to a finished video with Seedance 2.0 Fast. The same steps work for every model — only the endpoint and input fields change.

1. Create an account and an API key

   Sign in with Google or email, then open Dashboard → API keys and create a key. It looks like cg_live_… and is shown only once — copy it somewhere safe.

2. Add credits

   Cheaper Gen. is prepaid. Add credits in Dashboard → Billing (any amount from $5). The example below costs $0.328 — $0.605 at the official list price. Failed generations are refunded automatically. See Billing & credits.

3. Set your API key

   Keep the key out of your code. Every example in these docs reads it from an environment variable:

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   export CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY="cg_live_..."

4. Submit a generation

   Send the model's inputs to POST /api/v1/run/bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video. The scripts below submit the job, poll until it finishes and print the video URL.

   cURLPythonJavaScript

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   curl -X POST https://cheapergen.com/api/v1/run/bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
     "prompt": "A slow dolly-in on a ceramicist shaping a vase at golden hour, dust in the light, shallow depth of field",
     "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
     "resolution": "720p",
     "duration": 5
   }'

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   import os, time, requests
   
   API = "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1"
   headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY']}"}
   
   # 1. Submit the job
   job = requests.post(f"{API}/run/bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video", headers=headers, json={
       "prompt": "A slow dolly-in on a ceramicist shaping a vase at golden hour, dust in the light, shallow depth of field",
       "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
       "resolution": "720p",
       "duration": 5
   }).json()
   
   # 2. Poll until it finishes (or pass "webhook_url" and skip polling)
   while job["status"] in ("queued", "running"):
       time.sleep(3)
       job = requests.get(f"{API}/generations/{job['id']}", headers=headers).json()
   
   print(job["status"], job["output"]["video"]["url"] if job["status"] == "succeeded" else job["error"])

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   const API = "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1";
   const headers = {
     Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY}`,
     "Content-Type": "application/json",
   };
   
   // 1. Submit the job
   let job = await fetch(`${API}/run/bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video`, {
     method: "POST",
     headers,
     body: JSON.stringify({
       "prompt": "A slow dolly-in on a ceramicist shaping a vase at golden hour, dust in the light, shallow depth of field",
       "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
       "resolution": "720p",
       "duration": 5
     }),
   }).then((r) => r.json());
   
   // 2. Poll until it finishes (or pass webhook_url and skip polling)
   while (job.status === "queued" || job.status === "running") {
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 3000));
     job = await fetch(`${API}/generations/${job.id}`, { headers }).then((r) => r.json());
   }
   
   console.log(job.status === "succeeded" ? job.output.video.url : job.error);

   The API answers immediately with 202 Accepted and a generation in the queued state. The price shown in cost.amount_usd is held from your balance while the job runs.

   202 Accepted

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   {
     "id": "gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z",
     "object": "generation",
     "model": "bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast",
     "endpoint": "bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video",
     "mode": "text-to-video",
     "status": "queued",
     "input": {
       "prompt": "A slow dolly-in on a ceramicist shaping a vase at golden hour, dust in the light, shallow depth of field",
       "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
       "resolution": "720p",
       "duration": 5,
       "generate_audio": true
     },
     "output": null,
     "error": null,
     "cost": {
       "amount_usd": 0.3278,
       "currency": "usd",
       "estimated": true
     },
     "source": "api",
     "created_at": "2026-10-15T09:21:04.512Z",
     "started_at": null,
     "completed_at": null,
     "retention": "1d",
     "expires_at": null,
     "purged_at": null,
     "urls": {
       "get": "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1/generations/gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z",
       "cancel": "https://cheapergen.com/api/v1/generations/gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z/cancel"
     }
   }

5. Get the result

   Poll the generation until status is succeeded or failed. Video jobs usually take one to a few minutes; images take seconds.

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   curl https://cheapergen.com/api/v1/generations/gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $CHEAPERGEN_API_KEY"

   200 OK

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   {
     "id": "gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z",
     "object": "generation",
     "model": "bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast",
     "endpoint": "bytedance/seedance-2.0-fast/text-to-video",
     "mode": "text-to-video",
     "status": "succeeded",
     "input": {
       "prompt": "A slow dolly-in on a ceramicist shaping a vase at golden hour, dust in the light, shallow depth of field",
       "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
       "resolution": "720p",
       "duration": 5,
       "generate_audio": true
     },
     "output": {
       "video": {
         "url": "https://cdn.cheapergen.ai/outputs/gen_8c2QmX1nq0k4Lw7Z.mp4",
         "content_type": "video/mp4"
       }
     },
     "error": null,
     "cost": {
       "amount_usd": 0.3278,
       "currency": "usd",
       "estimated": false
     },
     "source": "api",
     "created_at": "2026-10-15T09:21:04.512Z",
     "started_at": "2026-10-15T09:21:09.031Z",
     "completed_at": "2026-10-15T09:22:31.870Z",
     "retention": "1d",
     "expires_at": "2026-10-16T09:22:31.870Z",
     "purged_at": null
   }

   Skip polling with webhooks

   Add "webhook_url": "https://your-app.com/hooks/cheapergen" to the request body and we'll POST the finished generation to you. See Webhooks.

Next steps#

• Understand the generation lifecycle — statuses, polling intervals, cancellation and outputs.
• Pick a model — every endpoint ID with its price per second or per image.
• Handle errors — which responses to retry and which to fix.
• Seedance 2.0 Fast API reference — every input field, its type and default.