Answer: on Callirra, Seedream 5.5 costs 2 credits per image at 1K and at 1.5K, and 4 credits at 2K — $0.02 and $0.04 at settlement, or about $0.013 and $0.027 on the top yearly plan, where a credit costs roughly $0.0066. A new account's weekly credits cover nine 1K images, and no subscription is needed to generate images.
Image pricing is quoted per image by almost everyone, which makes comparison easy on paper and misleading in practice. The variables that move the real number are resolution, reference count and whether edits settle flat or on usage.
The price, in three currencies
| Setting | Credits | USD at settlement | USD on the top plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1K | 2 | $0.020 | ≈ $0.013 |
| 1.5K | 2 | $0.020 | ≈ $0.013 |
| 2K | 4 | $0.040 | ≈ $0.027 |
| 2K edit, 3 references | usage | $0.04–0.08 | ≈ $0.03–0.05 |
| 2K layer split, 12 layers | usage | above $0.04 | above $0.03 |
Three dollar figures for the same job is not obfuscation — it is the plan you buy. The credit count is the constant; the price of a credit is the variable.
What to compare, in order
- Credits per image at a named resolution. "Cheap per image" without a resolution is meaningless: 2K at 4 credits is twice the price of 1.5K at 2.
- Whether edits are flat or usage-based. A platform that charges the same for a one-reference touch-up and a ten-reference restyle is hiding a margin somewhere.
- Whether the free tier can run it. Image generation here is open to every tier, so the first week costs nothing.
- Layer decomposition. It is rare, and it is the feature that decides whether a render becomes an editable asset.
- What a failed job costs. Failed renders release their reservation.
The free tier, concretely
A new account starts with 18 credits in week one, then 15 weekly. At 2 credits an image that is nine images the first week, then seven or eight every week after — enough to judge a model on real briefs before paying anything.
| Week | Credits | 1K images |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | 9 |
| 2 onwards | 15 | 7 |
Why the cheapest tier is 1.5K
1K and 1.5K cost the same 2 credits. The extra resolution is free, and it pays twice: better edges in the image itself, and much more stable chained edits and layer splits at 1.5K than at 1K. Rendering at 1K to save money cannot save money.
Where "cheapest" gets decided
For a 30-image social batch: 60 credits, about $0.60 at settlement, or $0.40 on the top plan. For the same batch at 2K: 120 credits, $1.20, or about $0.79. The gap between platforms is usually smaller than the gap between your 1K and 2K decisions — which is why resolution discipline beats coupon hunting.
FAQ
Is Seedream 5.5 available on the free tier? Yes — image generation is open to every tier, and weekly credits cover a handful of images.
Is 1.5K the same price as 1K? Yes, 2 credits both.
Are edits charged at the flat per-image rate? No; they settle on usage with a ceiling.
Is it the cheapest image model here? Per image, yes — 2 credits at 1K/1.5K against 3 for Nano Banana 2.1's 1K and 3 for GPT Image 2.5's cheapest cell.
The current rows, with the quote before every render, are on Callirra's Seedream 5.5 page and the credit-cost page. If you find a cheaper 1.5K image somewhere, check whether edits are flat there before believing it.