Seedance vs MiniMax H3: Clip Length, 2K and Cost
Seedance vs MiniMax H3 compared on per-second price, clip length, resolution and reference limits, with the naming trap that H3 is not called Hailuo 3.
Seedance vs MiniMax comes down to a trade the two vendors made in opposite directions. MiniMax H3 is cheaper per second and reaches a higher resolution tier. Seedance 2.5 runs twice as long in a single pass and accepts far more reference material without adding to the bill. Before that, a naming problem needs clearing up, because the wrong product name returns the wrong specifications.
The name comes first: H3, not Hailuo 3
MiniMax H3 is the official product name. MiniMax announced it on 31 July 2026 under the title "MiniMax H3: An Open Model Breaking the Boundaries Between Tasks and Modalities", and the API accepts two model ids in this family: MiniMax-H3 and MiniMax-H3-Max.
H3 is not "Hailuo 3". Hailuo was the previous naming line, and MiniMax's launch post describes two earlier generations under that name before H3 replaced it. Hailuo now survives as legacy model ids such as MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3 and MiniMax-Hailuo-02, filed under Legacy Models, and as the consumer web product. MiniMax's OpenAPI spec still carries the internal codename Hailuo-03 in its description field, which is where the confusion starts, but no official page sells a product called Hailuo 3.
MiniMax-H3-Max is a separate build, post-trained for speed rather than quality, with a narrower spec sheet than H3's.
Seedance vs MiniMax H3 at a glance
| Seedance 2.5 | MiniMax H3 | MiniMax H3 Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clip length | 4 to 30 s, default 5 | 4 to 15 s | 5 to 15 s, no 4 s option |
| Resolutions | 480p, 720p, 1080p | 768P, 2K | 480P, 768P, no 2K |
| Top tier per second | $0.461856 at 1080p | $0.13 at 2K | $0.08 at 768P |
| Entry tier per second | $0.118589 at 480p | $0.08 at 768P | $0.05 at 480P |
| Reference images | Up to 30, no billable seconds added | First 5 free, then $0.04 each | Inputs not billed for now |
| Reference video | Up to 10 clips, 30 s combined | Billed at the output resolution rate | Not supported |
| Aspect ratios | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Prepaid packages | Not applicable | Not supported on H3 | Not supported on H3 |
Per-second price, and which side it favours
MiniMax is the cheaper vendor here, and the gap is not close. On the international platform, MiniMax-H3 bills $0.08 per second at 768P and $0.13 at 2K, while MiniMax-H3-Max bills $0.05 at 480P and $0.08 at 768P. Seedance 2.5 bills $0.118589 per second at 480p, $0.266824 at 720p and $0.461856 at 1080p for generation-only work.
Put the top tiers together and a ten-second clip costs about $1.30 on H3 at 2K against about $4.62 on Seedance at 1080p. At the entry tier, ten seconds is $0.50 on H3 Max at 480P against about $1.19 on Seedance at 480p. Seedance costs more per second at every comparable tier, and the top-tier comparison is the least favourable of all, since 2K sits above 1080p rather than beside it.
Two qualifications belong with those numbers. MiniMax's Chinese platform publishes different figures that are not a straight currency conversion: H3 at 2K is 0.80 CNY per second there against $0.13 internationally, so a quoted rate needs its platform named. And MiniMax's prepaid video packages, priced from $1,000 to $6,000 per month, explicitly exclude H3; the documentation says H3 is not supported yet and points buyers to pay-as-you-go. Package discounting covers the older Hailuo models only.
Clip length is where Seedance takes the point back
MiniMax-H3 generates 4 to 15 seconds. MiniMax-H3-Max generates 5 to 15 and rejects 4 entirely. Seedance 2.5 generates 4 to 30 seconds in one pass, with 5 as the default, and multiple shots can live inside a single generation.
That doubling is the clearest structural difference between the two. Under 15 seconds of finished video it buys nothing, and the price comparison decides the question outright. Above 15 seconds, MiniMax requires chaining segments and the continuity problems stitching brings, while Seedance treats it as one request. Past 30 seconds both sides are chaining.
Resolution, frame rate and the 2K tier
MiniMax writes H3's top tier as 2K, not 1080P and not 4K. H3 Max tops out at 768P and does not accept 2K at all. A separate MiniMax-H3-Regeneration path takes a 768P result up to 2K at $0.05 per second of regenerated output, cheaper than generating at 2K directly. All MiniMax video models output 24 fps.
Seedance 2.5 offers 480p, 720p and 1080p with 720p as the default, and has no 4K tier. So MiniMax reaches higher on paper and at a lower price, the strongest argument for it here. Both support the same seven aspect ratios, including adaptive, 21:9 and the vertical options.
Reference material and what it costs to attach
Seedance 2.5 accepts up to 30 reference images, up to 10 reference video clips of 2 to 30 seconds each capped at 30 seconds combined, and up to 10 reference audio tracks. Reference images and audio add no billable seconds. Reference video does, and any request carrying video bills a floor of five thirds of the output duration, so a two-second source with a five-second output bills nine seconds. Failed jobs are refunded in full.
MiniMax charges for the same material differently. The first five input images are free and each additional image costs $0.04. Input audio is free. Input video is billed by its own duration at the output resolution rate, so 2K work pays $0.13 per second of source footage on top of the output. H3 Max supports text-to-video and image-to-video only, and bills output alone.
For a job with two or three references, MiniMax's structure costs almost nothing. For one built on twenty or thirty images, the free allowance runs out fast and Seedance's flat treatment of images becomes the cheaper shape despite the higher per-second rate. MiniMax also publishes H3 weights on HuggingFace under an open licence, but the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and South Korea are named Excluded Territories requiring a separate licence, so self-hosting is not automatically open there.
Frequently asked questions
Is MiniMax H3 the same thing as Hailuo 3?
No. H3 is the official name of the current generation and replaced the Hailuo naming line. Hailuo survives as legacy model ids such as MiniMax-Hailuo-2.3 and as the consumer web product, and no official MiniMax page sells a product named Hailuo 3.
Which is cheaper per second, Seedance 2.5 or MiniMax H3? MiniMax, at every comparable tier. H3 is $0.08 per second at 768P and $0.13 at 2K on the international platform, against $0.266824 at 720p and $0.461856 at 1080p for Seedance.
How long a clip can each one generate in one pass? MiniMax H3 does 4 to 15 seconds and H3 Max does 5 to 15. Seedance 2.5 does 4 to 30 seconds, which is the main reason to pay its higher rate.
Does either model reach 4K? No. MiniMax H3 tops out at a tier it labels 2K, and Seedance 2.5 tops out at 1080p.
The short version
Seedance vs MiniMax is a cost-against-length decision with a naming trap in front of it. Get the name right first, since H3 is the product and Hailuo 3 does not exist. Then price the work you actually ship: MiniMax H3 is cheaper at every tier and reaches 2K, so short clips under 15 seconds belong there on cost alone. Seedance 2.5 earns its higher rate on jobs needing a continuous 30 seconds, or twenty and more reference images, where MiniMax's five-image allowance stops helping.
