seedream 4.5 vs Seedream 5 Pro for Image Generation
Seedream 5 Pro is the stronger choice for instruction following, typography, anatomy, composition, reference-based edits, relighting, and outpainting. Choose seedream 4.5 when preserving a product across a scene change is the priority; the models tie on counting and structured UI graphics.
Side-by-side facts
| Feature | seedream 4.5 | Seedream 5 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | ByteDance | ByteDance |
| Availability on Banana Pie | Available now | Available now |
| Credits from | 25 credits | 25 credits |
| Max resolution | 4K | 2K |
| Reference images | Up to 8 | Up to 8 |
Scenario by scenario
Same prompt. Two models. Judge the difference in the published images below.
Product material and lighting
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight follows the requested fill level and physical product-lighting behavior substantially better.
- Exactly one transparent rectangular perfume bottle is visible, with no text, logo, or extra objects: Right does better because it shows one complete, clearly recognizable rectangular perfume bottle with no visible text, logo, or additional objects; left also shows one bottle but crops its top edge.
- The bottle is visibly filled halfway with amber liquid: Right clearly does better because its amber liquid reaches approximately the midpoint of the bottle body, while the left bottle appears nearly full.
- The glass refraction and the reflection on the wet black stone are physically coherent: Right does better because the glass edges, liquid distortion, and centered reflection align plausibly; left has a disproportionately long, diffuse amber reflection and less convincing optical boundaries inside the bottle.
- Upper-left lighting produces consistent highlights and a plausible contact shadow: Right does better because the brighter left-facing glass edges, restrained highlights, and grounded shadow around the base are consistent; left has upper-left illumination but severe blown highlights and a large hard-edged shadow that makes the lighting less coherent.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
A premium product photograph of exactly one transparent rectangular perfume bottle, half filled with amber liquid, standing upright on wet black stone. Light comes from the upper left, creating coherent refraction, a contact shadow, and one subtle reflection. No text, logo, plants, or extra objects.
Multilingual typography
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight follows the requested four-line multilingual poster layout exactly, while Left turns two requested lines into four separate lines.
- Exactly four centered text lines and no additional text: Right does better. It shows exactly four centered lines. Left breaks "MOONLIGHT MARKET" and "18 OCT" across separate lines, resulting in six visible text lines.
- Exact text and order: Right does better. Its lines read exactly "MOONLIGHT MARKET", "月光市集", "18 OCT", and "RIVER HALL" in the requested order. Left contains those words and characters in order, but "MOONLIGHT MARKET" and "18 OCT" are each split across two lines.
- Specified text colors: Tie. Both render "月光市集" in red and all Latin text in black.
- Legibility, spacing, and alignment: Right does better. Its four lines are clearly legible, centered, and arranged with consistent spacing. Left is centered and legible, but the oversized type causes unintended wrapping and much less even vertical spacing.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Design a clean cream-colored vertical event poster. Show exactly four centered text lines and no other text: "MOONLIGHT MARKET", "月光市集", "18 OCT", and "RIVER HALL". Render "月光市集" in red and all other lines in black.
Human anatomy and contact
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight is the stronger result overall because it presents clearer hand separation, more plausible anatomy and contact, and a more recognizable pottery-shaping action, despite not visibly confirming all five fingers on the hand inside the bowl.
- Exactly two fully visible hands are present, with no extra hands or people: Right does better. Both show exactly two hands and no extra person, but the hands are more clearly separated and readable on the right; the rear hand on the left is substantially obscured by the foreground hand.
- Each hand has exactly five distinct, naturally formed fingers: Left does better narrowly. Its foreground hand clearly shows four fingers and a thumb, while the other hand is partly obscured; on the right, the hand inside the bowl visibly presents four fingers, with no distinct thumb visible.
- The fingers, joints, and contact with the clay are anatomically plausible: Right does better. Its knuckles, finger lengths, and opposing inside-and-outside grip look natural, while the left hand overlap makes several fingers visually ambiguous and the shaping contact less convincing.
- The clay bowl, spinning wheel, and shaping action are clearly recognizable: Right does better. The bowl sits clearly on a wheel with one hand inside and one supporting the exterior, making the shaping action immediately legible; the left also shows a bowl and wheel, but the overlapping hands obscure the action.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
A photorealistic close-up of an adult potter shaping a clay bowl on a spinning wheel. Both hands are fully visible, each with five natural fingers touching the clay. No other people or hands. Soft window light.
Counting and attribute binding
Depends on the taskBoth images satisfy all four criteria with the requested counts, attributes, handle direction, and absence of extras. The differences are compositional rather than rubric-relevant.
- Object count and placement: tie. Both images visibly show exactly three red cubes in a row on the left, exactly two blue spheres on the right, and one yellow mug centered behind the foreground objects.
- Color, shape, and material binding: tie. Both images clearly depict red wooden cubes with visible grain, translucent blue glass spheres, and a glossy yellow ceramic mug.
- Mug handle direction: tie. The handle is clearly visible on the right side of the mug in both images.
- No additional objects or text: tie. Neither image contains any visible extra objects or text.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
On a matte gray table, exactly three red wooden cubes form a row on the left, exactly two blue glass spheres sit on the right, and one yellow ceramic mug stands centered behind them. The mug handle points right. No other objects or text.
Advertising composition
Better here: Seedream 5 ProThe right image follows the requested layout more closely, especially the empty top area, upper-left headline placement, and overall visual hierarchy.
- Exactly one silver shoe and orange trail: Both show exactly one silver shoe in the lower-right and an orange trail extending from the bottom-left; the right has a cleaner, more clearly curving trail, while the left trail is broader and partly runs beneath the shoe, so the right does slightly better.
- Only visible text: Both limit visible text to "RUN LIGHT" and "42 KM", with both phrases spelled correctly. This criterion is a tie.
- Top spacing and headline placement: The right does better because its top area is visibly empty and "RUN LIGHT" sits directly below it in the upper-left. On the left, "RUN LIGHT" is extremely large and extends into the upper portion, while an orange band also occupies the top edge.
- Visibility and visual hierarchy: The right does better because the headline, badge, shoe, and trail are all fully visible with clear separation and balanced emphasis. The left keeps the elements visible, but the oversized "RUN LIGHT" dominates much of the composition and weakens the hierarchy.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Create a vertical social ad for a fictional running shoe named AERO. Keep the top 15 percent empty. Directly below it, place the headline "RUN LIGHT" in the upper-left. Show exactly one silver shoe in the lower-right, an orange trail curving from the bottom-left, and a round badge reading "42 KM". No other shoes or text.
Structured UI graphic
Depends on the taskBoth images satisfy all four rubric criteria. Their styling differs, but neither has a visible compliance advantage.
- Title and columns: Tie. Both render the exact title "CHOOSE YOUR PLAN" and exactly three columns labeled "STARTER", "PRO", and "TEAM".
- Rows: Tie. Every column in both images contains exactly the three required rows, rendered as "PROJECTS", "STORAGE", and "SUPPORT", with consistent alignment.
- Buttons: Tie. Every column in both images contains exactly one blue button labeled "SELECT".
- Alignment and additional content: Tie. Both show three evenly arranged columns without any additional columns or text; LEFT uses a centered table grid, while RIGHT uses evenly spaced left-aligned content with vertical separators.
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Create a clean horizontal pricing comparison graphic titled "CHOOSE YOUR PLAN". Use exactly three equal columns labeled "STARTER", "PRO", and "TEAM". Under each column, show exactly three aligned rows labeled "PROJECTS", "STORAGE", and "SUPPORT", followed by one blue button labeled "SELECT". White background, dark navy text, no additional columns or text.
Six-reference object binding and edit
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight is the clear winner because it completes all requested bindings while preserving the base scene far more faithfully.
- Criterion 1: Right does better. Its dark navy-blue, gold-rimmed mug and green-and-white striped napkin closely match References 2 and 3 while occupying nearly the same areas as the original mug and towel. Left reproduces their appearance, but enlarges both substantially and shifts the mug downward so it is cropped.
- Criterion 2: Right does better. It cleanly replaces the pear with one leaf-topped orange and the blue notebook with a mustard-yellow hardcover notebook featuring the black elastic, with both placed close to the original objects' positions. Left includes the correct replacements but noticeably enlarges and shifts them, especially the notebook.
- Criterion 3: Right does better. It shows exactly two lemons to the right of the mug, with the left lemon carrying the leaf and stem arrangement recognizable from Reference 6. Left also has exactly two lemons in the correct general relation to the mug, but they are enlarged and pushed lower in the scene.
- Criterion 4: Right does much better. It closely retains Reference 1's landscape framing, camera angle, tabletop extent, wood-grain landmarks, lighting, and object spacing. Left substantially reframes and zooms the scene, crops the mug at the bottom, enlarges the objects, and changes multiple spatial relationships.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Use Reference 1 as the base tabletop scene. Replace the red mug with the exact dark navy-blue mug from Reference 2 in the same position and orientation. Replace the folded white towel with the exact green-and-white striped napkin from Reference 3 in the same folded area. Replace the green pear with exactly one orange from Reference 4 in the same position. Replace the blue notebook with the exact mustard-yellow hardcover notebook from Reference 5 in the same position. Add exactly the two lemons from Reference 6 to the right of the mug. Preserve the wooden table, camera, framing, wood grain, lighting, shadows, and all other spatial relationships from Reference 1. Do not copy the white product backgrounds from References 2–6, duplicate any asset, or add other objects.
In-image text replacement
Better here: Seedream 5 ProBoth outputs replace the wording cleanly, but the right output preserves the reference image far more faithfully while maintaining the requested typography.
- Exact text replacement: Both sides read exactly "NIGHT OWL", with "MORNING BEAN" completely removed.
- No malformed characters: Both sides render only the intended letters, with no extra, duplicated, or malformed characters.
- Font, spacing, and perspective: Right is closer to the reference, preserving the original condensed uppercase character, moderate spacing, letter scale, and sign perspective. Left uses substantially larger, more widely spaced lettering and changes the viewing angle.
- Material, lighting, and scene preservation: Right closely retains the reference sign texture, facade framing, lamps, shadows, storefront proportions, plants, and bench. Left noticeably changes the crop, perspective, storefront proportions, and several surrounding details.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Replace only the sign text with exactly "NIGHT OWL". Preserve the original font style, spacing, perspective, sign material, lighting, and everything else.
Multi-reference identity and garment transfer
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRIGHT is the stronger transfer overall. LEFT reproduces the isolated jacket more exactly, but RIGHT much better preserves the person, original composition, and physically natural fit while still carrying over the jacket's defining features.
- Identity, expression, hair, pose, body proportions, and framing: RIGHT does better. It retains the original three-quarter framing, head size, visible white shirt, hand position, and overall body proportions much more closely. LEFT uses a much tighter crop, enlarges the person, broadens the torso, and subtly changes the face and expression.
- Jacket material, color, collar, buttons, pockets, and sleeve patch: LEFT does better. Its pale blue denim, thick cream shearling collar, centered button placket, symmetrical flap pockets, vertical seams, bronze buttons, and red sleeve patch more closely reproduce Reference 2. RIGHT retains the key design elements but wears the jacket open, creating an asymmetric front and less faithful button and placket arrangement.
- Full replacement without mannequin or product background: The two are even. Both fully replace the black suit jacket with the denim jacket and preserve the original gray interior setting and bright window edge, with no white product background or mannequin visible.
- Physical coherence of hands, fit, occlusion, shadows, and lighting: RIGHT does better. The open jacket follows the torso naturally around the white shirt, the cuffs and sleeves meet the wrists cleanly, and the lighting remains consistent with the original scene. LEFT is also plausible, but the jacket appears unusually broad and rigid across the torso relative to the person.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Use the portrait in Reference 1 for the person and the isolated jacket in Reference 2 for the garment. Dress the person from Reference 1 in the exact jacket shown in Reference 2. Preserve the person's identity, face, expression, skin, hair, hands, pose, body proportions, background, framing, and lighting from Reference 1. Preserve the jacket's material, color, collar, buttons, pockets, and sleeve patch from Reference 2. Do not copy the ghost mannequin or white product background.
Coherent scene relighting
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRIGHT is the stronger coherent relighting edit. It delivers convincing directional golden-hour illumination while preserving the original room and objects much more faithfully.
- Warm golden-hour light clearly enters from the left window: Both satisfy this clearly, with bright amber sunlight visibly projecting from the left-side window across the room; LEFT is slightly stronger and more dramatic in its golden-hour effect.
- Highlights and shadow directions respond coherently to the new light source: RIGHT does better. Its window-shaped illumination, plant shadow, sofa highlights, and shadows extending toward the right read consistently as light traveling from the left window. LEFT is broadly coherent but pushes the highlights and cast shadows more aggressively.
- The result is more than a uniform yellow color filter: RIGHT does better. It introduces localized warm highlights, window-frame projections, plant shadows, and retained neutral-to-dark shaded areas. LEFT also adds directional lighting, but its strong orange cast spreads more uniformly across the ceiling, walls, furniture, rug, and floor.
- No furniture or decor is moved, added, removed, or redesigned: RIGHT does substantially better, closely retaining the reference framing and the positions and designs of the window, plant, sofa, lamp, table, and rug. LEFT changes the framing and apparent scale substantially, enlarges and redesigns several elements, alters the sofa and table proportions, and crops the scene differently.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Change the lighting to warm golden-hour sunlight entering from the left window. Do not move, add, remove, or redesign any object. Update highlights and shadows coherently.
Cross-ratio outpainting
Better here: Seedream 5 ProRight better preserves the centered source composition and cabin proportions, which outweighs its subtle transition in the extended sand.
- 16:9 landscape with natural new content on both sides: Both outputs are 16:9 landscapes and continue the sky, ocean, shoreline, and sand plausibly across both sides; neither has a clear advantage here.
- Complete original image centered without cropping or stretching: Right does better. Its cabin size and placement relative to the frame more closely match the reference image within the centered square area, while Left makes the cabin visibly wider and larger.
- Original cabin, shoreline, and internal composition unchanged: Right does better. The cabin proportions, door placement, horizon height, wave bands, and amount of foreground sand are closer to the reference; Left shows more noticeable changes to the cabin's width and structural details.
- No visible seams, mirrored filler, or repeated objects: Left does slightly better. Its extended beach and ocean remain visually continuous, while Right has a subtle tonal transition in the sand near the right side of the centered original area; neither shows obvious mirroring or duplicated objects.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Expand the canvas to a 16:9 landscape by naturally continuing the beach, ocean, and sky on both sides. Keep the complete original image centered without cropping, stretching, letterboxing, or modifying it.
Product preservation across scene change
Better here: seedream 4.5LEFT more faithfully preserves the sneaker while integrating it into a convincing wet basketball-court scene with coherent sunset light and reflection.
- Court-at-dusk placement: Left does better. The painted court, visible basketball structure, wet puddles, and warm sunset make the requested setting immediately readable; Right also shows a wet outdoor court at dusk, but its fence and lamps communicate the location more strongly than basketball-specific equipment.
- Product consistency: Left does better. Its elongated toe, heel profile, layered sole, front textured bumper, panel stitching, smooth white materials, and three-quarter side angle remain especially close to Reference 1. Right preserves most details well but makes the forefoot look slightly shorter and the shoe more upright.
- Black geometric side mark: Left does better. Its long lower-right branch, rising upper branch, and bent horizontal left arm closely retain the reference mark's proportions. Right keeps the same basic symbol, but the upper and lower branches appear shortened relative to Reference 1.
- Physical coherence: Left does better. The shoe has a grounded contact shadow, a clear puddle reflection that follows its position and orientation, and warm illumination consistent with the sunset. Right has convincing wet asphalt and contact shadow, but the shoe remains comparatively bright and neutral against the dusk scene, and its reflection is less complete.
Reference images
Prompt & settings used
Prompt
Place the sneaker on a wet outdoor basketball court at dusk. Preserve the exact sneaker shape, black geometric side mark, materials, stitching, sole geometry, and camera angle. Add physically coherent contact, reflections, and dusk lighting.
Cost & latency
Both models start at 25 credits, so the minimum generation cost is the same. In this run’s small latency sample, seedream 4.5 ranged from 21220 ms to 52476 ms, while Seedream 5 Pro ranged from 38569 ms to 141015 ms; these are observed samples, not benchmark figures.
How we compared & disclosure
We used one fixed prompt per scenario with each model and published the selected outputs. Public images carry a Banana Pie watermark. Banana Pie sells paid access to both models.
Banana Pie sells paid access to this model alongside other models in one studio. Our verdicts come from tests run through the same pipeline our users get.