The short answer
Doubao is the AI assistant made by ByteDance, the Chinese technology company, for users in China at doubao.com and in its apps. It is free for everyday use and covers chat, writing, search, data analysis, meeting notes, and image, music, podcast and video generation with Seedance 2.0. Outside China, ByteDance offers Dola, run by a Singapore company. Both let ByteDance train models on your data unless you switch it off in settings.
| Made by | ByteDance, China. Dola is operated by SPRING (SG) PTE. LTD., Singapore |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes. Paid tiers have been in testing since May 2026 |
| Models | ByteDance's Seed models (Doubao-Seed-2.1 Pro announced June 2026) and Seedance 2.0 for video |
| Best at | Everyday questions, writing, translation, study help, and images, video, music and podcasts |
| Shows sources | Has search, academic search and Deep Search (Dola); check the links in each answer |
| Team plans | No business plan for the app confirmed |
| Your data | Doubao: stored in China, used for training unless you switch off Help improve the model. Dola: servers in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, training toggle in account settings |
What Doubao is, and why you might see Dola instead
Doubao (豆包) is ByteDance's general AI assistant. It runs on the web at doubao.com and in apps, and it is built for users in mainland China, with a Chinese interface. Open doubao.com from outside China and it says that, because of regional restrictions, you must log in first, or use Dola instead. Logging in works with a Douyin or Feishu account or a phone number, and the phone option only offers numbers from mainland China (+86), Hong Kong (+852), Macau (+853) and Taiwan (+886). ByteDance's separate international version, Dola, previously known as Cici (the old ciciai.com address now forwards to dola.com), is at dola.com and in app stores. Dola is operated by SPRING (SG) PTE. LTD., a company registered in Singapore, and its interface is available in English and many other languages, including Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Thai and Vietnamese.
The two look and work in a similar way. Both offer a quick mode for fast answers and a mode for complex, longer tasks, a separate Work area, and a long list of tools. The rest of this guide covers Doubao's features and points out where Dola differs.
The models behind Doubao
Doubao runs on ByteDance's own Seed models. On 14 February 2026 ByteDance announced the Doubao-Seed-2.0 series, aimed at complex tasks and agent-style workflows, according to Caixin. On 23 June 2026, at its FORCE conference in Beijing, ByteDance's cloud arm Volcano Engine announced Doubao-Seed-2.1 Pro as the new flagship of the Doubao model family. ByteDance does not clearly state in the app which Seed version answers a given question, so we cannot tell you exactly which model you are using today. For video, Doubao's homepage says the Seedance 2.0 video model is now fully built into Doubao and free to use once you log in.
What Doubao is best at
Creative generation in one free app
Few assistants put this much creative output in one place. Doubao lists image generation, video generation from text or a picture, music generation and one-click podcasts from text. If you need a rough storyboard clip, a jingle idea or a cover image for a social post, it is a fast way to get a first version. Dola offers image and video creation too.
Everyday writing, translation and questions
Doubao describes itself as a chat assistant for answering questions, writing copy, translating and programming. For Chinese-language writing in particular, it is a natural choice, because it was built for that audience first.
Study and homework help
Both Doubao and Dola let you upload a photo of a problem and get an explanation. Doubao says it covers all school levels and subjects, plus professional exams. It is useful for adults too, for example to check a statistics exercise before a course exam.
Meetings, documents and data
Doubao can record meetings and produce summaries, transcribe recordings, summarise web pages and documents, search academic information, and analyse data and draw charts. Dola includes AI Reading for PDFs, webpage and multi-page summaries, and Deep Search.
Where Doubao falls short
- It is built for China. Doubao's interface and services are designed for mainland China, and outside China the website asks you to log in with a Chinese, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan phone number, or a Douyin or Feishu account. Dola is the version to use elsewhere.
- Your data is shared across ByteDance's group. Dola's privacy policy says information may be shared with members of its corporate group for purposes that include AI model training, and that models improved with personal information may be used across the group.
- Paid plans are unclear. In May 2026 ByteDance began testing three paid monthly tiers, aimed at heavy uses such as slides, data analysis and video, and said full details would come through official channels. Check the app before you pay.
- Features can disappear. Doubao's user-created Agent feature went offline on 15 July 2026, when China's new rules on human-like AI companion services took effect, and users were pointed to another ByteDance app called Maoxiang.
- Little transparency about models. You cannot always tell which Seed model is answering, which makes results harder to compare over time.
How to get better results from Doubao or Dola
- Pick the mode first. Use the quick mode for simple questions and the mode for complex, longer tasks when you want reasoning, plans or longer documents.
- Use the dedicated tool. For a PDF, use AI Reading; for images or video, open the creation tool rather than asking in chat. Each tool has its own controls.
- Describe visuals precisely. For images and video, name the subject, setting, lighting, camera angle, style and length, for example "10-second clip, slow push-in, warm morning light".
- Ask for checkable sources. With search or Deep Search, ask for a link and date for every claim and open the important ones.
- Keep work data generic. Replace names, figures and client details with placeholders before you paste or upload anything.
Privacy settings and exactly where to find them
For Dola, the privacy policy updated on 31 July 2026 says ByteDance's Singapore operator may use the information you provide to improve its services, including to train AI models. You can stop your data being used for model training by opening your account settings and switching off the relevant toggle. Turn it off on day one if you plan to use Dola for anything work-related. The policy lists servers in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan, and sets a minimum age of 13 to create an account, higher in some countries.
The Chinese Doubao app has its own privacy policy, updated on 10 September 2026 and effective from 17 September 2026. It stores personal information collected in China inside mainland China. It also says that, after encryption and strict de-identification, what you type, your instructions and Doubao's replies may be used for model training. To stop that, open Settings, Privacy and permissions, Help improve the model (设置, 隐私与权限, 帮助模型改进效果) and switch it off. Memory has its own switch under Settings, Memory (设置, 记忆). For confidential material, use a work tool with a written data agreement instead.
Which version suits whom
Pick Doubao if you live in mainland China and want a free, all-in-one assistant for writing, study and creative work. Pick Dola if you are elsewhere and want the same style of app in your language, with the training toggle switched off. Pick something else, such as ChatGPT on a business plan, if you handle customer or company data. For a wider view, see ChatGPT alternatives, the tool stacks we recommend, our comparison tool and the Doubao lessons.
Prompts to copy
Storyboard a short video
Create a 10-second video for [product or idea]. Scene: [setting]. Camera: slow push-in. Lighting: [for example warm morning light]. Style: [for example clean, realistic]. No text on screen. Then suggest two variations with a different mood.
You get: A first clip and two directions to try
Summarise a PDF for your boss
Read this PDF and write a five-bullet summary for a busy manager. Start with the single most important point. Then list three questions I should ask the author, and quote the page each question comes from. [upload PDF]
You get: A short summary plus sharp follow-up questions
Meeting notes to actions
Here is the transcript of today's meeting: [paste transcript]. List every decision, every action with an owner and a deadline, and anything left unresolved. Format it as three short sections I can paste into an email.
You get: Decisions, owners and open points in minutes
Check a homework or exam problem
I have uploaded a photo of a [subject] problem. Do not give the final answer straight away. First explain which method applies and why, then walk me through the steps one at a time, and only then show the answer.
You get: A step-by-step explanation you can learn from
Translate a message for a partner
Translate this message into [language] for a business partner in [country]. Keep it friendly but professional. Then point out any phrase that might sound too direct or too casual there, and give a safer version. [paste message]
You get: A translation with cultural notes
Social post with an image
Write three short social posts for [platform] announcing [news] to [audience], each under 60 words with a different hook. Then generate one square image that fits the strongest post, in a [style] style, with no text in the image.
You get: Three captions and a matching image