Sora is gone.
Here's what to do next.
OpenAI shut down the Sora app on April 26, 2026. The API follows on September 24. We tested every realistic alternative — here's the migration playbook we wish we had.
What actually happened
Three things you need to know before you do anything else.
Sora app & web are offline
No new generations, no logins. Both web and mobile redirect to a goodbye page.
Sora API shuts down
Paid pipelines pulling from Sora keep working until then. Cut over now, not in September.
There is no "Sora 3"
OpenAI has not announced a video model successor. Treat the brand as discontinued.
Why did this happen? Reporting since the announcement points to three drivers: compute costs (estimated near $1M/day at peak), monetization that never landed (~$2.1M lifetime in-app revenue against that compute bill), and a strategic refocus on enterprise and Codex. OpenAI has not committed to a video model successor.
Step 1 — Export your data before Sept 24
OpenAI's export tool lives in account settings. Three things to pull, in this order.
- 1
All generated videos
MP4MP4, original resolution. The export is async — for accounts with more than 100 videos, expect 24–48 hours.
- 2
Full prompt history
JSONJSON. Includes every prompt you ever ran, plus parameters. Critical for prompt migration to Veo 3 / Runway / Kling.
- 3
Storyboard projects
Time-sensitiveProprietary format. Open them inside Sora before the API dies, then flatten to prompt lists with the community storyboard-to-prompts converter. Will be inaccessible after Sept 24.
Step 2 — Pick the alternative that fits your workflow
Don't migrate to "the best one." Migrate to the one that matches what Sora specifically did for you.
| If Sora was your... | Best replacement |
|---|---|
| Cinematic shot generator | Veo 3 |
| Dialogue / multi-character lip-sync | Seedance 2.0 |
| Quick social content | Kling 2.0 |
| Storyboards / multi-shot | Runway Gen-4 |
| Free experimentation | Pika or Luma |
| API-driven backend | Runway / Kling |
Google Veo 3
Best for: Cinematic shot generation, narrative content, sound-on social · $19.99/mo
- Native audio generation
- 8-second clips on Pro tier
- Best physics realism in 2026
- Country-locked (US/UK/CA on launch)
- Tied to Google AI Pro pricing
- No webhook API yet
Runway Gen-4
Best for: Multi-shot scenes, character consistency, post-production pipelines · $15/mo
- Multi-shot consistency unmatched
- Act One feature replaces Sora storyboard
- Stable, documented API with webhooks
- Higher cost per second
- Steeper learning curve
- Audio is post-production only
Seedance 2.0
Best for: Dialogue scenes, multi-character lip-sync, multi-shot storyboards · $0.06/sec
- First true unified audio-video joint generation (single pass)
- Phoneme-level lip-sync across 8+ languages
- Up to 12 multimodal reference assets per generation
- Not available in the United States (April 2026 rollout)
- ~10 min generation time per 15s clip
- 15-second clip cap
Kling 2.0
Best for: Social content creators on a budget, fast iteration · $10/mo
- ~30% of Veo 3 price
- Sub-90s generation time
- Strong realism on faces
- Smaller English ecosystem
- API less polished
- Documentation thin in English
Pika Labs
Best for: Animation, stylized social videos, free experimentation · Free · $10/mo
- Free tier with daily credits
- Strong on animation/anime
- Active Discord community
- Lower top-end fidelity
- Shorter clip lengths
- Inconsistent on photorealism
Luma Dream Machine
Best for: Realistic short clips, Sora prompt migrations · Free · $9.99/mo
- Free tier (30 gens/mo)
- Smoothest motion in class
- Closest prompt grammar to Sora
- Less control over composition
- Inconsistent character handling
- No multi-shot mode
Step 3 — Migrate your prompts
Sora prompts don't paste cleanly into other tools — model assumptions differ. Quick rules of thumb:
Wants explicit camera language — focal length, dolly direction, lens type.
Prefers shorter prompts. More weight on style references and reference images.
Use "@" tags to bind reference assets (image/audio/video) to specific characters or shots. Spell dialogue out verbatim — Seedance generates audio jointly.
Best with structured prompts: subject / action / environment / style.
Rewards motion-specific verbs (drift, glide, push) and simpler scenes.
Cinematic vocabulary similar to Sora. Least migration work for late-Sora prompts.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sora really shut down?+
Yes. OpenAI ended the Sora app and web experience on April 26, 2026. The Sora API will follow on September 24, 2026. There is no announced "Sora 3" successor as of May 2026.
Can I still log into Sora today?+
No. The web app and mobile app redirect to a goodbye page. Only the API still functions, and only until September 24, 2026.
What is the closest Sora alternative?+
Google Veo 3 is the closest spiritual successor on quality and physics realism, with native audio and 8-second clips. For multi-shot consistency, Runway Gen-4 is the strongest option. For dialogue + lip-sync, ByteDance Seedance 2.0. For best price-to-quality, Kling 2.0.
What is Seedance 2.0?+
Seedance 2.0 is ByteDance's February 2026 AI video model and the first to ship true unified audio-video joint generation. Audio and lip movement come from a single model pass with phoneme-level lip-sync across 8+ languages. It accepts up to 12 multimodal reference assets per generation. Note: not available in the United States as of April 2026, and clips cap at 15 seconds.
Will my Sora prompts work in other tools?+
Not directly. Each model has different prompt grammar. Veo 3 wants explicit camera language, Runway prefers shorter prompts with style references, Kling rewards structured prompts. We publish a conversion guide with rewriting rules.
Is there a free alternative to Sora?+
Yes. Pika Labs and Luma Dream Machine both keep generous free tiers. Pika is best for stylized content; Luma has the smoothest motion for realistic clips. Neither matches Veo 3 on top-end fidelity but they are remarkable for $0.
How long do I have to export my Sora data?+
Export tooling is available now. The API hard cutoff is September 24, 2026. After that, account data and storyboard files become inaccessible. Do not wait until September.
We're tracking every AI video model in 2026
One email a week. Real test data, no fluff. Get the next big move (and the next shutdown) in your inbox.
Subscribe to the weekly briefingIndependent · not affiliated with OpenAI · all reviews hands-on