Sora is gone. Here is where to go.

OpenAI announced the shutdown on March 24, 2026 and closed the Sora web and mobile apps on April 26. The API keeps running until September 24, 2026 - after that, every Sora integration goes dark. If your video workflow still calls Sora, you have a hard deadline.

--days until the Sora API shuts down

Key dates

Mar 24, 2026OpenAI announces the two-stage shutdown
Apr 26, 2026Sora web + mobile apps discontinued
Sep 24, 2026Sora API discontinued - integrations stop working

Why it happened: Heavy GPU costs, shrinking usage (downloads fell from a 3.3M peak to about 1.1M/month) and copyright pressure. OpenAI refocused on profitable core products.

What to switch to

Google Veo 3.1

Strongest all-round quality right now: native audio, 4K, landscape and portrait.

From ~$0.15/sec (fast mode)Best if you want the closest quality match to Sora

Runway Gen-4.5

Pro favorite - camera moves, motion brush, character consistency.

$12-15/mo; Unlimited $76-95/moBest if you need fine creative control

Kling 3.0

Cinematic lighting, complex motion, multi-shot storyboard mode with audio sync.

~$0.10/sec - cheapest credible per-clip priceBest if budget per-clip pricing

Luma Dream Machine

Fast cinematic image-to-video for short 5s clips.

Entry plans ~$10/moBest if quick short clips

Pika

Affordable, fast iteration for social-format video.

Entry plans ~$10/moBest if cheap experimentation

Options listed alphabetically by fit, not ranked - pick by your constraint (price, stack, control). No winner is declared.

How to migrate

Export every asset you still have in Sora (renders, prompts, project files) before September 24, 2026.
Pick a replacement by workload: Veo 3.1 for quality, Runway for control, Kling for price.
If you call the Sora API, swap the integration now and run both in parallel while credits last.
Re-test your best prompts - motion and style behave differently on every model.

Sources

OpenAI Help Center - Sora discontinuation The Decoder - two-stage shutdown timeline

More shutdowns

Bento.meShut down Feb 13, 2026 after the Linktree acquisition OpsgenieEnd of support Apr 5, 2027 - unmigrated data will be deleted Tenor APIAPI shut down Jun 30, 2026 - GIF pickers across the web broke Project OnlineRetires Sep 30, 2026 - workflows already broke in April

Facts current as of July 2026 - dates come from official announcements (see sources). Always verify against the vendor before making migration decisions.