Sora 2 shut down

When did Sora shut down?

OpenAI closed the Sora app on 26 April 2026 and shut down the Sora 2 API on 24 September 2026. On 25 September its sora-2 model page read: “The Sora 2 models and Videos API were shut down on September 24, 2026 and are no longer available. There is no one-to-one replacement API.”

The help article we read gives no reason. The Decoder reported on 28 March 2026 that OpenAI wants the compute for coding tools and enterprise customers.

Can you still export or use your Sora clips?

OpenAI’s help article said yes, and its consumer terms say you own your clips, as far as the law allows. We could not confirm the export still works: neither the live article nor the export page loaded for us on 25 September.

The article, archived on 19 September 2026, answers “Yes” and adds: “We recommend you export your Sora content as soon as possible.” The steps: “You can export content you created in Sora by going to sora.chatgpt.com/sunset and clicking on Export. You’ll get an email when it’s ready” (Help Center).

The article sets no deletion date. OpenAI “will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora” once “any final export window passes (if we are able to offer one)”.

For refunds, it points to OpenAI’s ChatGPT refund article; purchased “ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex, if you so choose.”

OpenAI’s Terms of Use (effective 1 January 2026, archived copy) say: “As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.”

On our reading, a clip you made in the Sora app can still run in an ad. Among things you may not do, the terms list: “Represent that Output was human-generated when it was not”. If that still binds clips made before the shutdown, passing one off as a real customer’s video would break it, as we read it.

The Usage Policies (29 October 2025) also bar “use of someone’s likeness, including their photorealistic image or voice, without their consent in ways that could confuse authenticity”. The API ran under OpenAI’s business terms, which we did not read. Every Sora clause we did read, by use: Sora in the rights matrix.

Where to make ad clips now

Google’s terms leave ad use unclear on Flow and the Gemini API. Google’s one Veo route marked allowed for paid ads is its Cloud enterprise API, which we have not priced (Google Veo for ads). Of the routes in the table below, only Runway’s terms allow paid ads outright. They also let Runway train on your inputs and outputs.

Among the Google routes we priced, your monthly volume sets the cheapest for 8-second Veo 3.1 Fast clips. Below 25 clips it is the Gemini API at 720p, at $0.80 a clip (Gemini API pricing).

From 25 clips, Flow on Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month costs less (Google AI plans). Ultra (5x) at $99.99 a month, listed on 24 September 2026, takes over from 151 to 1,125 clips, and Ultra (20x) above that. Both Flow bands put clips beyond the plan’s credits on the API and leave out Flow’s daily credits (Google Veo pricing).

Method: Flow’s rows divide each plan’s price by its monthly credits: 10,000 on Ultra (5x) and 1,000 on Pro (plans). A Fast clip takes 10 credits on Ultra and 20 on Pro (Flow credits). The rows leave out Flow’s 50 daily credits and Ultra (20x).

Runway’s rows use Gen-4.5’s 12 credits a second on Max at $95 a month and Standard at $15 a month, listed on 24 September 2026 (Runway pricing).

Google Veo on Flow and the Gemini API

Unused monthly Flow credits do not roll over (Flow credits). At 20 clips a month, Ultra (5x) works out at $5.00 a clip.

Runway

Runway’s Terms of Use (15 September 2026) say “Subject to your compliance with the Agreement, the Company does not restrict your commercial use of your Outputs” (4.4).

The same clause says “Inputs and Outputs may be used by the Company to train and improve its AI models, algorithms and related technology, products and services”. Its Enterprise terms bar that training (Runway for ads).

Kling

Kling’s API row uses its API price. The member row prices 12 credits a second at 1080p with audio (3.0 guide) at the standard 66 credits to the dollar (Credits Policy). It leaves out the membership fee, which we could not read on 23 September 2026.

Without a membership, Kling’s terms bar commercial use “without our written permission” (4.6), and its paid terms make non-members show Kling’s brand unless Kling agrees otherwise in writing (7.2).

Two points on the member row are unclear. Kling’s ToS 3.1(d) bars using the Services “to advertise or perform any commercial solicitation without our written consent”, and paid terms 7.1 hold members to it. The members’ grant in 3.1.2 may override it, on our reading. A breach ends your authorisation “with immediate effect” (14.2(b); Kling for ads).

The other is whether member clips can still run in ads after the membership ends (3.1.5).

Higgsfield

Higgsfield resells Veo 3.1 and Kling 3.0, but we could not read prices on its live pricing page on 24 September 2026. With another company’s model, “the more restrictive terms govern your use of that feature or model” (terms 8). On our reading, a Veo or Kling clip made there answers to its maker’s policy too (Higgsfield for ads).

• AI video generators

  Google Veo

  Google’s Veo 3.1 and Gemini Omni Flash video models, used through Flow, the Gemini app or the Gemini API.

  From $4.99 a month · checked 24 Sep 2026

• AI video generators

  Runway

  Gen-4.5 and Aleph video models plus hosted Kling, Seedance and Nano Banana, with an editor, agent and API.

  From $15 a month · checked 24 Sep 2026

• AI video generators

  Kling AI

  Kuaishou’s video models (Kling 3.0, 3.0 Omni, Turbo) with native audio, multi-shot clips up to 15 s and native 4K.

  Price unverified

• All-in-one suites

  Higgsfield

  Multi-model studio with Seedance, Kling, Veo and its own Soul models, plus ad and UGC tools and an agent.

  Price unverified

More video tools, with the same cost and paid-ads columns: Best AI video generators for ads.

Sora 2 vs Veo 3 and Kling 3.0: the last API prices

On OpenAI’s last listed rates, Sora 2 Pro at 1080p cost 1.75 times Veo 3.1 Standard on the Gemini API. At 720p, Kling 3.0’s API costs about a quarter more a second than Sora 2 did.

From the sora-2, sora-2-pro, Gemini API and Kling API price pages.