OpenAI Sora: Features, Pricing, Models & Alternatives (2026)

Last researched: September 26, 2026. OpenAI's own Sora product pages and pricing documentation returned an automated-access block during this research, and — more importantly — the product itself was discontinued earlier in 2026; the facts below are cross-referenced from OpenAI's Help Center guidance (via search index), Wikipedia, and independent reporting including Axios, since the primary openai.com/sora pages either block automated fetch or now serve only a discontinuation notice. Sora was OpenAI's text-to-video generation model and, in its second generation, a short-form social video app; both the consumer product and its developer API were discontinued in 2026.

What Is (Was) OpenAI Sora?

Sora was OpenAI's generative video model, first previewed on February 15, 2024 and made available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers in the US and Canada on December 9, 2024. OpenAI released a second generation, Sora 2, on September 30, 2025, pairing an improved video/audio model with a standalone social app (iOS first, Android roughly two months later) that let users browse a feed of AI-generated clips and insert themselves into videos via a "cameos" feature, drawing comparisons to TikTok's format. OpenAI announced on March 24, 2026 that it would discontinue Sora: the app and web experience (sora.chatgpt.com) shut down on April 26, 2026, and the API followed on a scheduled sunset of September 24, 2026 — meaning that, as of this article's research date, Sora is no longer an operating product.

Key Capabilities

• Text-to-video generation — produced video clips from a written text prompt.
• Image-to-video / image reference — could animate or extend a provided still image.
• Synchronized audio — Sora 2 added native generation of dialogue, sound effects, and music alongside video in a single pass.
• Extended clip length — Sora 2 removed earlier short-duration caps, generating clips reported up to roughly 25 seconds.
• Cameos — let a user insert their own likeness (with consent controls) into AI-generated scenes.
• Social feed app — Sora 2's dedicated iOS/Android app presented a personalized, algorithmically-fed stream of AI-generated videos.
• Visible watermarking and provenance metadata — generated videos carried watermarks and embedded metadata to flag them as AI-generated.

Main Features

Use Cases

Historically, before its discontinuation, Sora was used for:

• Short-form social video creation and sharing through the dedicated Sora app.
• Rapid concept/previsualization clips generated from a text brief inside ChatGPT Plus/Pro.
• Inserting a user's own likeness into short AI-generated scenes via cameos.
• Developer-built video-generation features via the Sora API (now sunset).

Supported Models / Technologies

Sora's original 2024 model was a diffusion-transformer video generator; Sora 2, launched September 30, 2025, was the final and most capable generation, adding native synchronized audio and removing prior clip-length limits. OpenAI's public documentation referred to "sora-2" and "sora-2-pro" as the two API-facing model variants, with "sora-2-pro" offering higher resolutions (up to 1080p) at a higher per-second API cost; both were marked legacy/deprecated ahead of the API's September 24, 2026 shutdown.

Platforms

• Formerly: Web (sora.chatgpt.com) — discontinued April 26, 2026
• Formerly: iOS and Android apps — discontinued April 26, 2026
• Formerly: ChatGPT Plus/Pro in-product video generation — removed alongside the app shutdown
• Formerly: Developer API ("sora-2", "sora-2-pro") — sunset September 24, 2026
• As of September 26, 2026, no active consumer or developer access channel remains

Integrations

Sora's video-generation capability was previously exposed through ChatGPT (Plus/Pro plans) and a standalone REST API for developers; no dedicated plugin ecosystem or third-party creative-suite integration (e.g., Adobe, Canva) was established before the product's discontinuation.

Pricing

Sora's official pricing pages are no longer maintained in a normal sense (the product is discontinued); the historical figures below are cross-referenced from independent trackers summarizing OpenAI's last published pricing as of September 26, 2026, and should be treated as historical rather than current.

Advantages

• Sora 2 removed earlier clip-length restrictions, generating longer clips than the original Sora.
• Native synchronized audio (dialogue, sound effects, music) reduced the need for separate audio production.
• Cameos offered a distinctive, consent-gated way to insert real people into generated scenes.
• Visible watermarking and metadata gave a relatively transparent AI-content provenance signal compared with some competitors.

Limitations

• Discontinued: the consumer app/web shut down April 26, 2026, and the API sunset September 24, 2026, so the product is not usable as of this writing.
• Reported to have been very costly to operate (reporting cited roughly $1 million/day) relative to its user base, which reportedly peaked near 1 million users before falling below 500,000.
• Faced sustained copyright controversy over its default opt-out (rather than opt-in) approach to generating copyrighted characters, drawing objections from entertainment studios and unions.
• No official replacement product had been announced by OpenAI as of this research date.

Security & Privacy

OpenAI stated that Sora and Sora 2 were trained on a combination of publicly available video and licensed copyrighted material, and applied visible watermarks plus embedded provenance metadata to generated videos to help distinguish them as AI-generated. Cameos required explicit consent from the person whose likeness was used. Because the product has been discontinued, current data-retention or account-deletion policy specifics should be confirmed directly through OpenAI's Help Center discontinuation notice rather than assumed from pre-shutdown documentation.

Best For

Sora is, as of September 26, 2026, a discontinued product and is not a viable choice for new users; this profile is best used as historical/reference context for understanding what Sora and Sora 2 offered and why they were retired, or for teams evaluating still-active alternatives.

Alternatives

• Google Veo — actively maintained text/image-to-video model with native audio, available via the Gemini app, Flow, and Vertex AI.
• Kling AI — Chinese text/image-to-video platform from Kuaishou with 4K and native-audio/lip-sync support.
• Runway (Gen-4) — professional-leaning video-generation and editing platform.
• Luma AI (Dream Machine / Ray) — text/image-to-video generator with camera-control features.
• Pika — consumer text-to-video generator with editing and social features.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is OpenAI Sora still available as of September 2026?

No. OpenAI announced on March 24, 2026 that it would discontinue Sora across platforms; the consumer app and web experience (sora.chatgpt.com) shut down on April 26, 2026, and the developer API was scheduled to sunset on September 24, 2026 — two days before this article's research date.

What was Sora 2?

Sora 2 was OpenAI's second-generation text-to-video model, launched September 30, 2025, alongside a TikTok-like social video app for iOS (and later Android) featuring a personalized feed of AI-generated clips and a "cameos" feature that let users insert their own likeness into generated videos.

Why did OpenAI shut down Sora?

Reporting cited very high operating costs (roughly $1 million/day was reported), GPU/compute shortages, declining active users after an initial peak, and sustained backlash from entertainment studios and unions over its default opt-out approach to copyrighted characters.

How long could Sora 2 videos be?

Sora 2 removed earlier, shorter length restrictions and could generate clips reported up to around 25 seconds with synchronized dialogue, sound effects, and music from a single prompt or image reference.

Were Sora videos watermarked?

Yes, OpenAI applied visible watermarks and embedded metadata/provenance signals to Sora-generated videos to help distinguish AI-generated content from authentic footage.

What can I use instead of Sora now?

Google Veo, Kling AI, Runway, and Luma AI's Dream Machine are active alternatives that, unlike Sora, remained available as of September 2026.

Final Summary

OpenAI Sora and its successor Sora 2 were notable early text-to-video and video-social products, adding synchronized audio, longer clips, and a cameo feature before OpenAI discontinued the consumer app on April 26, 2026 and sunset the developer API on September 24, 2026, citing cost, compute, usage, and copyright pressures. As of this writing, Sora is not an active product, and prospective users should look to still-operating alternatives such as Google Veo or Kling AI.