Sora

Sora 2 is OpenAI's video generation model, and its last. Released on September 30, 2025, it generates short video clips with synchronized audio from text or image input. OpenAI's API documentation describes it as "flagship video generation with synced audio."

The product is being wound down. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026. The consumer surfaces — sora.com and the iOS and Android apps — shut down on April 26, 2026. The API remains live until September 24, 2026.

This page describes a sunsetting product. If you are building on the Sora API, treat September 24, 2026 as a hard cutover date. OpenAI's deprecations page lists no recommended replacement.

Overview

Sora 2 generates video and audio together in a single pass, rather than compositing a soundtrack onto silent footage afterwards. Its inputs are text and images; its outputs are video and audio, synchronized.

Two model IDs are available:

• sora-2 — standard generation, 720p only, $0.10 per second
• sora-2-pro — higher-quality generation, which additionally unlocks 1024p and 1080p

The Pro premium is not a flat multiple. At 720p it is 3× the standard model; at 1080p it is 7×.

Timeline

Capabilities

• Video with synced audio: A single generation produces both tracks together — dialogue, sound effects, and ambience alongside the visuals.
• Text-to-video: Natural language prompts describing the desired clip.
• Image-to-video: A still image as a starting frame or conditioning input.
• Generations up to 20 seconds: Raised from the original limit on March 12, 2026.
• Reusable character references: Persist a character across separate generations via v1/videos/characters.
• Video extensions: Continue an existing generation via v1/videos/extensions.
• Batch API support: POST /v1/videos can be submitted as a batch job.

Technical Specifications

• Model IDs: sora-2, sora-2-pro
• Snapshots: sora-2-2025-10-06, sora-2-2025-12-08, sora-2-pro-2025-10-06
• Endpoint: v1/videos (retiring September 24, 2026)
• Input modalities: Text, images
• Output modalities: Video and audio, synchronized
• Maximum duration: 20 seconds
• Resolutions: sora-2 — 720x1280, 1280x720. sora-2-pro — those plus 1024x1792/1792x1024 and 1080x1920/1920x1080
• Rate limits: Not available on the free tier. At Tier 5, sora-2 reaches 375 requests per minute and sora-2-pro 150

There is no 4K output, no two-minute generation, and no separate "world simulator" engine. OpenAI has never published a physics-simulation subsystem under any name.

Pricing & Access

Access is through the OpenAI Developer Platform only. Video generation is not available on the free API tier.

Per-second pricing means cost scales linearly with duration. A single 20-second clip at 1080p on sora-2-pro costs $14.00.

Consumer access

None. The Sora web platform and the iOS and Android apps were discontinued on April 26, 2026. OpenAI advised users to export their content before that date and did not guarantee recovery afterwards. Features that lived only in the app — the social feed, remixing, and the Cameo avatar system — went with it.

Use Cases

These remain valid for the life of the API, and are the workloads teams need to find a replacement for:

• Short-form social video: Portrait clips with dialogue and sound effects generated in one pass.
• Storyboarding and previsualization: Rapid visual drafts of a scene before committing production budget.
• Product and concept demos: Turning a still product image into a short motion sequence.
• Marketing iteration: Multiple treatments of the same brief, at $0.10 per second of footage.
• Educational clips: Short sequences illustrating a process, with narration generated alongside the visuals.

Limitations

• Fixed shutdown date. The API stops working on September 24, 2026. Any production dependency is a dated dependency.
• No successor. OpenAI recommends no replacement model, inside or outside the Sora line.
• No consumer surface. API access is the only remaining channel.
• 20 seconds maximum. Longer narratives require chaining extensions, with no guarantee of continuity across them.
• A short resolution ladder. sora-2 is 720p only; sora-2-pro tops out at 1080p.
• Free tier excluded. Video generation is unavailable on the free API tier.
• Per-second pricing. Long-form generation is expensive relative to text models.

Migration Notes

OpenAI has not designated a successor. If you are on sora-2 or sora-2-pro:

1. Fix your deadline at September 24, 2026. Treat it as a hard cutover, not a soft deprecation.
2. Export any assets and prompt libraries that live behind the Videos API.
3. Evaluate replacements outside OpenAI. See Runway, Luma Dream Machine, Kling AI, and Minimax. Google's gemini-omni-flash-preview, released to developers on June 30, 2026, generates and conversationally edits short 720p video and is one of the closest current analogues — see Gemini 3.5.
4. Budget for a pricing model change. Per-second video pricing varies widely between vendors; do not assume $0.10/second carries over.

Resources

• Sora 2 announcement - OpenAI's original launch post
• Sora 2 model reference - Pricing, modalities, rate limits
• Sora 2 Pro model reference - Resolution tiers and rate limits
• Model deprecations - The September 24, 2026 shutdown entry
• Video generation guide - How the Videos API works
• Sora 2 system card - Published September 30, 2025
• Sora 2 model page - Full specifications and sunset timeline

Comparing video generation tools? See our AI tools directory, or read the Sora 2 model page for the full technical breakdown.