Sora AI discontinued — that’s the short answer. If you’re searching for “Sora AI” hoping to try OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, it’s gone — not paused, not rebranded, actually shut down. Here’s the timeline, what happens to anything you made with it, and what to use instead.
What actually got discontinued, and when
Per OpenAI’s own help center, two things are being shut down separately: the Sora web app and mobile app, and the Sora API. The consumer web/app product was discontinued on April 26, 2026 — it’s already off. The API, which some developers were still using to generate video programmatically, is scheduled to shut down on September 24, 2026. As of this writing, that’s very close.
OpenAI hasn’t announced a replacement product. If you have content sitting in Sora, the company’s guidance is to export it as soon as possible from sora.chatgpt.com/sunset — after the shutdown (and any final export window OpenAI is able to offer), associated data is permanently deleted.
If you’d previously bought credits, standard ChatGPT subscription refund policy applies, and any unused Sora-specific credits are said to carry over to other OpenAI products like Codex — worth confirming directly with OpenAI support if that affects you. In short, Sora AI discontinued its consumer app and its developer API on two separate hard deadlines, not a single rolling shutdown, so anyone still searching for Sora AI discontinued details should treat the API’s September 24 date as the real cutoff.
What to use instead
The AI video space didn’t stand still while this played out. If you were using Sora for text-to-video or image-to-video clips, the tool we’d point you to first is Runway, which is still actively developed, has a genuine free tier to test before paying, and is particularly strong at turning a still image into controlled motion. For a broader side-by-side of options, see our AI video generator comparison.
If something changes — OpenAI has surprised the market before — we’ll update this page rather than leave stale information live.
FAQ: Sora AI discontinued
Is Sora AI actually shut down, or just paused? It’s a full shutdown, not a pause. OpenAI discontinued the consumer Sora app and website on April 26, 2026, and the developer-facing API followed on September 24, 2026. There’s no relaunch planned under the current product name.
Why did OpenAI discontinue Sora? OpenAI hasn’t published a detailed rationale beyond folding video generation into other parts of its roadmap. As with previous product sunsets, the practical reason usually comes down to focus: consolidating engineering effort on fewer products rather than maintaining a standalone video app.
— once that window closes, associated data is deleted and can’t be recovered.
What happens to unused Sora credits? OpenAI has said unused Sora-specific credits are intended to carry over to other OpenAI products, such as Codex. If you’re relying on that, confirm the specifics directly with OpenAI support for your account, since credit migration details can vary.
What’s the closest replacement for Sora? For most people switching off Sora AI after it was discontinued, Runway is the most direct replacement — it has an actively maintained free tier and handles both text-to-video and image-to-video generation. If you want a broader view of the field, our AI video generator comparison walks through the other serious contenders.
The bigger pattern here is worth remembering: AI products get discontinued more often than most people expect, especially free or early-access tools that haven’t found a durable business model. If you build a workflow around any single AI tool — Sora AI included, now that it’s discontinued — it’s worth keeping an export habit and a backup option in mind, rather than assuming today’s favorite app will still be around in a year. Treat this Sora AI discontinued episode as a reminder to diversify your toolkit rather than a one-off inconvenience. It costs nothing to keep local copies of your best work and a shortlist of two or three alternative tools ready to go.
