Every Sora user needs a Sora alternative now. OpenAI shut the Sora app and website on April 26, 2026, switched off the Sora API on September 24, 2026, and its developer documentation says no one-to-one replacement exists. Several video models now score as well as Sora 2 did, or better, on blind votes. Which one fits depends on what you used Sora for: quick clips with sound, putting yourself in scenes, longer shots, or an app on your phone.
Quick comparison
Prices as of September 2026.
| Tool | Starting paid price | Free option | What it makes | Key limits | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Flow (Veo 3.1) | Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month for 200 extra credits | 50 credits a day | Veo 3.1 clips of 4, 6 or 8 seconds with sound, plus Gemini Omni Flash clips up to 10 seconds | Ages 18 and up; accounts without a plan can lose video access at peak hours | Short clips with sound, the nearest match to everyday Sora use |
| Gemini app (Gemini Omni) | Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month | Video needs a Google AI plan | 10-second videos with audio from text or up to 5 photos, then changed through chat | Ages 18 and up; video uploads for editing blocked in some regions | Editing a clip through conversation, and your own avatar |
| Kling 3.0 | Standard, 660 credits a month: $6.99 the first month, then $8.80 | Free Basic plan with daily credits | 3 to 15 second clips with cuts, dialogue in 5 languages, up to native 4K | Extension, watermark-free clips and commercial use on paid plans only | Longer clips and phone apps |
| Dreamina (Seedance 2.0) | Basic, $15 a month (first month discounted) | Free daily credits | 15-second multi-shot clips with stereo sound from up to 12 references | Longer videos and more credits need a subscription | Scenes built from your own photos, clips and audio |
| Runway | Standard, $15 a month or $12 billed yearly, for 625 credits | 125 credits, once | Gen-4.5, Kling 3.0 and Seedance 2.0 clips, plus Aleph video editing | Gen-4.5 is 720p and 2 to 10 seconds | Several models and video editing in one plan |
| Midjourney | Basic subscription; 20% off billed yearly | No free trial on the website; every plan is a subscription | 5-second clips animated from an image, extendable to 21 seconds | Image to video only; 480p, or 720p from Standard up | People who already make images in Midjourney |
| Wan 2.2 (open source) | $0 | Free under the Apache 2.0 license | 720p text-to-video and image-to-video at 24 fps | Needs a graphics card with at least 24 GB of memory for the 5B model | Running video generation on your own computer |
| Toybox AI Video Creator | Pro plan, currently $9.99 a month for 1,000 credits; 350 credits per clip | Sign up free and get 20 credits, not enough for a clip | One Veo 3.1 clip per run with sound, 4, 6 or 8 seconds, 720p, wide or vertical | One clip per run; no separate sound control | Clips in the same account as images and flyers |
What Sora users lost
Sora 2 did a few things that shape the search for a replacement. OpenAI launched it on September 30, 2025 as a video and audio model, inside a social iOS app built around "characters", where you recorded yourself once and could then appear in any scene. Through the API, Sora 2 and Sora 2 Pro generated up to 20 seconds per clip, and Sora 2 Pro exported 1080p.
No single alternative covers all of that. Google's avatars replace characters, Kling 3.0 and Seedance 2.0 cover longer single clips (up to 15 seconds), and Google Flow covers quick clips with sound on a free allowance. If you haven't saved your old videos yet, OpenAI's help center says to open the Sora sunset page and click Export, and it recommends doing so as soon as possible.
Options compared
Each option below ends with its catches, so you can compare the trade-offs as well as the features.
Google Flow with Veo 3.1
Google's filmmaking app, Flow, comes closest to everyday Sora use: short clips with sound. As of September 2026, Flow hands out 50 credits a day whether or not you pay for a plan. Veo 3.1 Lite uses 10 of them per clip and Veo 3.1 Quality uses 100, and Flow also runs Gemini Omni Flash, which makes 4 to 10 second clips from 7 to 15 credits at 720p. You can start from a first and last frame, add reference images as "Ingredients", and extend 8-second Veo clips into longer scenes. Google AI Plus adds 200 credits a month for $4.99, and Pro adds 1,000 for $19.99. The limits: Flow is for ages 18 and up, and during the afternoon rush, about 2 PM to 5 PM UTC, free accounts may be shut out of video. It fits former Sora users who mostly made quick clips to share.
Gemini app with Gemini Omni
The Gemini app now makes video with Gemini Omni, which Google says replaces Veo there. Each Omni clip runs 10 seconds with audio, starting from a prompt, as many as 5 photos or one uploaded video, and later requests in the same chat change it: take out an object, try another camera angle. Personal accounts need a paid Google AI plan for video (Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month, is the cheapest), users must be 18 or older, and editing an uploaded video is blocked in the EEA, Switzerland, the UK and some US states. Gemini also lets you make an avatar so new videos can use your own voice and likeness, the closest replacement for Sora's characters.
Kling 3.0
Kling 3.0, from Kling AI, is the pick for longer single clips. One generation runs anywhere from 3 to 15 seconds, and Multi-Shot mode plans camera cuts inside it. It voices dialogue in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, matching lines to each speaker. As of September 2026, Kling's credit guide lists Standard at 660 credits a month for $6.99 the first month, then $8.80, up to Ultra at 26,000 credits for $127.99 the first month, then $159.99. The free Basic plan runs on daily credits, but video extension, commercial use of generated content and clips without Kling's watermark are paid-plan benefits. Kling runs on the web, in desktop apps for Windows and macOS, and in iOS and Android apps.
Dreamina with Seedance 2.0
Dreamina, which bills itself as the official home of ByteDance's Seedance 2.0, suits projects built from your own material. One prompt can carry up to 9 images, 3 videos and 3 audio clips, and Seedance uses them for the look, the motion, the camera moves and the sound. Clips run up to 15 seconds with several shots and stereo audio, and Dreamina offers a Seedance 2.0 4K option. Dreamina gives free daily credits to try Seedance 2.0, then asks you to subscribe for more credits and longer videos, and offers Seedance 2.0 Mini for faster clips that use fewer credits. On Artificial Analysis's text-to-video leaderboard with audio, Seedance 2.0 scores 1210 as of September 28, 2026, ahead of Veo 3.1 at 1088.
Runway
Runway is a video platform that fits people who want several models plus editing tools under one subscription. Its paid plans include Runway's Gen-4.5 alongside Kling 3.0 and Seedance 2.0, plus Aleph, a model for editing an existing video by adding, removing or changing objects, restyling it, or generating a new angle of the scene. The Free plan gives 125 credits once. Standard costs $15 a month, or $12 billed yearly, and Runway counts its 625 monthly credits as 52 seconds of Gen-4.5. Standard clips carry no watermark, and the plan includes 4K upscaling. Gen-4.5 makes 2 to 10 second clips at 720p for 12 credits a second. The Runway alternatives guide compares it with the other image-to-video options.
Toybox Video Creator
Video Creator in Toybox AI is powered by Google Veo 3.1, and Video Creator Lite uses Veo 3.1 Lite. A Video Creator clip currently costs 350 credits at any length, about $3.50 at top-up prices, in 4, 6 or 8 seconds at 720p, wide (16:9) or vertical (9:16). Video Creator Lite currently costs 180 credits at 720p or 220 at 1080p, and 1080p clips are 8 seconds. Both can start from your photo and end on a second frame, both need a Pro plan (currently $9.99 a month for 1,000 credits), and failed clips refund their credits automatically. Clips come with sound, and you steer it only through the description, since there's no audio control of its own. The other limits: one clip per run and a single model family. It fits someone who also makes images or flyers and wants video in the same account.
Sora alternatives for Android and the App Store
Sora launched as a social iOS app. These alternatives have their own apps, including on Android:
- Kling. Phone apps on iOS and Android, and a desktop version for Windows and Mac. Recording a person to turn into a reusable character works only in the mobile app.
- Google Flow. A mobile app you can download in the countries Flow supports, including the US and the UK, for ages 18 and up.
- Gemini. On an Android phone, open the Gemini mobile app, tap Menu, then Videos, and describe the clip. It needs a Google AI plan and isn't available to anyone under 18.
Toybox is a web app with no download: open it in your phone's browser and use Video Creator there.
Open-source Sora alternatives
A Sora alternative that is open source runs on your own hardware with no per-clip price, in exchange for setup time and a strong graphics card:
- Wan 2.2. Released by the Wan team under the Apache 2.0 license, and its README says the team claims no rights over what you generate. Its 5B model does text-to-video and image-to-video at 720p and 24 fps on a graphics card with at least 24 GB of memory, such as an RTX 4090. The larger 14B models need at least 80 GB on a single card.
- MiniMax H3. Open weights on Hugging Face under the MiniMax H3 Community License Agreement, which you should read before commercial use. MiniMax says H3 makes clips of up to 15 seconds at up to 2K, with stereo sound. A copy running only on your own machine is set up for 768p output; MiniMax's full 2K workflow also calls its hosted API. It ranks fourth on Artificial Analysis's text-to-video leaderboard with audio at 1220, as of September 28, 2026.
Sora alternatives for images
If you want still images rather than video, three routes cover most needs:
- ChatGPT Images. OpenAI's image tool is available on every ChatGPT tier, including Free. It makes and edits images from a prompt, can follow instructions to make a background transparent, and lets you select part of an image to change.
- Toybox Image Generator. Image Generator turns a description into one image and can use up to 3 reference photos you add as a guide for style, subject or layout, in Square, Portrait (3:4), Landscape (4:3), Story (9:16) or Wide (16:9). It currently costs 50 credits per image, or 95 with "Enhanced quality", and works on the Free plan once you have the credits.
- Midjourney. Every plan (Basic, Standard, Pro or Mega) is a subscription, with 20% off when you pay yearly, and any image you make can be animated into a 5-second clip.
Which one should you pick
Match the replacement to what you used Sora for:
- Quick clips with sound to share with friends. Use Google Flow with Veo 3.1 on its 50 free daily credits.
- Starring in your own clips. Make an avatar in the Gemini app, or type @me in a Google Flow prompt.
- Single clips of 10 to 15 seconds, or characters speaking Korean or Spanish. Use Kling 3.0, which also has Android and iOS apps.
- Scenes built from your own photos, clips and a soundtrack. Use Seedance 2.0 on Dreamina.
- Many models and video editing under one bill. Use Runway, or compare other multi-model platforms in the Higgsfield alternatives guide.
- Video, images and flyers in one account, paid in credits. Use Toybox Video Creator and Image Generator.
For how Sora 2 and Veo compared while both were live, see Sora vs Veo.
Replace Sora with Video Creator and Image Generator
For the plain text-to-clip part of what Sora did, Toybox has two tools you can chain: make a starting image, then animate it. You can also skip the image and describe the whole clip in Video Creator.
- In Image Generator, describe the first frame of your scene and pick Story (9:16) or Wide (16:9) to match the video you want.
- Download the image, open Video Creator and tap "Start from a photo". Toybox doesn't crop or resize the frame you add, so the image and the video need the same shape.
- In "Describe your video", write what moves: the subject's action, the camera move, how the light changes over the clip and what the viewer should hear.
- Choose "Format" and "Length" (4, 6 or 8 sec), then tap "Create video" and allow a few minutes.
- Listen to the whole clip, then download the MP4. If a spoken line or a sound came out wrong, reword that part of the description and create it again.
Video Creator currently costs 350 credits per clip and Image Generator 50 per image, and the video tools need a Pro plan; check Toybox pricing for the current plans. For 1080p, switch to Video Creator Lite and set "Quality" to 1080p.