You cannot subscribe to Sora any more
Straight to it, because it is what you came for and half the articles out there still explain how to sign up.
Sora is discontinued. OpenAI closed the app and the web experience on 26 April 2026, and the API switches off on 24 September 2026. After that date there is no way in at all.
One thing worth correcting, because it is repeated everywhere and it is wrong: you cannot use it through ChatGPT either. Video generation inside ChatGPT was removed the same day the app closed. Even on ChatGPT Plus, the button is not there.
Why OpenAI shut it down
The published figures explain the closure better than any statement: Sora cost roughly $1 million a day to operate, while in-app purchases generated $2.1 million in total across the product’s entire lifetime.
This was not a product doing badly. It was a product losing money at a scale more users would not have fixed. It closed less than six months after launch, as OpenAI redirected resources toward enterprise and coding tools.
The collateral damage included the Disney deal announced in December 2025, which promised a $1 billion investment and the integration of more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters. That partnership was abandoned when OpenAI shut Sora down, three months after announcing it.
If you have content in there, get it out
OpenAI opened an export window at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset to download whatever
you generated. Once that window closes, data associated with your Sora use is
permanently deleted.
If you are reading this late, check whether the export is still open before writing anything off.
What Sora 2 was, for the record
It was not a bad product, and it is worth recording how far it got, because that explains why so many people are still searching for it.
- 15 to 25 seconds per clip, against 6 seconds in the first version
- 1080p as standard on every Sora 2 generation
- Cinematic quality and physical motion among the best available
On the API, while it lasted, Sora 2 standard cost $0.10 per second at 720p, and the Pro tier ran from $0.30 to $0.70 per second depending on resolution, with batch rates at roughly half.
What to use instead
Here is the useful part. Whatever you wanted Sora for exists elsewhere today, and in several cases for less money.
If you wanted cinematic quality and photorealism: Kling AI comes closest on people and realistic motion.
If you wanted editing tools alongside the generator: Runway ML is still the most complete suite, though its Max plan changed the credit rules on 1 September.
If you wanted character consistency across clips: Vidu handles it better than anything at this price, and has a one-click music video mode.
If speed and price are what matter: PixVerse generates in under a minute and its entry plan is $8 a month.
None of them quite matches Sora 2’s best output on raw quality. All of them have the decisive advantage of existing.
Verdict
There is no buying verdict to give: you cannot buy it. The score reflects that, not the quality of the product, which was high.
What Sora does leave behind is a useful lesson for choosing an AI video tool: model quality is not the only thing that matters. A tool losing a million dollars a day is a tool that can disappear with your workflow inside it. When picking an alternative, checking whether the business holds up is as reasonable as watching the demo.
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