---
title: "Sora 2 Pricing 2026 — API Rates + Sept 24 Shutdown"
description: "Sora 2 pricing: OpenAI API rates ($0.10–$0.70 per second), AI Content Drop lanes (45–84 credits), the September 24, 2026 API shutdown, and what to use instead."
canonical: "https://aicontentdrop.com/blog/sora-2-pricing-api-shutdown"
source: "https://aicontentdrop.com/blog/sora-2-pricing-api-shutdown"
---
Review

September 3, 2026

9

min read

# Sora 2 Pricing 2026 — What It Cost, and What Ends on September 24

Sora 2 pricing: OpenAI API rates ($0.10–$0.70 per second), AI Content Drop lanes (45–84 credits), the September 24, 2026 API shutdown, and what to use instead.

review

pricing

sora-2

openai

Sora 2 pricing is now a question with an expiry date. OpenAI discontinued the Sora app and website on April 26, 2026, and has set **September 24, 2026** as the day the Sora 2 models and the Videos API are removed. If you are pricing Sora 2 for a project, you are pricing something with three weeks left on the developer side and no announced successor. This guide gives the numbers anyway, because the question is still being asked thousands of times a month, and then does the more useful thing: it prices the alternatives.

Every figure below is traceable. OpenAI's per-second API rates come from its published pricing page, the dates come from its deprecations page and its help-center discontinuation notice, the model limits come from its video-generation guide, and the credit costs on this platform come from the [AI Content Drop pricing table](https://aicontentdrop.com/pricing). Anything that could not be verified at source, including the old ChatGPT Plus and Pro video allowances that disappeared with the app, is not on this page.

## Sora 2 price at a glance

On AI Content Drop, Sora 2 runs as three flat-cost lanes. Credits are pooled across every model on the platform, so a Sora render and a Veo render draw from the same balance.

| Lane | Credits per video | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sora 2 | 45 | Standard Sora 2 text-to-video and image-to-video with synced audio |
| Sora 2 Pro | 56 | Higher-fidelity Pro model, 1080p-class output |
| Sora 2 Pro Storyboard | 84 | Storyboard-length generation, up to 25 seconds in one render |

The two numbers most people are looking for: a standard Sora 2 clip is **45 credits**, and a Sora 2 Pro clip is **56 credits**. On OpenAI's own API the same clips are metered per second, from **$0.10** to **$0.70** a second depending on model and resolution, which the next sections turn into a per-clip figure.

## What is ending, and when

Three dates matter, and they are easy to conflate because the consumer product and the developer API shut down six months apart.

| Date | What happened or happens | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| March 24, 2026 | OpenAI notified developers that the Videos API and the Sora 2 model aliases and snapshots are deprecated | OpenAI API deprecations page |
| April 26, 2026 | The Sora web and app experiences were discontinued | OpenAI Help Center, Sora discontinuation notice |
| September 24, 2026 | sora-2, sora-2-pro, and all dated snapshots are removed from the API | OpenAI API deprecations page |

The deprecations entry is explicit about scope. It retires the Videos API and the aliases `sora-2`, `sora-2-pro`, `sora-2-2025-10-06`, `sora-2-2025-12-08`, and `sora-2-pro-2025-10-06`, and its recommended-replacement column is empty. That is unusual for an OpenAI deprecation, which normally points at a successor model, and it is the single most important fact for anyone budgeting around Sora: there is nothing to migrate *to* inside OpenAI's catalogue. The help-center notice says the same thing from the consumer side, recommends exporting your Sora content as soon as possible, and states that data associated with Sora will be permanently deleted after the discontinuation and any final export window. You can read both at [OpenAI's deprecations page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) and the [Sora discontinuation notice](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152-what-to-know-about-the-sora-discontinuation).

One consequence follows for every third-party platform built on OpenAI's API, this one included: the September 24 removal is upstream of all of them. Whatever a vendor's page says today, plan as if Sora 2 is unavailable everywhere after that date.

## How OpenAI priced Sora 2 on the API

OpenAI meters Sora 2 per second of output, with the rate set by model and resolution. These are the published rates on its API pricing page at the time of writing, and they stay in force until the removal date.

| Model and size | Standard, per second | Batch, per second |
| --- | --- | --- |
| sora-2, 720p | $0.10 | $0.05 |
| sora-2-pro, 720p | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| sora-2-pro, 1024p | $0.50 | $0.25 |
| sora-2-pro, 1080p | $0.70 | $0.35 |

OpenAI's video-generation guide states that both models support 16- and 20-second generations, that an extension can add up to 20 seconds, and that up to six extensions are allowed. Using those durations, a single clip on the API costs:

| Clip | 16 seconds | 20 seconds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| sora-2, 720p | $1.60 | $2.00 |
| sora-2-pro, 720p | $4.80 | $6.00 |
| sora-2-pro, 1024p | $8.00 | $10.00 |
| sora-2-pro, 1080p | $11.20 | $14.00 |

Batch pricing halves every row, at the cost of asynchronous turnaround. The spread is the thing to notice: a 20-second Pro clip at 1080p costs seven times a standard clip at 720p. Resolution, not duration, is what moves the Sora 2 bill. See [OpenAI's API pricing page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing) for the live table.

## Sora 2 cost per finished video on every plan

Plan price divided by monthly credits gives a cost per credit; multiplied by the lane's credit cost, it gives the implied cost of one video on AI Content Drop. These are the numbers the pricing table implies but does not print.

| Plan | Monthly | Credits | Cost per credit | Sora 2 (45) | Sora 2 Pro (56) | Storyboard (84) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 | 10 | — | — | — | — |
| Starter | $19 | 150 | $0.127 | $5.70 | $7.09 | $10.64 |
| Professional | $49 | 450 | $0.109 | $4.90 | $6.10 | $9.15 |
| Ultra | $99 | 1,000 | $0.099 | $4.46 | $5.54 | $8.32 |
| Enterprise Max | $299 | 3,500 | $0.085 | $3.84 | $4.78 | $7.18 |

In clips per month from base credits alone: Sora 2 gives 3 on Starter, 10 on Professional, 22 on Ultra, and 77 on Enterprise Max; Sora 2 Pro gives 2, 8, 17, and 62; Storyboard gives 1, 5, 11, and 41. The free tier's 10 credits sit below the 45-credit minimum for any Sora lane. Credits can be topped up on every plan and annual billing lowers the cost per credit, so these counts are floors.

## A 20-second clip, side by side

Put the two channels next to each other for the format most people actually want, a single 20-second clip:

| Where | Standard Sora 2 | Sora 2 Pro | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OpenAI API, 720p | $2.00 | $6.00 | Per-second metering; ends September 24, 2026 |
| OpenAI API, 1080p | n/a | $14.00 | 1080p is Pro-only on the API |
| AI Content Drop, Professional plan | $4.90 | $6.10 | Flat per generation, same credits pool as every other model |
| AI Content Drop, Enterprise Max | $3.84 | $4.78 | Lowest cost per credit on the platform |

Raw per-clip cost favours the API for standard 720p clips and favours the flat-credit lane for Pro clips, and the API's advantage requires you to write against an endpoint that is being removed in three weeks. The more relevant comparison is no longer Sora versus Sora. It is Sora versus what replaces it.

## Is Sora 2 free?

Not any more, on any channel. Free consumer access ended with the Sora app and website on April 26, 2026, according to OpenAI's discontinuation notice, which also says any purchased ChatGPT or Sora credits can still be used for Codex. The API was never free: every second is billed at the rates above. On AI Content Drop the free tier's 10 credits are below the 45-credit minimum, so the cheapest way to run Sora 2 here is the [Starter plan at $19](https://aicontentdrop.com/pricing), which covers three standard clips a month. Given the removal date, a trial run is the only sensible reason to buy in for Sora specifically.

## What to use instead of Sora 2

OpenAI lists no replacement, so the migration is to another vendor's model. All of these run on AI Content Drop today; the dollar column is the implied cost of one video on the Professional plan, at $0.109 per credit, so the rows are comparable with the Sora figures above.

| Model | Credits per video | On Professional | Pick it when |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Veo 3.1 | 26 | $2.83 | Native audio and dialogue matter; the closest like-for-like swap |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | 14 | $1.52 | Same family at draft speed for iteration |
| Kling 3.0 | 22 | $2.40 | Image-to-video with strong motion and product shots |
| Seedance 2.0 Pro | 56 | $6.10 | Multi-shot storytelling with lip-sync; the Storyboard replacement |
| Seedance 2.0 Fast | 22 | $2.40 | Seedance look at a Kling-class price |
| Hailuo 2.3 | 17 | $1.85 | Cheapest lane with usable physics for social-first clips |

Two of these are the natural homes for Sora workloads. Sora 2's distinguishing feature was synced audio from a text prompt; Veo 3.1 has the same property at 26 credits against Sora 2's 45, which is a 42% cut per clip before any quality argument. Sora 2 Pro Storyboard's distinguishing feature was one long multi-scene render; Seedance 2.0 Pro does multi-shot in a single generation at 56 credits against 84, with native audio and lip-sync. The [Seedance 2.0 pricing guide](https://aicontentdrop.com/blog/seedance-2-0-pricing-2026) has its per-plan numbers, and the [Kling 3.0 review](https://aicontentdrop.com/blog/kling-3-0-review) and [Veo 3.1 prompt guide](https://aicontentdrop.com/blog/veo-3-1-json-prompt-guide) cover the two most direct swaps.

## What to do before September 24

1. Export anything that lives in Sora.
  
  OpenAI's notice says Sora data is permanently deleted after the discontinuation and any final export window, and recommends exporting as soon as possible. Do not wait for the API date; the consumer deletion clock started in April.
2. Re-run your best Sora prompts on Veo 3.1 and Seedance 2.0.
  
  Prompts written for Sora's natural-language style port cleanly to Veo; multi-scene Sora Storyboard briefs port to Seedance multi-shot. Budget one Fast or Lite render per prompt to find the closest match before spending Pro credits.
3. Move any pipeline that calls sora-2 by name.
  
  If you automate generation, the alias disappears on September 24 with no fallback. On AI Content Drop the
  
  generator
  
  exposes every alternative in the same interface, so a workflow that switched models needs no other change.
4. Stop buying credits for Sora specifically.
  
  Buy for the model you are moving to. Credits are pooled, so nothing is stranded either way, but planning a Sora budget past the removal date is planning for a model that will not be there.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Sora 2 cost per second?

On OpenAI's API, $0.10 per second for sora-2 at 720p, and $0.30, $0.50, or $0.70 per second for sora-2-pro at 720p, 1024p, or 1080p. Batch pricing halves each rate. On AI Content Drop it is a flat 45, 56, or 84 credits per video rather than per second.

### Is the Sora API really shutting down?

Yes. OpenAI's deprecations page states that developers were notified on March 24, 2026 and that the Videos API and the Sora 2 aliases and snapshots are removed from the API on September 24, 2026. The help center's discontinuation notice gives the same September 24 date for the API and April 26, 2026 for the app and website.

### Is there a Sora 3 or a replacement model?

Not as of this writing. The recommended-replacement column on OpenAI's deprecations entry is empty, and the help-center notice names no successor. The practical replacements are other vendors' models: Veo 3.1 for audio-native clips and Seedance 2.0 Pro for multi-shot storyboards.

### Can I still use Sora 2 on AI Content Drop right now?

Yes, at 45, 56, or 84 credits per video, on any paid plan. Because the removal happens upstream at OpenAI, treat September 24 as the end date here too and move new work to the alternatives above.

### What happens to my Sora videos?

Content generated on AI Content Drop stays in your library like any other render. Content that lives in OpenAI's Sora product is subject to OpenAI's deletion policy: its notice says the data will be permanently deleted after the discontinuation and any final export window, so export it now.