AI video generator alternatives, by what you need

Quick guide

If you used Sora 2

OpenAI removed Sora 2, Sora 2 Pro and the Videos API on September 24, 2026 without a replacement. Match the replacement to what you relied on: Kling 4.0, Seedance 2.5 and Wan3.0 for clips up to 30 seconds; Veo 3.1, Gemini Omni Flash or Grok Imagine Video 1.5 for vertical clips with native audio; the reference-heavy models for recurring characters. Our Sora 2 alternatives page has the full table, a shutdown timeline and prompt migration steps.

If you use Veo 3.1 in Google Flow

On December 5, 2026, Flow retires Veo 3.1 Fast and Quality. Veo 3.1 Lite stays, and Gemini Omni Flash is already the default. Your options:

• Stay in Flow. Lite costs 10 credits per video (5 on Ultra), and Omni Flash 3 credits per second at 720p. If your plan’s credits already cover you, this is the cheapest path.
• Use Veo 3.1 on Google Cloud. Fast and Quality are generally available there, at Google Cloud’s list prices, which are lower per clip than ours. You need a Cloud project, billing and a service account.
• Use a provider that runs the Cloud models. imaginary.app is one: Fast and Quality in a web app, with no Cloud setup and one-time packs from $9.99. We cost more per clip than Google Cloud’s list price and than a fully used Flow plan.

The Flow retirement guide has the dates and credit tables, and our Flow credits comparison works through the per-video cost.

If you called Veo on the Gemini API

The Veo 3.1 preview models stopped working on the Gemini API on October 22, 2026. Google points Gemini API users to gemini-omni-1.2-flash; Veo 3.1 remains on Google Cloud, where Veo 3.1 and Fast are generally available and Lite is in Preview. Another path is a provider with its own key. With imaginary.app that’s POST /api/generate with a veo_ key; see getting started with the API, and Veo 3.1 vs Omni Flash to decide which model to move to.

If you want the lowest cost

• Free: Google Flow gives everyone 50 credits a day, enough for 5 Veo 3.1 Lite videos at 10 credits each. Daily credits don’t roll over, Flow requires users to be 18 or over, and Google says VPNs won’t enable access from unsupported regions.
• Cheapest subscription: Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month for 200 Flow credits.
• Cheapest APIs: Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite ($0.02/s), Pika H3 Flex at 480p ($0.02/s), Omni Flash at 360p (≈ $0.023/s; Google prices Omni per token), MiniMax H3 Lite ($0.025/s), and silent Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p on Google Cloud (about $0.03/s list, billed per “count”).
• No subscription, no Cloud account: our packs start at $9.99 once. An 8-second Lite clip at 720p with audio costs 3 credits ($0.64–$0.75).

If you are a developer

• Go to the maker for what is usually the lowest price and the newest features: Google Cloud for Veo, the Gemini API for Omni, xAI for Grok, MiniMax, BytePlus for Seedance, Alibaba Cloud for Wan, Runway and Luma all publish APIs. Kling’s own API doesn’t serve Kling 4.0 yet.
• Use a multi-model reseller such as fal.ai or Replicate if you want many models behind one bill. Prices sometimes match the maker and sometimes don’t.
• Use imaginary.app if Veo 3.1 is the model you want and you’d rather not set up Google Cloud: one veo_ key, credits refunded on failed generations, and a developer API. It’s Veo 3.1 only today.

The models, side by side

The same sourced data we use on our compare pages, trimmed to what matters when choosing a replacement: whether you can reach the model, how long a clip it makes and roughly what it costs. Resolution, audio and references are on the compare hub.