Sora 2 alternatives after the shutdown

What happened to Sora

Reseller pages for Sora 2 on fal.ai and Replicate now return “not found” as well, so there is no back door. If you still have Sora prompts and outputs, they are your best migration asset: the prompts tell you what each new model has to handle.

What you need to replace

From OpenAI’s own API reference and guide, Sora 2 offered: clips of 4, 8, 12 seconds (the guide also mentions 16 and 20), 1280x720 and 720x1280 output (Sora 2 Pro added larger sizes; OpenAI’s model page lists 1080p, though the API’s size list had no 1080p option), synced native audio, a first-frame image input, up to two reusable “characters”, and extensions. Pricing ended at $0.10/s for Sora 2 at 720p and $0.30/s to $0.70/s for Sora 2 Pro.

The alternatives, side by side

Trimmed to what Sora users ask about: length, resolution, audio, characters (references) and price. Most cells come from the maker’s own documentation; press and reseller figures are labelled in the cell. Prices are approximate API rates per second, cheapest to dearest setting. Only the three Veo 3.1 rows can be generated on imaginary.app. Status, frame control and extension for every model are on the compare hub.

Detailed head-to-heads: Veo 3.1 against Gemini Omni Flash, Kling 4.0, Runway Gen-4.5 and Luma Ray3.2.

Match the alternative to how you used Sora

You made 10 to 20 second clips

Kling 4.0, Seedance 2.5 and Wan3.0 generate up to 30 seconds in one pass; Gemini Omni Flash, Grok Imagine Video 1.5 and MiniMax H3 reach 15. Veo 3.1 stops at 8 seconds per clip, so longer scenes are cut together from shots (our 8-second limit guide shows how).

You made vertical social clips with sound

Veo 3.1, Gemini Omni Flash and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 all do 9:16 with native audio. Runway’s API has no audio setting and Luma Ray3.2 doesn’t generate audio, so they’re a poor swap for this habit.

You relied on characters

The reference-heavy models are the closest replacement: Seedance 2.5 takes up to 30 images, Kling 4.0 up to 10 images and 7 subject elements, and MiniMax H3 up to 9 images. With Veo 3.1 on imaginary.app, the practical tool is image-to-video: start each shot from the same character still, or set a first and last frame (see Veo 3.1 image-to-video).

You want the lowest price per second

Among the makers’ own API prices in the table, the lowest are Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite ($0.02/s), Pika H3 Flex at 480p ($0.02/s), Gemini Omni Flash at 360p (≈ $0.023/s; Google prices Omni per token) and MiniMax H3 Lite ($0.025/s). Silent Veo 3.1 Lite at 720p is about $0.03/s on Google Cloud’s list (billed per “count”, which we read as one second). Cheap tiers often mean lower resolution, so compare at the resolution you publish.

You used Sora 2 Pro for 1080p

Veo 3.1 Quality generates 1080p and 4K. Veo 3.1 Fast generates 1080p, and 4K in our generator (Google’s model page lists Fast at 1080p, though its price list includes Fast 4K). Kling 4.0, Seedance 2.5 and Wan3.0 generate 1080p. Gemini Omni Flash reaches 1080p only by upsampling.

Migrating Sora prompts and code to Veo 3.1

1. 1

   Split long prompts into shots

   A 12-second Sora prompt usually describes two or three beats. Give each beat its own 4, 6 or 8 second clip, and keep the subject description word-for-word identical across shots.
2. 2

   Map the frame size

   Sora’s 1280x720 maps to 16:9 and 720x1280 to 9:16. Veo 3.1 supports both. Square and other ratios are not available on Veo.
3. 3

   Write the sound into the prompt

   Veo generates audio from the prompt. Put spoken lines in quotes with who says them, and add an “Audio:” line for ambience and effects. Keep audio switched on in the generator. Keep dialogue short enough to say in the clip length.
4. 4

   Replace characters with a first frame

   Make or pick one still image per character and use it as the first frame in image-to-video. Use the same still for every shot of that character.
5. 5

   Expect content rules of your own

   Veo on Google Cloud blocks celebrity likenesses, so prompts built around real, famous people are likely to fail here. The rules are not identical to Sora’s, so test a few prompts before you migrate a batch.
6. 6

   Port your API calls

   If your code created a Sora video job and polled for it, the shape carries over: on imaginary.app you send POST /api/generate with a veo_ API key and a model such as veo3-fast, then poll GET /api/status/:taskId. Request fields are in the API docs.

Sora-style clips made with Veo 3.1

Two short smartphone-style clips, the kind of thing many people used Sora for, shared publicly by imaginary.app users. One is on the cheapest Veo variant and one on the dearest. Both prompts write out sound cues, but neither shared file has a sound track, so they show the picture only.

Veo 3.1 Lite · 4 s · no sound track

smartphone video, UGC style, handheld with slight natural shake. Close-up of soaking wet hiking boots being dropped onto a doormat in a dim hallway, water dripping off the soles, muddy laces. Rainy day, grey natural light from a window. … Audio: rain pattering outside, a frustrated sigh, the wet squelch of the boot.

Credits for these settings on imaginary.app today: 1 at 720p, 2 at 1080p.

Watch this Veo 3.1 Lite clip in the gallery

Veo 3.1 (Quality) · 6 s · no sound track

Vertical 9:16 smartphone video, UGC style. POV shot: a foot in a white sock slides into a damp running shoe by the front door, early morning light. The person pulls the foot back out immediately in discomfort. … Audio: the damp fabric sound, a disgusted "ugh" grunt, birds chirping faintly outside.

Credits for these settings on imaginary.app today: 10 at 720p or 1080p, 20 at 4K.

Watch this Veo 3.1 (Quality) clip in the gallery

Where imaginary.app fits, and where it doesn’t

We are a good fit if you want Veo 3.1 with native audio, 16:9 or 9:16, image-to-video and first-and-last frame, without setting up Google Cloud, and with one-time packs from $9.99. An 8-second clip costs 3 credits on Lite at 720p with audio ($0.64–$0.75), 10 on Fast at 1080p ($2.13–$2.50) and 26 on Quality at 1080p ($5.55–$6.49). For comparison, 8 seconds of Sora 2 at 720p cost $0.80.

We are not the right choice if you need single clips longer than 8 seconds, many reference images, square video, or the lowest possible per-second price; Google Cloud’s own Veo list price is lower than ours, and the models above cover those needs. See all options by need on the alternatives hub.