The Sora path is closed. OpenAI's model documentation now states plainly that the Sora 2 models and the Videos API were shut down on 2026-09-24 and are no longer available, with no one-to-one replacement API (Sora 2 model docs, deprecations).
That is a different situation from six months ago. In April 2026 the question was still whether Sora 2's access model or product shape suited you. Now Sora 1 is long gone in the US and Sora 2's API is closed too, so any workflow that depended on Sora has to move. Waiting is no longer an option.
This guide splits the choice by deliverable. Decide what you are shipping first, then pick the tool — that is the only reliable way to avoid comparing tools that do different jobs.
Decide which kind of video you are making
| Your deliverable | Path to look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cinematic clips that need repeated revision and extension | Runway | One workspace for generating, editing, extending and exporting |
| Multi-shot scenes where you control the shot language instead of gambling on one generation | Google Flow | Built around create / refine / compose |
| Repeatable presenter videos for training, onboarding or product education | Synthesia | Script reuse, approval chains, multilingual consistency |
| Avatar marketing, localisation and outbound content | HeyGen | Fast multilingual versions without chasing cinematic quality |
None of these is better than the others, only better matched. Using Synthesia for cinematic footage is painful; using Runway for 200 training episodes is equally painful.
Path 1: Cinematic clips that need a real workspace — Runway
Runway's pricing page, checked 2026-10-20:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | — | 125 credits, one time |
| Standard | $15 | $12 | 625 credits/mo |
| Pro | $35 | $28 | 2,250 credits/mo |
Credits are consumed per model. Per Runway's own conversion, 625 credits is 52 seconds of Gen-4.5, 104 seconds of Gen-4 Turbo, or 78 Gen-4 images at 1080p. That conversion matters: the same money buys more than twice the runtime depending on which model you use, so budget against the model you will actually run rather than comparing credit counts.
The current model list includes Gen-4.5, Gen-4 Turbo, Kling 3.0, Nano Banana Pro and others, with Runway's own models and third-party models living in the same workspace.
Pick it when: generation, revision, extension and export need to happen in one place; a designer or editor will keep iterating after the first generation; you want to compare models side by side.
Skip it when: your deliverable is a presenter explainer rather than cinematic footage; you only need the cheapest throwaway experiment and don't care about editing depth; your team has no collaboration or versioning need.
Path 2: Controlling shot language instead of gambling on one generation — Google Flow
Flow is Google's AI creative studio, designed around scene building and shot composition rather than single-box generation. It is included in Google AI subscriptions: Google AI Plus at $4.99/mo, AI Pro at $19.99/mo, AI Ultra from $99.99/mo, with different Flow credits and model access per tier.
Pick it when: you need to combine shots, elements and shot language; you want an iterative composition process rather than a single output; you already live in Google's ecosystem.
Skip it when: you only need short single-generation clips; you don't need shot-level control; you don't want to pay for a whole Google AI subscription.
Flow's official pages return a login screen or CAPTCHA to scripted requests, so this article did not verify specific credit numbers or regional availability — only that Flow is included in the AI subscription tiers. Check that yourself while signed in.
Path 3: Repeatable explainer videos — Synthesia
Many teams think they need a Sora replacement when what they actually need is stable, repeatable presenter-led communication.
Synthesia's pricing page, checked 2026-10-20:
| Plan | Price | Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10 minutes of video creation or dubbing, 3 survey responses, 500 credits |
| Starter | $29/mo | 1,250 credits/mo |
| Pro | $89/mo | 6,000 credits/mo, expandable |
Note the billing unit changed: it used to be "minutes of video per month" and is now credits, shared across AI features. Budgeting from the old minute figures will be wrong.
Pick it when: the output is onboarding, training, product education or internal enablement; you care about script reuse, approval and consistency more than visual polish; reviewers and non-designers need to reuse it repeatedly.
Skip it when: the team primarily wants stylised B-roll or cinematic motion; you mainly need lighter avatar marketing video; realism of generated footage is your top selection criterion.
Path 4: Avatar marketing and multilingual localisation — HeyGen
HeyGen's pricing page, checked 2026-10-20:
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 3 videos/mo, up to 1 minute each, watermarked |
| Creator | $29/mo | For publishing, 175+ languages and dialects |
| Pro | $49/mo | High volume, best quality |
| Business | $149/mo | Team collaboration, SCORM export and LMS integrations |
HeyGen sits closer to creator and go-to-market use than Synthesia. When the question is how to produce avatar campaigns, multilingual versions or outbound video quickly instead of reshooting each variant, it is the fastest answer here.
Pick it when: you need marketing, sales or localised content fast; you want avatar-led rather than cinematic scene generation; multilingual versions and fast iteration matter more than editing finesse.
Skip it when: your main job is directed multi-shot scene building; you need a deeper editor-centred creative flow; your organisation cares more about governance than speed of external content.
Write these five things down before migrating
Whichever you pick, write these out first — otherwise it is easy to compare categories that do not belong together:
- Deliverable type: cinematic draft, shot sequence, training video, or avatar marketing.
- Editing need: none, light, heavy, or template reuse.
- Collaboration path: solo, small review, or an approval chain.
- API requirement: not needed, optional, or mandatory.
- What happens to old assets: whether clips already generated in Sora are exported and archived.
Item 5 is the one people skip. Sora 2's API is closed, so anything generated through the API and left only on the server cannot be retrieved now.
Prompt templates you can reuse
Creative draft for Runway or Flow
Create a short product teaser draft for internal review.
Length: 8 to 12 seconds.
Goal: show a clean software workflow with modern motion and clear focus on the main product benefit.
Tone: confident, minimal, polished.
Avoid: chaotic camera moves, cluttered backgrounds, meme styling, and unnecessary dialogue.
Output should be easy to revise in a second pass.
Explainer for Synthesia or HeyGen
Create a 45-second explainer video for first-time users.
Audience: new customers.
Goal: explain what the product does, who it is for, and the first action to take after signup.
Style: calm, direct, trustworthy.
Structure:
1. one-sentence problem
2. one-sentence solution
3. three-step getting-started path
4. final CTA to begin setup
Avoid buzzwords, cinematic claims, and filler language.
These templates work not because they sound like AI output, but because they state the deliverable, the audience and the rejection criteria.
FAQ
Is there any way to still use Sora?
The Sora 2 models and Videos API were shut down on 2026-09-24, and OpenAI's deprecation record says there is no one-to-one replacement API. Sora 1 was retired earlier still. If a platform claims to offer Sora 2, verify its actual status first — Runway's pricing page no longer lists Sora as of this check.
Is there a single closest match to Sora's old output?
No. There is no one-to-one replacement after the Sora 2 shutdown. The practical question is which of the four paths above your old Sora clips fall into, and to choose on that basis.
I just want to try generating video cheaply. What's the least I can spend?
Runway's Free tier gives 125 one-time credits, Google AI Plus is $4.99/mo, and Synthesia and HeyGen both have free tiers. Any of these is enough for a first or second test, but none suits ongoing production.
The old version of this article said Sora 2 was available inside Runway. Does that still hold?
No. At the time of this check, Runway's pricing page listed Kling 3.0, Nano Banana Pro and others as third-party models, with no Sora. After OpenAI shut Sora 2 down, no downstream platform can keep offering it.
Does the Sora shutdown affect content I already generated elsewhere?
Not files already downloaded locally. But if you automated anything against OpenAI's API endpoints, those calls now fail and need to move to another service. Start by auditing scheduled jobs and scripts that still call the Videos API.
Verification note
Dynamic facts were checked on 2026-10-20:
- Sora 2 shutdown status: Sora 2 model docs ("The Sora 2 models and Videos API were shut down on September 24, 2026 and are no longer available. There is no one-to-one replacement API.") and OpenAI deprecations
- Runway plans and credit conversion: runwayml.com/pricing
- Flow subscription inclusion: Gemini subscriptions
- Synthesia plans: synthesia.io/pricing
- HeyGen plans: heygen.com/pricing
Not verified: Flow's specific credit amounts, regional availability and personal-account requirements — official pages return a login screen or CAPTCHA to scripted requests. No numbers were invented for this.
What the previous version got wrong: the 2026-04-01 edition assumed Sora 2 was still rolling out and only the access model was in question, and cited five OpenAI help-centre links. All five returned 404 at this check, and Sora 2 has been shut down entirely, so the original argument no longer holds. The article was rewritten rather than patched.