No, there's no Sora API any more: OpenAI shut down its Videos API and the Sora 2 models, sora-2 and sora-2-pro, on September 24, 2026. OpenAI's own docs say no one-to-one replacement API is available, and the old video generation guide is kept only for historical reference.
This page is about the API, the developer side that tools, apps and agencies plugged into. For the consumer side, the Sora app and how people used it, read my piece on what Sora 2 was and what to use now. Here I'm covering the dates, the model names, what the API did, and what to do if your business relied on it.
What OpenAI switched off, and when
OpenAI's deprecations page says that on March 24, 2026 it told developers using the Videos API and the Sora 2 model aliases and snapshots that they'd be removed from the API on September 24, 2026. That gave developers from March to September to move. The table on that page lists every affected item:
| What | Status |
|---|---|
| Videos API | Shut down September 24, 2026 |
| sora-2 | Shut down September 24, 2026 |
| sora-2-pro | Shut down September 24, 2026 |
| Dated snapshots sora-2-2025-10-06, sora-2-2025-12-08 and sora-2-pro-2025-10-06 | Shut down September 24, 2026 |
| Recommended replacement | None listed |
That last row is the detail worth noticing. On the same deprecations page, when OpenAI retired DALL-E 2 and DALL-E 3, it named replacements: gpt-image-2, gpt-image-1 or gpt-image-1-mini. The Sora rows have three dashes where a replacement would go. The Videos API reference page now opens with the same shutdown notice.
What the Videos API did while it lasted
According to the guide OpenAI has kept for reference, the Videos API let developers:
- Create new videos from text prompts.
- Guide a video with a reference image, used as the first frame.
- Reuse character assets across several videos for visual consistency.
- Extend a finished clip.
- Edit an existing video with targeted changes.
- Download finished videos, thumbnails and sprite sheets.
- Submit large offline render queues through the Batch API.
There were two models. sora-2 was the quick one, which OpenAI described as well suited to social media content, prototypes and rough cuts. sora-2-pro took longer and cost more to run, but OpenAI positioned it for production-quality work, marketing assets and 1080p exports in 1920x1080 or 1080x1920. Both supported 16 and 20 second generations.
Every video was a background job. Your app sent a request, got back a job ID with a status such as queued or in_progress, then either checked back or waited for a webhook saying video.completed or video.failed. Once complete, it downloaded the MP4. The guide says a single render could take several minutes, and that longer clips and 1080p jobs took materially longer than short 720p or 480p ones, so tools built on it had to plan for the wait.
One detail matters now. OpenAI's download links were only valid for a maximum of 1 hour after generation, and the guide told developers to copy files to their own storage. So if you're hunting for old clips, look wherever your tool or agency saved them, not at OpenAI.
Why some business ideas never worked on it
If you tried to use a Sora-based tool for certain jobs and kept hitting refusals, the API's rules explain it. The guide lists these restrictions:
- Only content suitable for audiences under 18.
- Copyrighted characters and copyrighted music were rejected.
- Real people, including public figures, couldn't be generated.
- Character uploads showing human likeness were blocked by default.
- Input images with human faces were rejected.
So a founder-to-camera video or a spokesperson clip built from your own photo was never on the table through the API. The character feature was built for non-human subjects such as a mascot, an animal or an object, with up to two characters in one video.
If your business built on it
- List every workflow, app, automation or agency deliverable that called sora-2 or sora-2-pro. Anything still pointing at them after September 24, 2026 fails.
- Ask each vendor or freelancer which video model they've moved to, and when they switched.
- Check your finished videos are in your own storage, because OpenAI's download links expired after an hour.
- Choose a different video model API or a non-API tool. My round-up of Sora alternatives and how Google's Veo compares are the places to start.
- Re-read the content rules of whatever you move to before promising a client a particular kind of video.
- Write the model names your workflows use into your own notes, so the next retirement notice is easy to act on.
What the Sora shutdown says about API products
Sora isn't a one-off. The same deprecations page shows OpenAI retiring things on a schedule: the Assistants API was sunset on August 26, 2026, and a batch of legacy GPT models was shut down on September 28, 2026. APIs come with dates attached. If a supplier builds your content on one model, ask what their plan is when that model goes.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
I'd treat the Sora API as closed and skip waiting for a replacement, because OpenAI's docs don't point to one. Test a different video API now, while the work is still fresh in your team's head. If you want another route to AI video, look at my guide to Gemini Omni.
If a tool or supplier you rely on built on a model that's now gone, that's the kind of workflow planning I help businesses with. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.
Frequently asked questions
Is there still a Sora API?
No. OpenAI shut down the Videos API and the Sora 2 models on September 24, 2026, and its docs say no one-to-one replacement API is available.
When did OpenAI announce the Sora API shutdown?
OpenAI notified developers on March 24, 2026 that the Videos API and Sora 2 models would be removed on September 24, 2026.
Which Sora models were shut down?
sora-2, sora-2-pro and the dated snapshots sora-2-2025-10-06, sora-2-2025-12-08 and sora-2-pro-2025-10-06, along with the Videos API itself.
Is there a Sora 2 API replacement?
Not from OpenAI. The deprecations page lists no recommended replacement for the Sora rows, so the options are a different video model API or a non-API tool.
Where are my old Sora API videos?
Wherever your tool or agency saved them. OpenAI's download links were valid for a maximum of 1 hour after generation, and the guide told developers to copy files to their own storage.
Could the Sora API generate real people?
No. The guide says real people, including public figures, couldn't be generated, and input images with human faces were rejected.
