Sora Is Shutting Down: How to Migrate Your Video Prompts
Short answer: OpenAI discontinued the Sora web and mobile apps on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API ends on September 24, 2026. No successor has been announced. Your prompts are not lost — they were plain-language shot descriptions, and every 2026 video model reads those. What you need to translate is the syntax around them: timestamps, cameos, storyboards, remixes and audio. This guide maps each Sora feature to its replacement and gives you a checklist you can finish in half an hour.
What exactly is ending
- Sora app and web — gone since April 26, 2026 (video generation inside ChatGPT went with it).
- Sora API (
sora-2,sora-2-pro) — ends September 24, 2026. Calls fail after that date. - Your history — download every clip, prompt and seed you still need before the deadline; nothing is guaranteed to stay reachable.
Feature-by-feature replacement
| Sora feature | Use instead | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Text-to-video with native audio | Veo 3.1 · Kling 3.0 · MiniMax H3 | All three generate speech and sound in one pass; describe the sound, do not assume it |
| Timestamped prompts ("0-3 s …") | Seedance 2.5 TIMELINE · Kling 3.0 custom shots | Seedance reads second ranges; Kling wants Shot 1 / Shot 2 with a duration each |
| Cameos / character consistency | Seedance 2.5 @Image roles · Veo 3.1 ingredients · Kling Elements | One canon photo, one role per reference |
| Storyboard (several shots in one clip) | Kling 3.0 multi-shot (up to 6) · Vidu Q3 · Seedance 2.5 one take | Kling cuts natively; Seedance prefers one continuous take |
| Remix / extend an existing clip | Veo 3.1 extension (+7 s steps) · Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash · Runway Aleph | Omni edits by conversation; Aleph edits in context |
| Long clips (20-30 s) | Seedance 2.5 · Wan3.0 · FLUX 3 Video (early access) | 30 s in one generation, no stitching |
| Self-hosted / open weights | Wan 2.2 · MiniMax H3 · LTX-2.5 | Wan3.0 itself is API-only |
Translate your prompts
A typical Sora prompt looked like this: "0-3 s: a woman in a red coat walks out of a café into rain, camera follows; 3-8 s: she looks up, the rain stops, warm light." Here is the same brief in the three syntaxes you will use from now on:
- Seedance 2.5 (one 8-second take): FORMAT: one continuous take, 8 s, 9:16. REFERENCE: @Image1 controls identity only. TIMELINE: 0-3 s — she walks out of the café into rain, camera tracks beside her; 3-8 s — she looks up, the rain stops, warm light spreads. AUDIO: rain on awnings, footsteps, a soft piano swell at 3 s. CONSTRAINTS: no cuts, no text.
- Kling 3.0 (two shots): Shot 1 (3 s): she walks out of the café into rain, tracking shot. Shot 2 (5 s): she looks up, rain stops, warm light. Dialogue: Anna "Finally." (soft, relieved). The subject is bound to the reference Element.
- Veo 3.1 (8 s with ingredients): attach the reference photo as an ingredient; write the same two beats as prose, put any speech in quotes ("Finally.") and describe the sound explicitly: "rain on awnings, then silence, a soft piano".
Two habits to drop with Sora: spec tokens such as "4K 60fps" (video models render at their own settings) and negative prompts (Veo on the Gemini API has no negative field; state exclusions as constraints instead).
Rebuild your characters
Cameos were a Sora-only feature. Pick one clean, front-facing canon photo per character and reuse it everywhere: Veo 3.1 takes up to three reference images, Seedance 2.5 up to 50 references with explicit roles ("@Image1 controls identity only — do not copy its pose, background or lighting"), Kling 3.0 binds the subject as an Element, MiniMax H3 uses omni-reference. If you need the same face across hundreds of stills as well, a trained identity (Higgsfield Soul ID) or a canon image in Nano Banana Pro covers the photo side. See how to keep an AI character consistent.
What it costs now
Compare per-second list prices at the same resolution. In September 2026: Wan3.0 lists $0.05-0.20 per second (480p-1080p), MiniMax H3 roughly $0.08-0.13, Seedance 2.5 roughly $0.10-0.36 depending on provider and resolution, Runway Gen-4.5 $0.12 per second on the API, and Veo 3.1 $0.40 per second with audio on the Gemini API ($0.60 for 4K; Fast and Lite tiers are cheaper). Wan 2.2, MiniMax H3 and LTX-2.5 publish open weights if you can self-host.
The 30-minute migration checklist
- Export every Sora clip, prompt and seed you still need (before September 24).
- Pick your primary model by feature: realism + audio → Veo 3.1; dialogue scenes → Kling 3.0; long takes → Seedance 2.5; self-hosted → Wan 2.2 / MiniMax H3.
- Create one canon reference photo per character and store it with the project.
- Rewrite your three most-used prompts in the FORMAT / REFERENCE / TIMELINE / CAMERA / CONTINUITY / AUDIO / CONSTRAINTS structure.
- Move audio into the prompt: speech in quotes, sounds described, music named.
- Delete negative prompts and spec tokens; keep exclusions as constraints.
- Run one test clip per model on the same brief, compare, and lock your default.
FAQ
When exactly does Sora stop working?
The Sora web and mobile apps were discontinued on April 26, 2026. The Sora API (sora-2 and sora-2-pro) ends on September 24, 2026. After that date API calls fail and no successor model has been announced by OpenAI.
Which model is the closest replacement for Sora 2?
For realism with native audio, Google Veo 3.1. For multi-shot scenes with dialogue, Kling 3.0. For long single takes with many references, Seedance 2.5. For an open-weights option you can self-host, Wan 2.2 or MiniMax H3. There is no one-to-one replacement, so pick by the feature you actually used.
Can I reuse my Sora prompts as they are?
Mostly yes. Sora prompts were natural-language shot descriptions, and every 2026 video model reads that. What changes is the syntax around them: timestamps become TIMELINE beats or Kling shots, cameos become reference images with roles, and audio has to be described explicitly (speech in quotes on Veo, Name "line" on Kling).
What happens to my Sora characters and cameos?
Cameos were a Sora-only feature. Rebuild the identity from a clean reference photo: Veo 3.1 takes up to three reference images, Seedance 2.5 takes up to 50 references with roles such as "@Image1 controls identity only", Kling 3.0 uses Elements and "Bind Subject", and MiniMax H3 uses omni-reference. Keep the canon image and reuse it everywhere.
What does the migration cost?
Compare per-second list prices at the same resolution. In September 2026: Wan3.0 $0.05-0.20 per second, MiniMax H3 roughly $0.08-0.13, Seedance 2.5 roughly $0.10-0.36 depending on provider, Veo 3.1 $0.40 per second with audio on the Gemini API (Fast and Lite tiers are cheaper). Most teams end up paying less than they did for Sora Pro.
Do I need to download my Sora videos?
Yes, before September 24, 2026. Export every clip you still need, plus the prompts and seeds if you stored them, because the API and its history will not be reachable afterwards.
Want the migration done for you? GoldenPrompts writes the structured brief — timeline, references, camera, audio and constraints — for Veo, Kling, Seedance, Runway and MiniMax from a few clicks. Free to start: 24 hours of everything, no card.