Best Sora Alternative in 2026, by Cost per Video

• ✕The Sora app and website shut down on April 26, 2026.
• ✕The Sora 2 API and Videos API shut down on September 24, 2026, and OpenAI's deprecations page lists no replacement.
• ✕Developers report errors before the stated API shutdown date.
• ✕Before the shutdown, reviewers reported repeated errors, with about 1 in 3 generations usable.
• ✕Reviewers reported content-violation flags on ordinary prompts with no reason given.

From public reviews: Reviewers report losing the tool when it shut down, some before they had tried Sora 2.; Developers report confusion over when the API would stop working, with errors before the stated date.; Reviewers report repeated errors, with about 1 in 3 generations usable.; Reviewers report content-violation flags on ordinary prompts with no reason given..

1. 1.Google Veo 3 (Veo 3.1)

   From $4.99/mo · $0.08 per output

   Best for: Text-to-video with native audio, the closest to Sora

   Google's Veo 3.1 makes video with audio through Flow, the Gemini app and the Gemini API. Veo 3.1 Fast costs $0.10 per second at 720p on the API ($0.80 for 8 seconds, the same as the old sora-2 price), and Google AI Pro is $19.99/month for 1,000 Flow credits.

   Watch out: Users report failed or stuck generations that still use up Flow credits.

   Google Veo 3 (Veo 3.1) pricing, plan by plan →

2. 2.Hooked

   From $29/mo · $0.93 per output

   Best for: Veo, Kling and Seedance under one plan

   Hooked runs the models people moved to after Sora. An 8-second Veo 3.1 Lite clip is 32 credits ($0.93 on Pro at $29/month), Veo 3.1 Fast is 80 credits ($2.32) and Kling 3.0 is 72 credits ($2.09). On Studio ($89 once with your own API keys) you pay the provider, for example $0.32 for that Veo 3.1 Lite clip.

   Watch out: Hooked does not have its own video model, and on Pro a single Veo clip costs more than on Google's own plans.

   On Hooked	Credits	Pro, monthly	Pro, yearly	Studio, your own key	100 a month
   Veo 3.1 Lite, 720p	32	$0.93	$0.77	$0.32 to the provider	$116 (Pro + 1 × 1,500-credit pack + 2 × 500-credit pack)
   Kling 3.0, 1080p	72	$2.09	$1.74	$0.72 to the provider	$235 (Pro + 1 × 4,000-credit pack + 1 × 1,500-credit pack + 2 × 500-credit pack)
   Veo 3.1 Fast, 720p	80	$2.32	$1.93	$0.80 to the provider	$246 (Pro + 1 × 4,000-credit pack + 2 × 1,500-credit pack)
   Seedance 2.0 Fast	88	$2.55	$2.13	$0.96 to the provider	$267 (Pro + 2 × 4,000-credit pack)

   Pro is $29/month or $290/year for 1,000 credits a month; extra credits come in packs from $19 for 500. The Studio is $89 once and runs on your own API keys, so you pay the model provider directly at their rate.

   Try Hooked instead of Sora

   • ✓8-second AI videos from $0.93 each on Pro (Veo 3.1 Lite, 720p)
   • ✓Veo 3.1, Kling 3.0, Seedance 2.0, Nano Banana Pro and GPT Image 2 in one plan: no second subscription per model
   • ✓Or $89 once for the Studio with your own API keys

   Try Hooked, from $29/mo→

3. 3.Kling AI

   From $6.60/mo · $0.44 per output

   Best for: Cheap 1080p clips with native audio

   Kling 3.0 generates video with optional native audio. An 8-second clip at 1080p with audio uses 96 credits: $1.28 on Standard ($8.80/month) and $1.04 on Pro.

   Watch out: Reviewers report generations that fail near 99% while credits are still spent.

   Kling AI pricing, plan by plan →

4. 4.Seedance (ByteDance)

   · $0.96 per output

   Best for: Developers who need a per-second video API

   ByteDance sells Seedance through the BytePlus API and charges only for videos that succeed. An 8-second Seedance 2.0 clip at 720p is about $1.22, and 2.0 Fast about $0.96.

   Watch out: On the consumer Dreamina app, reviewers report a forced AI watermark even on paid plans.

   Seedance (ByteDance) pricing, plan by plan →

5. 5.Runway

   From $12/mo · $0.77 per output

   Best for: Creative work with Runway's own models and a simple API

   Runway has its own Gen-4.5 and Aleph models plus third-party ones. An 8-second Gen-4.5 clip is 96 credits: $2.30 on Standard ($15/month), $1.49 on Pro and $0.96 on Max or the API.

   Watch out: Credits do not roll over on Standard and Pro.

   Runway pricing, plan by plan →

6. 6.Luma AI (Dream Machine)

   From $25/mo · $0.48 per output

   Best for: Ray video models with a pay-per-video API

   Luma sells its Ray3.2 models in an app and an API. A 10-second Ray3.2 clip at 720p costs $0.90 on the API or 300 credits on Plus ($30/month for 10,000 credits).

   Watch out: There is no free tier on the pricing page, and reviewers report credits draining very fast.

   Luma AI (Dream Machine) pricing, plan by plan →