Sora Alternatives After Shutdown: Free, Mobile, Local and API Options

If you need a Sora replacement, do three things in order: export your existing work, choose whether your main workflow is a creator app, an API or local inference, and test one controlled clip before migrating a full project.

Among the options covered here, Runway is the broadest managed choice when you want web, iPhone, Android and a separate developer platform. Luma Dream Machine is a practical route for iPhone and web-based exploration. Pika Create is useful for browser-based creation, while Pika API is now a separate, much larger developer catalog. Kandinsky 5 is the option for people willing to run open-source models themselves. Shedevrum remains relevant as a regional mobile and web service for Russian users, not as the default recommendation for a global audience.

For Kling VIDEO 3.0, Google Veo and LTX Desktop, see our guide to Sora alternatives by workflow.

No product recreates every part of Sora. The useful question is not “Which service is the new Sora?” but “Which service completes my next video job with acceptable access, rights, cost and repeatability?”

First: export everything that remains in Sora

OpenAI’s Sora discontinuation notice says the web and app experiences were discontinued on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API was scheduled to be discontinued on September 24, 2026. That API date has now passed.

Open the Sora sunset page, select Export, and wait for the email that says the archive is ready. OpenAI recommends exporting as soon as possible and says Sora-related data will be permanently deleted after discontinuation and after any final export window that may be offered.

The notice does not give an official reason for the shutdown. Explanations based on cost, copyright, safety or product strategy should therefore be treated as speculation unless OpenAI publishes more detail. Purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits may still be used for Codex, but that does not restore video generation.

Choose the route before the brand

Your main need	Start with	Why it belongs on the shortlist	What to verify first
One managed workflow across web, iPhone, Android and API	Runway	Mobile apps, a creator product and a separate developer platform	Whether the model you need is on your plan or in the API; consumer and API credits are separate
Fast concept work mainly on iPhone or web	Luma Dream Machine	Native iOS workflow, browser product and video API	Free-tier rights and resolution; API billing is separate from app subscriptions
Browser creation plus a broad developer model catalog	Pika Create and Pika API	Consumer creation and a self-serve API are both available	Creator balances are separate from the API; API Club adds a $10/month membership fee, and its $10 first-month usage credit does not recur
Local control and open-source deployment	Kandinsky 5	Public code and checkpoints for text-to-video and image-to-video	GPU memory, generation time, setup and maintenance
A Russia-focused mobile and web route	Shedevrum	Russian-language documentation, local app distribution and ruble-priced Pro	Publishing, usage-rights and the absence of a verified public video API

This is a workflow comparison, not a universal quality ranking. Model quality changes quickly and depends heavily on the prompt, reference image, duration, aspect ratio and acceptance criteria.

“Free,” “mobile” and “API” are three different promises

A free account may only be enough to inspect the interface. It may exclude a flagship model, commercial rights, extra credits or higher-resolution output. A mobile app may be good for ideation but not provide the same controls as the web product. An API may use a separate account balance even when it carries the same brand name.

Before comparing output quality, record four boundaries for every candidate:

1. Free access: Is it a recurring allowance, a one-time deposit, a pack, or only a draft mode?
2. Usage rights: Can free output be used commercially, and is a watermark or attribution required?
3. Platform: Is there a native iPhone or Android app, or only a mobile browser experience?
4. Automation: Is there a documented API, and are consumer credits valid there?

This prevents a common migration mistake: choosing a model from a demo reel and discovering later that the needed model, license or API is outside the plan you tested.

Runway: the broadest managed route in this comparison

Runway is the first candidate to test when you want one vendor for creator tools and programmatic generation. Its mobile compatibility page confirms native iPhone and Android apps. The iOS app does not support iPad, and Runway recommends desktop or laptop use for the full experience.

The consumer product and Runway Dev must be budgeted separately. Runway’s credit guide says the Free plan includes a one-time 125-credit deposit that does not expire, while consumer credits never appear in API credits and vice versa. Its current Gen-4.5 guide lists Standard or higher as the plan requirement, with 2–10 second output on the web product.

For developers, the Runway model catalog currently exposes multiple video families rather than only Runway’s own flagship model. The API pricing page publishes per-model credit rates and says developer credits cost $0.01 each. Treat those figures as dynamic: verify the model ID, resolution and cost again when you implement.

Choose Runway when: cross-device access and a hosted API matter more than keeping every part of the workflow in one shared credit pool.

Do not assume: that a free consumer balance can fund API calls, or that every model visible in a marketing page is included in the plan you have.

Luma Dream Machine: strong for iPhone and web exploration

Luma is a reasonable candidate when the work begins with visual exploration on iPhone or in a browser. The official iOS guide says an image can generate two four-second video variations and that Extend can take a result up to nine seconds.

The subscription guide limits the Free plan to Photon images and Ray3.14 video draft resolution for personal projects. Lite remains non-commercial, while Plus is the first listed web/iOS tier with commercial rights. Because plan names, prices and credits are dynamic, use the official page rather than copying a fixed monthly budget into a production plan.

Luma also provides an API for image and video generation. The current Dream Machine API page describes an asynchronous workflow: create a request, receive an ID, and poll until the result is ready. It also points developers to Luma’s newer API platform and documentation. The subscription guide states that Dream Machine subscriptions and credits do not apply to the API.

Choose Luma when: iPhone and web ideation are the center of the workflow, and you are comfortable treating API usage as a separate product.

Do not assume: that a free draft proves commercial suitability, that an Android app exists, or that app credits will cover automation.

Pika: separate the creator product from the developer platform

Pika now needs to be evaluated as two related but distinct products.

The consumer Pika pricing page currently describes the Free plan as 0 credits per month, packs only. It includes access to models and no watermark, but not a commercial license. The same page says top-up credits are only for Pika Create and cannot be used with the API, MCP, iOS app or the legacy site.

The Pika API pricing catalog is a self-serve developer platform with Pika models and models from multiple other providers. As of September 30, 2026, Pika API Club charges a $10 monthly membership fee. New members receive a $10 credit toward first-month API usage, while model use is still billed separately by model, resolution and mode. That credit is a first-month benefit, not a recurring free API allowance. The current FAQ also says developers can sign in, create an API key and access the catalog, with default accounts receiving documented request and concurrency limits. The API catalog is therefore not merely a programmatic copy of a Pika Create subscription.

Choose Pika when: you want a browser product for creator experiments or a broad developer API catalog, expect enough recurring API use to justify the fixed monthly membership, and can keep creator and API budgets separate. For low-frequency or one-off calls, compare membership plus usage rather than the per-model rate alone.

Do not assume: that “Free” means recurring monthly video credits, that a Starter subscription grants commercial rights, or that a Pika Create top-up can fund API calls.

Kandinsky 5: the local and open-source route

Kandinsky 5 fits a different decision. Its official repository is published under the MIT license and provides text-to-video and image-to-video checkpoints. Video Pro accepts English and Russian prompts and offers 5- and 10-second variants; Video Lite includes smaller and distilled variants as well as image-to-video.

There is no hosted consumer subscription to compare with Runway, Luma or Pika. The cost appears in GPU hardware or cloud rental, model storage, installation time and maintenance. The repository’s published latency measurements use specific NVIDIA hardware and software, so they should not be copied as a promise for another machine.

Start with one Lite checkpoint, one five-second task and a fixed seed where supported. Record peak VRAM, cold-start time, generation time and repeatability. Only then decide whether the control and privacy benefits justify operating the stack.

Choose Kandinsky 5 when: local control, open checkpoints or Russian prompt understanding matters more than instant browser convenience.

Do not assume: that open source means zero cost, a managed API, or production-ready throughput on ordinary hardware.

Regional availability belongs in a separate check

Global product pages rarely provide a permanent guarantee for every country, app store and payment method. Check availability from the account, network and payment environment you will actually use. A homepage loading successfully is not enough.

For Russian users, Shedevrum is a distinct regional option rather than the global default. Yandex’s video guide says it produces four-second, 24 fps clips and accepts prompts in any language. The installation guide covers Android 7+, iOS 15+, Huawei distribution and a desktop website. Its Pro page lists a seven-day trial followed by 100 rubles per month for users with Yandex Plus.

For the ordinary workflow without Pro, Yandex’s general help describes saving after publication, attribution for non-commercial use and a request for commercial use. The Pro terms checked on 2026-10-01 explicitly cover videos: an eligible account with an active Pro option in Russia can download before publication and use generated content commercially without prior Yandex approval. Third-party rights still need checking. No official public video-generation API was found in the current documentation. That makes Shedevrum a useful phone and browser route for its target market, but not a verified replacement for a Sora API workflow.

For any region, verify these points before committing:

• account creation and email or phone verification;
• app-store installation and future updates;
• the smallest available payment rather than an annual plan;
• download format, watermark, attribution and commercial rights;
• API key creation, model availability and one minimum request.

Compare one controlled clip, not vendor showreels

Use the same input for every candidate:

• a prompt for roughly five seconds that specifies subject, action, camera and environment;
• the same rights-cleared reference image;
• the same aspect ratio;
• one acceptance criterion, such as character identity, product shape, legible text or camera continuity.

Record the number of attempts to the first usable result, elapsed time, credits or GPU time, whether the original file can be downloaded, and whether a second run remains acceptable. A spectacular vendor example shows what is possible; it does not measure the failure rate on your material.

For API candidates, also record the exact model ID, request parameters, response or task ID, polling behavior, output URL lifetime and error handling. Do not design an integration around a consumer model name when the documented API uses a different identifier.

Preserve the portable parts of every Sora project

After the official export, build a small vendor-neutral package for each project:

• prompt.txt — subject, action, camera, environment, style and exclusions;
• references/ — original source images, not only frames from compressed output;
• shot-plan.md — aspect ratio, duration, first and last frame, and intended edit;
• acceptance.md — the conditions that make the result usable;
• outputs/ — service, model, date, settings, attempts and cost.

Another platform cannot reproduce Sora’s internal settings one for one. A human-readable production brief is more portable than a screenshot of proprietary controls.

Which Sora alternative should you choose?

• Need the widest managed workflow across web, iPhone, Android and API: test Runway first, while keeping consumer and API budgets separate.
• Work mainly on iPhone or web and want to explore ideas before production: test Luma, then confirm rights and API billing before scaling.
• Want browser creation or one developer catalog with many media models: test Pika Create and Pika API as separate products; for occasional API use, include the $10 monthly membership when comparing total cost.
• Need local deployment, open checkpoints or stronger Russian prompt support: start with Kandinsky 5 Lite and measure the actual infrastructure cost.
• Need a Russia-focused phone and web option rather than a global service: evaluate Shedevrum, including its publication and usage-rights rules.

The practical next step is simple: export Sora now, shortlist two routes, and run the same control clip plus one minimum API call where automation matters. Migrate the full project only after access, rights, output quality and repeat cost all pass.

Official sources checked for this update

Shutdown, export, free-tier, mobile, API and licensing details were rechecked on September 29, 2026 using the official pages linked above. Pika API Club’s membership fee, first-month usage credit and usage-based rates were rechecked on September 30, 2026. Plans, model catalogs, prices and regional conditions can change; reopen the relevant provider page immediately before purchasing a long subscription or shipping an integration.