Sora Alternatives After Shutdown: Free, Mobile and API Options for Russia

If you started looking for a Sora replacement only after the shutdown, do not begin by opening accounts on five platforms. Export your existing work first. Then choose by the job you actually need to complete: for a Russian-language mobile or web workflow, test Shedevrum first; to avoid dependence on a foreign consumer account and payment method, look at Kandinsky 5; for a hosted API or a broader cross-device workflow, test Runway, Luma Dream Machine or Pika.

As of September 26, 2026, the official pages for those three foreign services do not promise Russia-specific access or support for Russian-issued bank cards. They are functionally relevant candidates, not guaranteed answers that let you skip account and payment checks.

First action: export everything you still have in Sora

OpenAI’s shutdown notice says the Sora web and app experiences were discontinued on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API was discontinued on September 24, 2026. The notice does not state why the service was discontinued. Claims about cost, safety, copyright or product strategy would therefore be speculation rather than an official explanation.

Export your content as soon as possible. Go to the Sora sunset page, select Export, and wait for the email confirming that the archive is ready. OpenAI also says that data associated with Sora use will be permanently deleted after discontinuation and after any final export window that may be offered.

Purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex according to the notice. That does not restore Sora video generation.

Choose a route before choosing a brand

Your main need	Test first	Why it fits	Verify before migrating
Create short videos in Russian on a phone or in a browser from Russia	Shedevrum	Russian help, Android/iOS/Huawei and web access, with a ruble-denominated Pro plan	Current free limits, publishing-before-download rule, and content rights
Avoid foreign account and card dependence, and run the model yourself	Kandinsky 5	Open source, local execution, Russian and English prompts, T2V and I2V	GPU cost, setup time, generation speed and maintenance
Use both Android/iPhone and a hosted API	Runway	Official apps on both phone platforms and a broad video API catalog	Registration, payment and API funding from your actual environment
Work mainly on iPhone or web and explore with draft output	Luma Dream Machine	iOS workflow, web product and a separate API	Free-tier restrictions, no verified Android route, separate API credits
Use web credit packs or a separately billed API	Pika	A browser product and a documented Pika API	Free means packs only; Russia-specific access and payment are not confirmed

No option reproduces every Sora feature. Pick the route closest to your real workflow, then run one controlled test using the same prompt and reference image.

Shedevrum: the most practical first mobile test for Russian users

For “I need to keep making short clips from my phone today,” Shedevrum is the simplest starting point. Yandex’s video guide says the service creates 4-second videos at 24 fps, offers several video models and accepts prompts in any language.

The installation page covers Android 7+, iOS 15+ and Huawei devices, and also points users to the web version on a computer. The app is free to download. Wan2.2 is explicitly limited to Pro, while the Pro terms offer seven free days followed by 100 rubles per month for users who already have Yandex Plus. The official pages do not publish a fixed recurring number of free standard video generations, so “free app” should not be read as “unlimited free video.”

Two restrictions matter. The official FAQ says a mobile video can be saved as MP4 only after it is published. It also says non-commercial use requires a link to the original post or a “Made with Shedevrum” credit, while commercial use requires a separate application. This makes the service convenient for experimentation and social content, but rights must be checked before client work.

No official public Shedevrum video-generation API was found in the current documentation. Do not treat it as a verified batch-automation route.

Kandinsky 5: no subscription fee, but not zero cost

Kandinsky 5 is the stronger route when local control, Russian prompts and independence from a foreign subscription matter more than instant convenience. Kandinsky Lab’s official repository is public under the MIT license. Its Video Pro line accepts English and Russian prompts, and the project provides 5- and 10-second text-to-video and image-to-video variants.

There is no platform subscription, but the real costs are GPU time, model downloads, storage, installation and maintenance. The repository provides Python setup and run examples as well as a ComfyUI path. This is a programmable local workflow, not a vendor-hosted API that starts with an API key.

Begin with a Lite checkpoint and a five-second control task. Measure memory use, time per generation and whether repeated outputs are acceptable before paying for a larger cloud GPU or adopting a heavier model. For someone without GPU operations experience, this route usually needs more preparation than a browser service.

Runway: test it when you need phones and a hosted API

Runway is the first managed candidate to test when both mobile creation and a developer API matter. Its mobile compatibility page confirms iPhone and Android apps. iPad is not supported, and Runway recommends desktop or laptop access for the full experience.

Runway’s credits guide says the Free plan includes a one-time 125-credit deposit that does not expire. However, the official Gen-4.5 guide requires Standard or higher, so the Free allowance should not be converted at the 12-credits-per-second rate. On paid plans that include Gen-4.5, five seconds costs 60 credits and ten seconds 120. Free users also cannot buy extra consumer credits.

Runway Dev has a current video model catalog and a separate API pricing page. Consumer plans and credits are completely separate from API credits, so the web Free allowance cannot be transferred to API use.

Runway uses Stripe and lists cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and other methods, while warning that not every method is available in every location. The official page does not confirm Russian-issued cards. Before moving code or assets, complete a minimum payment and a minimum API request in the environment you will actually use.

Luma Dream Machine: a reasonable iPhone and web exploration route

Luma Dream Machine’s free tier is useful for checking the workflow, but it is not a full production plan. The official subscription guide limits Free to Photon images and Ray3.14 video draft resolution, for personal projects. It does not publish a fixed free generation count.

Luma offers a web product and an official iOS workflow. On iOS, an image can be turned into two four-second video variations and extended to as much as nine seconds. No official Android route was found, so Android users should not make it their first choice.

Luma also has a separate API, but web and iOS subscription credits do not apply to the API. API credits must be purchased separately. Web payments use Stripe, while iOS uses the payment methods connected to an Apple ID. The official pages do not confirm Russian cards or Russia-specific availability, so verify account access, payment and API funding before building around it.

Pika: separate packs, subscription credits and API billing

Pika’s Free plan does not provide a monthly credit allowance. Its official pricing page states 0 credits per month, packs only. The plan can access the model catalog and supports parallel generations, but it does not include a commercial license. Continued use depends on available packs or a web top-up.

Web top-up credits cannot be used with the API, MCP or iOS app. The official Pika API page bills API use separately; for example, Pika 2.5 text-to-video at 720p is listed at $0.04 per second.

Pika’s official pages do not confirm Russia-specific access or Russian-issued cards. It is a valid browser or API candidate only after registration and payment have worked for your account. A dollar price alone is not evidence that payment from Russia will succeed.

A 15-minute preflight for foreign services from Russia

Opening a landing page proves very little. Before migrating, run these checks in order:

1. Registration: create a new account and complete email verification from your normal network.
2. App availability: confirm that the official store on the target phone can install and update the app.
3. Payment: use the smallest acceptable amount; do not start with an annual plan.
4. Export and rights: generate a harmless short clip, confirm the required download format, and read watermark, commercial-use and saving restrictions.
5. API: if automation matters, create API credentials and run the smallest request separately. Never assume consumer credits appear in the API balance.

This removes candidates that look suitable on feature lists but fail under your account, network or payment conditions. It also prevents the common mistake of treating an available phone app as proof that its API is available.

Compare one controlled clip, not vendor demo reels

Use the same inputs for every candidate:

• one prompt targeting roughly five seconds, with subject, action, camera and setting;
• the same copyright-safe reference image;
• the same aspect ratio;
• one explicit acceptance goal, such as subject consistency, camera motion, readable text or stable product details.

Record four results: how many attempts produced the first usable output, whether the file could be downloaded, the credits or GPU time consumed, and whether a second run remained acceptable. Official showcases demonstrate possible output; they cannot answer how your assets behave under your account and plan.

Preserve the parts of a Sora project that can move

After completing the official Sora export, separately collect the prompts, reference images, first or last frames, aspect ratios, intended duration and edit versions already in your possession. A replacement will not interpret another platform’s settings perfectly. A human-readable project brief is more portable than a list of service-specific parameters.

A useful project folder contains:

• prompt.txt for subject, action, camera, style and exclusions;
• references/ for original source images rather than screenshots from compressed output;
• acceptance.md defining what counts as usable;
• outputs/ recording tool, model, date, credits or GPU time.

This makes a second migration possible without reconstructing why an earlier result was accepted.

The decision, by scenario

• From Russia, on phone or web, and you need to resume short clips quickly: test Shedevrum first, while checking publishing-before-download and commercial-use rules.
• You want Russian prompts and local control without a foreign account or payment path: start with Kandinsky 5 Lite and accept the GPU and maintenance cost.
• You need Android/iPhone plus a hosted API: test Runway first, but only after registration, payment and API funding work in your environment.
• You mainly use iPhone or web and want a low-cost creative check: try Luma’s draft workflow; do not use the free tier for a commercial project outside its terms.
• You want browser packs or independently billed API calls: test Pika and keep web, app and API balances separate.

Export Sora first, then complete one controlled clip and one minimum payment or API request. A candidate that passes all three is ready to become a primary tool. Keep the others as fallbacks instead of moving every project at once.

Official pages checked for this comparison

Shutdown, allowance, mobile, API and payment information was checked on September 26, 2026. Plans and regional conditions can change. Before a production move, reopen the OpenAI shutdown notice, Shedevrum video help, Kandinsky 5 repository, Runway Dev model list, Luma subscription guide and Pika pricing page.