Status: discontinued. OpenAI closed the Sora web and app on April 26, 2026 and set the end of the Sora API for September 24, 2026, so there is no Sora access from OpenAI, free or paid.
Free access: none from OpenAI. "Free Sora" sites are third parties; whether any of them runs Sora is not verified as of Oct 21, 2026.
Our testing status: not tested. We have no Sora account and ran no Sora clips; every Sora fact here is OpenAI's own wording, dated.
Do next: export your videos through OpenAI's export page, then pick a tool by job. More tool pages are in the tools section.
Source: OpenAI's Sora discontinuation article, read Oct 21, 2026.
In this guide 6 sections
Short version, checked 2026-10-21:
Your question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
Can I use Sora for free? | No. OpenAI's web and app closed 2026-04-26 | help.openai.com, 2026-10-21 |
What is the free version of Sora AI? | None from OpenAI; the free tiers below run other models | help.openai.com and vendor pages, 2026-10-21 |
Is the API still up? | OpenAI set its end for 2026-09-24; we did not call it | help.openai.com, 2026-10-21 |
Is Sora 2 coming back? | OpenAI's article announces no return | help.openai.com, 2026-10-21 |
Can I still get my videos? | Export at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset; OpenAI says it will delete the data after any final export window | help.openai.com, 2026-10-21 |
Do "free Sora" sites run Sora? | Not verified as of 2026-10-21; one is titled for another model | Google US results, 2026-10-20 |
Where do I go for the same job? | Section "What to use instead" below | Vendor pages, 2026-10-20 and 2026-10-21 |
One conclusion from the table: OpenAI has no Sora route left to try, so every “free Sora” offer is a third party’s claim.
Is Sora gone? Dates from OpenAI
Yes, for OpenAI’s own products. OpenAI’s help center states: “The Sora web and app experiences were discontinued on April 26, 2026.” It adds: “The Sora API will be discontinued on September 24, 2026.” (OpenAI’s Sora discontinuation article, fetched 2026-10-21). Both dates fall before our check on 2026-10-21. In our fetch on 2026-10-21, the openai.com/sora address redirected to that help article, not to a product page. The article announces no return and no successor model.
Two older claims are out of date. Google’s AI Overview for “sora ai video generator free” on 2026-10-20 said Sora is “not directly available as a permanent, standalone free tool”. It also listed the Microsoft Bing app as a free route. The first half understates the change: OpenAI’s own web and app are closed. The second half we could not confirm.
We checked Bing’s own pages on 2026-10-21. The video-generator address redirects to Bing Image Creator, and the rendered page shows image mode only. The raw HTML still holds a sign-in prompt for “Bing Video Creator” and a code entry labeled Sora. Whether video generation works behind the login is not verified as of 2026-10-21, so we do not offer Bing as a Sora route.
News stories that rank for this keyword (The Verge, ZDNet, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide) date from 2024 and 2025, before OpenAI’s shutdown dates. YouTube tutorials on Sora 2 invite codes rank too; they describe an app OpenAI closed on 2026-04-26. Do not treat any of them as current.
What happened to videos you made in Sora?
Export them. OpenAI’s help article says to go to sora.chatgpt.com/sunset, click Export, and wait for an email when the file is ready (fetched 2026-10-21). It says that after Sora is discontinued, and after any final export window passes, OpenAI “will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora”. If a final export window is offered, OpenAI says it will email you before it begins.
Open the Sora export page from OpenAI’s help article, not from a search result. We did not run an export, so the file format and the email wait are not tested.
Money: OpenAI points refund questions to its ChatGPT subscription refund article. It also says purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits “can still be used for Codex” (help.openai.com, fetched 2026-10-21). We read no refund deadline in the article, so we print none.
If you used the Sora app for client work, check that your exported copies play before you rely on them.
Are “free Sora” sites real?
They are real websites, but none is OpenAI’s Sora, and we could not verify that any runs a Sora model (Google US results, 2026-10-20). Roughly 30 third-party tool sites put “Sora” in their title or snippet in the first 98 results for “sora ai video generator free” (our count of tool sites). Six show the pattern:
Site (Google US position, 2026-10-20) | What its own title or snippet says | What that tells us |
|---|---|---|
llamagen.ai (2) | "Free Ani-Sora Video Generator" | Its snippet describes animated videos under a Sora-like name, not OpenAI's Sora |
soro2.ai (3) | "AI Video & Image Generator with Sora 2, Veo 3" | A name one letter off "Sora2"; its Sora 2 claim is not verified as of 2026-10-21 |
aivideogenerator.me (6) | "Sora is currently available only to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users. Our site offers a seamless, no-cost trial" | Its Sora status contradicts OpenAI's 2026-04-26 date, and "no-cost trial" does not name the model |
freesoragenerator.com (7) | Title: "Grok Imagine AI Free" | The page is titled for xAI's Grok Imagine, not Sora |
videogenio.com (13) | "Sora 2 & Veo 3.1 ... Start with free credits" | Claims Sora 2 after OpenAI's API end date; not verified |
photogrid.app (14) | "Sora 2 Pro text-to-video with Cameo ... No waitlist" | Borrows Sora's "Cameo" feature name; not verified |
One conclusion from the table: a Sora name or feature word on a page is not evidence that OpenAI’s model runs there.
We did not open these sites or upload anything to them, so their output is not tested. OpenAI set the Sora API end for 2026-09-24, so a page that promises free access to Sora after that date needs a source we have not seen. Treat the claim as not verified as of 2026-10-21.
Before you upload a photo, check three things that separate a disclosed reseller from fake Sora sites. Whose privacy policy applies? Does output carry a watermark? Does the site name the model that runs? If it will not name the model, assume it is a different one. We do not link these sites.
Is Sora 2 still listed on Higgsfield?
Listed; whether it still renders is not verified as of 2026-10-21. Higgsfield’s pricing page, crawled 2026-10-20, lists seven Sora-labeled rows:
Row on higgsfield.ai/pricing | Credits per 4 s (crawl 2026-10-20) |
|---|---|
Sora 2 720p | ~10 |
Sora 2 Pro 720p / 1080p | ~30 / ~50 |
Sora 2 Max 720p / 1080p | ~14 / ~34 |
Sora 2 Pro Max 720p / 1080p | ~34 / ~54 |
Checked 2026-10-21 by editorial review. One conclusion from the table: these are list prices for rows whose output we have not seen, not prices for working Sora clips.
The same crawl marks all seven rows “Not included” on the Free and Starter plans and shows video counts on Plus and Ultra. The crawl is a snapshot of a price table, not a test. It was taken after OpenAI’s 2026-09-24 API end date. We did not generate a Sora clip on Higgsfield, and our 2026-10-21 test log contains no Sora 2 job. We record the rows and draw no conclusion about what powers them.
Dreamina’s site menu also lists a “Sora 2” entry (dreamina.capcut.com, crawled 2026-10-20). Same status: listed; whether it still renders is not verified as of 2026-10-21.
Higgsfield has no trial period (Higgsfield help center, fetched 2026-10-21), so checking a Sora row would mean paying first. Its refunds cover only an initial purchase within 7 days with no credits used, and a service fee of up to 6% applies (Terms of Use §9.3, fetched 2026-10-21). We have not paid to check, and we do not treat these rows as a Sora route.
What to use instead for text-to-video and image-to-video
Pick by the job, not by the Sora name; we ran none of these options for this page (2026-10-21). Disclosure: we may earn a commission if you subscribe through links marked “(commission link)”. It does not change what we test. Details are on our affiliate disclosure page.
Job you did in Sora | Option | Free or paid, per its own pages | Our status |
|---|---|---|---|
Image to video from a photo | Kling | Monthly free credits on login for non-subscribers, valid 31 days, amount not published; paid plans from $6.99 for the first month (kling.ai, 2026-10-21) | Not tested |
Text to video | Veo 3.1 | Google's own access terms: not verified as of 2026-10-21 | Not tested |
Short trend clips | Seedance 2.0 on Dreamina | Dreamina says it has "a free option" with credits; free Seedance 2.0 use not verified; paid plans listed (dreamina.capcut.com, 2026-10-20) | Not tested |
Several models on one bill | Higgsfield | No trial; free tier with a limited set of models and 0 plan credits (help center 2026-10-21, pricing 2026-10-20) | Not tested for video |
No per-clip fee, own hardware | Wan or LTX-Video locally | Code on GitHub; license and hardware needs not verified as of 2026-10-21 | Not tested |
One conclusion from the table: none of these is a drop-in replacement we have run, so we rank none of them.
Kling. Kling’s FAQ says non-subscribers claim monthly free credits on login, valid for 31 days, and its pages publish no amount (kling.ai, fetched 2026-10-21). Kling’s plans and cancel paths are on our Kling page.
Kling (commission link)
Seedance on Dreamina. Dreamina sells Seedance on its own site and calls the model “ByteDance Dreamina Seedance 2.0” (dreamina.capcut.com, crawled 2026-10-20). That is Dreamina’s wording: ByteDance Seed’s own Seedance 2.0 page lists Dola, BytePlus Playground and an API as routes and does not mention Dreamina (seed.bytedance.com, checked 2026-10-26). Dreamina’s pricing FAQ says a free option with credits exists, and its plan cards list paid plans for Seedance 2.0. Whether free credits run Seedance 2.0 is not verified as of 2026-10-21.
Dreamina (commission link)
Veo 3.1. Higgsfield lists Google Veo 3.1 720p at about 40 credits per 4 s and Veo 3.1 Fast 720p at about 16 (higgsfield.ai/pricing, crawled 2026-10-20). Google’s own app is Gemini; whether it generates Veo 3.1 video, and on which plan, is not verified as of 2026-10-21. We hold no Gemini plan data, so we print no price. Google’s own Veo routes, checked 2026-10-27, are mapped on our Google Veo page.
Higgsfield. It lists Kling, Seedance, Wan and Veo models under one credit balance (pricing page, crawled 2026-10-20). We do not count its Sora-labeled rows as a route (see above). Choose it when you want several models behind one login; choose a maker’s own site when you need one model. Per-clip credit costs are on our Higgsfield price per credit page.
Higgsfield (commission link)
Local Wan or LTX-Video. Wan and LTX-Video publish their code on GitHub. You run them on your own GPU, so no vendor charges per clip. License terms and a hardware minimum are not verified as of 2026-10-21, and we did not run either.
Free block. (a) Higgsfield’s free tier has a limited set of models and no plan credits; see what is free on Higgsfield. (b) Free elsewhere: Kling’s monthly login credits, Dreamina’s free option and local Wan or LTX-Video; amounts and quality are not verified as of 2026-10-21. (c) Paying makes sense when you need more clips than free credits cover, or a model that a free tier does not include.
Verdict: export first, then pick by job
Export your Sora videos first, then pick a replacement by job. Sora cannot be used through OpenAI as of 2026-10-21, and no source we fetched shows a working free copy of it. If you only need image-to-video from a photo, start with Kling’s free login credits. If you want several models and accept paying with no trial, Higgsfield is one place to compare them. If you have a capable GPU, run Wan or LTX-Video locally.
Skip any page that promises “free Sora” without naming its model. Report a dead or misleading link through our contact page.
Use only your own photos, or photos you have rights to, in any of these tools. See our content policy.
Checked 2026-10-21 by editorial review.