The one-week clock

OpenAI’s Help Center is clear: the Sora web and app experiences already shut down on April 26, 2026. The remaining piece for builders is the Sora API, which discontinues on September 24, 2026.

If your pipelines, demos, or client work still call Sora, this is a countdown article — not a eulogy. Export first. Migrate second. Panic-buy nothing.

What OpenAI says (and what it doesn’t)

From the official “What to know about the Sora discontinuation” page:

  • API end date: September 24, 2026
  • Export: go to sora.chatgpt.com/sunset → Export; you’ll get an email when the archive is ready
  • Deletion: after discontinuation (and after any final export window OpenAI can offer), Sora-associated data is permanently deleted
  • Refunds / credits: Help Center points refund questions to ChatGPT subscription refund docs, and notes that purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex if you choose — it does not spell out a special Sora-only credit windfall beyond that

There is no named official OpenAI video replacement called out on that Help page. Don’t wait for a secret twin API that the docs don’t announce.

Action checklist (this week)

  1. Export now — open https://sora.chatgpt.com/sunset and click Export. Don’t assume a later reminder email will save a forgotten project.
  2. Inventory API usage — list every service, cron, Comfy/workflow node, and client app that still hits Sora endpoints. Mark hard dependencies vs. nice-to-haves.
  3. Freeze new Sora-only features — ship with a flag or adapter so you can swap providers without rewriting product copy on September 24.
  4. Migrate workflows deliberately — pick tools you already trust in the open ecosystem rather than buying five untested “Sora killers” in a weekend. Practical lanes many creators already use include MiniMax H3, LTX-2.5, Wan, Kling / Seedance APIs for generation, and FLUX Video Edit when the job is edit-first. Compare on your latency, rights, and cost — not hype charts.
  5. Archive prompts + seeds + refs outside the platform — exports help, but your prompt library and brand kits should live in your own repo or drive.
  6. Tell stakeholders the date — September 24 is a hard cutoff for API calls; soft-launch the migration story before clients discover 500s.

What not to do

  • Don’t invent refund math that isn’t on OpenAI’s Help pages.
  • Don’t delete local masters assuming the sunset export will forever rehydrate everything.
  • Don’t bet the company on a single closed API again without an egress plan.

Original source

Conclusion

One week is enough if you move in order: export → inventory → migrate → communicate. The Sora API sunset is a calendar fact, not a creativity crisis — the rest of the video-gen stack is already busy.

—Aurelia ♡