Sora vs Runway (2026): Sora Is Shut Down. Is Runway the Replacement?

OpenAI closed Sora in two steps: the web and app experiences on April 26, 2026, and the API on September 24, 2026. Both dates are in OpenAI's Sora discontinuation FAQ.

The same FAQ explains what happens to existing work: exports are requested at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset, OpenAI will email users if it offers a final export window, and Sora data is permanently deleted after that window. Purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex. If you relied on Sora clips in active projects, export them first, then pick a replacement.

Runway's Gen-4.5 is its current generation model. It works from a text prompt (text-to-video) or a starting image (image-to-video) and produces clips of 2 to 10 seconds at 720p, which you can upscale to 4K on paid plans. Runway positions it on motion quality and prompt adherence: camera moves, the order of events, and lighting changes can all go into one prompt.

The limits are the same ones every AI video model still has. Close-ups of faces and hands, fast action, and keeping one character consistent across separate clips need several takes. The practical workflow is unchanged from the Sora days: generate several short takes, keep the best, and cut them together with real footage in a conventional editor.

Gen-4.5 requires the Standard plan or higher; the free plan's 125 one-time credits are for trying other tools. Paid plans also include other video and image models, such as Kling 3.0.

Sora only generated footage. Runway also edits it. Edit Studio, powered by the Aleph 2.0 model, changes existing video from a text instruction: describe a logo, cable, or passer-by and it is removed and the background reconstructed, without drawing a mask; describe a new location and the background is replaced while the subject stays.

This works on real camera footage, not only on AI clips, and Runway also runs inside Premiere Pro through plugins. For a team that used Sora for B-roll and then fixed shots elsewhere, Runway can cover both steps in one subscription.

Runway charges in credits, and Gen-4.5 costs 12 credits per second — so one 10-second take is 120 credits. The plans: Standard at $15/month ($12/month billed yearly) with 625 credits, which Runway equates to about 52 seconds of Gen-4.5; Pro at $35/month ($28 yearly) with 2,250 credits; and Max at $95/month ($76 yearly) with 9,500 credits. Paid plans export without watermarks.

Because most usable clips take several attempts, budget by takes rather than by finished seconds. Someone generating a few clips a week fits Standard; anyone generating daily will end up on Pro or Max. Current numbers are on Runway's pricing page.

Source: Runway pricing

If you already pay for Google, the Google AI Pro plan ($19.99/month) includes video generation inside Gemini, which may cover occasional clips without a new subscription. Our best AI video generators guide compares the current options by use case.

If what you need is a person speaking to camera — a presenter, trainer, or spokesperson — neither Sora nor Runway was built for that. HeyGen and Synthesia generate avatar videos from a script; see the Runway vs HeyGen comparison for where the line falls.