Correction, 2026-10-02: some sentences here still restated OpenAI's retention wording in our own words ("it is deleted", "the retention answer was deletion"), and we said, without a source, that the 410 Gone and same-day deletion claims had "circulated widely". Every statement about export windows and deletion is now a dated quote from OpenAI's Help Center (the Internet Archive copy of 2026-09-19, read again today, since the live page still refuses automated requests) or from OpenAI's video generation guide (read today). We also gave 2026-08-23 as the day Sora left 8frame's model pickers; that is the date of the code change, not a confirmed release date, so the page now says late August. And OpenAI's guide is not archived: OpenAI keeps it online "for historical reference".
Correction, 2026-10-01: an earlier version of this page said OpenAI had not documented what happens to Sora content and that we could not confirm the deletion claims first-party. That was wrong. OpenAI's Help Center has said since at least August 2026 that, after Sora is discontinued and any final export window passes, it permanently deletes the data associated with your use of Sora. The page also called September 24 "today" and counted down twelve days; it was published on September 12 and the date has now passed. We also missed that OpenAI's own API guide said Sora download links expire one hour after generation. The page below is rewritten around OpenAI's own documents.
The Videos API and the Sora 2 models were shut down on 2026-09-24. OpenAI's video generation guide, which it now keeps "for historical reference", opens with: "The Sora 2 models and Videos API were shut down on September 24, 2026 and are no longer available." The consumer Sora app and website ended earlier, on 2026-04-26. OpenAI did write down what happens to your content. Its Help Center (Internet Archive copy of 2026-09-19, read on 2026-10-02) says: "we will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora", once Sora is discontinued and any final export window has passed. It names no single date, and the practical answer is that anything you did not copy out is not something to plan around.
What OpenAI has documented
From OpenAI's deprecations page, checked 2026-10-02:
- Developers were notified on 2026-03-24
- The Videos API and
sora-2,sora-2-pro,sora-2-2025-10-06,sora-2-2025-12-08andsora-2-pro-2025-10-06were removed on 2026-09-24 - The recommended-replacement column holds only a dash for every one of them
From OpenAI's Help Center article "What to know about the Sora discontinuation". The live page refuses automated requests (it did again on 2026-10-02), so we read the Internet Archive copy of 2026-09-19 on 2026-10-02; the copies of 2026-08-10 and 2026-09-14 carry the same wording:
- "The Sora web and app experiences were discontinued on April 26, 2026. The Sora API will be discontinued on September 24, 2026."
- "You can export content you created in Sora by going to sora.chatgpt.com/sunset and clicking on Export. You'll get an email when it's ready."
- "If a final export window is offered, we'll notify you by email before it begins. We recommend you export your Sora content as soon as possible."
- "After Sora is discontinued, and after the period of time of any final export window passes (if we are able to offer one), we will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora."
- "any purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex, if you so choose."
From OpenAI's video generation guide, for API users, read 2026-10-02:
- "Download URLs are valid for a maximum of 1 hour after generation. If you need long-term storage, copy the file to your own storage system promptly."
- "Batch-generated videos are available for download for up to 24 hours after the batch completes."
What this means for each kind of Sora user
You used the Sora app or website. The app closed on April 26. If you exported from the sunset page, you have your files. If you did not, the Help Center wording quoted above (archived copy of 2026-09-19) is that "after the period of time of any final export window passes (if we are able to offer one), we will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora", and that "If a final export window is offered, we'll notify you by email before it begins." Check the inbox tied to your account before assuming anything; ask OpenAI support if you need a definite answer for your account.
You called the API. Your outputs were never meant to live on OpenAI's side: the guide says "Download URLs are valid for a maximum of 1 hour after generation", and batch outputs were available "for up to 24 hours after the batch completes." If your product copied each file into its own storage at generation time, nothing changed for your existing videos on September 24. If it kept OpenAI's links, by that wording those links stopped working within an hour of each generation, long before the shutdown.
You generated Sora clips on 8frame. We took Sora out of the model pickers in late August 2026, about a month before OpenAI's date, so no new Sora generations can be started. A Sora node now answers: "Sora 2 was discontinued by the provider on 2026-09-24 and is no longer available. Try Kling v3 or Veo 3.1 instead." (Kling v3 needs a start image on 8frame.) Sora clips already on your boards stay there and still open, so you can keep or download them like any other output.
What we still could not confirm
Two things are not in OpenAI's documents. First, what the old endpoints return now: we found no first-party statement, so a specific response such as 410 Gone is not something to build on. Second, a single deletion date: OpenAI ties deletion to the end of "any final export window" ("if we are able to offer one"), not to September 24, and says it will email users before such a window begins. We also could not check whether the export page at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset still works: it refused our automated request on 2026-10-02, which tells you nothing either way for a signed-in user.
What to keep from whatever you saved
The outputs. A local copy is the only version nobody can change the terms on.
The prompts and reference inputs. For generated work, the prompt and any reference images are the source file: without them the output cannot be recreated on another model.
The settings. Model, duration, resolution, aspect ratio. Matching an old asset on a different model later needs them.
If you have a product that called the API, the migration is a separate job: Sora 2 API shut down on September 24 has the per-use-case replacement table. fal moved early too: its model API lists all six of its Sora 2 endpoints as "deprecated" (checked 2026-10-02), with the entries last updated in July and August 2026.
App and API are different things
This page covers two timelines that are easy to merge: the consumer app (closed 2026-04-26) and the developer API (shut down 2026-09-24). Both dates come from OpenAI's own Help Center article, and the API date also from its deprecations page. We got a Sora timeline wrong once by trusting secondary sources, and the first version of this page made the opposite mistake of not finding the first-party answer. Both lessons point the same way: read the vendor's own help pages, and say where and when you read them.
The general lesson worth taking
The uncomfortable part of this shutdown is not that a model retired. It is that OpenAI's written answer on stored content ends in "we will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora", and that API outputs were only ever a link "valid for a maximum of 1 hour". Six months of notice for the API (2026-03-24 to 2026-09-24) helps only if the files are already somewhere you control.
Before you adopt the next tool, the question worth asking is not what it can generate but what you get out and how. See how to protect creative work when a tool shuts down.
FAQ
Were my Sora videos deleted on September 24? OpenAI's Help Center (Internet Archive copy of 2026-09-19, read 2026-10-02) says: "After Sora is discontinued, and after the period of time of any final export window passes (if we are able to offer one), we will permanently delete any data associated with your use of Sora." It also says: "If a final export window is offered, we'll notify you by email before it begins." It does not name a single deletion date. Assume anything you did not export is gone, and contact OpenAI support for your own account.
Can I still download from Sora now? The app closed on 2026-04-26 and the API on 2026-09-24. The only route OpenAI documented is the export at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset ("clicking on Export", in the same archived Help Center copy), plus any final export window it announces by email. We could not confirm whether the export page still works today.
What about videos I made through the API? OpenAI's guide (read 2026-10-02) says "Download URLs are valid for a maximum of 1 hour after generation" and "Batch-generated videos are available for download for up to 24 hours after the batch completes." Whatever your product saved to its own storage is what you have.
Is there an OpenAI replacement model? No. The recommended-replacement column on the deprecations page is empty, and the guide says: "No one-to-one replacement API is available."
What should I move to? Depends on what you used Sora for. The migration table covers it by use case.
Sources
- Sora shutdown dates, affected models and the empty replacement column: OpenAI API deprecations, checked 2026-10-02
- Shutdown notice, "No one-to-one replacement API is available", download-link validity and batch retention: OpenAI video generation guide (kept "for historical reference"), checked 2026-10-02
- App and API discontinuation dates, export route, final export window, data deletion and Codex credits: OpenAI Help Center, "What to know about the Sora discontinuation" (the live page refused automated requests on 2026-10-02); quoted from the Internet Archive copy of 2026-09-19, read 2026-10-02, same wording as the archived copies of 2026-08-10 and 2026-09-14
- fal Sora 2 endpoint status: fal model API, query "sora", checked 2026-10-02
- Sora taken out of 8frame's model pickers in late August 2026, old Sora nodes still open, the retirement message and Kling v3's start-image requirement: 8frame front-end tool registry and backend, read 2026-10-02
Export the outputs, keep the prompts, and read the vendor's own retention wording before you need it.
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