OpenAI named no Sora successor
OpenAI named no Sora successor. The deprecations table lists --- for the Videos API and sora-2 snapshots, which shut 24 Sept 2026.
OpenAI named no Sora successor. The Videos API and the sora-2 / sora-2-pro snapshots discontinue on 24 September 2026. The recommended replacement column on OpenAI's deprecations table is ---.
This page is that cell. It is not the rebuild. The rebuild is the Sora API sunset migration plan. It is not the morning of the 24th. That list is the Sora API last-day checklist. People searching "Sora 3" or "OpenAI video replacement" this week are reading a blank as a delay. The blank is the answer.
The deprecations table still says ---
I re-read OpenAI's API deprecations page on 19 September 2026. The Sora block is dated 24 March 2026. The sentence is specific: on that date OpenAI notified developers using the Videos API and Sora 2 video generation model aliases and snapshots of their deprecation and removal from the API on 24 September 2026.
The table under that heading has three columns: shutdown date, model or system, recommended replacement. Six rows share the same shutdown date, 2026-09-24. Copied from that page on 19 September 2026:
| Shutdown | Model or system | Recommended replacement |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Sept 2026 | Videos API | --- |
| 24 Sept 2026 | sora-2 |
--- |
| 24 Sept 2026 | sora-2-pro |
--- |
| 24 Sept 2026 | sora-2-2025-10-06 |
--- |
| 24 Sept 2026 | sora-2-2025-12-08 |
--- |
| 24 Sept 2026 | sora-2-pro-2025-10-06 |
--- |
That is not a missing column. The page's own overview says it lists API deprecations along with recommended replacements. Other blocks on the same page fill the third column with a model id. The Sora block fills it with ---. A blank written into a table is a decision, not a loading state.
The same page, read the same day, still names replacements for other families that were deprecated later:
- On 11 September 2026,
gpt-5.4-cyberis deprecated with shutdown 1 October 2026. Recommended replacement:gpt-5.6-cyber. - On 26 August 2026,
whisper-1and thegpt-4o-transcribefamily are deprecated with shutdown 26 February 2027. Recommended replacement:gpt-live-transcribeorgpt-transcribe. - On 20 July 2026,
gpt-realtimeis pointed atgpt-realtime-2.1.gpt-audiois pointed atgpt-audio-1.5. - On 11 June 2026, older GPT-5 and o3 snapshots are pointed at
gpt-5.6-sol,gpt-5.6-terra, orgpt-5.6-luna. - On 2 June 2026,
gpt-image-1-mini,gpt-image-1.5, andchatgpt-image-latestare pointed atgpt-image-2.
Those are not rumors. They are cells with names. Video is the family on that page whose cells do not have names.
OpenAI's notice-period rules sit above the table. Generally available models get at least six months unless safety or compliance forces a faster cut. 24 March 2026 to 24 September 2026 is six months. They met the clock. They did not fill the name.
The page also defines the words. Deprecation starts on the announcement date. Shutdown is the date the model or endpoint is no longer accessible. Legacy means it no longer receives updates and will likely be deprecated later. Sora 2 has been deprecated since 24 March. Shutdown is 24 September. There is no "legacy video" row that keeps generating while they pick a successor. There is a shutdown date and a ---.
The same overview mentions that, in some cases, developers may be able to provision dedicated capacity for continued access after a model's shutdown date by contacting sales. That sentence is not in the Sora replacement cells. It is not a model id. Do not read "email sales" as Sora 3. If OpenAI had a generally available video successor, it would sit in the third column the way gpt-5.6-cyber sits in the third column for gpt-5.4-cyber.
A named replacement is operational. You can pin the new id, run both models for a few weeks, and cut over before the old route dies. gpt-5.4-cyber teams have a named target and a shutdown on 1 October 2026. Sora teams had six months and no target. If you are waiting for the table to grow a seventh Sora row with a new id, you are waiting on a document that has had six months to do that and has not.
The blank is not a code for Sora 3
"Sora 3" is a search query. It is not a model id on the deprecations page. It is not a recommended replacement. It is not in the Help Centre article about the discontinuation. I re-read What to know about the Sora discontinuation on 19 September 2026. The article names two clocks and two leftovers. It does not name a next video model.
Clock one: the Sora web and app experiences were discontinued on 26 April 2026. That sentence is past tense. The consumer surface is already gone.
Clock two: the Sora API will be discontinued on 24 September 2026. That is the Videos API and the aliases in the table. Five days from this update, if you are reading it on the 19th.
Leftover one: export. The Help Centre path is sora.chatgpt.com/sunset. Click Export. Wait for the email. After discontinuation, and after any final export window (if one is offered), OpenAI permanently deletes data associated with Sora use. The article recommends exporting as soon as possible. If a final window is offered, it says it will notify by email. That is a file action. It is not a generate action.
Leftover two: credits. Purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex if you choose. Refund questions go to the ChatGPT subscription refund article. Codex is a coding product. It is not a video model. A remaining credit balance that can only buy Codex is evidence, not a rumor: OpenAI did name a place for leftover money. That place is not a Sora successor.
People fill --- with other stories because a blank is uncomfortable in the week of a shutdown.
One story is "they are about to ship Sora 3, they just have not updated the table." OpenAI updated other rows on that page in June, July, August, and September 2026, including an 11 September 2026 cyber-model swap with a named replacement and a shutdown ten days later. The Sora block is still 24 March 2026 with ---. A team that can write gpt-5.6-cyber into a cell in September can write a video id into a cell if they have one.
Another story is "video moved into ChatGPT, so the API name does not matter." The Help Centre article is about discontinuation, export, deletion, and Codex. It does not describe a ChatGPT generate path as the replacement for the Videos API. Do not plan a production batch on a chat surface OpenAI did not put in the replacement column.
A third story is "they paused video and will unsunset it." The deprecations page uses sunset and shut down interchangeably to mean a model or endpoint is no longer accessible. It does not describe a pause. It describes removal from the API on 24 September 2026.
A fourth story is "the replacement is whatever third-party host still lists Sora." That is a host row. It is not OpenAI's recommended replacement. The next section is that distinction.
This week, meaning the days before 24 September 2026, there is no Sora 3 on the page that would have to name it. Treat "Sora 3" the way you would treat a model id that is not in the table: it is not a plan.
A listed catalog row is not a 25 September promise
Versely still lists Sora 2 Text to Video. On 19 September 2026 that row is 32 credits minimum, 720p, native audio, durations 4s / 8s / 12s / 16s / 20s. Older posts on this site that printed 10 credits for the same slug are stale. Use 32.
A listed row means the catalog still publishes the slug today. It does not mean OpenAI named a successor. It does not mean the Videos API answers on 25 September. It does not convert OpenAI's --- into a Versely promise. If the upstream endpoint is gone, the row is a label over a dead route. Treat the listing as "this is still on the page this week," not as "this is the plan for October."
Do not start a campaign on that slug because the card is still in the grid. Do not wait for OpenAI to replace the --- with a new id before you generate anything. The replacement column has been empty since the notice. New work this week goes on a live row that is not waiting on that cell.
The live row to pick, if you need a text-to-video take with native audio and a duration that can cover a Sora-length clip, is Seedance 2.5. On 19 September 2026 that row is 34 credits minimum, 720p, native audio, durations 4s to 30s. It is in the published catalog. It is not OpenAI's successor, because OpenAI did not name one. It is a row you can run without reading --- as a delay.
That is the whole pick. It is not a four-job routing table. If Seedance 2.5 is the wrong look, the AI video generator is the door onto other live rows that are also in the published catalog: Flux 3 Text to Video at 34 credits minimum with native audio, Grok Imagine Video at 24 credits minimum with native audio, Veo 3.1 at 64 credits minimum. Those numbers are Versely credits. They are not dollars, and they are not OpenAI's ChatGPT/Sora credit balance. Do not convert leftover Codex-bound credits into a Versely rate.
If you need a seat to run Seedance 2.5 this week instead of waiting on a name OpenAI did not publish, sign up.
A catalog is allowed to keep a dying slug visible until the upstream date. That is inventory. It is not a recommendation. The recommendation, given a --- in the vendor table, is to stop treating Sora as the next job.
Codex and export are the named leftovers
OpenAI did name things. They named a shutdown date. They named an export URL. They named Codex as the remaining-credit path. They named deletion after the export window. They did not name a video model.
That split is the planning fact. Files and leftover money have destinations. New generates do not.
Export is not a successor. An archive of clips you already made is how you keep work that already survived review. It does not give you a 20-second native-audio take next Tuesday. If you still have Sora-associated files you might restyle, use the Help Centre path. If you already downloaded the keepers, you are done with that leftover. Do not sit on the sunset page hoping it grows a generate button.
Codex is not a successor. It is the honest remaining use of a ChatGPT/Sora credit balance. If you wanted more video from that balance, the Help Centre does not offer it. Spending the last days of the API "using up" credits on new Sora renders you then forget to download is how you turn a credit into a file you will lose, then into a Codex balance you did not want. The credit sentence is a product boundary: leftover money stays inside OpenAI, on a non-video SKU.
Deletion is not a successor either. It is the reason the export sentence exists. After the API date, and after any final export window, Sora-associated data is permanently deleted. There is no "we will migrate your library into the next model" sentence in the Help Centre article. There is no next model in the deprecations table to migrate it into.
The rebuild, if you still have jobs on the Videos API, is a different page: the Sora API sunset migration plan. The ops list for the 24th is a different page: the Sora API last-day checklist. This page does not restack those. The job here is narrower. When someone asks what OpenAI named as the replacement, the accurate answer is the cell: ---. When someone asks what to generate on this week, the accurate answer is a live row, not a rumor.
Read the table again if you need the feeling to catch up with the document. Six Sora rows. One shutdown date. Six replacement cells with the same three characters. Other families on the same page got a string that looks like a model. Video got ---. That is the successor OpenAI named: none.
FAQ
Did OpenAI name a Sora 3 or a Videos API replacement?
No. The 24 March 2026 block on OpenAI's deprecations page lists the Videos API, sora-2, sora-2-pro, and the dated snapshots, all shutting 24 September 2026, all with recommended replacement ---. The Help Centre discontinuation article names export and Codex, not a next video model. There is no Sora 3 on those pages this week.
Does a listed Sora 2 catalog row mean the API survives 25 September?
No. Sora 2 Text to Video is still listed on 19 September 2026 at 32 credits minimum, 720p, native audio, 4s / 8s / 12s / 16s / 20s. A listed row is not a 25 September promise. OpenAI's shutdown date is the date the endpoint is no longer accessible. Pick a live row such as Seedance 2.5 for new work.
What happens to leftover ChatGPT or Sora credits?
The Help Centre article, re-read 19 September 2026, says purchased ChatGPT/Sora credits can still be used for Codex if you choose. Refund questions go to the ChatGPT subscription refund path. Those credits do not become more Sora video, and they do not become Versely credits. Export keepers at sora.chatgpt.com/sunset. Do not wait for a video successor OpenAI did not name.