Quick verdict
Veo 3.1 wins by default. OpenAI closed the Sora web and apps on 2026-04-26[4] and the Sora API on 2026-09-24[5], so Sora 2 can no longer be used. As shipped, Sora 2 made longer single clips (20 s[6] against 8 s[1]), while Veo 3.1 reaches higher resolution and longer extended videos.
- Pricing Depends
- Output specs Veo 3.1
- Features Tie
- Access Veo 3.1
- Public leaderboards Sora 2
Category winners are computed from the sourced rows in the tables below; “Depends” means there was not enough comparable public data to call it.
Summary
OpenAI released Sora 2 on 2025-09-30[7]; Google brought Veo 3.1 to the Gemini API on 2025-10-15[8][8]. For a year the two were direct rivals. This page keeps Sora 2's numbers as a record, marked historical, so you can see what a move to Veo 3.1 gains and loses.
Specs as shipped: Sora 2 generated up to 20 s[6] per clip and extended to 120 s[6], at up to 1080p on sora-2-pro[9]. Veo 3.1 generates 8 s[1] clips, extends to 148 s[1] at 720p, and renders 4K for 8-second clips[1].
Price records: sora-2 cost $0.10/s[5] at 720p and sora-2-pro up to $0.70/s[9] at 1080p. Veo 3.1 Standard costs $0.40/s[3] at 720p or 1080p. On LMArena's text-to-video board, sora-2-pro (1368[10]) and veo-3.1-audio (1364[10]) sit within each other's confidence intervals, a statistical tie.
Snapshot
| Spec | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Paid preview in the Gemini API (Google's current model list names veo-3.1-generate-preview and veo-3.1-lite-generate-preview as Preview models; Veo 3.1 Fast rates are still published on the pricing page); also served via Vertex AI, the Gemini app and Flow[8] | Discontinued — the Sora 2 models and the Videos API were shut down on 2026-09-24 and are no longer available; no replacement model is listed[5] |
| Developer | Google[8] | OpenAI[11] |
| Released | 2025-10-15[8] | 2025-09-30[7] |
| Lowest API price (per second, with audio) | from $0.05/s (Lite)[3] | from $0.10/s (sora-2) historical[5] |
| Cheapest paid consumer plan | $19.99/mo Google AI Pro $99.99/mo Google AI Ultra[12] | No public data |
| Free tier | Gemini API free tier: Not available for Veo 3.1 Standard, Fast or Lite (paid tier only)[3] | No public data |
| Max length, single generation | 8 s[1] | 20 s historical[6] |
| Max resolution | 4k (8s length only)[1] | Portrait: 1080x1920 Landscape: 1920x1080 historical[6] |
| Native audio | Yes[2] | Yes historical[5] |
| Image-to-video | Yes[2] | Yes historical[6] |
| Public API | Yes[8] | Yes historical[5] |
Pricing
Depends — not enough comparable public data| Metric | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| API price, 720p with audio (per second) | $0.40/s Standard $0.10/s Fast $0.05/s Lite[3] | $0.10/s sora-2 historical $0.30/s sora-2-pro historical[5][9] | — |
| API price, 1080p with audio (per second) | $0.40/s Standard $0.12/s Fast $0.08/s Lite[3] | $0.70/s (sora-2-pro) historical[9] | — |
| API price, 4K (per second) | $0.60/s Standard $0.30/s Fast[3] | No public data | — |
| API billing basis | Per second of successfully generated video, with audio included by default; price varies by tier (Standard / Fast / Lite) and by output resolution (720p / 1080p / 4k)[3] | Per second of generated video, with native audio included; tiered by model and output resolution — sora-2 $0.1/s (720x1280 / 1280x720); sora-2-pro $0.3/s (720x1280 / 1280x720), $0.5/s (1024x1792 / 1792x1024), $0.7/s (1080x1920 / 1920x1080) historical[9] | — |
| Cheapest paid consumer plan | $19.99/mo Google AI Pro $99.99/mo Google AI Ultra[12] | No public data | — |
| Consumer plan ladder | Google AI Pro $19.99/month (1,000 Google Flow Credits, limited trial of Veo 3.1 Lite); Google AI Ultra from $99.99/month (10,000 or 25,000 Google Flow Credits, full Veo 3.1)[12] | No public data | — |
| In-app cost per second | No public data | No public data | — |
| Free tier | Gemini API free tier: Not available for Veo 3.1 Standard, Fast or Lite (paid tier only)[3] | No public data | — |
Veo 3.1 leads 0 rows, Sora 2 leads 0, 0 tied; rows marked — have no comparable data or no objective “better”.
Output specs
Winner: Veo 3.1| Metric | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max length, single generation | 8 s[1] | 20 s historical[6] | Sora 2 |
| Max length with extensions | 148 s (with extensions, 720p)[1] | 120 s historical[6] | Veo 3.1 |
| Max output resolution | 2160p (4K) (Standard)[1] | 1080p (sora-2-pro) historical[9] | Veo 3.1 |
| Frame rate | 24 fps[1] | No public data | — |
| Aspect ratios | 16:9 (default), 9:16[1] | Portrait and landscape only, as fixed resolution pairs: 720x1280 / 1280x720 (both models); 1024x1792 / 1792x1024 and 1080x1920 / 1920x1080 (sora-2-pro) historical[9] | — |
| Max reference inputs per generation | 3[1] | No public data | — |
Veo 3.1 leads 2 rows, Sora 2 leads 1, 0 tied; rows marked — have no comparable data or no objective “better”.
Features
Tie| Metric | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native audio | Yes[2] | Yes historical[5] | Tie |
| Lip-sync | No public data | No public data | — |
| Text-to-video | Yes[2] | Yes historical[5] | Tie |
| Image-to-video | Yes[2] | Yes historical[6] | Tie |
| First / last frame control | Yes[8] | No public data | — |
| Multi-shot in one generation | No public data | No public data | — |
| Video editing | Yes (Lite)[13] | Yes (edits endpoint) historical[6] | Tie |
| Video extension | Yes[2] | Yes historical[6] | Tie |
Veo 3.1 leads 0 rows, Sora 2 leads 0, 5 tied; rows marked — have no comparable data or no objective “better”.
Access
Winner: Veo 3.1| Metric | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Paid preview in the Gemini API (Google's current model list names veo-3.1-generate-preview and veo-3.1-lite-generate-preview as Preview models; Veo 3.1 Fast rates are still published on the pricing page); also served via Vertex AI, the Gemini app and Flow[8] | Discontinued — the Sora 2 models and the Videos API were shut down on 2026-09-24 and are no longer available; no replacement model is listed[5] | Veo 3.1 |
| Public API | Yes[8] | Yes historical[5] | — |
| Where to use it | Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI; Gemini app; Flow[8] | None today. Until 2026-04-26: Sora web and apps; until 2026-09-24: OpenAI Videos API historical[4] | — |
| Regional limits | In EU, UK, CH and MENA locations, allow_adult is the only permitted personGeneration value[1] | No public data | — |
| Release date | 2025-10-15[8] | 2025-09-30[7] | — |
Veo 3.1 leads 1 row, Sora 2 leads 0, 0 tied; rows marked — have no comparable data or no objective “better”.
Public leaderboards
Winner: Sora 2| Metric | Veo 3.1 | Sora 2 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena text-to-video score | 1364 ±14 (veo-3.1-audio)[10] | 1368 ±7 (sora-2-pro)[10] | Tie |
| LMArena text-to-video rank (of 48) | #12 (veo-3.1-audio)[10] | #11 (sora-2-pro)[10] | — |
| LMArena image-to-video score | 1398 ±10 (veo-3.1-audio)[14] | No public data | — |
| LMArena image-to-video rank (of 48) | #13 (veo-3.1-audio)[14] | No public data | — |
| VGI-Bench overall score | 32.0[15] | 36.7[15] | Sora 2 |
Veo 3.1 leads 0 rows, Sora 2 leads 1, 1 tied; rows marked — have no comparable data or no objective “better”.
How rows are judged: a lower price, a longer clip, a higher resolution or frame rate, more reference inputs and a supported feature win. Prices of a discontinued product are shown as historical and cannot win. LMArena scores are human-preference ratings (board snapshot dated 2026-09-21, read 2026-10-07); scores whose ± intervals overlap count as a tie. VGI-Bench is a research benchmark of visual reasoning. A row marked — has no comparable data.
Where each model leads
Where Veo 3.1 leads
You can still use it. Veo 3.1 runs in the Gemini API, Vertex AI, the Gemini app and Flow[8]. It also offers 4K, first and last frame control, and up to 3[1] reference images. If you are moving prompts over from Sora, our Veo 3 vs Sora migration walkthrough covers the prompt differences.
Where Sora 2 leads
Longer single takes, while it lasted. Sora 2 made 20 s[6] clips, accepted an image as the first frame[6], and offered an edits endpoint to change existing videos without full regeneration[6]. None of this is available now. Our Veo 3 vs Sora analysis on the AIContentDrop blog looks at workflow fit in more depth.
Which should you choose?
Pick Veo 3.1 if…
you need a model you can use today. In practice that is the whole decision, since Sora 2 is no longer offered.
Pick Sora 2 if…
you are documenting past work or reading old benchmarks. Sora 2 can no longer generate video through any OpenAI route.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sora still available in 2026?
No. OpenAI discontinued the Sora web and app experiences on April 26, 2026[4], and its own sora-2 model page states that the Sora 2 models and Videos API were shut down on September 24, 2026[5].
Was Sora 2 cheaper than Veo 3.1?
The base sora-2 model cost $0.10/s[5] at 720p, below Veo 3.1 Standard at $0.40/s[3] but the same as Veo 3.1 Fast at $0.10/s[3]. Sora prices are historical.
Evidence
Only official sources are cited: vendor pages, and leaderboard publishers for their own rankings. Anything we could not find on such a page is shown as “No public data”.
- Gemini API — Generate videos with Veo — Google. ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/veo. Checked 2026-10-06
- Gemini API — Video generation docs index — Google. ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/video. Checked 2026-10-06
- Gemini API — Pricing (Veo 3.1 Standard / Fast / Lite) — Google. ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing. Checked 2026-10-06
- What to know about the Sora discontinuation — OpenAI Help Center. help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152-what-to-know-about-the-sora-di…. Checked 2026-10-06
- OpenAI API — sora-2 model page — OpenAI. developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/sora-2. Checked 2026-10-06
- OpenAI API — Video generation guide — OpenAI. developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/video-generation. Checked 2026-10-06
- Sora 2 is here — OpenAI. openai.com/index/sora-2. Checked 2026-10-06
- Introducing Veo 3.1 and new creative capabilities in the Gemini API — Google Developers Blog. developers.googleblog.com/introducing-veo-3-1-and-new-creative-capa…. Checked 2026-10-06
- OpenAI API — sora-2-pro model page — OpenAI. developers.openai.com/api/docs/models/sora-2-pro. Checked 2026-10-06
- Text-to-Video Arena leaderboard — LMArena (arena.ai). arena.ai/leaderboard/text-to-video. Checked 2026-10-06
- OpenAI API — Deprecations (Videos API / Sora 2) — OpenAI. developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations. Checked 2026-10-06
- Google AI plans (Google One, US pricing) — Google. one.google.com/intl/en_us/about/google-ai-plans. Checked 2026-10-06
- Gemini API — Models list (Veo 3.1, Veo 3.1 Lite) — Google. ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models. Checked 2026-10-06
- Image-to-Video Arena leaderboard — LMArena (arena.ai). arena.ai/leaderboard/image-to-video. Checked 2026-10-06
- VGI-Bench leaderboard (EMNLP 2026) — VGI-Bench research team. hexuan21.github.io/VGI-Bench. Checked 2026-10-06