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Sora 2 vs Kling 3.0: Moving Image-to-Video Work to Kling

Sora 2 (retired) → Kling 3.0

Updated · By Zachary Warren

Quick Answer

OpenAI shut the Sora API down on September 24, 2026. For image-to-video work, such as animating a product shot, a creator photo, or a brand keyframe, Kling 3.0 is the replacement: it keeps the exact likeness of the start frame, has the strongest motion and camera movement of the current engines, and offers a native 4K tier.

Side-by-side comparison

FeatureSora 2Kling 3.0
StatusRetired Sep 24, 2026Available
Image-to-videoYesYes (only path)
Text-to-videoYesNo — image required
Face likenessApproximate (rebuilt from text)Exact (from the start frame)
Render pathEdit-chain (sequential)Parallel (3 at once)
Native 4K tierNoYes
Clip length4–20s5, 8, 10, or 15s
Pricing modelScaled with duration (8s baseline)Scales with duration (6.4s baseline)
3-scene 24s ad (std) Retired 120 cr
3-scene 24s ad (HQ) Retired 189 cr
Per-second cost (std) Retired ~5.0 cr/s

What Sora 2 was used for

  • Text-to-video scenes with no input image
  • The lowest cost per second of the engines it competed with
  • Sequential edit chains that locked a look after Scene 1
  • Clip extensions that stretched a scene beyond its first render

Sora 2 was retired on Sep 24, 2026, when OpenAI shut its API down. It can no longer be selected; API requests that still name it render on Seedance (or on Kling when the request includes a scene image and is not faceless).

Why Kling 3.0 replaces it

  • You animate an existing image (product shot, creator photo, or brand keyframe) and need its exact likeness
  • Motion and camera movement matter more than anything else in the scene
  • You want native 4K output without upscaling
  • Your old "sora" API requests sent a scene image with a face: those already route to Kling
  • For text-only prompts, use Seedance 2.0 instead, because Kling needs a start frame
Render with Kling 3.0

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still use Sora 2 in UGC Copilot?
No. OpenAI shut the Sora API down on September 24, 2026, and Sora 2 can no longer be selected. API requests that still send engine "sora" are accepted for compatibility and render on Seedance (or on Kling 3.0 when the request includes a scene image and is not faceless), billed at the rates of the engine that actually rendered.
Does Kling 3.0 do text-to-video like Sora 2 did?
No. Kling 3.0 is image-to-video only: it animates a start frame you provide. For text-only prompts, use Seedance 2.0, which supports both text-to-video and image-to-video. Many Sora workflows used a generated scene image anyway, and those move to Kling directly.
How does Kling 3.0 pricing compare with Sora 2?
Sora 2 standard was 18 credits per 8 seconds. Kling 3.0 standard is 32 credits per 6.4 seconds, so an 8-second clip costs 40 credits; HQ is 50 credits and native 4K is 130 credits per 6.4 seconds, all scaling with clip length.
Why do some of my old "sora" API requests render on Kling?
Since the shutdown, a request that names sora goes to the engine that best keeps its intent: Kling 3.0 when it includes a scene image and is not faceless, so the face in your image is kept exactly, and Seedance otherwise. It is billed at the rendering engine's rates, which the response's engine field reports.

The Verdict

If your Sora workflow started from images, Kling 3.0 is the direct upgrade: exact likeness from the start frame, the strongest motion of the current engines, and a native 4K tier. If it started from text prompts, move to Seedance 2.0 instead, because Kling needs an image to animate.

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