OpenAI Sora alternativeElyum, pay only for keeps

OpenAI Sora launched publicly in December 2024 as a text-to-video tool inside ChatGPT Plus and Pro, then relaunched as Sora 2 on October 1, 2025. Sora 2 added synchronized audio generated with the picture, more physically accurate motion with fewer morphing artifacts, and clips up to 60 seconds. The iOS app added Cameo, which let a verified user drop their own likeness (or a consenting person's) into a scene, plus a remix feed. If you already paid for ChatGPT, that bundle was the lowest-friction way to get those clips.

The product is gone. OpenAI announced the discontinuation on March 24, 2026, citing high compute cost relative to revenue, falling usage, and unresolved copyright and likeness disputes, including a collapsed Disney license. OpenAI's help article on the Sora discontinuation states the web and app shut down on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API stops new requests on September 24, 2026. Users had to scramble to export videos before permanent deletion. AlternativeTo called the social feed an AI slop app rather than a serious creative tool. Failed-render policy: not published. Paid output kept a watermark.

Elyum is one studio and one credit balance across 50+ video, image, and audio models. 1 credit equals $0.01. Plans: Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card), Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, Ultra $69/mo. Credits can be topped up. Every render returns as a free preview take. We charge credits only when you KEEP it. KILL refunds the rest automatically. A failed generation is never charged. Paid plans kill freely. Free meters kills at one a month. Kept takes download at full quality with no watermark. Commercial use is included. Listed prices already run about 20% under Higgsfield, OpenArt, and Runway. The live table is on the pricing page.

Skip this if you needed Cameo, a remix feed, or the iOS app. Elyum does not have a timeline editor, stock footage, avatars or talking heads of its own, a mobile app, team seats, or a community feed. Likeness-in-scene inside ChatGPT was an OpenAI Sora feature. It is not here. What is here is a multi-model bench you can run from the web studio or from Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor via the MCP docs and the API docs.

What it actually costs

OpenAI Sora was never sold as its own plan. Reported figures put ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo with about 1,000 Sora credits, and ChatGPT Pro at $200/mo with about 10,000 credits and Sora 2 Pro. Some later write-ups mention a $100/mo Pro tier; that figure was not confirmed on an archived official pricing page, so treat it as unconfirmed. Sora credits were reported at $0.02 each. The Sora 2 Pro API was listed at $0.30/sec for 720p, $0.50/sec for 1024p, and $0.70/sec for 1080p. A 15-second 1080p clip at those API rates is $10.50 before you know if you like it. Failed-render cost: not published.

Elyum bills 1 credit = $0.01. Plans: Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card), Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, Ultra $69/mo, plus top-ups. Listed rates already sit about 20% under Higgsfield, OpenArt, and Runway. You preview every take. KEEP is the charge. KILL is a full refund. A 15-second 1080p Seedance 2.5 render is 390 credits ($3.90) at 26 credits/second, and only if you KEEP it. The same length at the reported Sora 2 Pro API 1080p rate ($0.70/sec) is $10.50, with no published refund if the take is unusable.

If you were on ChatGPT Plus only for Sora, $20/mo bought a reported 1,000 Sora credits. Elyum Plus is $9/mo. OpenArt and Higgsfield sit on the alternatives index if you are shopping the category, not only this pair.