Sora 2 Video Cost
Generating with Sora 2 ($0.1/second)? This page computes the real cost of a usable clip — per-second × duration × the drafts it takes — and how Sora 2 stacks up against the others.
For teams generating video with AI — computes the real cost of a usable clip (per-second rate × duration × iterations to get one you'll ship), and the ~8× spread across providers, not the sticker price.
Model prices from OpenRouter · updated 2026-07-13
01 Your clip
$0.1/second · 720p, with audio
02 Sticker vs real cost
A usable clip is 5× the per-generation price — 5 drafts to land one you'll ship.
At 10,000 clips/mo: $30,000/month
Same clip across providers: $1.50–$12.00 (8.0× spread)
Related cost calculators
Per-second rates hand-verified against provider pricing (checked 2026-07-13), re-audited quarterly — video prices move faster than LLM prices and swing on resolution/duration/audio: OpenAI Sora pricing · Google Veo pricing · Runway pricing. Real cost = per-second × seconds × iterations. Credit-only tools without a clean per-second rate are excluded. All math runs in your browser.
How the math works
Sora 2 costs $0.1/second (720p, with audio). A 6-second clip is $0.60 — per generation. But that's not what a usable clip costs, because you rarely get one you'll ship on the first try.
Same baseline, one identity: at 5 generations to land a keeper, the real cost of one usable 6-second clip is $0.60 × 5 = $3.00. At 10,000 shipped clips/month that's $30,000 — the sticker per-second price hides the iteration multiplier entirely.
Provider choice swings it hard: the same 6-second clip at 5 iterations ranges from $1.50 to $12.00 across the models here — a 8.0× spread, far wider than text or image models. Sora 2 is 2.0× the cheapest (Runway Gen-4 Turbo).
The two levers are iterations and provider. Better prompting or a reference image cuts iterations directly — halving your draft count halves the bill. And for rough drafts, a cheap model (Runway Gen-4 Turbo at $0.05/sec) then a final pass on a pricier one can beat generating every attempt on the expensive model. Match the model to the stage.
Video prices move faster than LLM token prices and swing on resolution, duration, and audio — treat every figure as a snapshot. Per-second rates hand-verified against provider docs (checked 2026-07-13), re-audited quarterly; credit-only and subscription-only tools are excluded rather than converted with a guessed rate. All math runs client-side with tested code.
Frequently asked questions
What does a usable 6-second clip really cost on Sora 2?
$3.00 at this page's defaults — $0.60 per generation × 5 iterations to land a keeper. The $0.1/second sticker only covers one attempt; the real cost is the drafts you throw away plus the one you ship.
Why multiply by iterations?
Because text-to-video rarely nails the shot first try — motion, timing, and prompt adherence take several attempts. Each failed generation still bills at the full per-second rate. If you average 5 generations per usable clip, your real cost is 5× the single-generation price. Lowering that count is the biggest lever.
How much does the provider choice matter?
A lot — per-second rates run from $0.05 (Runway Gen-4 Turbo) to $0.40 (Veo 3.1), so the same clip spans 8.0× here. A common pattern: draft cheap, finish expensive — iterate on a low-cost model, then do the final render on a higher-quality one, instead of paying the premium rate for every throwaway attempt.
Does resolution change the price?
Yes, and it's a big swing — this page uses Sora 2 at 720p, with audio. Higher resolutions (1080p, 4K) cost more per second on most providers, so a 4K clip can cost well more than the figure here. Check the provider's tier for your target resolution.
Are these prices current?
Per-second rates are hand-verified against each provider's official pricing (checked 2026-07-13) and re-audited quarterly. Video pricing changes faster than LLM pricing, so treat these as a snapshot. Credit-only tools without a clean per-second rate are excluded rather than estimated. All math runs client-side with tested code.