OpenAI has announced a major update to its Sora AI video platform, confirming that users will soon need to pay for additional video generations once they exceed their free daily limit. The company said that free users (along with ChatGPT Plus and Teams subscribers) can currently create up to 30 videos per day, while Pro users have a limit of 100 videos per day. After reaching that limit, anyone wishing to make more videos will need to purchase an extra pack of 10 video generations for $4 (~ ₹320). Currently, Sora is mainly accessible on iOS, but Android support and more regional payment options are expected soon.
The ChatGPT maker clarified that this new payment system is being introduced to handle the high costs of running Sora’s powerful video-generation technology and to ensure the service remains stable and sustainable as its user base grows. The company argued that creating realistic AI-generated videos is far more resource-intensive than generating text or images. Sora’s video models require massive computing power, specialized GPUs, and large amounts of storage and bandwidth.
Bill Peebles (Head of Sora at OpenAI) stated that offering unlimited or very high free limits was ‘completely unsustainable’ given the cost of computation and the rapid increase in global users. More importantly, while the current daily limits will remain for now, the AI trendsetter has hinted that these free quotas could be reduced further in the coming months as usage continues to grow. .
“Rate limits for everyone are unchanged right now (pro users get 100/day, everyone else gets 30/day). We will need to increase the gens/day used by Sora 2 pro to make the economics work out (video models really are expensive!), but we’re easing into it,” Bill Peebles noted.
Meanwhile, along with the rollout of paid credits, the AI giant is also adding new features to Sora. One of the most highly anticipated additions is the ‘Cameo’ feature, which allows users to produce videos featuring the likeness of a real person or a fictional character. Even under this update, people can license their digital identities and characters and earn money whenever others use them in videos. Mainly, the Sam Altman-led company appears to be building what it calls a ‘Sora economy’, where users will pay for premium features and can also earn through content collaborations.
The timing of the latest development becomes noteworthy as OpenAI has recently faced several controversies surrounding Sora. In March 2025, the company struggled with major capacity issues, forcing it to temporarily disable video generation for many new users due to overwhelming demand. Later, in October 2025, the company announced a shift from an ‘opt-out’ to an ‘opt-in’ model for copyrighted and celebrity likenesses, following backlash from Hollywood studios over the unauthorized use of famous characters in AI-generated videos. Around the same time, a NewsGuard report revealed that Sora-generated clips could spread false and misleading claims in nearly 80% of test cases. Recently, the firm also paused the ability to generate videos of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. after his estate complained about disrespectful portrayals.
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