OpenAI Sora Review: Is AI Video Generation Ready? (2025)
OpenAI Sora Review: AI Video Generation in 2025
Sora generates videos from text descriptions. After a year of hype, is it actually useful for creators and businesses? We tested it extensively to find out.
TL;DR: Sora produces impressive short clips (5-20 seconds) but is not yet a replacement for real video production. Best for B-roll, social media content, and creative experimentation. Quality varies significantly by prompt.
What Sora Can Do
- Text-to-video: Generate 5-20 second clips from text descriptions
- Image-to-video: Animate still images into short videos
- Video-to-video: Apply style changes to existing clips
- Storyboarding: Generate multiple scenes for a narrative
Quality Assessment
| Aspect | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Visual quality | 8/10 | Impressive but not photorealistic |
| Physics accuracy | 6/10 | Objects sometimes defy gravity |
| Human faces | 7/10 | Good but uncanny valley at times |
| Text in video | 5/10 | Still struggles with text |
| Consistency | 6/10 | Characters change between frames |
| Prompt following | 7/10 | Usually gets the concept right |
Sora vs Alternatives
| Tool | Quality | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sora | 8/10 | $20/mo (ChatGPT Plus) | Creative experimentation |
| Runway Gen-3 | 7.5/10 | $12-28/mo | Professional workflow |
| Kling AI | 7/10 | Free/$8/mo | Budget option |
| Pika | 7/10 | Free/$8/mo | Quick effects |
Full comparison: Sora vs Runway vs Kling
Our Verdict
Sora is impressive technology but not yet essential. Use it for: social media B-roll, creative concepts, and visual brainstorming. For actual video production, stick with AI video editing tools applied to real footage.
See also: AI for YouTube and AI for marketing.
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