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News

6 news notes on AI creative tools. Hand-verified and dated.

Aug 12, 2026
Sora is shutting down: API pricing, shutdown date, and where creators go next
Sora's app is gone and its API ends September 24, 2026. See the final API prices, compare replacement costs, and plan a migration before access disappears.
Jun 24, 2026
Seedance 2.0 Mini is here. Here's what it actually costs to use it for serious work.
Mini is 2x faster and about 50% cheaper than 2.0 Fast: roughly $0.07 a second at 720p, near $35 a month for 500 seconds. It caps at 720p and faces drift on close-ups, so here is when to use it, when to stay on 2.0 standard, and the seed-reuse trick that cuts iteration cost 6x.
Jun 4, 2026
Magnific just killed its pay-per-usage API plan. Here is what changed and what to do.
Magnific API killed its pay-per-usage plan. June 30 deadline. Everyone moves to credit-based Business or Enterprise. Here is who wins, who loses, the MCP alternative, and what to do now.
Jun 2, 2026
Where to find unlimited Seedance 2.0 after Runway retires Unlimited
Runway retired its Unlimited plan on June 1, 2026. The two platforms still selling "unlimited Seedance 2.0" (Loova, Topview) gate the offer behind an annual commitment and a 720p cap, while the per-second math favors credit platforms (Hedra, BytePlus) and a Magnific-led hybrid beats both.
May 22, 2026
Why ElevenLabs Is a $300 Pricing Trap
ElevenLabs is a world-class audio company trying to sell a plain, half-baked image canvas by forcing you to rent a $299 monthly subscription. Here's the credit math they don't want you to run.
Apr 15, 2026
Why credit-based pricing almost always costs more than you think
Credits look like a neutral unit on the pricing page. They aren't. Three recurring traps turn the headline number into something between two and six times larger by the time you actually use the tool.