Descript

What it does

Descript is an audio and video editor built around the transcript. Recordings you import are transcribed automatically, and deleting words in the text removes the matching portion of the media. Around this core, the vendor offers one-click removal of filler words and retakes, Studio Sound for background-noise removal and voice enhancement, AI voices (including a voice clone or stock voices) to regenerate speech, translation of videos into many languages, remote recording through its Rooms feature and a screen recorder. An AI agent called Underlord can be asked to produce a first cut from a raw recording or answer questions about a project. Descript runs as a desktop app on macOS and Windows and in a web browser.

Pricing and plans

The free plan needs no credit card and includes 60 minutes of media per month, a one-time allowance of 100 AI credits, 720p export with a watermark and 5 GB of storage. Paid plans are priced per person per month, with a Monthly/Annual toggle on the pricing page (annual billing is described as saving up to 35%): Hobbyist at $16 annual or $24 monthly (10 media hours, 400 AI credits, 1080p export), Creator at $24 or $35 (30 hours, 800 credits, 4K export) and Business at $50 or $65 (40 hours, 1,500 credits, team features). Enterprise pricing is on request. Prices are shown in dollars ($) and may vary with region and taxes; discounts for students, educators and non-profits can be requested.

Strengths and limits

Editing by text makes rough cuts of talk-heavy content such as podcasts, interviews and tutorials fast, and recording, editing and publishing stay in a single tool. The limits are mostly quotas: media hours and AI credits cap usage on every plan, the free tier exports only at 720p with a watermark, and Underlord usage is limited on the entry paid plan. There is no mobile or Linux app listed by the vendor. Results of automatic transcription and AI voices should be reviewed before publishing.