Descript

Descript turns a recording into a transcript and lets you edit the media by editing that text. Delete a word and it disappears from the audio or video; cut and paste a sentence and the media moves with it; removed media can be brought back.

That suits podcasts, interviews, lessons and talking-head footage, where the content is mostly someone speaking. It helps little when the cut follows image and rhythm rather than words, as in music videos or heavily graded narrative work. Compared with the rest of our video category, the job is different too: Runway generates footage that did not exist, while Descript starts from something you already recorded.

Editorial assessment

Pick the tier by how many minutes of raw media you import or record each month, not by the length of the finished episode. Every take and every re-import counts against the allowance.

• FreeUSD 0

  if you are learning the workflow with less than an hour of source media a month and can live with 720p watermarked video, or publish audio only.

• HobbyistUSD 16 per person per month

  if one person records up to about 10 hours a month and needs 1080p video without a watermark or a monthly credit budget for Studio Sound and voice cloning.

• CreatorUSD 24 per person per month

  once one editor passes 10 hours a month, needs 4K export, timeline export to another editor, stock media or generative video models, or a second or third person needs a seat.

• BusinessUSD 50 per person per month

  if you need translation and dubbing, Brand Studio, a fourth or fifth editor, or more than 30 hours per editor.

• EnterpriseCustom

  for more than five editors, SSO and SCIM, or custom legal terms.

Media minutes are spent when you upload audio or video, record in a project or in Rooms, or add still images, which count as 1 second each. AI credits are a second budget spent on Underlord, Studio Sound, filler-word removal, Green Screen, Eye Contact, AI speech, avatars and generated video. Neither budget rolls over; both reset when the subscription renews.

Costs behave differently by tool. Studio Sound and Remove Filler Words are capped at 30 credits per file, however long the file is, while Underlord has no fixed price per action: even a chat message uses a few credits, and a task it runs is charged for its own reasoning plus the tool. The Usage tab in settings shows what each run cost.

Free video exports are limited to 720p and carry a watermark, which may fall short of a client delivery spec. Audio is handled separately: the comparison table lists unlimited audio export duration on every plan, including Free. Hobbyist removes the video watermark at 1080p, and Creator and Business export 4K.

Prices are per person, and the pricing page opens on annual billing. Paying monthly costs 30 to 50 percent more depending on the tier. The smallest gap is on Business, where an annual seat costs $50. Paid monthly, the same seat costs $65. Creator can grow to three seats and Business to five, each billed separately, so a three-person Creator team pays three times the per-person price.

Each editor seat adds its minutes and credits to a shared pool that any editor on the drive can draw from; viewers cannot use features that need them. That makes the pool, not the single seat, the number to compare with your team’s monthly recording. You can line Descript up against other tools on our comparisons page or scan all tools.