Overview
Descript is a video and audio editor that transcribes recordings so users can edit media by editing text. It includes an AI editing agent (Underlord), Studio Sound audio cleanup, clip creation and translation, and is aimed at creators, podcasters and business teams without dedicated video staff.
Label: Vendor-described — Captured from the vendor's own materials. Not independently verified.
Best for
- Podcasters and video creators who want to edit by editing a transcript
- Marketing teams producing talking-head, webinar and social clips
- Solo creators who need transcription, cleanup and captions in one tool
Key features
- Text-based editing: edit the transcript to cut audio and video
- Automatic transcription and one-click filler word removal
- Studio Sound audio cleanup
- Underlord AI co-editor and AI video generation
- Translation, Brand Studio and custom avatars on Business plan
- Up to 4K watermark-free export on paid plans
What it does
- Text-based video and audio editing from a transcript
- Filler-word and retake removal
- Studio Sound noise removal and voice enhancement
- AI editing agent (Underlord) from text instructions
- Short clips resized for social platforms
- Video translation into multiple languages
Use cases
- Clean up audio and produce voiceovers — Studio Sound noise removal, voice enhancement and filler-word removal.
- Make short promo videos for social media — Edits video by editing the transcript, removes filler words and resizes clips for social.
Drawbacks & cautions
- Free plan includes only 1 media hour per month and 100 one-time AI credits
- Usage is capped by media hours and AI credits per plan
- API cannot download rendered media files without publishing first
What users say
On G2 and Capterra, users rate Descript highly for transcript-based editing and time savings, though many note a learning curve. Trustpilot reviews are much more negative, focusing on credit costs, stability problems and billing or cancellation issues.
What people like
- Editing the transcript to edit audio and video saves a lot of time capterra.com, g2.com
- Automatic transcription cuts manual work and is cheaper than transcription services capterra.com
- Approachable for non-experts, with useful AI tools and audio cleanup capterra.com, g2.com
Common complaints
- Steep learning curve at first; some standard editing tools are hard to find g2.com, capterra.com
- AI features burn through credits quickly, sometimes with unusable results nz.trustpilot.com
- Reports of crashes, lost edits and slow rendering nz.trustpilot.com
- Cancellation and refunds described as hard, with charges after cancelling nz.trustpilot.com
Scores are shown as each site published them on the date checked. They come from those sites' reviewers, not from us, and they never affect our rankings. Ratings based on fewer than 10 reviews are left out. The summaries are our own words, gathered Oct 22, 2026; follow the links to read the reviews.
Alternatives
- Adobe Firefly — Create images, video, audio and design assets with Adobe and partner AI models
- CapCut — Video and photo editor with AI captions, background removal and templates for social content
- Google Flow (Veo) — Google's AI filmmaking tool for generating and editing video clips with Veo and Gemini models
- HeyGen — Create AI avatar videos, translate videos and clone voices for marketing and training
Evidence
| Fact | Label | Source | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| api | Vendor-described | help.descript.com | Oct 17, 2026 |
| capabilities | Vendor-described | www.descript.com | Oct 17, 2026 |
| integrations | Vendor-described | help.descript.com | Oct 17, 2026 |
| overview | Vendor-described | www.descript.com | Oct 17, 2026 |
| pricing | Vendor-described | www.descript.com | Oct 17, 2026 |
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