Video editing is a tedious and time-consuming task that requires a lot of skill and patience. Whether you’re a podcaster, a YouTuber, a marketer, or a teacher, you know how hard it is to create engaging and professional-looking videos that capture your audience’s attention.
But what if there was a way to edit your videos faster, easier, and more intuitively? What if you could edit your videos by simply editing the text?
That’s exactly what Descript, a collaborative audio and video editor, promises to do. Descript is a user-friendly video editing software with a unique approach to editing. Unlike traditional editing tools that use complex timelines and advanced features, Descript keeps it simple by transcribing your videos and linking the text to the video segments.
In this article, I’ll review Descript and show you how it works, what are its key features, how much it costs, who can benefit from it, and what are its pros and cons. By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear idea of whether Descript is the right tool for you and how it can revolutionize your video editing workflow.
What is Descript and how does it work?
Descript is a collaborative audio and video editor that includes features such as transcription, screen recording, publishing, full multitrack editing, and even offers some AI tools. A podcaster’s holy grail, the editing tool allows its users to not only record, edit and mix but also transcribe audio.
Descript offers both an online web-based solution and a desktop application and additional benefits include remote recording and filler ward removal, plus overdub for the editing feature. The screen recording feature instantly transcribes audio, with Descript offering a web link that grants collaborators access to comment and edit when it comes to group work. The overdub feature allows users to create a text to speech model of their voice, which can be published as audiograms for a range of purposes, including marketing on social media.
Descript works by transcribing your videos and linking the text to the video segments. The transcription is pretty accurate, and once it’s done, you can simply edit the text to make changes to your video. It’s like editing a document – just delete the text you don’t want, and voilà!
This innovative approach not only simplifies the editing process but also enables bulk edits, which were previously impossible in traditional video editing tools. Remember those times when you had to manually remove the same word hundreds of times using conventional video editing tools? What a pain! But with Descript, you can search for the word and delete all instances in one go. How awesome is that?
And if that’s not enough, Descript also lets you get rid of all those awkward silences in your videos with just a click of a button3.
What are the key features of Descript?
Descript has a lot of features that make it a powerful and versatile video editing tool. Here are some of the key features that I found most useful and impressive:
- Transcription-based editing: As I mentioned before, this is the core feature of Descript that allows you to edit your videos by editing the text. You can also add captions, subtitles, and annotations to your videos using the text editor. Descript supports multiple languages and accents for transcription, and you can also import your own transcripts or use third-party transcription services if you prefer.
- Screen recording: Descript lets you record your screen and webcam simultaneously, and transcribes the audio as you record. You can also pause and resume the recording, and edit the video afterwards using the text editor. This is great for creating tutorials, demos, presentations, and more.
- Overdub: This is one of the most amazing features of Descript that lets you create a synthetic voice model of your own voice, and use it to generate new audio from text. You can use this feature to correct mistakes, add new content, or even create entirely new audio from scratch. You can also customize the tone, pitch, and speed of the voice, and blend it with your original audio for a seamless result.
- Multitrack editing: Descript supports multitrack editing, which means you can edit multiple audio and video tracks simultaneously, and sync them with the text. You can also adjust the volume, pan, and effects of each track, and use crossfades, transitions, and other editing tools to create a polished video.
- Collaboration: Descript is designed for collaboration, which means you can share your projects with your team members, clients, or anyone else, and invite them to comment, edit, or review your work. You can also use the chat feature to communicate with your collaborators, and track the changes and revisions made by each user.
- Publishing: Descript lets you export your videos in various formats, such as MP4, MOV, WAV, MP3, and more. You can also publish your videos directly to platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more. You can also create and share audiograms, which are animated videos that combine audio and text, to promote your podcasts or videos on social media.
How much does Descript cost and what are the plans?

Free Plan
Descript starts with a Free Plan, which is perfect for beginners or those who want to try out the basic features without any financial commitment. This plan typically includes a limited number of transcription hours and access to basic editing tools. Users can create projects, edit audio and video files, and get a taste of Descript’s capabilities without spending a dime.
Creator Plan
The Creator Plan is a step up, designed for individual content creators who need more features and capabilities. This plan usually offers more transcription hours per month and access to advanced features like Overdub (Descript’s text-to-speech feature), filler word removal, and more. The cost for this plan typically ranges from $12 to $15 per month when billed annually. The Creator Plan is ideal for podcasters, YouTubers, and other content creators who regularly produce audio and video content.
Pro Plan
For professionals and businesses that require even more power and flexibility, the Pro Plan offers an extensive set of features, the Pro Plan usually costs between $24 to $30 per month when billed annually. This includes unlimited transcription hours, advanced collaboration tools, and access to Descript’s highest quality Overdub voices. The Pro Plan is tailored for teams and businesses that need to streamline their production workflow and collaborate effectively on projects.
Enterprise Plan
Descript also offers an Enterprise Plan for large organizations with specific needs. This plan includes all the features of the Pro Plan, along with enterprise-grade security, dedicated support, and customization options. Pricing for the Enterprise Plan is usually customized based on the organization’s size and specific requirements.
Who can benefit from using Descript?
Descript is a versatile and user-friendly video editing tool that can benefit anyone who works with audio or video content. Whether you’re a podcaster, a YouTuber, a marketer, a teacher, a journalist, a researcher, or a hobbyist, you can use Descript to create and edit your videos faster and easier than ever before.
Descript is especially useful for:
- Podcasters who want to create, edit, and publish their podcasts with ease and efficiency
- YouTubers who want to create engaging and professional-looking videos without spending hours on editing
- Marketers who want to create and share captivating video content for their campaigns and social media platforms
- Teachers who want to create and edit educational videos for their students and online courses
- Journalists who want to transcribe and edit interviews, speeches, and news reports
- Researchers who want to transcribe and analyze audio or video data for their projects
- Hobbyists who want to have fun and experiment with audio and video editing
What are the pros and cons of Descript?
Descript is a powerful and innovative video editing tool that has a lot of advantages, but also some drawbacks. Here are some of the pros and cons of Descript that I found:
Pros
- It simplifies the video editing process by using transcription-based editing
- It saves time and effort by automating the transcription and linking it to the video segments
- It enables bulk edits, such as deleting words, removing silences, and adding captions
- It offers a unique and impressive feature called overdub, which lets you create synthetic voice models and generate new audio from text
- It supports collaboration and feedback, allowing you to share and edit your projects with others
- It integrates with various platforms and services, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more
- It has a user-friendly and intuitive interface that is easy to learn and use
Cons
- It requires a stable and fast internet connection to work properly
- It may not be suitable for complex and advanced video editing projects that require more control and precision
- It may not be able to transcribe some audio or video files accurately, depending on the quality, language, and accent
- It may not be able to create realistic and natural-sounding overdub voices for some users, depending on their voice characteristics and preferences
- It may be expensive for some users, especially if they need more transcription hours or overdub minutes than the plans offer
Conclusion
Descript is a collaborative audio and video editor that lets you edit your videos by editing the text. It offers a unique and innovative approach to video editing that simplifies the process and saves time and effort. It also has a lot of features that make it a versatile and powerful tool, such as screen recording, overdub, multitrack editing, collaboration, and publishing.
Descript is a great tool for anyone who works with audio or video content, such as podcasters, YouTubers, marketers, teachers, journalists, researchers, and hobbyists. It can help you create and edit your videos faster, easier, and more intuitively than ever before.
However, Descript also has some limitations, such as requiring a good internet connection, not being suitable for complex and advanced video editing projects, and not being able to transcribe or overdub some audio or video files accurately or realistically.
Therefore, Descript may not be the best tool for everyone, and you should consider your needs, preferences, and budget before deciding to use it. You can also try the free plan first to see if Descript works for you and meets your expectations.
I hope this article was helpful and informative, and gave you a clear overview of Descript and its features, pricing, target users, pros and cons. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Thank you for reading! 😊