Descript vs ElevenLabs
Pricing
Descript: Free tier, paid from $16/mo billed yearly ($24 monthly)
ElevenLabs: Free tier (10,000 credits/mo), paid from $6/mo
Description
Descript: Video and podcast editor where you cut recordings by editing their transcript, with screen recording and AI audio cleanup
ElevenLabs: AI voice platform for text to speech, voice cloning, dubbing, transcription, sound effects and voice agents
Pros
- Edit video like a document: delete words from the transcript and the recording is cut to match
- Studio Sound, filler-word removal and clip creation come with the $16 Hobbyist plan
- Transcription in 25 languages with automatic speaker detection
- The free plan gives 10,000 credits a month for text to speech, speech to text, sound effects and music
- Instant voice cloning and a commercial licence start with the $6 Starter plan
- Unused credits roll over for up to two months
Cons
- The free plan gives 60 media minutes a month and exports at 720p with a watermark
- Hobbyist includes 10 media hours a month; 4K export and the stock media library need Creator ($24/mo billed yearly)
- The free plan has no commercial licence
- Professional voice cloning needs the $22 Creator plan
- Credits per character depend on the model, so the same text can cost different amounts
Details
Descript turns editing into writing. You record or import video or audio, Descript transcribes it, and cutting a sentence from the transcript cuts it from the recording. It also records your screen, runs remote recording sessions in Rooms, removes filler words and cleans up sound with Studio Sound.
It suits founders making product demos, tutorials, podcasts or social clips without editing experience. Underlord, its AI co-editor, can do many editing steps for you, and AI Speech can generate lines in a clone of your own voice.
Media hours are the limit to watch, because they count every minute you import or record. Hobbyist includes 10 hours a month, Creator 30 and Business 40 per editor, and top-ups are available from Creator up.
ElevenLabs makes AI voices. Type text and get natural-sounding speech, clone your own voice, dub a video into another language, transcribe audio or generate sound effects and music. Developers can use it through an API, and a separate product, ElevenAgents, builds voice agents for customer conversations.
It suits founders who need voiceovers for demos, ads, courses or podcasts without recording themselves, or who are building voice into a product.
Plans are counted in credits. On the V2 Multilingual model one character costs one credit, so the free 10,000 credits come to about 10,000 characters of speech a month. Starter is $6 a month with 30,000 credits and Creator $22 with 121,000, and the site currently shows a first-month discount on both.
Verified