Descript vs. GarageBand

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Descript
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Descript is a collaborative audio/video editor, from the company of the same name in San Francisco, that works like a doc. It includes transcription, a screen recorder, publishing, full multitrack editing, and AI tools.
$12
per month
GarageBand
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers GarageBand, a digital audio workstation packaged with its operating system.
$199.99
Pricing
DescriptGarageBand
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
Annual billing - Hobbyist
$12
per month per user
Monthly Billing - Hobbyist
$19
per month per user
Annual billing - Creator
$24
per month per user
Monthly Billing - Creator
$35
per month per user
Annual billing - Business
$40
per month per user
Monthly Billing - Business
$50
per month per user
Enterprise
Custom
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DescriptGarageBand
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
DescriptGarageBand
Considered Both Products
Descript
Chose Descript
Descript is by far superior to the other editing software you can get on Apple computers. It's able to do a lot more and really save us tons of time. Other Adobe apps are great, but take a while to learn. Descript is very user-friendly, making it easy to start from day one with …
GarageBand

No answer on this topic

Best Alternatives
DescriptGarageBand
Small Businesses
Ableton Live
Ableton Live
Score 8.7 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 8.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.5 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.5 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
DescriptGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(12 ratings)
9.6
(10 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
DescriptGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
Descript
  • Transcription of internal presentations and web conferences. It's great for capturing and transcribing the audio from presentations, demos, etc. which can then be used to develop training materials, blog posts, etc.
  • Podcasts. Makes it really easy to record, edit, and publish video or audio podcasts.
  • Promotional videos. Streamlines and accelerates the process for developing videos.
Read full review
Apple
GarageBand is great for demo tracking for songwriting and and simple audio editing of spoken word or podcast applications. It is also great for making EQ adjustments on audio from other macOS or iOS programs for easy export back into those programs. GarageBand isn't well-suited for mastering, however, and it's a little difficult to get volume levels up in post-production if capture wasn't just right
Read full review
Pros
Descript
  • I like the sidebar - breaking my scripts up into different "chapters" makes it easier to create quickly.
  • I like that it auto-corrects punctuation, capitalization, etc. as I polish the scripts.
  • It's easy for my team and my collaborators to read/listen, remark, and create useable transcripts.
Read full review
Apple
  • It is easy to edit in the way that you can highlight something and simply delete a part of what you are working on.
  • I love that I can drag two or more tracks together to keep them in sync when editing.
  • It's not difficult to add a click track when you need it.
  • I think the whole process of highlighting, cutting out parts and the basic editing doesn't take huge amounts of time because it seems intuitive.
Read full review
Cons
Descript
  • When editing a transcript it can get a little cumbersome, as a double click doesn't always do what you think it will
  • Some features aren't that intuitive (what is resize word gap) for beginners
  • A tutorial/wizard as soon as you sign up would be very useful
Read full review
Apple
  • Can't save the preferences for the tracks such as turning off reverb etc.
  • Project files are large, a 30-minute podcast episode with only 4 tracks is typically around 1 GB
  • Auto feature to silence guest not talking
  • Optimize for podcasters (I use the old version 6 as new versions hasn't had podcast options)
Read full review
Usability
Descript
No answers on this topic
Apple
It's dang simple for anybody who knows even a little about recording software. It's not something just anyone can open and immediately be a professional at, but things are clearly marked, the help documentation is great, and it's easy to explore and discover functionality that can aid in your production workflow.
Read full review
Support Rating
Descript
No answers on this topic
Apple
I have never tried it. It's just simple, and you should be able to navigate most of it via self-exploration and Apple Help.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Descript
Descript is by far superior to the other editing software you can get on Apple computers. It's able to do a lot more and really save us tons of time. Other Adobe apps are great, but take a while to learn. Descript is very user-friendly, making it easy to start from day one with very little training.
Read full review
Apple
Adobe Audition is another great audio editing/recording software, in fact it is much better compared to GarageBand and has much more effects. However, it has a pretty large price tag while GarageBand is completely free. Also, Adobe Audition has a very steep learning curve which makes it hard for our staff to get used to the software. Considering all this and after deep analysis we decided to opt for GarageBand, well at least for now. We may change in the future depending on our needs.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Descript
  • I can get video completed much more quickly and cheaply
  • We can produce more video content because of the speed with which we can have a finished product
  • We can have shorter timelines for example I record on Monday and we publish on Tuesday which wouldn't be otherwise possible with other methods I've used
Read full review
Apple
  • Amazing value
  • Very easy to get started
  • For novices and professionals alike
  • Loops library is simply awesome
  • Export capabilities very effective to share tracks
Read full review
ScreenShots