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Descript

Score8.4 out of 10

57 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Descript?

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.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Descript.
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This gem is worth it

Incentivized
Monico Candelaria, Monico PhotographyView profile
Digital Media Creator "Photographer / Videography" in Professional Services at Monico Photography, Inc. (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Descript to create a script for video interviews / personal profiles that the client can highlight important content with a simple interface and powerful options. Descript allows me to save time and look professional.

Pros

  • Removing filler words is a click of button and get rid of 'ums' and 'a's"
  • Fine tune your edited script in a timeline to adjust timing
  • Import and export Final Cut Pro or Premier XML video speeding up the editing process

Cons

  • Creating versions was a little confusing to me but it looks like the updated layout of compositions has now made it very clear. I use this to start with a master and save versions as not to disturb the original recording and timeline.
  • I like the simplicity of the layout, but I also like the use of colors for an easier visual menu. Since it is so "black & white" it can also be too simple. I think colors help direct.
  • I'm not sure if it allows you to delete anything that you have not highlighted. I think that would be a great feature.

Return on Investment

  • Descript saves me hours building a script - just from transcription, if I only used video editing software.
  • Descript allows my client to show me what is important to them by allowing them to comment or highlight key moments. This invaluable tool saves me time assuming that I know what is important.
  • Clients really think that Descript is amazing and helpful. Most don't expect such a valuable tool.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Rev.com (Rev)

Other Software Used

Taskade, Trackabi, BIGVU

A wildly innovative text-based editor that really speeds up the video creation process and delivers great looking output.

Incentivized
Anirudh Kaushik
Operations Head in Marketing at Pickle Jar Media (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are a marketing and media production house that uses Descript to transcribe videos use , cut and trim long footage design and package audio & video assets including collaterals for social media. In particular, we work on long form content such as podcasts & video series and Descript is useful at it is a powerful text based editor.

Pros

  • Video Transcription
  • Video Editing
  • Video Trimming
  • Audio Clean Up
  • Clip Creation

Cons

  • Needs an API
  • The interface can be simplified further
  • Cloud collaboration to be easier
  • Better integration with other design software

Return on Investment

  • Reduced Turnaround Time
  • Increased Video Output
  • Increased training costs

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Adobe After Effects, Clipchamp and Filmora

Other Software Used

Clipchamp, Filmora

Lost Edits Unclear Answers and a Refund Framed as a Courtesy.

Verified User
Executive in Corporate (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Descript to produce training and support videos for our business. Our workflow is: record screen and voice, transcribe the audio, then edit the transcript and timeline to clean up mistakes, remove pauses, and tighten the content. We also apply effects like background blur, background removal, noise removal, and Eye Contact to improve quality. The main business problems Descript is meant to solve for us are speed and consistency. It lets us turn raw recordings into polished videos faster than traditional editors, and it helps us maintain a repeatable process across many videos created by different team members. The scope is multiple projects per month, managed in shared folders/drives, with a team member (assistant/editor) doing most of the edits and others reviewing and exporting final versions.

Pros

  • Easy to turn a screen recording into an edited video quickly.
  • Projects are easy to open from anywhere, share with others for review, and keep organized in folders/drives without sending large video files back and forth.
  • The built-in cleanup and enhancement tools are helpful for fast polishing, like noise removal and background tools.

Cons

  • Reliability and data safety need improvement. We had projects edited months earlier that later appeared as raw recordings, and support could not recover the edits. Descript should provide stronger guarantees that edits are saved, retained, and recoverable.
  • Support and incident handling should be stronger. When users report missing edits, support should provide clear root-cause explanations, better tools to trace project history, and a fairer remediation process when work is lost.
  • Poor customer service and engineering.

Return on Investment

  • We had projects edited months earlier that later appeared as raw recordings, and support could not recover the edits. That caused major rework risk and lost time. We paused production during the investigation, which delayed content delivery and created extra cost.
  • The time savings only matter if the work is safe and recoverable. In our case, the loss of edits (plus the hours paid to an editor) outweighed the subscription value. What we lost is way more than a few years of subscription, but they only settled for a month's refund, saying it is already a courtesy.
  • Descript helped us publish training and support videos faster by letting us edit through text and do quick cleanup in one place. When it works, it reduces editing time and makes it easier to keep content moving without needing multiple tools.

Usability

One of the Best Tools For Podcasters

Incentivized
Verified User
Executive in Professional Services (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Descript is the primary tool I use for all my audio and video editing. I produce a number of podcasts and Descript makes the process virtually painless. It's also useful for creating clips, captions, social posts, and getting the finished product ready for distribution on external platforms. With the addition of Squadcast, Descript offers an end to end pre and post production toolkit.

Pros

  • Eliminates verbal pauses
  • Shortens word gaps for better flow
  • Push-button audio clean up
  • Push button exports to multiple formats
  • Automated eye contact

Cons

  • Push button distribution to social channels
  • Automated scheduling to external channels
  • Caption styles are limited
  • B-roll can be limited

Return on Investment

  • Saved hours on post production
  • Saved hours on audio editing and clean up
  • Professional results without professional level user effort

Usability

Other Software Used

OpusClip

Helping Creators Create

Incentivized
James HicksView profile
Chief Technologist and Founder in Corporate at HicksNewMedia (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Rapid transcription of long-form (or short-form) video content. Also the ability to create micro-content, such as audiograms and shareable clips on all major social media platforms.
Workflow efficiency is definitely the biggest benefit I utilize Descript for as it allows editing of content incredibly fast and allows the sharing of that content across various channels with little friction.

Pros

  • Overdub - being able to us AI to correct voice transcription errors
  • Speed of processing the file
  • Options for output

Cons

  • Descript does so much - the weekly video walkthroughs are ok, but could be more descriptive for those new to editing

Most Important Features

  • Overdub
  • Transcription

Return on Investment

  • decrease in overall time needed to process long-form video
  • reduction in overall number of tools that do similar tasks