Descript's monthly prices run from $24/mo for Hobbyist to $35/mo for Creator and $65/mo for Business, with media hours capped on every tier. Users also report lag or crashes on longer projects, and most AI features need an internet connection, with no real offline editing.
CapCut is the free pick for short-form video, exporting 1080p without a watermark on your own edits. Veed is the browser-based team editor with unlimited auto subtitles. Podcasters who mainly cut clips should try OpusClip ($15/mo), and ElevenLabs replaces the voice-cloning side.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descript | Yes | $24/mo | $65/mo | Podcast and video editing, transcript-based cutting, voice cloning for solo creators |
| CapCut | Yes | $19.99/mo | $79/mo | Short-form creators making TikTok, Reels, and Shorts who want trending templates and fast mobile editing |
| Veed | Yes | $25/mo | $79/mo | Marketing teams turning raw footage into subtitled, on-brand social clips fast, no editing experience needed |
| OpusClip | Yes | $15/mo | $29/mo | Podcasters, streamers, and marketers repurposing long recordings into short-form social clips |
| Captions | Yes | $24.99/mo | $279.99/mo | Solo creators and marketers who want auto-captioning plus an AI avatar of themselves for talking-head videos, without a studio |
| ElevenLabs | Yes | $6/mo | $990/mo | Developers and studios needing voice cloning, dubbing and TTS, with music as a bonus feature |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
CapCut Free exports 1080p with no watermark on your own edits; Pro ($19.99/mo) adds 4K export, the full AI toolkit and 1,200 AI credits a month on desktop and mobile.
Pick it if: you edit short-form video for TikTok, Reels or Shorts.
Where it falls short: Prices vary by region and device, Pro-locked templates and effects add a watermark, and ByteDance ownership draws privacy scrutiny.
Full CapCut pricing →Veed runs in the browser with no desktop install. Creator ($25/mo) includes unlimited auto subtitles with no watermark; Pro adds 4K export and translation into 50+ languages.
Pick it if: a marketing team turns raw footage into subtitled social clips.
Where it falls short: Per-seat pricing adds up for teams, and free exports are capped at 10 minutes with a watermark.
Full Veed pricing →OpusClip turns long recordings into short clips with AI reframing, virality scoring and auto-posting to Shorts, TikTok and Reels. Starter ($15/mo) imports from YouTube, Drive, Vimeo and Zoom without a watermark.
Pick it if: you used Descript mostly to cut social clips from full episodes.
Where it falls short: It clips and reframes existing footage rather than editing a full episode.
Full OpusClip pricing →Captions Max ($24.99/mo) combines auto-captions, a chat-based editor, batch clip creation and a Digital Twin avatar of you.
Pick it if: you record yourself on camera and want captions and quick edits in one app.
Where it falls short: Credits burn fast on the higher Frontier tiers.
Full Captions pricing →ElevenLabs Starter ($6/mo) includes instant voice cloning, a dubbing studio and a commercial licence; Creator adds professional voice cloning.
Pick it if: cloned-voice fixes and dubbing were what you used Descript for.
Where it falls short: It's an audio platform, so you still need an editor for the video itself.
Full ElevenLabs pricing →Descript caps media hours (10 a month on Hobbyist, 30 on Creator) as well as AI credits (400 and 800). CapCut, Veed and Captions list monthly AI credits in our data instead of media hours. Estimate how many hours of raw footage you import and how many AI edits you run each month, then check both numbers against each plan.
CapCut Free exports 1080p without a watermark on your own edits. Descript Free itself gives 60 media minutes a month and 100 one-time AI credits, exported at 720p.
For podcasts and interviews, Descript's transcript-based editing and voice cloning are the stronger fit. For short-form social video with trending templates and fast mobile editing, CapCut is the better tool and starts free.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.