Descript review
7.2/10★★★★★Text-based audio and video editor with AI voice clones and stock AI speakers
- Best for
- Podcasters and video creators who want to patch or narrate recordings inside their editor
- Price
- Freemium · from $16/month
Free: 60 media minutes a month and 100 one-time AI credits, limited AI speech - Platforms
- Desktop app, Web, API
- Made by
- Descript, Inc., San Francisco, USA · since 2017
What it is
Descript is an audio and video editor where you edit the recording by editing its transcript. Its AI voices let you clone your own voice to fix or add lines, generate narration with stock AI speakers in 20+ languages, and its Underlord agent handles edits from plain-language requests.
Latest: Descript opened a public API in beta in 2026.
What the AI does
- Voice cloning of your own voice
- Stock AI speakers in 20+ languages
- Regenerate to fix flubbed words
- AI dubbing and translation
- Underlord AI co-editor
Pros and cons
- Full audio and video editor, not just a voice tool
- Fix mistakes by typing instead of re-recording
- Cloning restricted to your own voice
- AI credits cover many other editing features
- Voice quality trails dedicated TTS tools
- AI credits are shared across all AI features
- Overkill if you only need text-to-speech
How it scores
Best when voices are part of an editing workflow; as a pure voice generator it lags the specialists.
Feature checklist · 5 of 9
- Self-serve voice cloning from your own sample (yes)
- Library of 500+ voices (no)
- Speech in 30+ languages (no)
- Emotion or speaking-style control (yes)
- Pronunciation, pacing or pitch controls (no)
- Low-latency real-time speech for voice agents (no)
- AI dubbing or translation of video (yes)
- Narration editor for video or slides (yes)
- API for developers (yes)
Alternatives
See all Descript alternatives, ranked →
- ElevenLabs 8.7/10Creators and developers who want the most natural-sounding voices and the widest toolset
- Speechify Studio 8.0/10Creators who want strong voices plus dubbing and video editing in one cheap suite
- Fish Audio 7.9/10Budget-conscious creators who want strong voices and cloning without ElevenLabs prices
- Cartesia 7.7/10Developers building real-time voice agents and phone bots