Descript vs ElevenLabs
Edits recorded video and audio by editing its transcript -- delete a sentence in the text and it disappears from the recording. An editor, not a generator. Text-to-speech and voice cloning for producing audio, priced on monthly credits across a wide range of tiers.
At a glance
| Descript | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $16/mo | $6/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Plans offered | 8 | 6 |
| Team pricing | $50/mo | $990/mo |
| Vendor | Descript | ElevenLabs |
| Best for | Podcasts, interviews and talking-head video where the content is speech | Producing narration, audiobooks, podcasts and video voiceover |
| Main trade-off | Media hours are the binding constraint and 10 a month on Hobbyist goes quickly with video | Credit-based pricing makes cost hard to predict from usage |
The short answer
Choose Descript if podcasts, interviews and talking-head video where the content is speech. Choose ElevenLabs if producing narration, audiobooks, podcasts and video voiceover. The rest of this page is the detail behind that.
Pricing
Descript
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 60 minutes of media/month · 100 one-time AI credits · 720p watermark-free export · Text-based editing |
| Hobbyist (annual) | $16/mo | 10 hours media/month · 400 AI credits/month · 1080p export · Studio Sound · Voice clones |
| Hobbyist (monthly) | $24/mo | Same features, billed monthly |
| Creator (annual) | $24/mo | 30 hours media/month · 800 AI credits · 4K export · AI video generation · Unlimited stock media |
| Creator (monthly) | $35/mo | Same features, billed monthly |
| Business (annual) | $50/mo | 40 hours media/month · 1,500 AI credits · Brand Studio · 30+ language dubbing · Custom AI avatars |
| Business (monthly) | $65/mo | Same features, billed monthly |
| Enterprise | Custom | SOC 2 Type II · SSO/SCIM · Dedicated CSM |
Pricing verified
ElevenLabs
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 10,000 credits/month · Text to speech, sound effects, voice design |
| Starter | $6/mo | 30,000 credits · Commercial licence · Instant voice cloning |
| Creator | $22/mo | 121,000 credits · Professional voice cloning |
| Pro | $99/mo | 600,000 credits · 44.1kHz PCM via API |
| Scale | $299/mo | 1.8M credits · 3 seats · 3 professional voice clones |
| Business | $990/mo | 6M credits · Low-latency TTS · 10 seats |
Pricing verified
Descript
Strengths
- Text-based editing is the genuine innovation -- cutting a sentence from the transcript cuts it from the recording, which collapses the learning curve for anyone who is not a video editor
- Studio Sound repairs poor audio well enough to rescue recordings that would otherwise be unusable
- A real free tier at 60 minutes a month, not a trial
- Filler-word removal and overdub voice correction save genuine hours on spoken content
Trade-offs
- Media hours are the binding constraint and 10 a month on Hobbyist goes quickly with video
- Annual billing is required for every headline price -- monthly costs 30-50% more
- Timeline editing is weaker than a traditional NLE for anything visually complex
- AI credits are a second currency alongside media hours, so two limits can bite
Descript: who it suits
Buy it if
- Podcasts, interviews and talking-head video where the content is speech
- Teams without a dedicated video editor
- Repurposing long recordings into clips and transcripts
Skip it if
- Generating video from a script with no recording -- Synthesia and HeyGen do that; this edits footage you already have
- Complex visual editing, motion graphics or colour work, where a real NLE is the right tool
- High-volume video on the lower tiers, since media hours run out well before AI credits do
Visit Descriptfrom $16/mo · free tier available
ElevenLabs
Strengths
- The most natural synthetic speech generally available
- A genuinely usable free tier at 10,000 credits/month
- Commercial licence starts at $6/month, which is cheap for production use
- Voice cloning quality is well ahead of the field
Trade-offs
- Credit-based pricing makes cost hard to predict from usage
- The jump from Creator to Pro is $22 to $99 with nothing between
- Voice cloning raises consent and misuse questions you have to manage yourself
ElevenLabs: who it suits
Buy it if
- Producing narration, audiobooks, podcasts and video voiceover
- Developers integrating speech via API
- Anyone needing a cloned voice at production quality
Skip it if
- People who just want articles and documents read aloud -- that is a reader, not a generator, and costs less
- Anyone needing predictable flat-rate billing, since credits vary with output length
- Use cases where cloning someone else's voice would be the point
Visit ElevenLabsfrom $6/mo · free tier available
Common questions
- Is Descript or ElevenLabs cheaper?
- Descript starts at $16/mo and ElevenLabs at $6/mo. ElevenLabs is cheaper at entry level, though the allowances differ.
- Who should not use Descript?
- Generating video from a script with no recording -- Synthesia and HeyGen do that; this edits footage you already have. Complex visual editing, motion graphics or colour work, where a real NLE is the right tool. High-volume video on the lower tiers, since media hours run out well before AI credits do.
- Who should not use ElevenLabs?
- People who just want articles and documents read aloud -- that is a reader, not a generator, and costs less. Anyone needing predictable flat-rate billing, since credits vary with output length. Use cases where cloning someone else's voice would be the point.
- Does Descript or ElevenLabs have a free tier?
- Both offer a free tier, so you can evaluate each before paying.