Descript

Descript lets you edit video and audio by editing the transcript. Delete a word from the text and the clip cuts itself. The workflow is faster than traditional timeline-based editing once you adjust to thinking in text rather than waveforms.

It also handles AI voice cloning, automatic background noise removal, filler word ("um", "uh") cleanup, and eye contact correction for speakers reading from notes. The Overdub feature generates audio in your cloned voice, so you can fix a misspoken word or update a statistic without re-recording the entire segment.

Studio Sound improves audio quality on poor recordings. Green Screen replaces video backgrounds without an actual green screen. The collaboration features let multiple editors work on the same project with comments and feedback in the timeline.

Freemium model with a free tier covering modest monthly transcription. Paid subscription tiers scale by transcription minutes, video length, and team collaboration features.

Best for podcasters, course creators, and teams shipping weekly talking-head video. For cinematic editing with complex compositing, color grading, or motion graphics, traditional non-linear editors like Premiere or Final Cut are still the right tools.