Name

Descript

Legal name

Descript, Inc.

Website

https://descript.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Video Editing Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Audio Encoding & Processing (Surround, Atmos, Normalization) (MPAHAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Encoding & Transcoding Software (File/Live) (MPAHAHAA), Podcast Transcription, Captioning & Accessibility Services (MPACADAK), Assistive Hearing & Communication Access (Captioning, Hearing Support, Transcription) (EDAFAKAC), Content-Aware/AI Media Processing (Per-Title Encode, Scene Detection) (MPAHAHAH), Unified Communications (UCaaS) Apps (BPAMACAE)

Keywords

• AI video editing
• Podcast production software
• Text-based editing
• Voice cloning software
• Audio transcription platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription tiers (Free, Hobbyist, Creator): Tiered SaaS subscription model with Free tier, Hobbyist at $16/month (annual) or $24/month (monthly), and Creator at $35/month (annual) supporting a team of 3. Includes differentiated limits on media hours, AI credits, export resolution, and stock media access. Recurring billing via annual or monthly cadence.
2. Freemium to paid conversion: Free plan offers 1 media hour/month, 100 AI credits, 720p watermark-free export, and limited trial of AI Speech, intended to drive conversion to Hobbyist or Creator plans.
3. Enterprise / team plans: Enterprise tier for collaborative teams and regulated industries (e.g., healthcare via Kaltura partnership), with custom collaboration, workflow, and compliance features. Sold via sales-assisted motion.
4. Usage-based AI credits / top-ups: AI credit consumption system (100–800+ monthly credits by tier, with bonus credits on higher tiers) plus the ability to purchase top-ups for additional media hours and AI credits.
5. Affiliate program revenue share: Affiliate program that drives third-party referrals to Descript, with revenue share for partners who promote the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Descript is an AI-native audio and video editing platform that lets users edit media by editing the automatically generated text transcript. It combines text-based video and podcast editing, automatic transcription, AI speech and voice cloning, AI video generation, screen recording, remote multi-guest recording, captions, translation, and team collaboration into a single browser-based platform sold via freemium SaaS subscriptions.

Product overview

Descript is a single unified AI video and podcast editing platform rather than a collection of standalone products. The core platform (Descript) anchors a suite of tightly integrated AI features and tools — including the agentic AI co-editor Underlord, Studio Sound, Overdub voice cloning, AI Avatars, Eye Contact, Green Screen, Regenerate, Remove Filler Words, Automatic Multicam, Generate Media, Captions, Translation, Brand Studio, and Templates — all operating on a shared text-based editing surface backed by automatic transcription. Around this core sit consumer-facing tool pages (Speech to Text Converter, Audio to Text, Video Editor, Audio Enhancer, Voice Cloning, Video Link Generator, Embed Video, GIF Editor, Extract Audio from Video, YouTube Clip Maker, Social Media Video Maker, Remove Filler Words, Video Transcript Generator) that package the same underlying capabilities as standalone workflows. Descript also encompasses the acquired SquadCast remote-recording product, the Lyrebird voice-AI heritage brand, an enterprise tier (Descript for Enterprise), and a developer-facing API + MCP product for programmatic editing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Underlord: Descript's AI assistant / AI video co-editor that can perform editing tasks to bring creative vision to life.
• Overdub
• Studio Sound

Products and services

• Descript AI-native audio and video editing platform sold via freemium SaaS subscriptions. Lets users edit podcasts and videos by editing the auto-generated text transcript. Includes transcription, AI speech, voice cloning, AI video generation, captions, screen recording, remote multi-guest recording, translation, and team collaboration.
• Descript for Enterprise Enterprise tier of the Descript platform tailored for teams needing collaboration, workflow management, and scalable video production, including regulated-industry deployments. Sold via 'Contact sales' / 'Get a demo' with custom pricing and multi-year contracts.
• Underlord Descript's agentic AI co-editor that writes and edits scripts, designs video layouts, applies transitions, generates clips, and executes multi-step editing actions on behalf of the user. Integrates frontier models including Claude Sonnet 4.6 and Gemini 3.1 Pro via a model picker.
• Descript API + MCP Developer-facing API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration that enables programmatic control of Descript editing from code or from inside an AI assistant. Powers integrations such as LinkedIn Connected Apps / Verified AI Skills.
• SquadCast (Remote Recording by Descript) Remote podcast and video recording technology acquired from SquadCast and integrated into Descript's Rooms product, supporting up to 10 guests in up to 4K with local recording for studio-quality multi-track capture.

Quantifiable outcome

• SaaStr increased content production by 100%, publishing 3-4 videos per day.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability14 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Macro / Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund (Epigraph Creator Fellowship)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 April 2026Descript is a tool partner for the Epigraph Creator Fellowship, an eight-week program providing seven selected storytellers with AI tool training, production resources, and platform access. Inaugural cohort screened at major festivals and on Netflix/Amazon Prime Video; program culminates in a public showcase at Macro's Summer House Creator Summit in Los Angeles.
• ElevenLabs (Epigraph Creator Fellowship collaborator)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 April 2026ElevenLabs is co-listed with Descript, OpenAI, and others as a partner providing hands-on AI tool instruction and resources to Epigraph Creator Fellowship filmmakers.
• KalturaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Kaltura and Descript announced a strategic partnership to combine their AI-powered video platforms for enterprise content creation, targeting regulated industries like healthcare. The partnership already resulted in a commercial deployment at a world-leading medical center to scale video production for training and internal communications while meeting compliance requirements.
• LinkedIncoreTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2026Descript is one of the initial launch partners for LinkedIn's Connected Apps / Verified AI Skills program. LinkedIn automatically pulls Descript usage data to generate verifiable AI skill summaries on user profiles, addressing employer concerns about inflated resumes among 1.3 billion LinkedIn members.
• SquadCastflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2023Descript acquired SquadCast in August 2023, integrating its remote recording solution into Descript's platform for free. The combined offering provides podcasters and video creators with a comprehensive production tool — recording, transcription, editing, and effects — under one roof. The technology now powers Descript's Rooms product supporting up to 10 guests in up to 4K.
• Anthropic (Claude Sonnet 4.6)coreTechnology or IntegrationClaude Sonnet 4.6 (and earlier 4.5) is integrated into Descript's Underlord AI assistant via a model picker, enabling creators to choose frontier AI models for script generation, video editing assistance, and other AI Actions.
• Google (Gemini 3.1 Pro)coreTechnology or IntegrationGemini 3.1 Pro is integrated into Descript's Underlord AI assistant as part of the expanded AI model integrations announced alongside the new media library feature.
• Lyrebird (acquired)flagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLyrebird, a pioneering AI voice synthesis company, has been integrated into Descript and is featured under the Company section of the Descript website footer. Lyrebird's voice cloning technology underpins Descript's Overdub, AI Speech, and Regenerate features.
• Apple, Microsoft, Google, Spotify, Salesforce, Figma, Amazon, Okta, CBS, Reuters, NYT, KPMG, GitHub, Coca-Cola, Canva, Vox (customer logos / ecosystem)minorOthersThese companies appear as customer logos on Descript's homepage ('These companies use Descript. Not bad!') and are indicative of enterprise trust signals rather than formal commercial partnerships. Their inclusion functions as social proof and ecosystem validation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Adobe: Adobe's Premiere Pro, Premiere Podcast, Express, and Firefly AI suite directly overlap with Descript's video/podcast editing, transcription, and AI features. As a broad incumbent, Adobe bundles video editing into a much larger creative cloud portfolio and does not specialize in the transcript-driven, text-based editing paradigm that defines Descript.
• Canva: Canva has aggressively expanded its video editing suite (Magic Studio, AI-powered clips, captions, translations) and now serves creators and marketing teams with a broad design-and-video platform. It overlaps with Descript on social video and marketing video use cases but operates as a broad design incumbent rather than a transcript-first editor.
• Loom: Loom (now part of Atlassian) is an async video messaging and screen recording platform widely adopted by enterprise teams for internal communication. It overlaps with Descript's screen recording and team collaboration use cases and represents a broad incumbent in workplace video, though it does not match Descript's deep editing or generative AI feature set.

Direct peers

• CapCut: CapCut (ByteDance) is a free/cheap AI-native video editor popular with creators and short-form social video producers, with auto-captions, AI clip generation, and a generous free tier. It competes head-to-head with Descript on creator-focused video editing, especially for TikTok/Reels/Shorts workflows, and undercuts on price.
• Riverside.fm: Riverside is a remote recording and editing platform for podcasts and video, with high-quality local recording and AI-powered editing features (transcripts, captions, clip generation). It directly competes with Descript's Rooms/SquadCast-powered recording-and-editing workflow and targets the same podcast and video creator audience.
• VEED.io: VEED is a browser-based AI video editor with auto-subtitles, AI avatars, text-based editing, translation, and clip generation aimed at creators and marketing teams. It is a close direct peer to Descript across the same SMB/mid-market customer segments and feature set.

Emerging players

• Runway: Runway is an AI-native video generation and editing platform (Gen-3/4 models) with text-to-video, video-to-video, and creative AI tools for filmmakers and creators. It competes with Descript's AI video features (Generate Video, AI Avatars) and represents a leading emerging player in generative AI video.
• Synthesia: Synthesia is an AI video generation platform specializing in AI avatars and text-to-video for enterprise training, marketing, and corporate communications. It overlaps with Descript's AI Avatars and enterprise regulated-industry motion (healthcare, L&D) and is well-funded as a category leader in synthetic presenter video.
• Opus Clip: Opus Clip is an AI tool that automatically repurposes long videos into short, shareable clips with virality scoring, directly competing with Descript's Find Good Clips and Create Clips features. It is a focused emerging player in the AI clip-generation niche that Descript also targets.

Others

• ElevenLabs: ElevenLabs is a leading AI voice synthesis and voice cloning platform that overlaps with Descript's Overdub and AI Speech capabilities. While ElevenLabs specializes in voice rather than full video editing, it is a co-listed partner in the Epigraph Creator Fellowship and represents a thematic peer in the AI voice stack underlying Descript's features.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/descriptapp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Descript
• Facebookfacebook.com/descriptapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/descript

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Descript