What Descript Actually Costs in 2026
Two separate meters, media hours and AI credits. Which one runs out first?
What you are actually buying
Two pools per plan: media hours for what you import, AI credits for what the AI does to it.
Do the maths
- =The two pools are independent, so exhausting either one stops that kind of work while the other sits unused.
- =Each tier raises both pools together, so you cannot buy more AI credits by moving up without also paying for media hours you may not need.
- =Top-ups are sold separately, which is the vendor telling you the included pools are expected to run out.
Worked from rates the vendor publishes. We do not estimate your usage, because we cannot know it, and a made-up average is worse than no number.
Where the bill surprises people
- !Legacy and Sunset plans ended in November 2025 and everyone was moved onto the metered model; the vendor conceded some existing prices would rise.
- !Features that used to be included now draw down credits, so the same workflow costs more than it did on the old plan.
- !Long-standing subscribers report capacity quietly reduced rather than announced.
- !Refund requests hit a short window and canned replies, and Trustpilot sits at 2.7 with a large share of one-star reviews.
Worth it if
You publish regularly, editing by transcript saves you real hours, and you treat it as month to month.
Not worth it if
You edit occasionally. The pools reset monthly whether you used them or not, so infrequent work pays for capacity it never touches.
Why two meters is worse than one
Descript bills on media hours and AI credits separately. Media hours cover what you bring in. AI credits cover what the clever features do to it: filler-word removal, studio sound, the things you are actually paying for.
Two pools means two ways to be blocked. Import a long recording and you can burn media hours with barely any editing done. Run the AI features hard over a short recording and the credits go while hours sit unused. Neither pool helps the other.
The plan change nobody chose
In November 2025 Descript ended its Legacy and Sunset plans and moved everyone onto this model. The vendor acknowledged that some existing prices would go up. Work that was previously included now draws down credits.
That is the single most useful fact on this page. If your memory of what Descript costs comes from before that date, it is wrong, and it is wrong in the expensive direction.
The tool is still good
Worth saying plainly, because the billing section reads harshly: editing video by editing text remains the best idea in this category and Descript still does it better than the imitators. The complaint here is entirely about how it is sold and supported, not about whether it works.
What we would do
- •Publishing weekly: buy it monthly, watch which pool empties first, and size the plan on that one.
- •Publishing occasionally: use the free tier, or batch a month of work into one paid month and cancel.
- •Considering annual: do not. A vendor that has already migrated everyone off their old plan once can do it again.
What changed, with sources
- 2026-09-17pricing
Current pricing is metered: Hobbyist $16/mo gets 10 media hours and 400 AI credits; Creator $24 gets 30 hours/800 credits; Business $50 gets 40 hours/1500 credits. Previously-included AI features now draw down credits.
Descript (vendor pricing and help pages) - 2025-11-17pricing
Descript ended Legacy/Sunset plans on 17 November 2025 and moved everyone to a metered model built on two pools, 'media minutes' and 'AI credits', with paid top-ups; the vendor concedes some legacy prices rise.
Descript Help Center
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Starting price checked against Descript's own pricing page on 2026-09-17 (source). Vendors change plans often, so confirm before you buy. Scores are our own editorial verdicts in cyders out of 5. How we score.
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