Descript vs Wistia

Descript

• Podcasters and video creators who prefer editing a transcript to a timeline
• Cleaning up interview and talking-head recordings with AI tools
• Turning long recordings into short captioned clips

Wistia

• Marketing teams embedding branded, ad-free video on their own site
• Companies that want leads and viewing data from video in their marketing tools
• Teams running webinars and reusing the recordings as on-demand video

Descript

• The Free plan is limited to 60 media minutes a month, a one-time 100 AI credits and watermarked 720p exports.
• Paid plans cap monthly usage too: 10 media hours and 400 AI credits on Hobbyist, 30 and 800 on Creator, 40 and 1,500 on Business.
• Hobbyist covers 1 person; Creator scales to a team of 3 and Business to 5, each person billed separately.
• There are no mobile apps: phones, iPads and Chromebooks are not officially supported, and the desktop app needs macOS 14 or Windows 11.

Wistia

• The Free plan is limited to 1 user, 25 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth, and keeps Wistia branding on the player.
• Marketing automation integrations and lead scoring need Business + Signals, a webinar plan or Enterprise.
• Business includes 3 users and each extra user costs $25; SSO and playback protection are Enterprise-only.
• Dubbing and AI audio descriptions are a paid add-on below Enterprise, and cancellations are not refunded.

Descript

Text-based editing

Recordings are transcribed automatically, and deleting or rearranging words in the transcript makes the same cut in the audio or video.

Underlord AI co-editor

An AI assistant that carries out editing tasks on a project. Its use draws on the plan's AI credits.

Studio Sound and filler-word removal

Studio Sound uses AI to remove background noise, and filler words can be detected and cut from a recording.

Screen recording and Rooms

Record your screen inside Descript, or use Rooms to record remote guests.

Clips, captions and translation

Turn long recordings into short clips, add captions and subtitles, and translate content into dozens of languages.

AI voices and Eye Contact

Create a clone of your voice or use stock AI voices, and correct gaze with Eye Contact. These AI features consume AI credits.

Wistia

Hosting and embedding

Videos are stored in one library and played through an ad-free, customizable player that embeds on any site. Paid plans add collections, channels and playlists.

Recording studio

Record the screen, a webcam or both in the browser, or invite guests by link. Each participant is recorded locally on a separate track with a cloud backup.

Editing and AI clips

A timeline editor plus transcript-based editing, AI background-noise removal and silence trimming. Remix turns a prompt into highlight reels, cut-downs and social clips.

Analytics and lead capture

Paid plans add heatmaps, engagement graphs, A/B testing and CSV export, along with calls to action and in-video forms that collect leads.

Webinars

Webinar plans cover live, simulive and pre-recorded events with registration pages, chat, Q&A and polls, and up to 9 presenters on screen.

Automation Suite

Puts video and webinar engagement on contact records in HubSpot, Adobe Marketo Engage and Pardot for lead scoring, segmentation and triggered campaigns.

Descript

• Free$0

  60 media minutes per month, 100 one-time AI credits and 720p export with a watermark.

• Hobbyist$16

  per person / month, billed annually ($24 monthly)

  1 person, 10 media hours and 400 AI credits per month, and 1080p export without a watermark.

• Creator$24

  per person / month, billed annually ($35 monthly)

  Up to 3 people, 30 media hours and 800 AI credits per month, and 4K export without a watermark.

• Business$50

  per person / month, billed annually ($65 monthly)

  Up to 5 people, 40 media hours and 1,500 AI credits per month, and 4K export.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom pricing with single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and dedicated support.

Wistia

• Free$0

  1 user, up to 25 GB of storage, 200 GB of bandwidth, basic video analytics and Wistia branding on the player.

• Business$79

  per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)

  3 users with more at $25 each, 250 GB of storage, no Wistia branding, collections and playlists, CTAs and forms, heatmaps and A/B testing.

• Business + Signals$329

  per month, billed annually ($412 billed monthly)

  Business plus the Automation Suite: HubSpot, Marketo and Pardot integrations, lead scoring, triggered campaigns and revenue attribution.

• Webinars$429

  per month, billed annually ($537 billed monthly)

  Everything in Business plus live webinars for up to 500 attendees, 1.5-hour streams, registration pages and the Automation Suite.

• Webinars Plus$829

  per month, billed annually ($1,037 billed monthly)

  1,000 attendees, 3-hour streams, webinars embedded on your own site, simulcast to social platforms and Wistia branding removed.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Storage from 1 TB, custom users, team accounts, SSO, video playback protection and a dedicated customer success manager.

Descript

• Annual discount

  Save up to 35% with annual billing

  Descript's pricing page says annual plans save up to 35% over monthly. Hobbyist is $16 per person per month billed annually versus $24 billed monthly.

• Education

  Education plan from $8 per editor / month

  Students, educators and administrators at accredited institutions can apply for Hobbyist features at $8 per editor per month paid annually, or $12 paid monthly.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit plan from $8 per editor / month

  Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) or equivalent charitable status can apply for the same rate: Hobbyist features at $8 per editor per month paid annually, or $12 paid monthly.

Wistia

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  Wistia's pricing page labels annual billing as saving 20%: Business is $79 a month billed annually against $99 billed monthly, and Business + Signals is $329 against $412.

• Nonprofit

  Discount for nonprofit organizations

  Wistia's help center says it offers a discount to nonprofits that email its support team with documentation of their status. The size of the discount is not stated.