Async review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Chat-based video editor with AI voices, dubbing and music
Black Friday: is there a Async sale?
Async report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for editing video by chatting with an AI
Async is a chat-based video editor with AI voices, dubbing and music. But everything AI is metered in credits that a single premium video can eat dozens of, dubbing and lip sync don't start until the $49.99 Teams plan, and the free plan is lifetime allowances.
Who Async is for
- Fits if you make videos or podcasts and want to edit by typing what you want
- Works for creators who also want AI voiceover in the same tool
Who Async is not for
- Tight if you stay free: allowances are lifetime, not monthly, at 1 hour and 10 credits
- Pricey if you want dubbing and lip sync, which start on Teams at $49.99 a creator
- Watch out: AI use burns credits fast, and premium models can use dozens per video
- Watch out: English-only subtitles on Essentials and Pro, and no desktop app
- Watch out: the trial's length isn't stated
Why Async gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyEssentials is $11.99 a month billed yearly, above the voices middle of $10. Credits meter all AI use, and 450 credits is about 61 videos from one premium model.
- CFree plan and trialThe Free plan is 1 hour of media for AI chat and 10 AI credits, both lifetime. Paid plans have a free trial of unstated length.
- CFeaturesChat editing, text to speech, voice cloning, generation, recording and clips. Dubbing and lip sync start at Teams, and subtitles are English only on Essentials and Pro.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You learn the credits and which model to spend them on.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb and iPhone, with Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Async's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/async#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/async.svg" alt="Async: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Async stands among AI voice generators
Async's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 18 of the 43 other AI voice generators we grade, and level with 9.
It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 20 of 43) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $11.99 a month, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 21 of the 33 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 6 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 44 AI voice generators we grade, cut by the letter each got. Async’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 4 of 43, level with 27
- CFree plan and trialAbove 12 of 43, level with 26
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 43, level with 26
- CEase of useAbove 7 of 43, level with 33
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 20 of 43, level with 21
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 34 AI voice generators. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Async, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Async you would be making a voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It costs $143.88 a year.
What you could not
- A voice model, which you can rent by the minute but not make.
- A voice model trained on your recordings.
- A video editor.
- A video model, which you can rent by the second but not make.
- An image model, which you can rent by the picture but not make.
- Speech turned into text you can trust.
- A real app for iOS. Something home-made would be a web page.
What this rests on. Async’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Async?
Async, formerly Podcastle, is an AI creative suite built around a chat-based video editor. Alongside editing it generates video, images, voices, music and sound effects, and includes text to speech, voice cloning, subtitles, dubbing and lip sync. The older podcast recording and hosting studio now sits inside the same product, and usage is metered in monthly credits.
Worth knowing
- Everything AI is metered in credits, and a single video from a premium model can use dozens; Essentials' 450 credits is about 61 Kling 3.0 videos or 900 Nano Banana 2 images.
- The Free plan's credits and media hours are lifetime allowances, not monthly ones.
- Dubbing and lip sync start on the Teams plan, and subtitles are English only on Essentials and Pro.
- The prices read are for yearly billing; the monthly-billing prices were not shown in the page text.
Key features
- Chat-based video editing
- You tell the editor what to cut, pace or polish and it makes the edit, including removing filler and pauses, syncing cuts to music, and adding captions.
- Text to speech and voice cloning
- Voices can be generated in chat or through the standalone text-to-speech and voice cloning tools. Paid plans include monthly text-to-speech hours.
- Dubbing and lip sync
- AI dubbing and lip sync, with multilingual voices, are listed from the Teams plan.
- Video, image, music and sound effects generation
- Credits are spent on third-party models such as Kling, Veo, Seedance, Nano Banana and GPT Image; the pricing page lists credit costs per video or image.
- Recording, audio cleanup and hosting
- The former Podcastle studio records remote guests, removes noise with Magic Dust, edits audio by transcript and publishes to Spotify, Apple and YouTube.
- Clips and subtitles
- Finds strong moments to turn into short clips for social platforms and adds subtitles, English only on lower plans.
Async pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Async has a free plan, and paid plans start at $11.99 per month, billed annually.
- Starts at
- $11.99 per month, billed annually
- Free plan
- 1 hour of media for the AI chat and 10 AI credits, both one-time.
- Free trial
- A free trial is offered on the paid plans; the page does not state its length.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 hour of media uploaded to AI chat (lifetime) and 10 AI credits (lifetime). |
| Essentials | $11.99per month, billed annually | 450 credits a month, 4 hours of recording, 2 hours of text to speech, 20 GB of storage and English-only AI subtitles. |
| Pro | $23.99per month, billed annually | 1,200 credits a month, 20 hours of recording, 10 hours of text to speech, 120 GB of storage and AI video enhancement. |
| Teams | $49.99per creator / month, billed annually | 3,000 credits a month, 40 hours of text to speech, 1 TB of storage, dubbing and lip sync, brand kit and basic user management. |
| Business | Custom | Custom credits, hours and storage, advanced user management, priority support and security and compliance. Sold through sales. |
Read from async.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Async before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 40% with yearly plans
The pricing page shows a Yearly toggle labelled 40% off, and shows savings of $96 on Essentials, $192 on Pro and $420 on Teams per year.
Stated on async.com
How people rate the Async app
4.2
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
- 5 stars73%
- 4 stars7%
- 3 stars5%
- 2 stars4%
- 1 star12%
546 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
Async alternatives
- Async vs ElevenLabs
Free plan · from $5/mo
- Async vs Murf
Free trial · from $19/mo
- Async vs Fliki
Free plan · from $28/mo
- Async vs Speechify
Free plan · from $29/mo
- Async vs Rask AI
Free plan · from $28/mo
Common questions
Does Async have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Async is listed for Web and iOS.
Does Async have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Async is listed for Web and iOS.
Is Async open source?
Async is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.