For captions alone, most people need Descript's Hobbyist plan: $16 a month billed yearly, or $24 month to month, as of 19 October 2026. The free plan does make captions, but Descript's help center says exports from a free account are limited to 720p and carry a Descript watermark in the bottom-right corner. Hobbyist removes the watermark, exports at 1080p and includes 10 hours of media a month. Creator, at $24 a month yearly or $35 monthly, is only worth it for captions if you need 4K or more than 10 hours a month.
Descript is a full video and audio editor, so captions are one feature among many. If captions are all you want, a caption tool you pay for once can cost less, and the last sections work out when.
What is Descript?
Descript is an editor that transcribes the media you upload or record and lets you edit the video by editing that transcript, much like a document. On top of that it has AI tools: Studio Sound for audio cleanup, filler-word and retake removal, eye contact correction, green screen, AI voices and avatars, translation and dubbing, and an AI co-editor called Underlord. Captions come straight from the transcript. Its captions help article describes adding a captions layer, picking a style, and letting Descript time it to the speech.
Descript's plans (19 October 2026)
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Media a month | AI credits | Video export |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 60 minutes | 100, one time | 720p, with watermark |
| Hobbyist | $16 | $24 | 10 hours | 400 a month | 1080p, no watermark |
| Creator | $24 | $35 | 30 hours | 800 a month | 4K, no watermark |
| Business | $50 | $65 | 40 hours | 1,500 a month | 4K, no watermark |
Prices are in US dollars per person per month, from Descript's pricing page. The page opens on yearly billing and says it saves up to 35% over monthly. Enterprise is priced on request. Dynamic captions are listed as unlimited on every plan, including Free, so the limits that matter for captions are media minutes, export resolution and the watermark.
Yearly against monthly
Over a year, the gap is real. Hobbyist costs $192 billed yearly against $288 paid month by month. Creator costs $288 against $420, and Business $600 against $780, per person. Yearly billing is the better deal only if you are sure you will still be using Descript in twelve months; monthly costs more but lets you stop after a busy season.
Cost per hour of media
Dividing each price by its media allowance gives a rough cost per hour of video you bring into Descript:
| Plan | Yearly billing, per media hour | Monthly billing, per media hour |
|---|---|---|
| Hobbyist | $1.60 | $2.40 |
| Creator | $0.80 | about $1.17 |
| Business | $1.25 | about $1.63 |
Those figures assume you use the whole allowance every month. Top ups, which the next sections cover, work out at $3 to $5 an hour.
What counts as a media minute
Media minutes are the main limit. Descript's help article on media minutes and AI credits says they count every minute of media you upload or record, including Rooms sessions. The allowance resets each billing cycle, and unused minutes do not roll over. A 6-minute video uses 6 of Hobbyist's 600 minutes; an hour-long podcast you upload to clip from uses 60, even if you only export one short clip.
AI credits are separate. Captions themselves do not need them, but tools like Studio Sound, filler-word removal and Underlord do. Free gets 100 credits once, not every month.
The free plan: exports, watermark and limits
Descript's FAQ says you do not need a credit card to try it, and the free plan is genuinely usable for learning the editor. For publishing captioned video, three limits get in the way:
- 720p exports. Descript's export help page says free plan users are limited to 720p.
- A watermark. The same page says exports from a free drive include a Descript watermark in the bottom-right corner, and that upgrading removes it from future exports only. Old exports have to be exported again.
- 60 media minutes a month. Enough for a few short videos, not a weekly long show.
Uploads on Free are also capped at 1 GB per file, against 10 GB on Hobbyist. Phone footage in 4K reaches 1 GB quickly, so check file sizes before you upload.
Which plan you need just for captions
- Occasional short videos, watermark acceptable: Free.
- Regular short videos at 1080p without a watermark: Hobbyist, at $16 a month yearly or $24 monthly.
- 4K exports, or more than 10 hours a month: Creator, at $24 a month yearly or $35 monthly. Creator is also the cheapest plan that can buy top ups.
- A team of more than three, or translation and dubbing: Business.
If you also record podcasts or interviews with remote guests in Descript Rooms, recording time differs by plan too: the pricing page lists 2 hours on Free, then 5, 15 and 25 hours a month on Hobbyist, Creator and Business. Those recordings also use media minutes.
Top ups, on Creator and Business only, sell extra media at $25 for 5 hours, $80 for 20 hours and $150 for 50 hours, per Descript's help center. They expire 12 months after purchase and are non-refundable.
Descript also exports subtitle files. Its help center says subtitles export as SRT or VTT, separate from the video, and that subtitles embedded in an exported video are not burned in. Burned-in captions come from the captions layer instead. If you need the difference explained, see burned-in vs closed captions and SRT vs VTT vs TXT.
When one-time caption packs cost less
CapsAI sells caption minutes in packs you pay for once: $4 for 20 minutes, $9 for 60 and $19 for 180 (₹49, ₹99 and ₹299 in India; €4, €9 and €19 in the euro area). Nothing renews. There are 3 free minutes to start, watermark-free export comes with every paid pack, and exports are 1080p on the $4 pack and up to 4K on the $9 and $19 packs.
The comparison turns on volume:
- About 20 minutes of captioned video a month: Hobbyist costs $192 a year billed yearly. Twelve $4 packs cost $48.
- About 60 minutes a month: twelve $9 packs cost $108 a year, still less than Hobbyist yearly.
- Several hours a month: Hobbyist's 600 minutes for $24 a month is about 4 cents a minute if you use them all, against 11 to 20 cents a minute on the packs. Descript is cheaper at that volume.
What a pack buys is narrower than a Descript plan. You upload the video, pick the spoken language, edit every word and timing in the browser, choose one of 37 caption styles (8 are free and the other 29 come with any pack), and export an MP4 with the captions burned in. Projects are kept for 3, 7 or 15 days depending on the pack, so download the MP4 when you finish.
When Descript is the better buy
Descript is the right purchase when you need more than captions on short videos. That includes cutting a long recording by editing text, removing filler words, recording remote guests, exporting SRT or VTT files, translating captions or transcribing audio-only podcasts. CapsAI does none of those: it takes MP4 or MOV video up to 10 minutes, with no audio-only upload, no SRT or VTT download and no translation, and it exports one MP4 with the captions burned in. Descript transcribes in 25 languages, including English and Hindi; CapsAI transcribes English, Hinglish and 9 more Indian languages.
Descript's list of transcription languages does not include Hinglish, the Hindi-English mix many Indian creators speak. If your videos mix the two, run a short clip through Descript's free plan and read the transcript before you pay for a year.
How to check before you pay
- Upload one typical video on the free plan and note how many media minutes it used.
- Add a captions layer, pick a style and export, so you see the 720p limit and the watermark for yourself.
- Multiply your monthly video minutes, including any long recordings you only clip from, and compare the total with each plan's allowance.
- Decide on yearly or monthly billing last, once you know which plan fits.
For a side-by-side of the two, the Descript alternative page covers switching. For other brands' prices in one table, see the subtitle generator pricing comparison.
What to do next
If you edit long recordings or need subtitle files, start on Descript's free plan and move to Hobbyist when the watermark or 720p limit stops you. If you only caption short clips, try the 3 free minutes on CapsAI and compare the packs on the pricing page against a year of Hobbyist.