ComparisonUpdated Prices checked

Crayo vs Descript

As of October 9, 2026, Crayo is the better pick for clippers turning a podcast or interview into shorts: AutoClip ranks the moments, reframes faces to 9:16 and charges one credit per finished clip, $19 a month for 250 clips with cleanup included. Descript is the better pick if you edit whole episodes by editing the transcript, or need Mac or Windows apps, voice clones or 4K. The evidence follows.

Pick Crayo if

  • You clip podcasts and interviews for Reels, Shorts and TikTok: AutoClip finds and ranks the moments, reframes faces to 9:16 and cuts 1 to 20 clips per run. Descript has no automatic reframing and crops by hand.
  • You want one meter: Crayo charges 1 credit per finished clip, with filler-word and silence cuts included as AutoClip layers, while Descript meters media hours plus AI credits for every Underlord action.
  • You want the timeline editor, 32 caption styles in 56 spoken languages and a 34-endpoint API on the $19 entry plan, with no watermark on any export.

Pick Descript if

  • You edit whole episodes by editing text. Descript's transcript editor, Studio Sound and Multicam are built for long-form, and Crayo's editor is a timeline, not a text editor.
  • You need a native Mac or Windows app, voice clones, or 4K export. Crayo is a browser app, has no voice cloning and exports at 1080p.
  • You need team seats, a free tier or enterprise compliance: Creator carries 1 to 3 seats, Business 5, Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and SOC 2.

Crayo publishes this page and sells one of the products compared. Every competitor fact links to its source and carries the date we checked it. Spotted an error? Email support@crayo.ai and we correct it within 48 hours.

At a glance

At a glanceCrayoDescript
Entry priceHobby $19/mo or $160/yr (about $13.33/mo)Hobbyist $24/mo; annual $16/mo
What the entry plan buys250 clips (workflow credits), 2 hours of export, 25GB storage, the timeline editor and the API; also 30 voiceover minutes, 100 AI images and 1 tracked account10 media hours and 400 AI credits a month, 1080p without a watermark, 100 GB storage, one seat
Metering unit1 workflow credit per finished clip, plus export minutesMedia hours uploaded per month plus AI credits spent on Underlord, Studio Sound, Green Screen, Eye Contact and generated media
Free tierNone. Twelve free browser tools need no account and never upload the file.1 media hour a month, 100 one-time AI credits, 720p with a watermark, 5 GB storage
Export resolutionUp to 1080p720p on Free, 1080p on Hobbyist, 4K on Creator and above
Auto clippingIncludedAutoClip, 1 to 20 clips per runIncludedCreate Clips with Underlord
Face-aware reframingIncludedFace-aware camera trackNot includedManual crop; Eye Contact and Multicam instead
Timeline editor on every planIncludedCamera, keyframes, zooms, speed rampsIncludedText editor plus timeline, Free included
Native schedulingNot includedDownload and post yourselfNot includedPublish pages only
Public APIIncluded34 endpoints on every planIncludedREST API plus an MCP server
Cancel in appIncludedOne click in SettingsNot statedNot stated on the pricing page

Descript facts from www.descript.com/pricing, checked Oct 8, 2026. Crayo facts from the live plan table at crayo.ai/pricing.

Pricing side by side

A worked example for a clipper's month, then every plan from both vendors. Descript prices were checked Oct 8, 2026.

A typical monthCrayoDescript
Plan neededHobbyHobbyist
Cost$19/mo or about $13.33/mo yearly$24/mo or $16/mo yearly, per person
Allowance used32 of 250 workflow credits and about 32 of 120 export minutes4 of 10 media hours; clips made with Underlord also spend AI credits from the 400 monthly pool
NotePrices from the live plan table. Filler and silence cuts cost nothing extra.Descript does not publish a credit cost per clip, so the credit side cannot be totalled.

Scenario: One 60-minute source a week, eight clips each: 240 source minutes and 32 clips a month.

All Descript plans (5)Show
Descript planMonthlyAnnualWhat is meteredIncludes
Free$0n/a1 media hour per month plus 100 one-time AI credits
  • 720p export with a watermark
  • 1 GB per upload, 5 GB storage
  • 100 AI credits once, not renewed monthly
  • Text-based editor
HobbyistPer person. Annual figure is the per-month rate shown on the pricing page.$24/mo$16/mo10 media hours per month plus 400 AI credits per month
  • 1080p export, no watermark
  • 10 GB per upload, 100 GB storage
  • 1 seat
  • Underlord, Studio Sound, Eye Contact and generated media spend credits
CreatorPer person. Annual figure is the per-month rate shown on the pricing page.$35/mo$24/mo30 media hours per month plus 800 AI credits per month, top-ups allowed
  • 4K export
  • 20 GB per upload, 1 TB storage
  • 1 to 3 seats
  • Credit top-ups
BusinessPer person. Annual figure is the per-month rate shown on the pricing page.$65/mo$50/mo40 media hours per month plus 1,500 AI credits per month
  • Up to 5 seats
  • 50 GB per upload, 2 TB storage
  • Brand Studio
  • SLA
EnterpriseCustomCustomCustom media hours and credits
  • SSO and SCIM
  • SOC 2 reporting
  • Contact sales pricing

From www.descript.com/pricing, checked Oct 8, 2026. Pricing page fetched directly on Oct 8, 2026. Monthly and annual per-month figures are as the page states them, per person. Annual totals are not captured, so annualTotal is left out. The September 2025 switch to media hours plus credits is a third-party account (castmagic.io) and is cited as such in prose. Refund terms come from the Descript help center.

All Crayo plans (3)Show
Crayo planMonthlyYearlyClips (credits)ExportStorage
Hobby$19/mo$160/yr (about $13.33/mo)250 per month2 hours25GB
Clipper$39/mo$327/yr (about $27.25/mo)1,000 per month10 hours100GB
Pro$79/mo$664/yr (about $55.33/mo)3,000 per month30 hours500GB

Read from the live plan table, the same source as crayo.ai/pricing. Credits reset each cycle and do not roll over; one-time top-up packs are separate.

Feature by feature

FeatureCrayoDescript
Clipping
Long video to short clipsIncludedAutoClip, 1 to 20 clips per runIncludedCreate Clips with Underlord
Moment rankingIncludedVirality ranking in AutoClip and Find Viral MomentsPartialUnderlord picks moments, no ranked list
Face-aware reframingIncludedFace-aware camera trackNot includedManual crop; Eye Contact and Multicam instead
Max source length3 hours or 4 GB per upload1, 10, 20 or 50 GB per upload by plan
LayoutsSpeaker, streamer, split, fullCaption layouts: Bold, Editorial, Simple, Vintage
Captions and editing
Timeline editor on every planIncludedCamera, keyframes, zooms, speed rampsIncludedText editor plus timeline, Free included
Caption styles32 stylesNot statedCount not published; four layouts
Caption languages56 spoken languages61 for captions, 30 for dubbing
B-rollPartialAdd your own clips in the editorIncludedGenerated B-roll, spends credits
4K exportNot included1080p maximumPartialCreator and Business only
Distribution
Native schedulingNot includedDownload and post yourselfNot includedPublish pages only
Post analyticsPartialSocial Tracker, not per-post statsNot included
Creator trackingIncludedInstagram, YouTube, TikTok; 1 to 10 accountsNot included
Public APIIncluded34 endpoints on every planIncludedREST API plus an MCP server
WebhooksIncludedNot statedNot stated on the API page
Platform
Web appIncludedIncluded
Desktop appNot includedIncludedMac (macOS 14+) and Windows 11
Mobile appNot includedBrowser app onlyNot includedNot advertised
Team seatsNot includedIncluded1 to 3 on Creator, 5 on Business
Billing
Free tierNot includedFree browser tools onlyIncluded1 media hour, 720p, watermark
Free trialNot includedNot statedNot stated on the pricing page
Metering1 credit per finished clipMedia hours plus AI credits
Credit rolloverNot includedTop-up packs are separateNot statedNot stated; Free credits are one-time
Refund policyNo refunds, all sales finalWithin 48 hours of the invoice, no proration
Cancel in appIncludedOne click in SettingsNot statedNot stated on the pricing page
Also included
AI imagesIncluded100 to 500 per month by planIncludedImage and video generation, spends credits
AI voiceoverIncludedHundreds of voices, 30 to 180 minutes by planIncludedStock voices and clones, spends credits
Voice cloningNot includedIncludedOverdub-class clones
AI avatarsNot includedNot statedNot on the pricing page
Reddit story videosIncludedNot included
Fake text videosIncludediMessage-styleNot included

Included, Partial and Not included describe what each product publishes as of the prices-checked date. Not stated means the vendor does not publish it.

Where Crayo wins

  1. 01

    Crayo reframes faces automatically; Descript does not.

    Descript's product pages describe manual crop and drag for vertical output, with Eye Contact and Multicam as its camera tools, checked Oct 8, 2026. Crayo's AutoClip runs a face-aware camera track on every clip and the editor exposes the same track with keyframes. Source

  2. 02

    Crayo meters by finished clip; Descript meters media hours plus AI credits.

    Descript Hobbyist includes 10 media hours and 400 AI credits a month for $24, and Underlord, Studio Sound, Green Screen, Eye Contact and generated media all draw credits, per its pricing page on Oct 8, 2026. A third-party pricing history dates the switch to media hours plus credits to September 2025. Crayo charges 1 workflow credit per clip and nothing for the editing layers. Source

  3. 03

    Crayo's filler and silence cuts are free layers, not metered extras.

    In AutoClip, filler cuts and silence cuts are two of the ten switchable layers, included in the clip's single credit. One Trustpilot reviewer on Oct 2, 2026 reported spending 800 Descript credits on filler-pause cleanup; the quote is linked in the billing section. Source

  4. 04

    Crayo runs in the browser with nothing to install and exports to 1080p on the entry plan.

    Descript ships Mac (macOS 14 or later) and Windows 11 apps alongside its web editor, and its Free plan exports 720p with a watermark. Crayo has no free plan, but every paid plan exports 1080p without a watermark. Source

Where Descript wins

  1. 01

    Descript is the stronger long-form, text-based editor.

    Deleting a sentence in the transcript deletes it from the video, and Underlord, Studio Sound and Multicam work on whole episodes. Crayo's editor is a timeline with a camera track and caption styles, built for clips, not full podcasts. Source

  2. 02

    Descript has native desktop apps, voice clones and 4K export.

    Mac (macOS 14+) and Windows 11 apps are on the download page, voice cloning is included, and 4K export starts on Creator at $35 a month or $24 a month billed annually, checked Oct 8, 2026. Crayo is browser-only, has no cloning and tops out at 1080p. Source

  3. 03

    Descript has a free tier, team seats and enterprise compliance.

    Free gives 1 media hour a month at 720p with a watermark. Creator carries 1 to 3 seats, Business up to 5 seats with an SLA, and Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and SOC 2. Crayo has no free plan and no team seats. Source

  4. 04

    Descript's API ships with an MCP server.

    Descript publishes an API and an MCP server at descript.com/api and descript.com/mcp. Crayo's API has 34 endpoints and webhooks on every plan but no MCP server as of Oct 9, 2026. Source

Billing and cancellation

Each side's published terms. At most two dated user quotes, each tied to a row in the table above. No scores.

Crayo

  • No free tier and no trial.
  • No refunds. All sales are final.
  • Cancel any time in one click from Settings. The plan stays active to the end of the cycle and nothing further is charged.
  • Credits reset monthly and do not roll over; top-up packs are separate.

Source: crayo.ai/refund-policy

Descript

  • Refunds: Refunds are granted only within 48 hours of the invoice, and there is no proration for unused time, per the Descript refund policy checked Oct 8, 2026.
  • Cancellation: Cancellation steps are not described on the pricing page.
  • Descript bills per person and meters two pools at once, media hours and AI credits; the Free plan's 100 credits are a one-time grant. Refunds are granted only within 48 hours of the invoice with no proration, per Descript's refund policy.

Source: help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10255871027469-Refund-policy, checked Oct 8, 2026

“Burned through 800 credits just trying to clean up filler pauses”

User review, Oct 2, 2026, on the metering row

“extremely difficult to cancel your subscription”

Hands-on test

Superiority claims need a described test behind them. This is the test and its status.

Status
Scheduled, not yet run
Source
A 45-minute two-person podcast recording owned by Crayo
Plans
Descript Hobbyist and Crayo Clipper, same file, same day, defaults first then one tuned run each

Until this test runs, the page shows no timings, clip counts or screenshots, and every claim above comes from published pricing and documentation. The results table replaces this note when it is done.

Show the protocol
  1. Same source file through both tools on the same day, defaults first, then one tuned run each.
  2. We pay for the competitor's entry paid plan and Crayo's Clipper plan and record browser, date and plan.
  3. We record time to first clip, total wall time, clips produced, clips judged usable, credits spent, list-price dollars for the run, export resolution, caption word errors on a fixed 60-second segment, and whether the speaker stayed framed.
  4. Usable means: starts and ends on a complete sentence, hook in the first two seconds, speaker framed, captions accurate enough to post without edits. Two reviewers, disagreements noted.
  5. If the competitor wins a row, it stays. If a run fails, we say so and show the error.

Switching from Descript to Crayo

  1. 01

    Paste a link or upload the file

    AutoClip accepts YouTube and TikTok links or file upload (up to 4 GB, 1 minute to 3 hours). Nothing to migrate from the other tool.

  2. 02

    Pick a layout and an intensity

    Speaker, streamer, split or full layout; subtle, balanced, dynamic or max editing; 1 to 20 clips per run.

  3. 03

    Export at 1080p or open the editor

    Download the clips as they are, or open any clip in the timeline editor to change captions, camera, zooms and music.

Your source files are yours on both sides. Crayo does not need an export from Descript; it works from the original video, and clips you already made in Descript stay wherever you saved them.

Questions clippers ask

For clipping, usually. Crayo Hobby is $19 a month or $160 a year for 250 workflow credits, and one credit is one finished clip. Descript Hobbyist is $24 a month or $16 a month billed annually, per person, for 10 media hours and 400 AI credits. The media hours cover four hour-long episodes with room to spare, but every Underlord action, Studio Sound pass and generated image draws from the credit pool, and Descript does not publish a credit cost per clip. If you edit full episodes in text and clip rarely, Descript's hour-based pool is the fairer deal.

No. Crayo has no free plan and no trial. The entry plan is Hobby at $19 a month, and the only free products are twelve browser tools at crayo.ai/features/free that need no account and never upload your file. Descript's Free plan includes 1 media hour a month, 100 AI credits granted once, 720p export with a watermark and 5 GB of storage, so it is a real way to try the text editor before paying.

Descript now meters two pools: media hours uploaded per month and AI credits spent on Underlord, Studio Sound, Green Screen, Eye Contact and generated media. On Oct 8, 2026 the tiers were Free at 1 hour and 100 one-time credits, Hobbyist at 10 hours and 400 credits for $24, Creator at 30 hours and 800 credits for $35, and Business at 40 hours and 1,500 credits for $65, all per person with lower annual rates. A third-party pricing history dates the move to September 2025. Crayo meters one pool, workflow credits, at one credit per finished clip.

No. As of Oct 8, 2026, Descript's clip and layout tools crop vertical video by hand; its camera features are Eye Contact, which corrects gaze, and Multicam, which switches between recorded angles. Crayo runs a face-aware camera track on every AutoClip clip, so a two-person podcast stays framed as speakers change, and the same track is editable with keyframes in the timeline editor. If you clip talking-head or podcast footage to 9:16, this is the row that decides.

It depends on the job. For producing the episode, Descript: transcript editing, Studio Sound, filler-word removal and Multicam are made for long recordings, and the Mac and Windows apps handle big files locally. For turning that episode into shorts, Crayo: AutoClip ranks the moments, reframes faces, captions in 56 spoken languages and cuts up to 20 clips per run, with filler and silence cuts included in the clip's credit. Many podcasters will use both; this page is for the ones choosing one.

Yes, and nothing needs migrating. Export the episode from Descript or paste the YouTube link, upload it to AutoClip (up to 3 hours or 4 GB), pick a layout and intensity, and review the ranked clips. On Hobby you have 250 credits and 120 export minutes a month; Clipper raises that to 1000 credits and 600 export minutes for $39 a month. Clip Cutter also takes manual ranges for free when you already know the moment you want. Your source files stay yours on both sides, and there is no project format to convert.

Neither tool schedules posts. Descript publishes to a shareable page and otherwise exports a file; Crayo exports a file for you to post yourself. Crayo's Social Tracker follows Instagram, YouTube and TikTok creators for posting cadence and viral outliers, which is research, not scheduling or per-post analytics. Descript has no post analytics either. If native scheduling is your deciding feature, look at a clipper that includes one rather than either of these; Opus Clip is the usual example and has its own page in the related comparisons below.

Crayo cancels in one click from Settings; the plan stays active to the end of the cycle and nothing further is charged. Descript's pricing page does not describe the cancellation steps, and its refund policy grants refunds only within 48 hours of the invoice with no proration. One dated Trustpilot review about cancelling is linked in the billing section of this page. On both sides, cancel before the renewal date to avoid a charge you cannot get back.

Yes, as extras on the same plan. Every Crayo plan also includes story-video, text-conversation, AI voiceover and AI image generators, each finished one costing 1 credit from the same monthly pool as clips. Descript has none of these; its pricing page lists AI image and video generation as credit-metered, checked Oct 8, 2026. None of this changes the clipping comparison above, but a clipper who occasionally needs a voiceover or a story video does not need a second subscription for it.

Try it on your own clips

Try it on your own video

Paste a YouTube or TikTok link or upload a file. Every tool is on every plan.

Clip a video now

About this page

What changed and when. The updated date above only moves when something here does.

  • First published. Descript prices checked Oct 8, 2026: Hobbyist $24/mo or $16/mo billed annually with 10 media hours and 400 AI credits, Creator $35/mo or $24/mo annually with 4K, refunds only within 48 hours of the invoice.

Descript is a trademark of its owner, used here only to identify the product compared. Sources: www.descript.com/pricing, help.descript.com/hc/en-us/articles/10255871027469-Refund-policy.

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