Descript vs Riverside
Edit an existing recording or capture a remote session
At a glance
Descript uses transcript-based editing for spoken audio and video. Riverside combines remote guest recording with separate tracks, editing and repurposing.
Prices, limits and features
Guide updated 2026-10-01. Descript: prices and features as of September 2026; Riverside: prices and features as of September 2026.
| Feature | Descript | Riverside |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | DescriptYes 60 minutes (1 hr) / month of media, 100 AI credits (one-time), 720p export with watermark, 5GB cloud storage, uploads up to 1 GB. A real free plan, not a trial ("Do I need to enter a credit card to try Descript? No"). The 100 AI credits are one-time, not monthly. | RiversideYes 2 hours of multi-track recordings in total (one-off, not monthly); up to 720p; Riverside watermark; unlimited single-track recording and editing; Magic Clips. Riverside's pricing page lists this Free plan, but viewed from India on 2026-09-25 it showed only paid plans, each with a 14-day free trial. |
| Paid plan pricing | DescriptHobbyist: US$24/mo, or US$16/mo billed yearly Per person/month, in USD. Usage is metered in two pools: media minutes (any upload or recording, transcribed or not) and AI credits (Underlord, Studio Sound, translation, generative media). Allowances reset each billing cycle and unused minutes/credits do not roll over. Top-ups are available on Creator and Business only (not Free or Hobbyist). | RiversidePro: US$29/mo, or US$24/mo billed yearly US$24/mo = US$288 billed annually. Paid plans start with a 14-day free trial. AI Credits (Pro starts with 2,000, Business with 12,000) pay for AI translation, AI B-roll and animated clips; Magic Clips, Magic Audio and the AI Co-Creator use no credits. |
| Languages | Descript25 languages transcription | Riverside100+ languages transcription |
| AI clips from long video | DescriptYes "Create clips" AI tool (1-20 clips, 10 s to 5 min each). Pricing table: "Repurpose media: Create clips, highlights" is Limited on Free, included on Hobbyist and up; uses AI credits. | RiversideYes Magic Clips: pick highlights, a focus speaker or topics; adjust length and layout. |
| Transcription | DescriptYes Text-based editing on every plan; transcription is metered as media minutes. | RiversideYes Unlimited on paid plans; SRT and TXT export. |
| Subtitles / captions burned in | DescriptYes "Dynamic captions: Automatically create animated captions for your videos", unlimited on every plan. | RiversideYes Styled, animated captions on video; SRT download too. |
| Translation | DescriptYes Translate captions and Dub speech: Limited on Free, included Hobbyist and up; lip-sync Creator and up; translation proofread Business and Enterprise only. Uses AI credits. | RiversideYes AI translation with dubbing and lip sync into 30 languages, on Pro, Grow, Webinar and Business; uses AI credits. |
| Speaker labels | DescriptYes "Detect 8+ speakers" on every plan; automatic speaker detection and labelling. | RiversideYes Speaker detection with a renameable track per speaker, including uploads; only the free no-sign-up transcriber puts a multi-speaker file under one speaker. |
| YouTube timestamps / chapters | DescriptYes Markers/Add Chapters AI tool; "Copy chapters for YouTube" copies a formatted chapter list for the video description (YouTube ignores chapter metadata in files). Add chapters is Limited on Free. | RiversideYes AI Show Notes generates summaries, takeaways and chapters. |
| Audiograms | DescriptYes Waveform layers: "Add an animated audio visualizer for audiograms or podcast clips." | RiversideYes Audio-only video with background, logo and captions, on all plans. |
| Public API | DescriptYes "API access is available for all paying users at no additional cost." Usage draws from plan media minutes and AI credits. Page says it is in early access. | RiversidePartly API access is listed on the Business (contact sales) plan only; the Riverside MCP is on Grow and up. |
| Mobile app | DescriptNo Help center: "Descript is not officially supported on mobile browsers or tablet devices like Chromebooks or iPads." Desktop apps are macOS and Windows, plus Descript for Web. | RiversideYes iPhone, iPad (iOS 17+) and Android (7.0+) apps. |
| Team workspaces | DescriptYes Shared drive with a general workspace; Creator scales to 3 editors, Business to 5. Custom workspaces are Enterprise-only. | RiversidePartly Extra editor seats are an add-on on Pro, Grow and Webinar; collaborative editing and custom roles are Business-only. |
Descript plan allowances
- Media minutes per editor: 60 minutes / month (Free)
- Media minutes per editor: 600 minutes (10 hrs) / month (Hobbyist)
- Media minutes per editor: 1800 minutes (30 hrs) / month (Creator)
- Media minutes per editor: 2400 minutes (40 hrs) / month (Business)
- Max upload file size: 1 GB (Free)
- Max upload file size: 10 GB (Hobbyist)
- Max upload file size: 20 GB (Creator)
- Max upload file size: 50 GB (Business)
- Video export resolution: 720p (watermarked) (Free)
- Video export resolution: 1080p (Hobbyist)
- Video export resolution: 4k (Creator and Business)
- Web-link video export duration: 1 hour (Free and Hobbyist)
- Web-link video export duration: 3 hours (Creator and Business)
- Cloud storage: 5GB (Free), 100GB (Hobbyist), 1TB (Creator), 2TB (Business)
- Seats: 1 (Free, Hobbyist), 1-3 (Creator), up to 5 (Business)
Riverside plan allowances
- Multi-track recording: 2 hours, one-off (Free)
- Recording hours: Unlimited ("Recording itself is unlimited") (Pro, Grow, Webinar and Business)
- Separate-track downloads per month: 15 / 20 / 25 hours (Pro / Grow / Webinar)
- People recorded per session: 10 (9 guests + the host)
- AI translation input length: under 60 minutes, up to 4 speakers
Where Descript wins
- A full text-based video and podcast editor (edit the video by editing the transcript) with Mac and Windows desktop apps, remote recording and screen recording, well beyond a transcription or clipping tool.
- Caption translation into 61 languages and AI dubbing into 30 languages, with lip-sync from the Creator plan.
- Large uploads: files up to 10 GB on Hobbyist ($16/mo billed yearly) and up to 50 GB on Business.
Where Riverside wins
- It records: remote studio-quality recording up to 4K with separate audio and video tracks per participant, for a remote studio workflow. Exemplary also supports browser camera and screen recording; its published plans do not establish this separate-track remote studio workflow.
- Podcast hosting, live streaming and webinars sit in the same subscription (Grow and Webinar).
- Native iOS and Android apps, and unlimited transcription on paid plans in 100+ languages.
Try it on your own material
Record a short remote interview, then remove a false start and export separate audio tracks. Compare the capture setup and the editing stage as two separate tasks.
Create more from every recording
Exemplary AI turns a recording into a transcript in 99 languages, short clips, subtitles, audiograms and written content, all in one workspace. The Free plan includes 200 one-time credits; paid plans offer additional credits and features.