--- title: "Descript vs Riverside" description: "Descript vs Riverside: edit an existing recording or capture a remote session. Compare prices, free-plan allowances and product features." url: https://exemplary.ai/compare/descript-vs-riverside facts_as_of: 2026-10-01 publisher: "Exemplary AI (https://exemplary.ai)" --- # 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. Descript vs Riverside: Prices, limits and features | Feature | Descript | Riverside | | --- | --- | --- | | Free plan | Yes (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.) | Yes (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 | Hobbyist: 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).) | Pro: 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 | 25 languages (transcription) | 100+ languages (transcription) | | AI clips from long video | Yes ("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.) | Yes (Magic Clips: pick highlights, a focus speaker or topics; adjust length and layout.) | | Transcription | Yes (Text-based editing on every plan; transcription is metered as media minutes.) | Yes (Unlimited on paid plans; SRT and TXT export.) | | Subtitles / captions burned in | Yes ("Dynamic captions: Automatically create animated captions for your videos", unlimited on every plan.) | Yes (Styled, animated captions on video; SRT download too.) | | Translation | Yes (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.) | Yes (AI translation with dubbing and lip sync into 30 languages, on Pro, Grow, Webinar and Business; uses AI credits.) | | Speaker labels | Yes ("Detect 8+ speakers" on every plan; automatic speaker detection and labelling.) | Yes (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 | Yes (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.) | Yes (AI Show Notes generates summaries, takeaways and chapters.) | | Audiograms | Yes (Waveform layers: "Add an animated audio visualizer for audiograms or podcast clips.") | Yes (Audio-only video with background, logo and captions, on all plans.) | | Public API | Yes ("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.) | Partly (API access is listed on the Business (contact sales) plan only; the Riverside MCP is on Grow and up.) | | Mobile app | No (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.) | Yes (iPhone, iPad (iOS 17+) and Android (7.0+) apps.) | | Team workspaces | Yes (Shared drive with a general workspace; Creator scales to 3 editors, Business to 5. Custom workspaces are Enterprise-only.) | Partly (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. [Try Exemplary AI](https://exemplary.ai/signup) [Explore plans](https://exemplary.ai/pricing) ## Before you subscribe ### How do Descript and Riverside differ? Descript uses transcript-based editing for spoken audio and video. Riverside combines remote guest recording with separate tracks, editing and repurposing. ### How should I test these tools before subscribing? 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. ### When were these prices and features updated? The page was updated October 1, 2026. Descript's facts are dated September 2026; Riverside's facts are dated September 2026. Prices vary by billing period, currency and tax. [Explore every comparison](https://exemplary.ai/exemplary-ai-alternatives) > Exemplary AI is a browser-based AI tool that turns long videos and recordings into short captioned clips, transcripts in 99 languages, subtitles, translations into 116 languages, and written posts such as summaries, blog posts and YouTube chapters. It is built for YouTubers, podcasters and marketing teams; the Free plan includes 200 one-time credits with watermarked video exports. Pricing: https://exemplary.ai/pricing