Basic
$0
Comparison · prices checked every day
Synthesia vs Descript: which is worth paying for?
The current plans and our verdict on each tool, side by side. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page and are checked every day.
The short answer
Choose Synthesia if…
- Synthesia costs $29/month for the Starter plan.
- Synthesia Starter includes 10 minutes of video and 48 minutes of AI Dubbing.
- Synthesia Starter removes the logo and adds 125+ AI Avatars.
Choose Descript if…
Our pick for most people
- Descript costs $16/month for the Hobbyist plan.
- Descript Hobbyist includes 600 minutes of media and 400 AI credits.
- Descript Hobbyist exports 1080p video without watermarks.
Bottom line: Pay for Descript to get 600 media minutes and 1080p exports for $16/month.
Key differences
- Synthesia Starter costs $29/month and provides 10 video minutes plus 48 minutes of AI Dubbing. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (synthesia.io), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Descript Hobbyist costs $16/month and provides 600 media minutes plus 400 AI credits. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (descript.com), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Synthesia Starter includes 125+ AI Avatars and removes the logo. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (synthesia.io), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Descript Hobbyist exports watermark-free 1080p video and includes Studio Sound. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (descript.com), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Synthesia Creator costs $89/month for 30 video minutes and 140 minutes of AI Dubbing. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (synthesia.io), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
- Descript Creator costs $24/month for 30 media hours and 800 AI credits. pricing pageSource · vendor pagePricing page (descript.com), checked Sep 24, 2026.Go to sources ↓
Plans and limits side by side
| Plans | Synthesia | Descript |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic $0Video minutes 10 minutes of video / month, AI Dubbing 10 mins of AI-Dubbing, AI-generated… | Free $0Media minutes 60 minutes (1 hr) / month, AI credits 100 (one-time), Video export resoluti… |
| Paid plans | Starter $29/moVideo minutes 10 minutes of video / month, AI Dubbing 48 mins of AI Dubbing, AI-generated…Creator $89/moVideo minutes 30 minutes of video / month, AI Dubbing 140 mins of AI Dubbing, AI-generate… | — |
| Business plans | Enterprise CustomVideo minutes Unlimited minutes of video, AI Dubbing Unlimited minutes of dubbing, AI Ava… | Hobbyist $16/user/moMedia minutes 600 minutes (10 hrs) / month, AI credits 400 / month, Video export resoluti…Creator $24/user/moMedia minutes 1800 minutes (30 hrs) / month, AI credits 800 / month, Video export resolut…Business $50/user/moMedia minutes 2400 minutes (40 hrs) / month, AI credits 1500 / month, Video export resolu…Enterprise Custom |
From each vendor's own pricing page · Synthesia checked Sep 27, 2026 · Descript checked Sep 27, 2026.
Our tests
We have not run our task suite on Synthesia or Descript yet, so this comparison has no test scores.
Questions people ask
Which tool is cheaper for monthly use?
Descript Hobbyist costs $16/month, while Synthesia Starter costs $29/month.
What is included in the free plans?
Synthesia Basic offers 10 video minutes and 10 AI Dubbing minutes. Descript Free offers 60 media minutes and 100 one-time AI credits.
Does Synthesia include AI Dubbing?
Yes, Synthesia plans include AI Dubbing minutes, starting with 10 minutes in the free plan and 48 minutes in the Starter plan.
Does Descript include AI credits?
Yes, Descript plans include monthly AI credits, starting with 100 one-time credits in the free plan and 400 in the Hobbyist plan.
Sources
Drafted with AI from these pages, our tests and the linked user reports, and checked automatically against them before publishing: every price, score and report above is tied to the tool it is about.
Synthesia
- Pricing page · checked Sep 24, 2026synthesia.io/pricing ↩ text
Descript
- Pricing page · checked Sep 24, 2026descript.com/pricing ↩ text
Each tool's verdict and plans
Synthesia
DEPENDS DEPENDS — worth it for some people
The free plan is generous for learning, but paying is essential for removing the logo and accessing dubbing.
Based on pricing & docs — not yet tested by us
- Cheapest paid
- $29/mo
- What's free
- $0
- Our test score
- —
Starter
$29/mo
Creator
$89/mo
Enterprise
Custom
Descript
YES YES — worth paying for
Descript's free plan is too limited for regular video editing; paying unlocks essential AI tools and higher export quality.
Based on pricing & docs — not yet tested by us
- Cheapest paid
- $16/user/mo
- What's free
- $0
- Our test score
- —
Free
$0
Hobbyist
$16/user/mo
Creator
$24/user/mo
Business
$50/user/mo
Enterprise
Custom
How we make money
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