Descript has a free plan and three paid ones. On Descript's pricing page, checked September 29, 2026, Hobbyist is $16 per seat per month billed yearly ($24 month to month), Creator is $24 ($35), and Business is $50 ($65). Enterprise is custom.
The monthly fee is only part of the cost, because every plan also meters media hours (audio and video you upload or record) and AI credits. We build Jellypod, an AI podcast generator, so below we price the same weekly 30-minute show on Descript and on Jellypod. They do different jobs, and the numbers are easier to compare once you see that.
Key takeaways
- Descript paid plans run $16, $24, or $50 per seat per month billed yearly, or $24, $35, or $65 billed monthly.
- Included media hours are 10, 30, and 40 a month, and AI credits are 400, 800, and 1,500. Neither rolls over.
- A weekly 30-minute interview show uses about 3.25 media hours a month, so Hobbyist covers it for about $3.69 an episode before hosting.
- Only Creator and Business can buy top-ups, so a Hobbyist user who runs out has to upgrade.
- Jellypod bills 30 credits per generated minute: the same show is 900 credits an episode, about $5.77 on Starter with hosting included. Descript edits a recording, and Jellypod generates one.
Descript's pricing page defaults to annual billing, which is where the lower numbers come from. Captured September 2026.
How much does each Descript plan cost?
Every paid plan is priced per seat, and annual billing saves up to 35% over paying monthly. From descript.com/pricing:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Media hours/mo | AI credits/mo | Export | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1 | 100 (one-time) | 720p | 1 |
| Hobbyist | $24 | $16 | 10 | 400 | 1080p, no watermark | 1 |
| Creator | $35 | $24 | 30 | 800 | 4K | 1 to 3 |
| Business | $65 | $50 | 40 | 1,500 | 4K | Up to 5 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Enterprise adds SSO and SCIM. Business adds priority support. Allowances are per editor, so a three-seat Creator team gets three sets.
The plan cards list the media-hour and AI-credit allowances the table above summarizes. Captured September 2026.
What are Descript media hours and AI credits?
Per Descript's help center, you spend media minutes when you upload audio or video, record in Descript (Rooms or a project), or add still images (one image counts as one second).
AI credits go to generative features: Underlord, Studio Sound, Remove Filler Words, Green Screen, Eye Contact, AI speech, avatars, and generated video. Chatting with Underlord uses credits even if it never edits anything. Studio Sound and Remove Filler Words cost at most 30 credits per file, and other tools have no fixed price.
Both meters reset each cycle. The same article says unused minutes and credits "don't roll over into the next cycle."
What does Descript cost for a weekly 30-minute podcast?
Assume one 30-minute interview a week, with about 45 minutes of raw recording per episode.
Media hours: 45 minutes x 52 weeks / 12 months = 195 minutes, about 3.25 hours a month. Hobbyist includes 10.
AI credits: Studio Sound plus Remove Filler Words is at most 60 credits an episode. At about 4.33 episodes a month that is roughly 260 credits, leaving about 140 of Hobbyist's 400 for show notes or Underlord prompts.
| Plan | Yearly cost (annual billing) | Per episode | Yearly cost (monthly billing) | Per episode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobbyist | $16 x 12 = $192 | $3.69 | $24 x 12 = $288 | $5.54 |
| Creator | $24 x 12 = $288 | $5.54 | $35 x 12 = $420 | $8.08 |
| Business | $50 x 12 = $600 | $11.54 | $65 x 12 = $780 | $15.00 |
These are one-seat figures for 52 episodes. Descript does not list podcast hosting among its plan features, so budget a separate host for the RSS feed that reaches Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The math changes for heavier shows. A weekly 90-minute video show with two hours of raw footage uses about 8.7 media hours a month, close to Hobbyist's 10-hour cap. Only Creator and Business can buy top-ups: media hours are $25 for 5, $80 for 20, or $150 for 50, and AI credits are $35 for 350, $80 for 1,000, or $200 for 4,000. Top-ups expire 12 months after purchase and are used only after the monthly allowance runs out.
How does Descript pricing compare with Jellypod?
They meter different things. Descript charges for media you bring in and AI edits you run on it. Jellypod charges for what it generates: 30 credits per minute of narration, 7 per generated image, and 20 per generated video clip. Drafting, script editing, regenerating audio, publishing, and downloading cost no credits (see how Jellypod credits work).
For the same weekly 30-minute show: 30 minutes x 30 credits = 900 credits an episode, or about 3,900 a month. Starter includes 5,000 credits a month, roughly 166 minutes of audio. At $25 per month billed yearly (checked on Jellypod's pricing page) that is $300 a year, or $5.77 an episode, with hosting and distribution to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube included. Extra credits cost $10 per 1,000. Jellypod has no free plan, but every paid plan starts with a 7-day trial that needs a payment method.
Descript's figure buys editing for a show you recorded. Jellypod's buys an episode produced without a recording, so the two totals are not like for like.
Is Descript worth it for podcasting?
If you record conversations, yes. Descript's core idea is editing audio and video by editing the transcript, and its filler-word removal, Studio Sound, and Rooms recording all serve people who already have tape. For a solo host or a two-person interview show, Hobbyist is a fair price.
It fits less well if you have nothing to record. Jellypod starts from a topic, a link, or your files, drafts a script you edit line by line, voices it with one to four AI hosts (including a clone of your own voice), and publishes through an RSS feed. It does not record audio and it is not a transcript editor, so there is no filler-word removal or noise cleanup for a tape you made. If editing recorded interviews is your whole workflow, use Descript. The Jellypod vs Descript comparison goes feature by feature, and our Adobe Podcast alternatives roundup covers other recording-cleanup tools.
If you are pricing other AI audio tools, we did the same exercise for ElevenLabs and NotebookLM.
Is Descript free?
Yes, with limits. The free plan includes 1 media hour, a one-time 100 AI credits, and 720p export. That is enough to test transcript editing on a short recording, but not to run a weekly show.
What happens when you run out of Descript AI credits?
On Creator or Business you can buy a top-up (350 credits for $35, up to 4,000 for $200). Hobbyist cannot buy top-ups, so the options are waiting for the next cycle or upgrading.
Do Descript media hours roll over?
No. Unused media minutes and AI credits reset each billing cycle. Purchased top-ups are the exception, lasting 12 months.
