Descript or Sonix: cut a video or file a transcript
Descript starts at $16 a month paid yearly and edits video by editing text; Sonix starts at $25 a month and sells hours of transcription.
Descript starts at $16 a month paid yearly and buys an editor with seats and export resolution. Sonix starts at $25 a month and buys hours: 5 hours of transcription and 5 of analysis. Transcribsi sells text alone, $10 a month paid yearly.
Descript, Sonix and Transcribsi side by side
an AI video and audio editor: the picture is cut by cutting the text
a transcription, translation and analysis service, with legal and medical versions of it
a transcription service with a REST API, an MCP server and plugins for Claude and ChatGPT
$0, with the editor included
30 minutes free, no card, cancel any time
$0: 3 files a day, up to 30 minutes per file, no card
Hobbyist $16 a month paid yearly or $24 a month paid monthly; Creator $24 or $35; Business $50 or $65
Core $25 a month or $10 an hour; Advanced $50 a month; Pro $80 a month
$10 a month paid yearly ($120 a year), or $20 a month paid monthly
seats and export resolution: 1080p on Hobbyist, 4K on Creator, 5 seats and a media library on Business
hours of transcription and hours of analysis; extra seats $25 a month, extra hours $10 an hour
no minute limit of audio a month, DOCX export, the REST API and the MCP server
23+, announced in its llms.txt; the site is English only
54+, listed in its llms.txt, with translation into 54+
99+ languages, set by you or detected
a finished video, a podcast episode or a screen recording
txt, PDF, DOCX, SRT, VTT, subtitles, a translation and an analysis
TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV, DOCX
none: the product is the editor
Legal Pro and Medical Pro at $880 a year, HIPAA and a BAA
Rthe recording language is detected automatically.
no transcription API on the pages we read; llms.txt of 6.3 KB
an API and a published price per hour
a REST API, an MCP server with 4 tools, plugins for Claude and ChatGPT
A seat or an hour
One of these services sells a seat, the other sells hours. Descript's money buys an editing room: a timeline, an export in 4K, a template for a podcast. Sonix's money buys time on a machine: hours of transcription, hours of analysis, hours of translation. Both were read on their own pricing pages on 21 October 2026.
How to read the two price lists
- 1
Ask what leaves the service
From Descript: a finished video or an episode. From Sonix: txt, PDF, DOCX, SRT, VTT, a translation and an analysis. From us: TXT, Markdown, SRT, VTT, CSV and DOCX, and nothing that moves.
- 2
Put the two price lists side by side
Descript charges per seat and sells export resolution with it: 1080p, then 4K, then a media library. Sonix charges $10 an hour, $25 for each extra seat, $25 a month on Core.
- 3
Look for the market you work in
Sonix has Legal Pro and Medical Pro at $880 a year, with HIPAA and a BAA. Descript has no vertical plans that we could read; its product is the same for a podcast and for a screen recording.
- 4
Count the languages, then the code
Sonix names 54+ languages in its llms.txt, Descript 23+. If a script calls an API, ours answers with a REST API, an MCP server with 4 tools and plugins for Claude and ChatGPT.
Tips
Seats and hours are two different currencies.
Look for the export list before the logo.
Ask what a medical or a legal file needs.
A free plan tells you where the paid plan starts.
Questions this page answers
Which one is cheaper for a single recording?
Sonix, if you count only the hours: 30 minutes are free, no card. Descript's free plan is free too, but it is an editor: you pay in seats from $16 a month paid yearly for the same work.
Does Sonix give subtitles and a translation?
Yes: subtitles, translation into 54+ languages and an AI analysis, and the export list is txt, PDF, DOCX, SRT and VTT. The analysis hours are counted separately from the transcription hours.
Is a Descript subscription enough for a transcript?
No, it is enough for an edit. If the transcript is what you need, a file service is the smaller tool; we give the six formats and the timecodes in one of them.
Which one has an API?
Sonix publishes one and prices it by the hour. On the Descript pages we read no transcription API was visible. Ours is a REST API plus an MCP server with 4 tools.
What does Descript give that a transcript service cannot?
The edit: text-based cutting of video, screen recording, Rooms in 4K, templates and publishing. We do not pretend to do that; we make the words.
Sources
- DDescript — pricingdescript.com · checked 21 October 2026
- DDescript — llms.txtdescript.com · checked 21 October 2026
- SSonix — pricingsonix.ai · checked 21 October 2026
- SSonix — llms.txtsonix.ai · checked 21 October 2026
- TTranscribsi — pricingtranscrib.si · checked 22 October 2026
Reading: 7 minutesUpdated Transcribsi editorial team
Drop a recording — the text arrives in a minute
Speakers by name, a time on every line, export to TXT, SRT, VTT, CSV and Markdown.