Descript, an all-in-one audio and video editing, transcribing and podcasting tool
Audio recordingImage and video editingScreen recordingVideo recording/creatingIndividual workPresenting (e.g. lecturing, storytelling)ListeningSpeakingTeacherStudentGenerative AI
Description: Descript is a versatile multimedia editing tool that combines audio and video editing with transcription, screen recording, and AI-powered features (limited in the free version). For example, users can effortlessly edit audio or video recordings by modifying the text transcript that Descript provides instead of having to cut parts of the recording themselves. This allows for fast and intuitive content adjustment. The platform provides a unit for users to organize their files in folders, in a similar way to, e.g., Google Drive. It also supports collaborative projects. Notably, it provides an auto-transcription tool in over 20 languages, but it can be used for only 1 hour per month with the free version. Descript was created by Andrew Mason, an American entrepreneur based in California.
Evaluation: Descript is an intuitive and user-friendly tool that simplifies audio and video editing, podcasting, transcribing, adding captions to a video, creating social clips, or cleaning up audio. For educators, it can help create and edit video tutorials or podcasts for students, add captions to videos for guided listening comprehension, or get a transcription for audio files. Descript’s collaborative features facilitate teamwork, allowing multiple users to work on projects simultaneously. A downside of Descript is how limited its free plan is since it allows only 1 hour of automatic transcription together with adding watermarks on edited videos.
Cost: Free + paid plans available.
Type Of Interaction:
Individual work,
Presenting (e.g. lecturing, storytelling),
Skills:
Listening,
Speaking,
Usability and tech notes ▼
Time efficiency 
Time needed to learn how to use a tool and its time-saving potential: Very high.
Interface language(s) The number of languages in which the tool is currently available/adaptable to: English.
Respect for privacy Privacy evaluations indicate how a tool handles personal data collection, storage, and sharing, including GDPR compliance and security measures, among others. The ICT-REV team provides them for informational purposes, reflecting our best understanding at the time of review, but assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of these evaluations and encourages users to conduct their own assessments: Medium. Descript collects user information, including names, email addresses, and content uploaded to the platform, to provide and improve its services, together with marketing communications. It does not sell users' data to third parties and shares it only in certain circumstances with partners on Descript’s behalf for operational and marketing purposes. The company mentions taking reasonable measures to help protect against information loss, theft, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction but does not provide information about encryption, among others. It also has agreements in place to prevent data from being used to train AI models without user consent. Descript provides users with control over their data, with options to opt out of data sharing for service improvement purposes, while offering users rights to access, correct, or delete their personal information. However, it stores data in the US. Descript states compliance with the GDPR. See more here.
Saving work for future use Can work be saved for future use?: Yes, users can retrieve their work through an account.
Any other relevant information:
- Installation required?: No, it can be used on selected browsers. It also provides a Microsoft desktop application.
- Compatibility/ Operating System: Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers; Microsoft.