Descript vs HeyGen

Compared on	Descript Free plan · from $16/person/mo VisitRemove	HeyGen Free plan · from $24/mo VisitRemove
What it is	Video and audio editor that works by editing a text transcript	AI avatar video generator with video translation and voice cloning
Free plan	60 media minutes (1 hour) per month; 100 AI credits (one-time); 720p local export	3 videos per month, up to 1 minute each; 500+ stock video avatars; 1 custom video avatar; up to 3 photo avatars; 30+ languages
Cheapest paid plan	$16/person/mo billed annually (Hobbyist)Descript pricing	$24/mo billed annually (Creator)HeyGen pricing
What it covers	10 media hours and 400 AI credits per month; 1080p watermark-free export.	$288 billed yearly; 600 credits per month; videos up to 30 minutes; 1080p export.
Free trial	None stated	None stated
Platforms	macOS, Windows	Web, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)	Not stated	Not stated
Open source	No	No
Good for	Editing podcasts and interviews by deleting words from the transcript Cleaning up audio and removing filler words Cutting short clips from a longer video	Making talking-head marketing or explainer videos with an AI avatar Translating existing videos into other languages Producing training videos for a learning system (SCORM export on Business)
Watch out for	Free plan: 1 media hour per month, 100 one-time AI credits and 720p export Hobbyist exports up to 1080p; 4K export starts on Creator Desktop app requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or Windows 11 or newer	Free plan: 3 videos per month, each up to 1 minute Watermark removal is listed from the Creator plan up Individual plans include 1 user seat; Business adds seats at $20 per seat per month
Made by	Descript	HeyGen

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

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