CapCut vs Descript vs ElevenLabs
A side-by-side look at CapCut, Descript and ElevenLabs for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
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AI-first editor: Seedance 2.5 clips, Edit Pilot assistant and canvas, free plan to start
- Price
- Free plan; Pro from EUR 23.99/mo; Ultra EUR 68/mo; Teams EUR 14.99/seat/mo
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Social cuts and vertical reframes for TikTok, Reels and Shorts from one edit
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Edit video and podcasts by editing the transcript, with an AI co-editor built in
- Price
- Free (1 hr/mo, 720p, watermarked) · Hobbyist $16/mo annual ($24 monthly) · Creator $24/mo annual ($35 monthly) · Business $50/mo annual ($65 monthly, per person)
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Podcast and interview editing from the transcript
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Voiceovers, voice cloning, dubbing and music in 90+ languages, with Eleven v4 since Sept 2026
- Price
- Free: 10k credits/mo. Starter from $5/mo billed annually ($6 monthly). Creator $18.33/mo annual ($22 monthly). Pro $99/mo. Scale $299/mo. Business $990/mo.
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Narration and explainer voiceovers that need revisions without re-recording
The short version
Where they differ
- Only CapCut offers infinite canvas.
- ElevenLabs is the only one without text to video.
- ElevenLabs is the only one without third-party models.
- CapCut is the only one without public API.
All 3 offer: voice / TTS, music & SFX, free tier.
Feature by feature
CapCut vs Descript vs ElevenLabs: capabilities
| CapCut | Descript | ElevenLabs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan; Pro from EUR 23.99/mo; Ultra EUR 68/mo; Teams EUR 14.99/seat/mo | Free (1 hr/mo, 720p, watermarked) · Hobbyist $16/mo annual ($24 monthly) · Creator $24/mo annual ($35 monthly) · Business $50/mo annual ($65 monthly, per person) | Free: 10k credits/mo. Starter from $5/mo billed annually ($6 monthly). Creator $18.33/mo annual ($22 monthly). Pro $99/mo. Scale $299/mo. Business $990/mo. |
| Infinite canvas | Yes | No | No |
| Node / flow builder | Partial | No | Not confirmed |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Team collaboration | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Text to image | Yes | Partial | No |
| Image editing | Yes | Partial | No |
| Text to video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image to video | Yes | Not confirmed | No |
| Video to video | Partial | Not confirmed | No |
| Native audio in video | Yes | Not confirmed | No |
| Voice / TTS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music & SFX | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Upscaling | Yes | Not confirmed | No |
| Character consistency | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Camera control | Partial | Not confirmed | No |
| Custom training | Not confirmed | Partial | Partial |
| Third-party models | Yes | Yes | No |
| Public API | No | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Mobile app | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
CapCut
| Free | FreeNo charge |
|---|---|
| Pro | EUR 23.99/month |
| Ultra | EUR 68/month |
| Teams | EUR 14.99/seat/monthmonthly per seat, auto-renews, default 2 seats |
Descript
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Hobbyist | $16 annual / $24 monthlyper person |
| Creator | $24 annual / $35 monthlyper person |
| Business | $50 annual / $65 monthlyper person |
| Enterprise | Customcustom |
ElevenLabs
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Starter | $6 ($5 annual)monthly |
| Creator | $22 ($18.33 annual; $11 first month promo)monthly |
| Pro | $99 ($82.50 annual)monthly |
| Scale | $299 ($249.17 annual)monthly |
| Business | $990 ($825 annual)monthly |
| Enterprise | Custommonthly |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
CapCut
Pick it for
- Social cuts and vertical reframes for TikTok, Reels and Shorts from one edit
- Rough cuts and temp VO passes for explainers before moving to a finishing NLE
- AI short-form series that need consistent characters across clips (Director Mode)
Stands out
- Generation and editing in one app: Seedance 2.5 clips, Edit Pilot and the multi-track timeline share the same project, which Premiere and Resolve do not do without a separate AI tool.
- Cheapest paid entry among the NLEs: Pro is EUR 23.99 per month, against $22.99 per month for Premiere alone and $295 one-time for DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Watch out
- Basic colour grading with no professional LUT workflow or OFX plugins
- Audio mixing is light compared with Fairlight or Premiere's audio tools
Descript
Pick it for
- Podcast and interview editing from the transcript
- Talking-head YouTube videos: filler word removal, retakes, captions
- Webinar and course repurposing into clips with captions and translation
Stands out
- Text-first editing: cut, reorder and remove filler words by editing the transcript, which is faster than frame-by-frame cutting for talking-head and interview footage.
- Recording and editing in one place: Rooms records each participant locally (up to 4K on paid plans) and the files open directly in the editor, with SquadCast now part of the product.
Watch out
- Underlord is still labelled beta and its per-prompt credit cost varies between runs of the same prompt
- Free plan is limited to 1 hour per month, 720p, with a watermark, and one seat
ElevenLabs
Pick it for
- Narration and explainer voiceovers that need revisions without re-recording
- Localising a finished film or series into several languages with the original performance kept
- Building a consistent narrator voice across a video series
Stands out
- Voice cloning from about 10 seconds of audio on v4, versus longer samples needed by many rivals
- Dubbing that carries over the original performance and emotion rather than only translating text
Watch out
- Credits are priced per mode (TTS, dubbing with or without watermark, studio), which makes budgeting hard
- The free tier has no commercial license and only about 10 minutes of speech
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page, checked against vendor pricing and changelog pages (oldest check: ). Sources are listed on each tool's page.