CapCut vs Descript vs Gemini

A side-by-side look at CapCut, Descript and Gemini for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.

  • 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
  • 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
  • Google's multimodal assistant, now with Omni video generation and Flow for filmmakers

    Price
    Free; Google AI Plus from €4.99/mo; AI Pro €21.99/mo; AI Ultra from €99.99/mo (EUR)
    Learning
    Easy
    Best for
    Previs and fast B-roll drafts from a script line
The short version

Where they differ

  • Descript is the only one without infinite canvas.
  • Gemini is the only one without third-party models.
  • CapCut is the only one without public API.

All 3 offer: chat assistant, text to video, free tier.

Feature by feature

CapCut vs Descript vs Gemini: capabilities

CapCut vs Descript vs Gemini
CapCut Descript Gemini
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; Google AI Plus from €4.99/mo; AI Pro €21.99/mo; AI Ultra from €99.99/mo (EUR)
Infinite canvas Yes No Yes
Node / flow builder Partial No Not confirmed
AI agent Yes Yes Partial
Chat assistant Yes Yes Yes
Team collaboration Partial Yes Partial
Text to image Yes Partial Yes
Image editing Yes Partial Yes
Text to video Yes Yes Yes
Image to video Yes Not confirmed Yes
Video to video Partial Not confirmed Yes
Native audio in video Yes Not confirmed Yes
Voice / TTS Yes Yes Not confirmed
Music & SFX Yes Yes Not confirmed
Upscaling Yes Not confirmed Yes
Character consistency Yes Not confirmed Partial
Camera control Partial Not confirmed Partial
Custom training Not confirmed Partial No
Third-party models Yes Yes No
Public API No Yes Yes
MCP server No Yes Partial
Mobile app Yes Not confirmed Yes
Desktop / local Yes Not confirmed No
Free tier Yes Yes Yes

Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.

Plans

Pricing compared

CapCut

CapCut plans
FreeFreeNo charge
ProEUR 23.99/month
UltraEUR 68/month
TeamsEUR 14.99/seat/monthmonthly per seat, auto-renews, default 2 seats

Descript

Descript plans
Free$0monthly
Hobbyist$16 annual / $24 monthlyper person
Creator$24 annual / $35 monthlyper person
Business$50 annual / $65 monthlyper person
EnterpriseCustomcustom

Gemini

Gemini plans
Free€0monthly
Google AI Plus€4.99monthly
Google AI Pro€21.99monthly
Google AI Ultrafrom €99.99monthly
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
Full CapCut review →

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
Full Descript review →

Gemini

Pick it for

  • Previs and fast B-roll drafts from a script line
  • Extending a good 10-second shot into a longer continuous take
  • Research and treatment writing with Deep Research before a shoot

Stands out

  • Video with synced audio from the same chat box that does research and image editing, no separate tool to switch into
  • Omni can use a short existing clip (up to 3 s) as a reference to keep a character or look consistent, and extend a scene from its last 10 seconds

Watch out

  • Clips are short; scene extension is needed for anything over 10 seconds
  • Video is metered by Flow credits, so heavy iteration runs out fast on Plus
Full Gemini review →

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.

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