CapCut vs Descript vs Hailuo AI vs InVideo AI
A side-by-side look at CapCut, Descript, Hailuo AI and InVideo AI 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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MiniMax video generator: 2K native-audio clips, camera commands, multi-reference input
- Price
- Free tier (limited credits, watermarked); paid plans: see the vendor's pricing page
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Previs and animatics that need native sound in the first pass
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AI assistant editor on a real multitrack timeline, with a free manual editor
- Price
- Free plan; paid plans per seat from €20/mo (€10/mo billed annually)
- Learning
- Moderate
- Best for
- Short social, ad and explainer videos built from generated clips, stock and talking-head footage
Feature by feature
CapCut vs Descript vs Hailuo AI vs InVideo AI: capabilities
| CapCut | Descript | Hailuo AI | InVideo AI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 tier (limited credits, watermarked); paid plans: see the vendor's pricing page | Free plan; paid plans per seat from €20/mo (€10/mo billed annually) |
| Infinite canvas | Yes | No | Not confirmed | No |
| Node / flow builder | Partial | No | Not confirmed | No |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Partial | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Text to image | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | Yes | Partial | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Text to video | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
| Video to video | Partial | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Native audio in video | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Lip-sync | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Voice / TTS | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Music & SFX | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Upscaling | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Character consistency | Yes | Not confirmed | Partial | Yes |
| Camera control | Partial | Not confirmed | Partial | Partial |
| Custom training | Not confirmed | Partial | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Third-party models | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Public API | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| MCP server | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop / local | Yes | Not confirmed | No | No |
| Open source | No | No | Partial | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes | Not confirmed |
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 |
Hailuo AI
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|
InVideo AI
| Free | €0weekly quota |
|---|---|
| Starter | €20monthly (€10/mo billed annually) |
| Plus | €60monthly (€30/mo billed annually) |
| Max | €150monthly (€75/mo billed annually) |
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
Hailuo AI
Pick it for
- Previs and animatics that need native sound in the first pass
- Stylised anime and illustration shots for music videos and short films
- Character shots driven by a reference image plus a motion or voice reference
Stands out
- Native stereo audio (dialogue, SFX, music) in the same pass as the picture, which removes a separate sound step for short clips
- Up to 12 mixed image, video and audio references in one generation, more reference types than most single-prompt video tools
Watch out
- Free tier is watermarked and small
- Clips top out at 15 seconds per generation
InVideo AI
Pick it for
- Short social, ad and explainer videos built from generated clips, stock and talking-head footage
- Cutting talking-head, podcast and multicam recordings: silences, filler, angle switching and chapters
- Editors who want an AI first pass and then finish in Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve
Stands out
- The AI works on a real multitrack timeline, and every edit it makes can be adjusted by hand afterwards.
- Exports an editable project to Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro or DaVinci Resolve with cuts and layers intact, so the AI cut can move into a finishing workflow.
Watch out
- Credits are per seat and do not roll over to the next month
- Seedance 2.0 at 4K and Seedance 2.5 are only on Plus and Max; Starter gets Seedance 2.0 Fast and Mini
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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