ChatGPT vs Claude vs Descript vs Gemini
A side-by-side look at ChatGPT, Claude, Descript and Gemini for filmmakers: what each one can do, what it costs, and where they actually differ.
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General AI assistant with Images 2.5 stills, an agent for multi-step work, and a Word sidebar
- Price
- Free (ads, US) / Go $8/mo / Plus $20/mo / Pro $100 or $200/mo; Business about $20-25 per user/mo; Enterprise custom
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Writing shot lists, treatments, pitch decks and scripts with file output
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Anthropic's AI assistant for scripts, edit notes, documents, decks and coding agents
- Price
- Free; Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually); Max from $100/mo
- Learning
- Easy
- Best for
- Writing and revising VO scripts, shot lists and edit notes from a transcript
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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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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
- Only Descript offers third-party models.
All 4 offer: chat assistant, public API, free tier.
Feature by feature
ChatGPT vs Claude vs Descript vs Gemini: capabilities
| ChatGPT | Claude | Descript | Gemini | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (ads, US) / Go $8/mo / Plus $20/mo / Pro $100 or $200/mo; Business about $20-25 per user/mo; Enterprise custom | Free; Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually); Max from $100/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 | No | Partial | No | Yes |
| AI agent | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Chat assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Team collaboration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Text to image | Yes | No | Partial | Yes |
| Image editing | Yes | No | Partial | Yes |
| Text to video | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Image to video | No | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Video to video | No | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Native audio in video | No | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Voice / TTS | Partial | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Music & SFX | No | No | Yes | Not confirmed |
| Upscaling | Not confirmed | No | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Character consistency | Partial | No | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Camera control | Not confirmed | No | Not confirmed | Partial |
| Custom training | No | No | Partial | No |
| Third-party models | No | No | Yes | No |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Yes |
| Desktop / local | Partial | Yes | Not confirmed | No |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
Each column comes from that tool's own researched page. "Not confirmed" means the vendor doesn't say.
Plans
Pricing compared
ChatGPT
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Go | $8monthly |
| Plus | $20monthly |
| Pro (Pro Lite) | $100monthly |
| Pro | $200monthly |
| Business | $20 per user (annual) / $25 (monthly)per seat |
| Enterprise | Customannual |
Claude
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Pro | $20monthly |
| Pro (annual) | $17/mo, billed $200 up frontannual |
| Max 5x | $100monthly |
| Max 20x | $200monthly |
| Team Standard | $25/seat monthly or $20/seat annualper seat, 2-150 seats |
| Team Premium | $125/seat monthly or $100/seat annualper seat, 2-150 seats |
| Enterprise | $20/seat/mo billed annually, plus usageannual |
Descript
| Free | $0monthly |
|---|---|
| Hobbyist | $16 annual / $24 monthlyper person |
| Creator | $24 annual / $35 monthlyper person |
| Business | $50 annual / $65 monthlyper person |
| Enterprise | Customcustom |
Gemini
| Free | €0monthly |
|---|---|
| Google AI Plus | €4.99monthly |
| Google AI Pro | €21.99monthly |
| Google AI Ultra | from €99.99monthly |
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
ChatGPT
Pick it for
- Writing shot lists, treatments, pitch decks and scripts with file output
- Generating look-development stills and poster or title-card mockups with readable text
- Analysing budget, schedule or audience spreadsheets with the Data plugin
Stands out
- Stills with reasoning: the Images 2.x line plans the composition and checks object counts and prompt constraints before drawing, and renders legible text, which helps with posters, title cards and storyboard labels.
- Agent that produces files: ChatGPT Work outputs real .docx, spreadsheet, slide and small web app deliverables from connected apps, not just chat answers.
Watch out
- No video generation after the Sora shutdown; shot generation needs another tool
- Plan limits are dynamic and hard to predict, especially for agent runs
Claude
Pick it for
- Writing and revising VO scripts, shot lists and edit notes from a transcript
- Checking a long doc, contract or grant against its source material
- Building a pitch deck, one-pager or client proposal in Claude Design
Stands out
- Careful long-document work on uploaded material: scripts, transcripts, contracts and PDFs can be checked against their sources in one chat
- Claude Code runs in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains, the web and Slack, so an editor or producer with a developer can ship a custom tool without leaving one subscription
Watch out
- No image, video, voice-clone or music generation: pair it with other tools for any footage or audio
- Usage windows (five-hour and weekly caps) can stop a long writing or deck session mid-task
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
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
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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