Uncut vs Descript
Descript's text-based editing and team features compared with Uncut, a free open-source Mac editor that runs your own agent.
Descript made editing video by editing text popular, and it is a mature product for teams. Uncut borrows the transcript idea, adds an agent you already pay for, and stays on your Mac.
Uncut is free under the MIT licence and runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 13 or later. It needs Claude Code or Codex installed and signed in, plus ffmpeg, and it has no Uncut account or quota. Its limits are real too: it is a young project on a 0.x version, with a small community.
| Uncut | Descript | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary |
| Price per person | Free, you pay your agent's provider | Free, then $24, $35 or $65 a month, or $16, $24 or $50 on annual billing |
| Included media | No Uncut limit | 1 hour on Free; 10, 30 or 40 hours a month on paid plans |
| AI credits | None from Uncut | 100 once on Free; 400, 800 or 1,500 a month on paid plans |
| Transcript editing | Yes, transcribed locally | Yes |
| AI agent | Your Claude Code or Codex | Underlord |
| Voice | ElevenLabs with your own key | Voice cloning and Regenerate Speech built in |
| Sharing | None | Links with comments on the video |
The media hours and credits above come from Descript's pricing page, which lists two unlabelled prices per plan. We read the lower one as annual billing because the page says annual saves up to 35%.
Where Descript is better
- Working with other people. Send a link and get comments on the video. Uncut has no sharing.
- Audio repair. Studio Sound removes noise and enhances voices in one click.
- Voice tools. Cloning and regenerating speech are built in, with no separate account.
- No setup. No agent, ffmpeg or Homebrew to install first.
- Maturity. A long-established product with a large user base.
Where Uncut is better
- No metered hours. Uncut counts nothing. Your agent's plan has its own limits.
- Local files and transcription. Footage files stay on your Mac. Frames, transcripts and prompts go to your agent's provider.
- A real multi-track timeline with a critic. The agent builds on it, and a separate process scores the frames it renders.
- Open source. MIT, with a plugin SDK for looks, checks, skills and agent tools.
Which to pick
Pick Descript for team review, audio repair and a setup that needs no terminal. Pick Uncut if you work alone on a Mac and already use Claude Code or Codex.