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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Audacity

    Score7.4 out of 10
    N/AAudacity is a free and open source audio recording and editing software.N/A

    Descript

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ADescript is a collaborative audio/video editor, from the company of the same name in San Francisco, that works like a doc. It includes transcription, a screen recorder, publishing, full multitrack editing, and AI tools.

    $12

    per month

    Pricing
    AudacityDescript
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0
    Annual billing - Hobbyist
    $12
    per month per user
    Monthly Billing - Hobbyist
    $19
    per month per user
    Annual billing - Creator
    $24
    per month per user
    Monthly Billing - Creator
    $35
    per month per user
    Annual billing - Business
    $40
    per month per user
    Monthly Billing - Business
    $50
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    Custom
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AudacityDescript
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    AudacityDescript
    Small Businesses
    Descript
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Ableton Live
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Audition
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Audition
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score8.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AudacityDescript
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.3
    (25 ratings)
    8.0
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (11 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AudacityDescript
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Audacity
    For just a quick down and dirty audio recording from computer source, Audacity is a no-frills solution that any user can get up and running with quickly without the intimidating functions seen in most standard DAWs. This would be a great tool to start with to record church services, or basic live performances where someone wouldn't want to use a full DAW like Ableton Live or Studio One.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    • Transcription of internal presentations and web conferences. It's great for capturing and transcribing the audio from presentations, demos, etc. which can then be used to develop training materials, blog posts, etc.
    • Podcasts. Makes it really easy to record, edit, and publish video or audio podcasts.
    • Promotional videos. Streamlines and accelerates the process for developing videos.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Audacity
    • Audacity has a wide variety of controls and capabilities for editing, making it a very robust tool for audio editing.
    • Even though it's a robust tool, it is very easy to use to get many basic things done in audio editing. The learning curve is small.
    • Love that audacity is free! What else could you ask for? There really is no reason not to use it.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    • I like the sidebar - breaking my scripts up into different "chapters" makes it easier to create quickly.
    • I like that it auto-corrects punctuation, capitalization, etc. as I polish the scripts.
    • It's easy for my team and my collaborators to read/listen, remark, and create useable transcripts.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Audacity
    • easier to grab and re-order tracks, the grab area is small
    • I am constantly zooming in and out to grab a small piece of track; make it easier to grab an audio clip
    • a button to move the focus to the beginning of the tracks
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    descript
    • When editing a transcript it can get a little cumbersome, as a double click doesn't always do what you think it will
    • Some features aren't that intuitive (what is resize word gap) for beginners
    • A tutorial/wizard as soon as you sign up would be very useful
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Audacity
    With no subscription fees unlike other products on the market, I am very confident I will continue using Audacity for my simple audio editing needs. I'm not an expert in audio editing, I'm sure what works for me as a more general user in a public institution would not suit someone more experienced, but I'm very happy with the quality of work I'm able to produce.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Audacity
    Audacity is for audio prodcasts only and not for video podcasts. Audacity does not have a transcript development feature. Audacity can not edit using the transcript feature that does not exist. I use another program to develop a transcript and edit using that transcript. Then I move the file into Audacity for final processing.
    Read full review
    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Audacity
    Audacity is great for this, it doesn't require a network connection once downloaded, and previous versions of the software are still functional in my experience. I have never experienced the program crashing, lost work, corrupted files, anything of the sort.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Audacity
    I have never had issues with speed in Audacity, I don't integrate it with other software but the program runs smoothly even with larger jobs. I haven't measured the CPU while using Audacity, but I imagine it's not high compared to other, more professional or specialized programs in the same category.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Audacity
    We have not used direct support for Audacity, other than using the information available on their website, which resolved the issues we were experiencing so we had a good experience in that regard. As this is Open Source FREE software, I don't believe there is direct support available. In saying that, it has the following great support options:
    • Online documentation and FAQ
    • Online tutorials covering all functions
    • Online user forums where questions are asked and answered by other users
    • Online wiki with more information
    With these options most issues should be able to be resolved to get full use from Audacity.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Audacity
    Again I found it helpful to write up a step-by-step tutorial for coworkers based on our institution's standard practices. This combined with support from coworkers to answer questions is very effective for simple everyday use of Audacity. The support in-program is minimal but troubleshooting in the internet age is straightforward.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Audacity
    Easier to use than Garage Band. I have tried to use Garage Band for the same thing as I used Audacity and have had to give up. Not as easy. With the simple things that I have been able to accomplish, Audacity does it faster and better than anything I have tried. I have also used Pro Tools, however, that is more expensive
    Incentivized
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    descript
    Descript is by far superior to the other editing software you can get on Apple computers. It's able to do a lot more and really save us tons of time. Other Adobe apps are great, but take a while to learn. Descript is very user-friendly, making it easy to start from day one with very little training.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Audacity
    I feel that Audacity is useful, simple, and suited both to casual users and more advanced use cases. There are options for expanding functionality in complex situations, but the option to not mess with it as a beginner is perfectly fine and suited to most everyday uses in my institution.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Audacity
    • Audacity is completely free, so it has helped us to eliminate the expense of paying for recording software.
    • It is fast and efficient, which helps us save time and generate a great workflow.
    • Even though we have what we need there are some features that cannot be found on Audacity, this affects the quality of our audio in a way.
    Incentivized
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    descript
    • I can get video completed much more quickly and cheaply
    • We can produce more video content because of the speed with which we can have a finished product
    • We can have shorter timelines for example I record on Monday and we publish on Tuesday which wouldn't be otherwise possible with other methods I've used
    Incentivized
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