Descript vs Davinci Resolve - Choose Wisely

Descript and DaVinci Resolve. These are two softwares that edit video, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Descript can be used in your browser and it's subscription-based while DaVinci lives on your computer and it's free or a one-time payment if you want some extra features. But when it comes to choosing which one of these to learn, I urge you to consider this carefully because learning either of these tools is a large investment of your time. So I'm going to evaluate these two in 5 categories to help you determine which one's better for your videos. If you don't know me, my name is Ross Zeiger and I teach Descript through my business, Descript Mastery. Now I want to be crystal clear about my potential bias. My business is completely built around this tool. I'm using it to record this right now. So I indirectly benefit if more people use it. This video and all 400+ videos on this channel were created from start to finish using Descript. But I do have plenty of critical things to say about it. As for DaVinci Resolve, I've been using it for over a year and I love it. There are things that Resolve is flat out way better at, or just way more capable than Descript. But also keep in mind, it doesn't have to be one or the other because toward the end of this video, I'll show you how I actually use both together to get the best of both worlds. So if you and I got on a call and you told me you were researching these two tools and not sure which one to pick, here are the questions I would ask you before giving you my opinion one way or the other. First of all, what is your budget? Descript has a free tier, but you won't get far with it. For most users, you really need to be on what they call the Creator Plan. So you're looking at $288 per year for that. If you get a business plan, you're looking at $600 per year. On top of that, if you have multiple editors in your Descript Drive, you need a seat for each one, which means you pay that subscription rate per editor. I have clients who spend thousands of dollars per year on Descript for their teams. So there's no beating around the bush here. Descript is not cheap. And given the AI that they're putting into everything, I anticipate it's going to get more expensive over time. With Resolve, on the other hand, there is a very generous free option. You can do just about everything with the free version, and if you want to upgrade, it's $295 for a lifetime license. That said, there is some nuance here in that Resolve does have some additional upsells for things like cloud storage, and they sell a lot of their own hardware, including cameras, but those aren't required in order to use the software. So to me, pretty simple here. When it comes to budget, Resolve is the clear winner in this category. The next thing I'm going to ask you is what kind of videos are you making? Well, here's some project types where you might choose one over the other. Go with Descript if you're making a course, a YouTube channel, a podcast, LinkedIn videos, or other what I call consumer talking head content. It's simpler and it'll do everything you need. But go with Resolve if you are making a film, a documentary, shooting a wedding, anything requiring color grading, motion graphics, compositing, working with 8K footage or above, or any other professional needs like that. And if you have no idea what any of those things I just said are, you don't need all the capabilities of Resolve. If these two tools were cameras, Descript is your cell phone that you can just whip out, point it at something, and with a single button, snap a decent photo. Resolve is like a professional camera with multiple lenses and all the accessories and deep menus that you'll get lost in if you don't know what you're doing. Descript is a consumer-level tool targeted at content creators and podcasters. Resolve can also do content, but it's meant for professional-level edits. So for project types, it depends on what you're doing. Social media content, go with Descript. Professional stuff, go with Resolve. The third question I'm going to ask you is, do you like stability or the latest and greatest tech? This is a really important thing to think about before you commit to either of these tools. Descript changes literally weekly. Buttons change names and move around. Features get added and removed. In any 6-month period, it's like a completely different tool. And if you're like me, this is awesome. It means you're always getting the latest AI features and things stay on the cutting edge. But the flip side is it means things are often breaking. Some new feature will get rolled out and it's only half baked, so it works sometimes, but sometimes it breaks your project. And on top of that, if you don't use the tool for a couple months, you run the risk that everything has changed since you last opened it up and it can feel like starting over in terms of learning how to use it. So I'm always very upfront with people about that. Descript is not a stable or predictable platform. Resolve, on the other hand, is a mature platform. It's been around since 2004 and they follow an annual update cycle. So each year they do just one big version release with a new interface and new features, but outside of that annual update, things move slowly. It's boring. It's predictable. And the software is incredibly stable. The only problems I have ever had are when my hardware has issues, like for example, an external hard drive getting disconnected from my computer. Otherwise, it runs perfectly on my Mac Mini M4 Pro with 24GB of unified memory. So it doesn't have the latest and greatest AI tools, but it just works. So for this category, do you prioritize the latest and greatest? Then go with Descript. Or do you like boring and stable? Then go with Resolve. The next thing I'm asking you is how much time and energy do you have to learn one of these tools? As I mentioned, Descript is a far simpler tool, and I know it looks intimidating if you've never edited before, but compared to Resolve, there is a fraction of the buttons and things that you can do. I counted the number of buttons on the editing page and Descript has 32 while Resolve has over 100, depending how you count them. With Descript, you can learn most of what you need to edit your first video within around 20 hours of practice. Or if you get on a tutoring call with me, 1 to 3 hours is all it takes. Resolve, on the other hand, is an absolute monster. Most people need 50+ hours of practice to get to the point of basic proficiency. And if you start down the road of color grading and motion graphics, you're looking at hundreds of hours more. Now, with that said, Resolve has some excellent training materials. I couldn't find verified numbers on the user base of either of these tools, but it appears that Resolve has something like 10 times the user base of Descript and is growing fast. So there are way more tutorials available on YouTube and other places, and Resolve even puts out a completely free series of textbooks. I used the Beginner's Guide to Resolve and the Editor's Guide to Resolve when I was learning, and it took me a couple weeks to go through those books, and they were absolutely excellent. They included video footage that you can use and practice with, and honestly, if it was a paid course, I would've paid a ton for the value that I got out of it. So you can find all that for free on their website, and it's an incredible way to learn Resolve. I recommend it to everyone. With Descript, the gold standard is my course, Descript Made Easy, which is linked below. The next question I'm gonna ask you is, what kind of computer do you have? Descript runs in your browser, which means the power and speed of your computer isn't as important as the speed of your internet. That also means you have to have internet. If you're going away to a cabin without internet or hopping on a flight without Wi-Fi, you cannot edit. On top of that, Descript stores all of your files in its cloud, which means you don't even have to have a large amount of storage on your own computer because none of the video files are staying there. I regularly edit in Descript on a base MacBook Air from 2022, and it does great as long as my internet is good. Resolve, on the other hand, is the opposite. It runs entirely locally, on your own machine. Other than installing it, you don't need internet to run it. But the flip side of this is that if you don't have a relatively new and powerful computer, Resolve isn't going to run well, and you have to store all of your files locally. So you'll need a large hard drive or possibly external hard drives to keep all your videos on because video, as you know, takes up a ton of space. So you can also factor those points into your budget. Either you're paying for good internet to use Descript, or you're paying for good hardware to use Resolve. As for my advice here, do you value the convenience of your files in the cloud and being able to edit on any decent computer? Go with Descript. Or do you value having control of your files and being able to edit offline? In that case, get a more powerful machine and go with Resolve. So which is right for you? One thing I always tell people considering these tools, is think about it like dating. Start with a coffee date, do a quick half-hour tutorial on the free tier with each one. If you decide to make it official, but you aren't fully committed to this whole content thing, then start on the small monthly plan in the case of Descript. Later, when you've decided that this is the one, get married, buy an annual subscription in the case of Descript, or buy Resolve Studio in the case of DaVinci, and then focus on learning and mastering the one you pick. But this doesn't have to be a binary choice. There is a third option for you. Use both. If I am working on something that needs to be more professional than a standard YouTube video, what I often do is a rough cut in Descript because it's so easy to edit with the transcript. Then I'll do what's called a timeline export, which is where you can select DaVinci Resolve as a destination, and then you import it into Resolve and all your cuts are already done. From there, you can color grade and do all the fancy stuff that Resolve can do, but Descript can't. If you decide Descript is the one you want to date, I have a great first date for you right here.