Is Descript or WhisperLiveKit better for AI meeting notes?

It depends on your workflow. Descript is strong for editing podcasts and videos by editing the transcript, while WhisperLiveKit is strong for self-hosted real-time meeting transcription with speaker labels. Both transcribe and summarize meetings.

How do Descript and WhisperLiveKit compare on price?

Descript is a free tier with paid upgrades and WhisperLiveKit is a free tier with paid upgrades. Check each vendor's pricing page for the latest plans and free-tier limits.

Can I use both Descript and WhisperLiveKit?

Sure. Running both makes sense when their strengths don't overlap and the budget allows.

Home/Descript vs WhisperLiveKit

Descript vs WhisperLiveKit

Descript: Video/podcast editor with transcription and meeting recording WhisperLiveKit: Open-source, self-hosted real-time speech-to-text and speaker diarization toolkit with a FastAPI server and web interface, suitable for meeting transcription. This comparison weighs them on pricing, features, and everyday workflow fit.

How Hosiqo compares and tests tools

Final recommendation

Shortlist Descript when editing podcasts and videos by editing the transcript matters most, and WhisperLiveKit when building privacy-first transcription into custom applications via compatible apis matters most. Run both through a week of actual calls to see which suits your workflow.

Descript

CustomAI Meeting Assistants

Video/podcast editor with transcription and meeting recording

Automatic transcription of imported or recorded audio and videoMultitrack audio and video editingOne-click caption and subtitle generation

Details Visit

WhisperLiveKit

CustomAI Meeting Assistants

Open-source, self-hosted real-time speech-to-text and speaker diarization toolkit with a FastAPI server and web interface, suitable for meeting transcription.

FastAPI backend with OpenAI-compatible REST API and Deepgram-compatible WebSocket protocol

About Descript

Descript is an audio and video editing platform built around text-based editing, where the spoken content of a recording is automatically transcribed and the resulting transcript becomes the primary way to edit the media. When users import or record audio and video, Descript generates a transcript that they can read, search, and edit, with changes to the text reflected in the underlying recording. The platform also offers one-click caption and subtitle generation so the transcribed words can be displayed on screen and styled to match a project. In addition to transcription and captions, Descript provides features for podcast and video production, including multitrack editing, screen recording, and AI-assisted tools. Because editing the transcript edits the media, it is especially useful for podcasters, video creators, and teams who want to cut filler, rearrange segments, or repurpose content without working frame by frame. Descript is aimed at content creators, marketers, educators, and teams who want transcription, captions, and editing combined in a single workflow. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.

Best suited for

Editing podcasts and videos by editing the transcript
Generating captions and subtitles for published content
Producing searchable transcripts from recorded sessions

About WhisperLiveKit

WhisperLiveKit is an open-source, self-hosted toolkit for ultra-low-latency real-time speech-to-text and speaker diarization. Rather than naively running Whisper on each audio chunk, it uses state-of-the-art simultaneous-speech research for intelligent buffering and incremental processing, which preserves transcription quality while streaming results with minimal latency. The project ships a complete backend built on FastAPI with WebSocket support, an OpenAI-compatible REST API, a Deepgram-compatible WebSocket protocol, and a simple, customizable HTML and JavaScript web interface that captures microphone audio and streams it to the server. It supports multiple ASR backends including Whisper variants, Voxtral, and Qwen3-ASR, covers 200+ languages with translation, and includes real-time speaker diarization and voice activity detection to reduce processing overhead. It can handle multiple concurrent users on a single backend and is distributed via PyPI with Docker images for both GPU and CPU. Licensed under Apache 2.0 and actively maintained into 2026, the project explicitly lists meeting transcription, accessibility tooling, and podcast or call transcription with speaker identification among its intended use cases, making it a practical building block for private, on-premise meeting transcription pipelines. Pricing varies by plan. Check the official website for current pricing.

Best suited for

Self-hosted real-time meeting transcription with speaker labels
Building privacy-first transcription into custom applications via compatible APIs
Live transcription for accessibility, podcasts, and call recordings

Feature	Descript	WhisperLiveKit
Core capability	Automatic transcription of imported or recorded audio and video	Real-time streaming speech-to-text with low latency over WebSocket
Standout feature	Text-based editing where editing the transcript edits the media	Real-time speaker diarization to distinguish multiple speakers
Team usage	One-click caption and subtitle generation	FastAPI backend with OpenAI-compatible REST API and Deepgram-compatible WebSocket protocol
Integrations	Multitrack audio and video editing	Multiple ASR backends (Whisper variants, Voxtral, Qwen3-ASR) and 200+ language support with translation
Languages & capture	Screen and audio recording built in	Included customizable HTML/JavaScript web interface and Docker images (GPU and CPU)
Best-fit workflow	Automatic transcription of imported or recorded audio and video	Voice activity detection and multi-user support on a single backend

Descript vs WhisperLiveKit

About Descript

About WhisperLiveKit

Pricing comparison

Feature table

Best for

Pros & cons

FAQ

Is Descript or WhisperLiveKit better for AI meeting notes?

How do Descript and WhisperLiveKit compare on price?

Can I use both Descript and WhisperLiveKit?

Related comparisons