Descript offers AI-powered video ad creation, including scriptwriting, editing, and multi-format export. It's built for teams that want to create ads from their own ideas using AI assistance. But for media buyers and performance teams, there's a critical gap: Descript doesn't show you what's already working before you start creating.
The most successful ad campaigns don't start with a blank page; they start with competitive intelligence. What angles are competitors testing? Which creatives are they scaling? What hooks are driving conversions? Without this context, even the best AI scriptwriter is building on guesswork.
In this guide, we break down the best Descript alternatives for 2026, including options built for the research-first workflow that performance marketers actually use: analyze what's working, extract proven formulas, then create variations faster.
65M+ Ads Analyzed | 4.8★ G2 Rating | 4.4★ Trustpilot Rating
GetHookd reveals which ads your competitors are actively scaling—not just running. Spy on their best-performing creatives, landing pages, and traffic strategies, then turn proven concepts into testable campaigns in seconds with AI-powered script generation and creative cloning.
What You Get:
We built GetHookd for the way performance marketers actually work: research what's converting, then create variations of what's proven. Both Descript and GetHookd help you create video ads using AI, but they solve different parts of the workflow:
While Descript helps you build ads from your own ideas, GetHookd connects you to competitive intelligence before you create anything. You're not guessing what might work; you're building on formulas that are already driving conversions in your market.
We offer a free 7-day trial on all plans so you can test the full platform before committing.
Riverside is a remote recording platform that captures audio and video locally on each participant's device and syncs them to the cloud. This means you receive good quality recordings regardless of internet connectivity.
The platform is built for podcasters, interviewers, and content teams who need to record without risking losing footage due to connection drops. While Riverside delivers quality recordings, it lacks the ad research and creative production features that performance marketers need to turn content into testable campaigns.
The Pro plan ($29/month) unlocks 4K video, separate audio and video tracks, no watermark, and includes transcription, Magic Clips, and AI editing tools. Higher-tier plans (Live at $39/month, Webinar at $99/month) add livestreaming and webinar hosting capabilities.
Synthesia is an AI video generation platform that creates videos with AI avatars. You simply type a script, choose an avatar, and the platform generates a professional video in minutes.
It's built for teams producing training content, educational materials, and multilingual marketing videos at scale. Synthesia creates new video content from text, allowing you to choose your colors and style.
While Synthesia excels at corporate and training content, it's not designed for performance marketing workflows. It lacks ad research capabilities, competitor insights, and the creative testing features needed to validate what actually converts in paid campaigns.
The Starter plan begins at $29/month and includes up to 10 minutes of video. The Creator plan ($89/month) includes all avatars, custom backgrounds, and 30 minutes of video monthly. Enterprise plans offer unlimited video creation, custom avatars, and dedicated support with pricing based on usage.
VEED is a browser-based video editing platform designed for creators who want browser-based editing without installing software. It combines core editing tools: trimming, subtitles, effects, and resizing.
VEED also provides AI features like auto-transcription, text-to-speech, and background noise removal. While Descript centers its workflow around text-based editing, VEED offers a more traditional editor with AI enhancements layered on top.
However, VEED's general-purpose editing tools don't include the competitor intelligence or ad-specific creative workflows that media buyers need to scale campaigns.
VEED offers a Lite plan ($12/month annually) that removes watermarks, supports 1080p exports, and provides access to stock media. The Pro plan ($29/month annually) includes 4K exports, unlimited AI studio videos, advanced AI tools like eye contact correction and background removal, and translation features.
Descript, VEED, and Synthesia all help you create video ads using AI. But they all start with the same assumption: that you already know what to create. For performance marketers, that's the wrong starting point. The best campaigns don't begin with AI scriptwriting; they begin with competitive intelligence.
GetHookd is built for the research-first workflow:
Descript helps you execute your ideas. GetHookd helps you know which ideas are worth executing.
Tools like Riverside, VEED, and GetHookd offer capabilities similar to Descript's, including transcription, video editing, and AI-powered creative features. Riverside focuses on remote recording with local file quality. VEED is a browser-based editor with transcription and subtitles. GetHookd combines transcription, ad research, and AI script generation for performance marketers.
It depends on your workflow. VEED runs entirely in your browser with no download required, making it accessible for quick edits, subtitles, and social media content. Descript offers deeper editing capabilities through its transcript-based workflow and AI tools, including Overdub. For performance marketers, GetHookd offers a workflow that goes beyond editing by connecting transcription to ad research and AI script generation.
No. GetHookd is built for marketers, not developers. You can transcribe ads, generate scripts, and clone creatives without any coding or technical setup.
For active campaigns, weekly Brand Spy checks help you spot new angles competitors are testing. During creative testing phases, daily monitoring can reveal which ads are being scaled or killed, providing real-time market intelligence.
Both GetHookd and Descript use AI to create video ads, but their workflows differ. Descript is for creating from scratch with AI writing, recording, and editing. GetHookd starts with research, using a 65M+ ad library to reveal winning patterns before you script anything. Descript offers no competitor insights or performance data, while GetHookd builds creative direction around what’s already converting. For teams spending heavily on ad tests, that difference can mean avoiding guesswork and cutting wasted spend.
*Note: Pricing and/or product availability mentioned in this post are subject to change. Please check our website for current pricing and stock information before making a purchase.
