The scenario: 52 videos, 10 minutes each
Every figure below assumes one finished 10-minute video a week for a year: 520 minutes, or about 8.7 hours, of final running time. The prices are what each vendor's own pages showed on 30 October 2026. We have not ordered captions from these services or measured their accuracy; this is a cost model built from published terms.
Captioning has two costs. The cash cost is what a service or plan charges. The time cost is the hours you spend reading an automatic transcript against the audio and fixing names, product terms and timing. AI routes move almost all of the cost into the second column, so the cheapest route on paper is only cheapest if your time is cheap or your audio is clean.
What each route charges, from the vendors' pages
Rev lists human captions starting at $1.99 a minute with a 99%+ accuracy claim and delivery in 12 hours or less, for English and Spanish. Its Free plan includes 45 AI transcription and caption minutes per user per month, Essentials includes 5,000 AI minutes per user per month, and Pro includes 10,000. Essentials shows $25.49 or $29.99 per seat per month depending on billing, with an annual total of about $306. [1]
Descript's Hobbyist plan lists $16 a month billed annually or $24 monthly, with 600 media minutes a month and watermark-free 1080p export; Free includes 60 media minutes a month and exports at 720p with a watermark. Captions are listed as unlimited on every plan. [2] Descript meters media minutes when you upload or record, not by final running time, and unused minutes do not roll over. [3]
YouTube automatic captions cost nothing, but YouTube says they may misrepresent speech because of mispronunciations, accents, dialects or background noise, may not be ready when you upload, and may not be produced at all for long videos, poor audio, long silences at the start or overlapping speakers. [5] 3Play Media does not publish per-minute rates; its plans page says rates are personalized by service, language and turnaround. [7]
| Route | Published price or allowance | Cash cost for 520 minutes a year | What you still do |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube automatic captions | Free | $0 | Wait for processing, then review and edit in YouTube Studio |
| Rev Free plan (AI) | 45 AI minutes per user per month | $0, but a five-upload month needs 50 minutes | Review every file; split or top up in long months |
| Rev Essentials (AI) | 5,000 AI minutes per user per month | About $306 billed annually | Review every file |
| Descript Hobbyist | 600 media minutes a month; captions unlimited | $192 billed annually ($16 x 12) | Review in the editor; export SRT or VTT |
| Rev human captions | From $1.99 per minute | About $1,034.80 ($1.99 x 520) | Spot-check names and terms |
| 3Play Media | Quote only | Not published | Request a quote for your volume and turnaround |
The review-time math that decides the real cost
No vendor publishes how long it takes you to correct an automatic transcript, so the next table is a planning model, not a measurement. It multiplies the 520 minutes of running time by a review ratio: 1x means you watch once at normal speed and fix as you go; 3x means you pause often for names, jargon and timing. Clear single-speaker narration usually sits near the low end; interviews with crosstalk or heavy terminology sit near the high end.
Put a value on your hour before choosing. At an assumed $30 an hour of your own time, 2x review costs about $520 a year in time, which is still cheaper than human captions. At 3x and $40 an hour, the time cost passes $1,000 and a human service starts to look reasonable, especially if you only spot-check its output.
| Review ratio (assumption) | Hours a year | Time cost at $30 an hour | Time cost at $40 an hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x running time | 8.7 | $260 | $347 |
| 2x running time | 17.3 | $520 | $693 |
| 3x running time | 26.0 | $780 | $1,040 |
Allowance traps: monthly caps, raw footage and rollover
Monthly allowances are counted per month, not per year. A weekly schedule produces four uploads in most months and five in about four months of the year. Rev's 45 free AI minutes cover four 10-minute videos, but a five-upload month needs 50 minutes, so plan a paid month or a different route for those weeks. [1]
Descript counts media minutes when you upload or record, so the meter runs on raw footage, not the 10-minute final. If you import 25 minutes of takes for each video, a five-upload month uses about 125 media minutes, which fits Hobbyist's 600 but not Free's 60. Unused minutes do not roll over, and a top-up is a one-time purchase. [2][3]
Translation multiplies cost quickly. Rev lists global subtitles at $6.49, $10.49 or $15.99 a minute depending on language, which for one extra language on 520 minutes is between about $3,375 and $8,315 a year. [1] Descript lists caption translation as included on paid plans and limited on Free, but we did not find a published accuracy figure for it. [2]
Worked example: three channels, three answers
A solo tutorial channel with clear narration records 15 minutes of takes per video and already edits in Descript. Hobbyist at $192 a year covers the media minutes, captions are generated in the editor, and an assumed 1x review adds about 9 hours a year. Total: about $192 plus one working day of review.
An interview channel with two guests a week and frequent crosstalk expects 3x review. At $40 an hour that is about $1,040 of time on top of any AI plan. Rev human captions at about $1,035 a year, with a spot check of names, cost roughly the same in cash and remove most of the review hours.
A channel that never edits outside YouTube can rely on automatic captions at $0, but should budget review time in YouTube Studio and check after upload, because YouTube says the captions may not be ready immediately. [5][6]
Per-video caption checklist
- Export captions from the locked final cut, not an earlier version; re-run them if you trim anything.
- Keep a glossary of names, products and terms and search the transcript for each before export.
- Check the first and last 30 seconds: YouTube notes a long silence at the start can stop automatic captions. [5]
- Set a maximum characters-per-line value before exporting SRT or VTT from Descript. [4]
- Upload the file in YouTube Studio under Subtitles, or use auto-sync with a transcript for videos under an hour with clean audio. [6]
- Add sound cues in brackets, such as [applause] or [thunder] (YouTube's own examples), when they carry meaning. [6]
- Record the minutes used each month so you see a five-upload month coming before you hit a cap.
Questions before you decide
How much do human captions cost for a weekly 10-minute video?
Rev lists human captions from $1.99 a minute, so one 10-minute video starts at about $19.90 and 52 videos at about $1,034.80 a year, before any subscription discount Rev offers on human services.
Are YouTube automatic captions good enough on their own?
YouTube itself warns that automatic captions may misrepresent speech because of accents, dialects, mispronunciations or background noise and recommends adding professional captions where possible. Review and edit them in YouTube Studio before relying on them.
Do Descript media minutes count the final video length?
No. Descript's help center says media minutes are used when you upload or record media, so raw takes count even if most are cut. Unused minutes do not roll over to the next month.
Does Rev's free plan cover a weekly channel?
Rev's Free plan includes 45 AI minutes per user per month. That covers four 10-minute videos, but a month with five uploads needs 50 minutes, so those months need a paid plan or another route.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Rev: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Descript: Pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Descript Help: Track and understand your media minutes and AI credits Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- Descript Help: Export subtitles Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- YouTube Help: Use automatic captioning Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- YouTube Help: Add subtitles and captions Accessed 30 Oct 2026
- 3Play Media: Plans and pricing Accessed 30 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.