Make editing easy with these 5 AI media tools for small businesses
- Kaden Coss
- May 3
- 4 min read
In today's digital landscape, video content has become a cornerstone of online marketing and communication. Adding subtitles and transcriptions to your video content serves multiple essential purposes:
it makes your content accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community
it enables viewers to engage with content in sound-sensitive environments
it helps with content discoverability through searchable text
For businesses looking to maximize their video content's reach and effectiveness, implementing proper subtitling and transcription should be a key consideration. There are almost too many useful options on the market, and finding the right one for your small business can be difficult.
Let's explore five industry-leading AI tools that can help streamline your video transcription and subtitling workflow:
Descript
Veed
Sonix
Eleven Labs
TurboScribe
Descript stands out as the most comprehensive solution for content creators and marketing teams. Starting at $24/month for the Hobbyist Plan, this all-in-one platform offers more than just transcription.
Descript also has a free plan so that you can test the waters and see if it is the right tool for you, but this option only gives you one hour per month of video editing. Its standout feature is the ability to edit your video by simply editing the transcript – when you delete or modify text, the corresponding video section changes automatically.
Descript’s AI will also find the most viral clips from your video and transform them into vertical video with subtitles, a necessity in today's social media culture.
The platform provides AI transcription in multiple languages and includes collaborative features for team projects. For marketing teams, especially, the ability to export subtitles in various formats makes it an excellent choice for streamlining workflow.
In my opinion, this software will be the best option for a small business. It may be a little more expensive than other subscriptions, but the results are worth the price.
Veed.io provides an intuitive platform ideal for marketing teams who need quick, professional results.
The Lite Plan starts at $12/month and unlocks numerous features, but the Pro Plan, which is $29/month, unlocks the platform's full potential. The Pro Plan includes auto-subtitling in multiple languages, all AI tools, full brand kits, and many other useful assets.
The platform offers collaborative features and includes a video editor, making it a solid all-in-one solution for teams that prioritize visual presentation.
While not as feature-rich as Descript, its straightforward interface makes it accessible for users with varying technical expertise.
Sonix offers automated transcription services with a focus on accuracy and ease of use. Their pricing starts at $10/hour of audio/video content with a monthly subscription model available.
The platform supports over 53 languages for transcription and translation, making it valuable for businesses working with international content. Sonix also stands out for its automated workflow features, including speaker identification, custom vocabularies, and the ability to edit transcripts directly within their interface.
This platform also includes a subtitle editor and various export formats, including common video formats and subtitle files. All of these qualities make Sonix a viable option for small businesses looking to expand into the international market.
ElevenLabs offers transcription features as part of its Creator Plan which starts at $22/month. Although their free plan has much to give, such as 10,000 characters of AI voiceovers, the Creator Plan allows for more advanced features, like custom AI voiceovers where you can use your voice for your audio. Their platform provides transcription services alongside their voice synthesis capabilities. ElevenLabs supports multiple languages and offers translation features, making it useful for businesses creating multilingual content.
Despite this, it's more specialized and might be overwhelming for beginners if you're only looking for a basic transcription service.
I use ElevenLabs regularly for content that I produce, and I can attest to their quality. Their voiceovers are extremely convincing and are easily customizable to fit the tone of your content. I cannot recommend ElevenLabs enough or voiceover work!
TurboScribe provides a straightforward approach to transcription, with plans starting at $20/month. While the free version of TurboScribe only offers limited transcription, the paid subscription delivers unlimited transcriptions and files up to 10 hours long, alongside other valuable tools.
The platform focuses solely on transcription and subtitle generation, making it a good choice for businesses with simple needs.
While it lacks advanced features like speaker identification or advanced editing tools, its simplicity makes it accessible for users who prioritize ease of use over extensive features.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Business
When you’re selecting a transcription tool for your small business, consider these key factors:
Volume of content
Consider whether your usage patterns are better suited for pay-per-use or subscription models. Click here to learn what model works best for your small company.
Technical expertise
Evaluate your team's ability to implement and use more complex tools versus simpler solutions.
Integration needs
Consider whether you need the tool to work with your existing video editing software or content management system.
Budget considerations
Compare per-minute pricing versus subscription models based on your expected usage.
Feature requirements
Determine which additional features, like translation or collaborative editing, would benefit your workflow.
By carefully evaluating these factors against your specific needs, you can select the tool that best serves your content creation workflow while maximizing your investment in AI technology.
While I believe these five tools to be the best in the industry, there are constantly new helpful AI tools being brought to the market. Each tool brings its own unique benefits and restrictions, so play around with all of them to find the one that works best for you and your small business.
For more information, check out these other articles:
About the Author
Kaden is a digital marketing student at Baldwin Wallace with a minor in entrepreneurship and social media production. Kaden is passionate about content marketing and social media marketing, and is continuing his marketing education with .
Connect with Kaden Coss on LinkedIn.