Overview

Async is an online AI video editor controlled through chat. It can remove filler, pauses, repeated lines, bad takes and awkward moments, then add subtitles or turn longer videos into short-form clips. That combination is useful for repurposing podcasts, vlogs and explainers; it is less compelling if you need only a focused audio recorder or editor.

Key features

Editing and generation in chat

Async can generate B-roll, visuals, scenes and music without leaving the edit. Keeping cleanup and asset creation in the same workflow can save context switching for creators producing ads, vlogs or explainers. The trade-off is that AI work draws on credits: the free allowance is only 10 credits for the lifetime of the account, while subscriptions replenish credits by billing cycle. Annual subscribers receive credits monthly, not as a full yearly balance.

Audio and recording

Magic Dust reduces background noise and clarifies voices, a useful aid for spoken-word footage. Browser-based remote recording supports video, automatic transcription and separate audio tracks, with separate participant tracks for up to 10 people. Local recording is supported, and audio can be exported as WAV or MP3. The feature set reaches beyond editing into recording, though the available recording hours vary by plan.

Voice API and support

Async Voice API supports text-to-speech and speech-to-text, including streaming over WebSockets. Its documented integrations include Pipecat, LiveKit, Twilio, n8n and Picsart Flow. The help center covers accounts and billing, recording, editing and AI generation.

Pricing

Async is freemium. The free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and includes 10 lifetime AI credits, one hour of media upload to AI chat for the account’s lifetime, exports up to 720p and 2 GB of storage. Those permanent caps make it suitable for a small trial, not a dependable ongoing workflow.

Essentials offers 450 AI credits per month, 20 GB of storage, unlimited media-upload minutes and Full HD export. Pro raises that to 1,200 monthly credits and 120 GB, adds exports up to 4K and includes 20 hours of remote recording. Teams provides 3,000 monthly credits, 1 TB of storage, collaboration and team workspaces, and 50 recording hours. Essentials, Pro and Teams offer monthly or yearly billing, but their plan prices are not published; the general starting price is $11.99/mo (annual), so compare the checkout price and credit allowance before choosing.

Business has custom AI credit limits and recording hours, plus advanced security and compliance and dedicated onboarding and support; it uses custom pricing. Subscription credits reset each billing cycle, with annual-plan credits delivered monthly. Users can cancel through Profile Settings. New subscriptions have a seven-day refund policy, excluding AI credits already used.

Platforms

Async is available on the web and iOS, with an API for developers. There is no Android version, which rules it out for Android users seeking a native mobile app.

Who it's for

Async is best suited to creators and teams making spoken-word video who value AI-assisted cleanup, captions, clips and generated assets alongside recording. Teams needing collaboration can consider Teams, while solo creators who want regular editing should weigh the monthly credit allowance against their workload. It is not a fit for Android-first users or anyone whose usage would outgrow the free plan but depends on knowing plan prices in advance.

Pros and cons

Pros: Chat-based editing, audio cleanup, generation, captions and clips keep several video tasks in one workflow.
Pros: Remote recording supports up to 10 participants with separate tracks, and local recording and automatic transcription are supported.
Cons: The free plan’s 10 lifetime AI credits and one-hour lifetime upload allowance sharply limit continued use.
Cons: The stated $11.99/mo (annual) starting price does not identify the price of each paid tier, making plan-by-plan budgeting harder.
Cons: There is no Android app.

Alternatives

Choose Adobe Podcast when audio-only speech enhancement is the priority: its free plan includes Enhance Speech for audio files up to 30 minutes and 500 MB, with a one-hour daily limit. Pick Zencastr if you want podcast recording with a free allowance of six participants, unlimited recording and downloads, up to 4K video, unlimited track storage and five shows.

Consider Iris.fm if Android support matters: it runs on Android, iOS and web, and its Starter plan costs 9.00 USD per month for two hours of recording.

Cleanfeed is an alternative with a free plan and support across web, desktop operating systems and mobile. Airtape Studio has a free plan for two recording hours per month and two participants. Alitu is a paid web option at 38.00 USD per month, with 10 recording hours per month under its fair-use policy and 12 hours of transcription per monthly billing period. Hilite is another web-based freemium option.

For category browsing, see Podcast Recording Software, Video Podcast Software, AI Podcast Editing Software, AI Sound Effect Generators, AI Music Generators and Text-to-Speech Software.

Verdict

Choose Async if you want chat-based video cleanup, generated assets and short-form repurposing alongside browser recording. Its broad workflow is the main draw; the small lifetime free allowance and unclear tier-by-tier prices are the main reasons to compare alternatives before committing.

	Async	Cepstral
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, iOS, Web	api, Linux, macOS, Windows
Free plan	Yes	No
Paid from	11.99 /mo	—
Commercial use	—	Yes
API access	—	Yes
Export formats	—	WAV
Platforms	—	Windows, macOS, Linux, API

Async vs Cepstral

Async

Cepstral