Pausing your Descript subscription

If you want to take a break from Descript, you can pause your subscription for up to 3 months instead of canceling. This gives you time away without the hassle of remembering to re-subscribe. While paused, you won’t be charged or have access to your Drive or paid features.

What happens when you pause

Here’s a quick overview of pausing your subscription and what you can expect.

  • Your subscription pause takes effect immediately.

  • You won’t be charged for the pause duration on your next billing date.

  • You can pause your subscription for 1, 2, or 3 months.

  • While paused, you won’t have access to your Drive or any paid features.

  • You can resume or cancel your subscription at any time.

  • Once the pause period ends, your subscription will resume automatically.

  • You’re allowed one pause per calendar year.

Who can pause a subscription?

Not all users are eligible to pause their subscription. Here's who can access this feature.

  • Monthly plans: Annual subscriptions can’t be paused.

  • Non-legacy plans: Legacy subscriptions can’t be paused.

  • Drive owners and admins: Only users with billing access can pause a subscription.

  • Accounts with a valid payment method: Your payment method must be current and valid. If your payment fails during the pause, you'll be prompted to update it before the subscription can resume.

What to expect during the pause

When your subscription is paused, you won’t be able to use Descript. Here's how access is affected for you and your team.

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  • You won’t be able to access the app or any project content during the pause.

  • Drive members (editors, viewers, etc) will see a pause wall and won’t be able to access the Drive.

  • Drive owners and admins will see options to resume or cancel the subscription.

  • You won’t be able to modify your subscription during the pause, which includes changing plans and billing cycles or adding/removing seats.

  • If you can access another Drive that isn’t paused, you can switch Drives by logging out and back in and then selecting the active drive when Descript first loads.
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How billing works

Pausing your subscription stops upcoming charges but doesn’t change your billing schedule. Here’s how it works behind the scenes.

  • Pausing skips your next payment but does not change your billing cycle date.

  • During the pause, you might see invoices for $0, and your subscription status will show as Collection is paused.

  • If you resume your subscription early, billing will continue on your usual billing cycle.

After the pause

When your pause ends, your subscription restarts automatically, and billing resumes. Please feel free to cancel if you need to.

  • Your subscription resumes automatically on the selected date.

  • Once resumed, you can cancel your subscription at any time. Your plan will remain active until the end of your current billing period. See: How billing works in Descript.

How to pause your subscription

You can start a pause at any time from your billing settings. It only takes a few clicks.

  1. Go to Settings and make sure you have the right drive selected

  2. Then choose Subscription followed by Change plan
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  3. Select the Downgrade to Free plan.

  4. You will then be presented with the option to pause your subscription

  5. Choose how many months you'd like to pause (1, 2, or 3)

  6. Confirm the pause by clicking Pause subscription
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Your pause will take effect immediately.