AI Video Editor Showdown: TimeBolt vs Descript vs Loom (Real Test Results)

For years, AI companies have promised push-button video editing. They buy up ad space, hand influencers free software, and flood feeds with claims editing is effortless.

But strip away the hype one question matters:

Can the software actually cut a video into something watchable automatically? 

Because deceptive marketing is a time suck, I conducted a real-life stress test to separate hype from fiction. 

THE CONTESTANTS

• Descript has raised around $100 million from investors that include OpenAI Startup Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint, and Spark Capital. 

• Loom Acquired by Atlassian for $975 million in 2023.  

• TimeBolt is bootstrapped since 2019 to 10,000 paid customers, built lean with zero outside funding. 

I recorded a single script on camera-only, at the same time on three different platforms, deliberately loaded with long pauses, ums, uhs, and filler words. I ran the file through top-tier paid plans of:

•  TimeBolt (Waveform + Umcheck)
•  Descript (edit by text)
•  Loom (auto remove filler and dead air)

The rules were simple:

•  Apply only dead-air removal and filler word removal automations.
•  No manual editing.
•  Compare raw vs outputs.

This is the original with 76 seconds of dead-air and 22 filler words. WARNING: REAL YAWNER

The Script

“You’ve heard the pitch a thousand times.
AI edits your video in minutes.
But here’s the problem with Loom and most so-called AI editors.
They promise to cut the boring parts.
But if it butchers the meaning, it’s worse than doing nothing.
And that’s already annoying.”

TimeBolt vs Descript vs Loom: Results

The results show exactly why the “push button” promise is broken and why waveform-driven editing tells a different story.

Here are the test results side-by-side. Is there a clear winner? 

Don’t take my word for it. Here are the raw files to run the test for yourself: 

• Download Raw Test Script Video

• Download Testing Output

Why Dead Air and Filler Break AI Transcriptions

Dead air and filler words are bad for viewers and AI. Transcript-based editors like Descript and Loom rely on automatic speech recognition (ASR), which works by breaking audio into tokens (tiny chunks of text).

• Dead air causes drift. Long pauses stretch token timestamps, so the transcript slips out of sync with the audio.

• Fillers produce weak tokens. Mumbled “ums” and “uhs” get low-confidence scores, often merging into nearby words or disappearing altogether.

• Compound fillers fragment. Phrases like “you know” or “it’s like” break into multiple tokens, making removal brittle.

• Errors cascade. Once a few tokens slip, all the following timestamps drift downstream, compounding mistakes.

That’s why transcript-based cuts often sound jagged, clip into real words, or leave gaps as discussed on Reddit, and shown in Descript's interface:

Waveform+ Umcheck AI Work Together

While Descript treats video like a Word document. TimeBolt takes a different approach. We cut by waveform first, then layer AI on top.

• Silence is unambiguous. In the waveform, silence is a flat line. We flag and remove it with millisecond precision.

• Noise stays controlled. Random mic strikes, coughs, or chair squeaks show up as short spikes. TimeBolt ignores anything shorter than 0.75 seconds, so you don’t lose meaningful words to false detections.

• Filler gets smarter. Once silence and noise are marked, Umcheck AI scans the transcript for fillers like um, uh, like, you know. Unlike transcript-only tools, TimeBolt doesn’t just delete tokens. We align the token timing against the waveform to cut exactly at the sound’s boundary.

• Custom tics are included. You can add any personal tic or phrase 'oh shit'.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

The combination of Waveform+ token-aware AI is TimeBolt can catch 50% more filler than the competition. 

Final Verdict

In human terms, there was a clear winner.

• TimeBolt: Watchable, flawless, fully automated.

• Descript: Shorter but sloppy.

• Loom: Still bloated and unwatchable.

AI editing is not push-button simple. Ads may say it is. Influencers may be paid to repeat it. But side by side, the truth is clear.

 Download TimeBolt Free and see the difference yourself.