Riverside.fm Review 2024: The new best podcast recording platform ?

An in-depth review of Riverside.fm, including features, pricing, rating, and pros and cons. Updated for 2024 🙌

12 min readJan 20, 2021

The question of ‘What is the best podcast recording platform in 2024?’ is getting harder and harder to answer.

Competition in the podcast recording space has been heating up and there are more contenders for the #1 spot than ever before 🤜 🤛

This is a great problem for podcasters to have.

However, it does make it more challenging and time-consuming to choose the podcast recording service that’s right for you.

There is no doubt in my mind that one of the platforms that deserves to be near (or at) at the top of the list is Riverside.fm.

It’s one of the few podcast recording platforms that does almost everything right.

The creators have taken the time to understand what podcasters want — and they deliver it.

Riverside’s a clean, reliable, high-quality service that provides everything you need (+ a little bit more) to produce a podcast that sounds and looks great in 2024.

In this Riverside.fm review I’m going to provide a basic overview of how Riverside works and why I rate it as one of the best podcast recording services out there today.

TL;DR ⏱️

Can’t be bothered reading the whole review and just want the highlights?

I got you 😏

Here’s a quick summary of what I’m going to cover in more depth below.

The Good 👍

Studio-quality audio
Riverside’s audio quality is seriously good. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything better for remote podcast recording. It blows Zoom out of the water and holds its own against any other podcast recording service.
4K video recording
Riverside is the first dedicated podcast platform to provide audio and video recording. What’s more, the video quality is 4K, regardless of how good or bad your wifi connection is.
Stable connection
When you’re recording a podcast remotely, you need a reliable connection. I’ve had no issues with Riverside’s stability, although I’ve heard that some people have. It seems Riverside is steadily improving stability, which is why it’s overtaking many other big players in the podcast space.
iOS app
Riverside recently released an app for iOS which means you can record podcasts with guests anytime, anywhere. The quality might not be as good on a smartphone, but you can get decent podcasting mics for your phone these days.
Ahead of the curve
Riverside is setting the pace when it comes to releasing new and improved features. They were first with video and they’ve also released a bunch of other cool features such as screen sharing, social live streaming, and a new featured called ‘Clips’ for easily repurposing your podcast content.

The Not So Good 👎

̶A̶ ̶t̶a̶d̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶e̶y̶ ̶
̶R̶i̶v̶e̶r̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶e̶n̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶j̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶d̶c̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶r̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶p̶a̶c̶e̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶p̶a̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶(̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶)̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶ ̶b̶u̶c̶k̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶.̶ (Riverside has updated its pricing (see below) and it’s now among the most affordable podcast recording platforms. Kudos, team Riverside!)
Echo (echo…)
I’ve never had any issues with Riverside, but I asked on Reddit if anyone had. One person commented that they couldn’t stop the audio recording from sounding echoey. It was probably an issue at their end, rather than Riverside’s, but I wanted to share this with you in the interest of transparency.

Overall rating: 9/10 🔥

Try Riverside.fm today and get one hour FREE (no credit card needed)

Riverside.fm walkthrough 🚶‍♂️

I’ve created a new account to show you the basics of how Riverside looks, feels, and works.

Note: Due to regular updates to Riverside, the walkthrough and UX may be *slightly* different today. But this will still give you an idea of what it’s like on the inside.

This is the main Riverside dashboard when you first log in. It’s clean and simple. You’re not overwhelmed with options. In fact, there are only two options: Go to Studio or Create a New Studio

When you click ‘Create a New Studio’, this is what you’ll see.

You get to input an episode name and choose which features you want to use, including:

Audio Only (Default is with video)
Transcription Language
Scheduling Options

You’re then taken to the ‘Studio’ so to speak where you get to type in your name, see how you look on camera and select your input and output (microphone and headphones).

If you haven’t already invited guests to a recording, you can do this in the next step in the ‘Invite Participants’ section.

You can email guests (and audience members if you’re using the live call-in feature) or copy a link to invite them to the show. You’ll just have to arrange a time for the recording in advance.

Once everyone has shown up for the podcast episode, you just click ‘Start Recording’ and you’re good to go.

When you’ve finished recording, you have to wait a minute or two for the audio and video to finish uploading. Then you can find your audio and video files by clicking ‘View Recordings’.

You can now edit your audio and video directly in Riverside, which is awesome. I also tested out the automatic transcription feature, which was perfect.

You can also use AI features to create show notes and “Magic Clips” — short highlights from your podcast episode for sharing on social media.

Once you’re done editing, click ‘Share’ and export your recording at the quality you desire.

As you can see from this basic walkthrough, Riverside.fm is simple and seamless to use for recording a podcast in both audio and video formats — but it’s packed with a heap of helpful features to enhance your experience.

Click here to get started with Riverside.fm today (it’s free to try!)

Riverside.fm Review 2024 🧐

Let’s take a closer look at Riverside.fm’s core features.

I won’t cover everything here, but in my opinion, these are the things that make Riverside awesome.

Studio-quality audio 🔉

Riverside allows you to record uncompressed crystal clear audio (48kHz WAV, if that means anything to you) from your browser.

You can hear an example of Riverside’s audio quality here.

This is pretty impressive for a remote podcast recording service.

There are a few podcast recording platforms (SquadCast, Zencastr) that can record to the same (or similar) quality, but I’m yet to find anything that’s better.

4K video recording 👨‍💻

Riverside.fm’s video recording feature will be enough for some people to say, “Sign me up!”

While other podcast recording services are scrambling to release a video recording feature, Riverside.fm quietly delivered it.

And it’s not just some half-hearted effort at strapping on video capability to an audio-first service.

It’s a high-quality 4K video, which is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to recording video online.

And by some miracle, they’ve figured out how to deliver 4K video without requiring a super-fast internet connection. That miracle is called ‘local recording’ and while I don’t quite understand how it works, it just works.

However, minor caveat, the quality of the video does depend on the quality of your (and your guest’s) webcam.

If you’re wanting to release your podcast in video format in 2021 and don’t want to fork out for a multi-camera set-up, then Riverside is probably your best bet.

Update: Riverside also allows you to download separate audio and video tracks for each participant so you can have full control over post-production.

Reliability 😌

The number one thing I look for in a remote podcast recording service is reliability and stability.

I’ve had a few bad experiences with another platform where connections would drop mid-recording. There was even one time that I lost an entire one-hour recording 🤦🏻

I haven’t had any issues with Riverside.

I think this comes down to two things:

1. Progressive Upload
This means your audio and video are being uploaded in the background in real-time. You don’t have to wait until you’ve finished and hit ‘Stop’ for the files to upload. Therefore, if your wifi cuts out or your computer crashes, most of your recording will still be saved automatically.

2. Local Recording
Your audio and video files are being recorded locally, which means on your (and your guests’) computers, rather than in the cloud. This is typically much more reliable than cloud-based recording.

I have heard that some people have had problems, but I’d recommend trying Riverside out for yourself to see how smoothly it runs for you.

Extra features 🔥

The thing that really sets Riverside.fm apart is how quickly they’ve delivered extra features.

While most podcast recording services have struggled to master the basics, Riverside has rolled out a bunch of awesome tools that can help make your show more interactive and boost your audience.

Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Magic Clips🎬

We all know that repurposing is essential for squeezing the most juice out of your podcast content.

Magic Clips makes it super easy to repurpose your content with the help of AI.

You don’t have to download all your files, spend hours editing them, and use half a dozen different free online tools to create snazzy social media clips for your audience.

Now you can do all of this from within Riverside in just a few clicks.

This says to me that Riverside clearly understands what podcasters want. Seriously, this is awesome.

Screen Sharing & Recording 🖥️

Screen sharing has become an important tool for business meetings on Zoom and other video calling platforms. But it can also help to enhance podcast recordings.

Imagine if you’re talking to a co-host or guest about something they haven’t seen and, rather than just trying to describe it to them, you can share it with them in real-time 🤯

It’s like having your own “Yo, Jamie, pull that up” experience at your fingertips (Joe Rogan fans will know what I’m talking about).

Currently, what you’re sharing on your screen isn’t captured in the video recording, but hopefully Riverside is working on that.

Transcription ⌨️

Transcribing podcasts and videos used to be a headache for a creators.

Now it’s done automatically within Riverside, it’s super fast, and surprisingly accurate. I have a foreign (non-US) accent, and it still managed to transcribe my voice perfectly.

You can then use the transcript to edit, caption, customize, and clip your recording.

The AI is native in 100+ languages which explains why it had no problem with my accent.

Media Board 💻

This is one of Riverside’s newest features.

You can pre-upload any media you may want to use during your recording, such as podcast intros, outros, sounds, jingles, ads, video clips, and theme music and trigger them in real time.

This saves a whole lot of time in post-production and editing and elevates the professionalism of your show.

Host multiple guests 🤝

While most podcast recording platforms limit you to one or two guests, Riverside lets you record with up to seven (1 host + 7 guests).

That’s incredibly generous. I can’t think of any podcast that would need that many people, but it’s nice to know you can throw a podcast party if you want to.

Teleprompter 👁️‍🗨️

Riverside has a built-in teleprompter so you can preload scripts, such as intros and ad reads and hit them perfectly every time.

Riverside iOS app

This may sound unbelievable in 202, but I’ve had several occasions where I’ve wanted to record a podcast episode with someone but they haven’t had (or been near to) a laptop or computer.

“Can you just call me?” they’d ask. But I didn’t have the tools to do that while retaining reasonable audio quality.

The Riverside iOS app allows you to connect with guests via their smartphone (as long as they have an iPhone, I guess). This gives you greater flexibility. Imagine if you’re hosting a sports podcast and you can connect with a player or coach minutes after a game, live from the stadium.

It seems like the founders are putting their $9.5 million of Series A funding to good use.

Trusted by big names 😎

This may not mean much to you, but quite a few big brands use Riverside.fm for their podcasts — Spotify, Disney, Microsoft and Shopify to name a new.

Hilary Clinton even gave them a shoutout 🤷🏻‍♂️ And yes, that’s Gary Vaynerchuk and Mark Zuckerberg recording live on Riverside above.

The reason why I think this matters is that big brands — especially big tech companies — have massive budgets for this kind of stuff and they only want to use the best.

The fact that Spotify is using Riverside when they have their own podcast recording platform (Anchor) kinda speaks for itself.

Take Riverside’s features for a spin now (first hour free!)

Riverside.fm pricing (Updated)💰

So how much is all this gonna cost ya?

Riverside has three core plans. They recently dropped their pricing, making Riverside.fm one of the most (if not the most) affordable remote podcasting platforms in 2024.

As it stands, I think it offers the biggest *bang for buck*.

I think the ‘Standard’ plan would be sufficient for most podcasts, but if you want a built-in transcription service and maximum recording time, you might want to go for the ‘Pro’ plan.

You can save up to 21% by going with a yearly plan, rather than paying monthly.

Basic — FREE

2 hours of separate audio & video tracks (one-off)
Unlimited single track recording and editing
Watermark on exported files
Up to 720p video quality
44.1 kHz audio quality
Unlimited video calls

Standard — $19/month ($15/m paid yearly)

5 hours of separate audio & video tracks per month
Everything in Free, plus:
No watermark on exported files
Up to 4K video quality
48 kHz audio quality
Screen sharing
Live streaming to social media

Pro — $29/month ($24/m paid yearly)

15 hours of separate audio & video tracks per month
Everything in Standard, plus:
Accept live call-ins
Unlimited transcriptions
AI Show Notes
Live chat support
Teleprompter

Try Riverside.fm now and get your first 60 minutes free

What more could you ask for?

If you’re creating a podcast in 2024, you’ll find everything you need and more with Riverside.fm.

I can’t think of anything more I’d want from a podcast recording platform.

As a quick recap, with Riverside.fm you’ll get:

Studio quality audio
Built-in editing
4K video (depending on webcam capabilities)
Reliable connection (progressive upload and local recording)
Screen sharing
Transcription
Social live streaming
Magic Clips for repurposing content
Media Board
iOS app
Up to 7 guests
Affordable pricing

I think all of this makes Riverside one of the best podcast recording services in 2024. And at the rate they’re going, they may leave everyone else in their dust.

If you’re ready to give Riverside a go, you can sign up below.

Sign up for a free trial of Riverside.fm today (no credit card needed)

Ps. I’ve included affiliate links for Riverside.fm in this review, which means I’ll get a small cut if you sign up. Just being real with y’all. If my Riverside.fm review was helpful, please consider using one of my links to sign up.