Tools for Podcasters

Looking for the best tools for your podcast and podcast systems? This guide has you covered. From hosting to AI, there are hand-picked apps and services for just about everything you need!

Podcast Hosting Platforms

Your podcast needs a home. And while there are LOTS of choices out there, I think these 3 are the best, depending on what you need.

RSS.com

RSS.com is the best all-around podcast host out there. Great price, unlimited shows, episodes, and downloads, free transcripts, and publishing to YouTube.

Get RSS.com

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Best pricing for the features, tons of modern features (transcripts, chapters, publish to YouTube), easy to use.

Cons: Doesn’t include specific niche features, like private feeds, or dynamic content, if you need them.

If you’re serious about their show

If you’re looking for better features, like transcripts and advanced analytics

If you have multiple shows, or run a podcast network

Transistor.fm

Transistor is great if you need two specific features: private feeds, and dynamic content. The only drawback is they are on the pricier side.

Get Transistor

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Multiple shows at all plans, private podcasts, dynamic content, publish to YouTube, fully customizable embed player

Cons: Expensive, limiting on number of members, plans are based on downloads

If you want to have your private podcast in the same account as your free podcast

If you sell your ad inventory dynamically or want CTAs you can easily swap out

If you’re a brand who wants your embedded player to match your brand colors

Captivate

Similar to Transistor but you get more downloads and private podcasts at a lower price. Plus they have lots of marketing and growth tools!

Get Captivate

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Multiple shows at all plans, private podcasts, Great marketing tools, IAB certified stats

Cons: Plans are based on downloads, some say features are overkill

If you want to start a private podcast without paying a lot more

If you want rich stats and analytics

If you want powerful marketing tools

BuzzSprout

BuzzSprout is dead simple to use, and has a free to start plan. They offer a few good monetization features and dynamic content. They also have an AI add-on.

Get BuzzSprout

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Pros: Great use of AI, easy to manage, dynamic content, several monetization options, free to start

Cons: Several core features (transcripts, AI) are paid add-ons, free episodes deleted after 30 days, plans based on hours of audio.

If you’re a new podcaster who want to test with a free plan before paying.

If you know how much content you’ll put out each month

If you’re a seasoned podcaster who wants a suite of AI, editing, transcription, and monetization tools all in one place.

Recording/Streaming Interviews

Please, please don’t use Zoom to record your interviews. Good audio quality is important for a successful podcast.

Riverside.fm

Riverside’s the best way to record interviews. Reliable, great support for video and live streaming, transcript editing, and excellent clips + AI features.

Get Riverside.fm

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Pros: Reliable with great backups, easy to use, supports multiple recording studios, AI clips, transcript editing

Cons: Not a lot of support for automation, best features only available for Enterprise clients

If you want to reuse studios for multiple recordings

If you want to leverage simple live streaming

If you plan on repurposing video

Squadcast

A formidable opponent to Riverside that works especially well if you use Descript, or SavvyCal for scheduling (like goes to Descript since they are the same plan).

Get Squadcast

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Included with Descript, great integration with Descript, works with popular scheduling app SavvyCal

Cons: While it has reusable Sessions, it’s best used when it’s one recording per Session, heavily relies on Descript for any non-recording features

If you use Descript

If you use SavvyCal

If you like to organize each interview as its own session

eCamm Live

If you’re focused on live streaming your podcast, there’s nothing better than eCamm Live. It doesn’t to local guest recordings, but that might be a worthy trade off.

Get eCamm Live

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pros: Fantastic tool for live streaming, easily switching scenes, and making video edits much easier.

Cons: No local recording for guests, so audio quality could be an issue

If you are prioritizing or leveraging live streaming as part of their content strategy

Planning / Organizing

One often overlooked aspect, and the lynchpin, of a good podcast system is a planner/organizer. These tools have been indispensable to me to keep my shows organized, and on track.

Notion

Everyone knows about Notion at this point! It’s a versatile and well designed. Click the button below to get my personally designed Notion Planners

Get Notion Planners

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Super flexible, widely used, great for writing and organizing

Cons: Higher learning curve, automations are new / lacking, as are integrations

If you’re already using Notion

If you want to organize and take notes in the same app

If you want to add team members without breaking the bank

Airtable

I had my first podcast planner on Airtable, and there are still lots of reasons to use it. It’s got a lot of great built-in automations, and fantastic auto-popluation features.

Get Airtable

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Slick database and function features, easy to start, great automations, very powerful

Cons: High cost for multiple users, not good with rich text, advanced features have high learning curve

If you like/understand databases

If you aren’t working with a team of people

If you want a lot of flexible views

PodMatch

PodMatch offers a whole workflow for you to find, book, and record with guests and hosts. I’ve been using it and have found it to be a great supplement to Notion.

Join PodMatch

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Great way to find guests, has scheduling, release, and direct messaging

Cons: Not a full planning app, only good for interviews

If you’re looking to find guests for your podcast (as well as be a guest!)

Trello

A SUPER simple Kanban board/planner that’s perfect for keeping track of episode statuses. And it works with Zapier and Make!

Get Trello

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Easy to use, clear layout, lots of integrations, free to start

Cons: Limited compared to other tools, you will likely need to upgrade fast

If you’re looking for a simple yet powerful planner

Editing

I strongly, strongly recommend hiring an editor. But when you want to edit yourself, these tools — especially Descript — are your best bet.

Descript

Descript is definitely the easiest way to edit audio: highlight text, and delete. Plus, there’s Studio Sound and lots of other unmatched AI features.

Get Descript

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Easy to use, edit audio/video by editing text, great AI features built-in, free to start, easily publish to several platforms

Cons: Does not handle complicated projects well, relies on transcripts and you can blow through minutes quickly, doesn’t support external audio plugins

If you want an all-in-one recording, editing and publish app

If you want to make simple, occasional edits

If you want to do first pass edits before sending the files to an editor

Logic Pro

An old standby for many podcast editors, with lots of heavy duty tools, and excellent support for additional plugins. There’s even an “easy mode” if you’re just starting.

Get Logic Pro

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Very powerful, industry standard audio editor, supports huge projects, has an iPad app

Cons: High learning curve, may be overkill for most podcasters

If you want to do heavy duty, professional editing

If you have a specific need Logic Pro handles especially well.

Audacity

The biggest appeal of Audacity is that it’s free, open-source, and cross platform. A great app that does what most podcasters need to do,

Get Audacity

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pros: Free, open source software, cross platform, lots of tutorials available.

Cons: Dated interface, basic mixing capabilities

If you’re just start out and want to do your own edit

If you want to try editing without making an investment

Adobe Podcast

Adobe is an OG in the creative space, and has some unique features in its editing suite, like Mic Check!

Get Adobe Podcast

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Easy to use, edit audio/video by editing text, great AI features built-in, free to start, easily publish to several platforms

Cons: Requires Creative Cloud subscription

If you want an all-in-one recording, editing and publish app

If you want to make simple, occasional edits

If you already have Creative Cloud

Transcription

Transcripts are table stakes now. They can also be core to a podcast system where you’re repurposing. They help with searching, discoverability, and accessibility. And with Apple Podcasts automatically adding them, they’re expected too. While I strongly recommend having a person do them for 100% accuracy, automated tools are getting much, much better.

Whisper AI

OpenAI’s Whisper is a fantastic, surprisingly accurate tool. I’ve been using MacWhisper (linked), but there are lots of options out there.

Get MacWhisper

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Super powerful, accurate, supports a lot of languages, easy for developers to integrate

Cons: No single app, might be unclear on how to use if you don’t know what to look for

If you want transcripts and other services you use don’t offer them for free

If you want a less commonly transcribed language

If you want transcripts that don’t rely on a web service

Descript

Even if you don’t use Descript for editing, the transcription feature is great. You can also publish to various hosts, transcript included.

Get Descript

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Free plan to start, flexible, editor included

Cons: You can run out of minutes quickly, clunky if you only want transcripts

If you want an all-in-one service that covers transcription, recording, editing and publishing

Riverside.fm

It’s worth mentioning Riverside again too, as it does accurate transcripts along with each recording!

Get Riverside.fm

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Transcribes your interviews as you record, supports 100+ languages, great for finding clips

Cons: Doesn’t support audio uploads, tied to recordings

If you’re already using Riverside to record interviews

AI Repurposing

AI repurposing tools have a bunch of utility, from giving you a starting point for sharing your shows, to generating transcripts, to surfacing interesting points in interviews you may have missed.

Castmagic

Of all the AI repurposing tools I’ve used, I like Castmagic the best. It’s great at transcripts, as well as surfacing interesting points in the conversation.

Get Castmagic

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Different types of content (like podcast, YouTube, coaching call), Repurposing, transcripts, community and custom prompts

Cons: Assets need to be edited, doesn’t always remember user preferences

If you’re looking to find interesting clips/sound bites

If you want starters for social media sharing / teasing

If you make lots of different types of content/recordings

Capsho

If you’re looking for great long-form content, and more context aware prompts, I think Capsho takes the cake. Plus they can create clips and lots of other assets!

Get Capsho

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Pros: Flexible content builder, creates lots of good long-form content, 30-300 second clips

Cons: Somewhat complicated interface, expensive

If you want to create long-form content

If you’re a marketer who needs a lot of marketing assets

Swell AI

Similar to both Castmagic and Capsho, but have a free and pay-as-you-go plan if you want to test the waters. They also directly integrate ChatGPT!

Get SwellAI

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Free plan, affordable, easy to use, pay-as-you-go, great for long content

Cons: Priced on minutes, more expensive per minute than Castmagic

If you want to turn your podcast into a book

If you want to try a service like this without committing to a subscription

Private Podcast Platforms

There are lots of utility for private podcasts, from paid/premium content, to releasing an audio-only course, or an internal podcast for your team or company.

Supercast

A well-designed, super affordable way to offer a private or premium podcast. You get charged per subscriber, and it integrates with many membership tools!

Get Supercast

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Pros: Pay only when you make money, easy to use, includes newsletter, built-in AMA tools

Cons: Need to apply to have multiple shows, some feel it’s expensive

If you have one show with a small membership

If you want support for YouTube

Hello Audio

More expensive than Supercast, but you get some unique features, like video-to-audio conversion, and support for multiple feeds, in case you have several shows!

Get Hello Audio

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Flat fee per month, multiple feed support, unlimited listeners

Cons: Could be expensive if you don’t have many members, full Zapier support only at highest price

If you have more than 30 members

If you want support for multiple shows

Memberful

A full membership platform, there’s a strong focus on podcasting. This is a perfect solution if you want easy management and tight WordPress Integration.

Get Memberful

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Simple pricing, lots of integrations, supports more than just podcasts

Cons: Could be expensive if you don’t have many members, more complicated if you just want a private podcast

If you want a full-blown membership that supports a private feed

If you have a WordPress site you want to integrate with

If you want to fully own the platform for your membership

Patreon

A well-respected, long standing service for creators to monetize their work. The platforms works great for podcasters, but the fee structure is a bit confusing.

Get Patreon

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pros: Been around a long time, super simple to set up, great features, free to start

Cons: Pricing can be confusing, limited integrations, discovery not great

If you just want to focus on the content and not the platform

If you want to start a membership for free

If you want more than just a private podcast

Substack

Substack is well-liked in the writing/journalist community because of it’s support for newsletters too. You only pay when you make money too!

Get Substack

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Free to start, excellent newsletter support, easily import Stripe subscriptions, powerful discovery engine

Cons: 10% of sales is expensive, has no 3rd party integrations, not a podcast-first platform

If you want a newsletter along with your podcast

If you want to start somewhere without having to worry about paying

If you want to leverage platform/algorithmic discovery

Scheduling

Scheduling is where many podcasters can make the biggest time-saving impact in their workflows. If you book guests, a scheduling tool is a must-have

Cal.com

The scheduling tool I use. It’s versatile and FREE, I have lots of calendars, it works with all of my automation tools, people can pay for coaching when they book too!

Get Cal.com

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Pros: Free, lots of integrations, robust features

Cons: Free model is always risky

I really think this is best for most people.

Calendly

The scheduling tool I use. It’s clean and versatile, I have lots of calendars, it works with all of my automation tools, people can pay for coaching when they book too!

Get Calendly

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Clean interface, free to start, offers payments, post-event emails

Cons: No calendar overlay, team scheduling only available on higher plans

If you don’t need to work with anyone else

If you want to try a scheduling tool for free

SavvyCal

SavvyCal is a better tool in a lot of ways, including with designs and overlays. And the changes they’ve made recently have me looking at it again.

Get SavvyCal

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Beautiful design and calendar overlays, round robin scheduling, individual links, direct integration with Squadcast

Cons: Limited free plan, fewer integrations

If you work with multiple people

If you use Squadcast

Email Service Providers

One of the best things you can do for your podcast is grow your mailing list. It provides a two-way street, giving subscribers a way to get notified of new episodes, and giving you a way to directly contact listeners.

Kit.com

Formerly ConvertKit, I think this offers the best array of features for podcasters — including a way to connect your RSS feed.

Get Kit.com

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Free to start, lots of creator-focused features, many integrations

Cons: Can get expensive and complicated quickly.

Creators who want to build a list where they can easily segment their audience.

Podcasters who want an all-in-one email/ecommerce solution.

Beehiiv

Beehiiv is another great tool, a bit simpler than Kit.com, really focused on sending email. It’s also got great publishing tools.

Get Beehiiv

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Clean interface, free to start, great website tools

Cons: Can get expensive fast, limited free plan

If you’re really focused on sending emails.

If you’re looking for a more open alternative to Substack

Flodesk

I recently learned about Flodesk and it looks great! Clean, customizable, and intuitive, it looks like a good option.

Get Flodesk

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Pros: Beautiful templates, intuitive, flat fee pricing not based on subscribers,

Cons: Limited feature set

If you want to send emails and scale quickly without worrying about the ballooning costs — but don’t need advanced email features.

Automation

Automation is the lynchpin of great workflows, and there are two fantastic web automation tools out there.

Make.com (formerly Integromat)

My current favorite automation tool. It’s super affordable, has a fantastic visual editor, and works with just about everything I need it to.

Get Make

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Very affordable, lots of integrations, great visual editor

Cons: Learning curve, requires a little bit more management with “operations”

If you want to try automation without paying a ton for it

Zapier

The industry standard for web automation, it has thousands of integrations, meaning that if you need to automate something, Zapier will likely work with it.

Get Zapier

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Pros: Works with everything, set it and forget mindset, AI automation builder works great

Cons: More expensive, clunky builder

If you don’t want to worry about running out of tasks

If you need to integrate with something other tools don’t integrate with.

Recording/Audio Tools

iZotope Audio Plugins

If you are editing, or doing clean up yourself, do yourself a favor and pick up some audio plugins from iZotope. I have RX 10 Standard, but VEA is also great for podcasts.

Check out iZotope

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Podcaster’s Gift Guide

I often get asked about what gear one should get, and while I think gear is least important, you still need it. So check out this gift guide, for podcasters at any stage.

Podcaster’s Gift Guide

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Getting Feedback

Notion Forms

Notion’s forms are a great new option for collecting feedback — especially if your entire system is in there.

Use Notion Forms

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fanlist

Fanlist allows you to have inboxes where listeners can submit audio. They also offer a suite of monetization options!

Fanlist

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Want more ideas?

Check out my blog post in getting feedback and building community:

Read more

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Disclosures: I am an evangelist for RSS.com. Page contains affiliate links.

Last Updated March 2025