8 Best Podcast Editing Software for All Uses (2024)

Key takeaways:

• When choosing podcast editing software consider: Separate track editing, trimming and merging tools, audio mixing, AI, and video editing features. 
• Riverside is the​​ best overall podcast editing software. 
• The best professional podcast editing software is Audition for Adobe users or Reaper and Pro Tools for any desktop.  
• The best podcast editing software for beginners includes Alitu or Auphonic if you want to try AI. 
• The best free podcast editing software is Audacity and for Mac users Garageband.

Choosing the wrong software can be a costly mistake. You can either waste your money, struggle to use it because it’s too complex, or get subpar results. 

Don’t gamble with your podcast’s success. We’ve researched the best podcast editing software to help you create polished, professional-quality episodes. 

Which podcast editing software is best for you? Read on to find out!

Table of contents:

• What podcast editing tools should you look for in your software?
• Best podcast editing software for 2024
• Best overall and online podcast editing tool: Riverside
• Best audio editing software for podcasts: Reaper
• Best podcast editing software for Adobe users: Adobe Audition
• Best free podcast editing software: Audacity
• Best podcast editing software for Mac: GarageBand
• Best podcast editing software for professionals: Pro Tools
• Best podcast editing software for beginners: Alitu
• Best AI podcast editing software: Auphonic
• FAQs on podcast editing software

What podcast editing tools should you look for in your software? 

Here are the editing tools to look out for when choosing podcast editing software:

Separate track editing

Editing with separate audio and video tracks for each speaker gives you more flexibility. For example, you can edit one person’s audio or video without affecting anyone else’s track.

For this reason, look for software that supports:

• Multi-track editing: This enables you to edit individual tracks separately. 
• Non-destructive editing: Allows you to make changes without altering the original audio files.

Trimming and merging

Podcast editing tools should ideally have options to trim and merge clips. 

Trimming allows you to remove unwanted audio sections. Merging combines multiple clips into a single track. A splitting tool divides long recordings into smaller, manageable segments.

Ensure these tools are easy to work with. 

You can also look for software with text-based editing. This AI technology turns your recording into an editable transcript. Anytime you delete or move text around in your transcript, the matching video will correspond. 

Audio mixing and enhancement

If you want top-notch-sounding audio, you’ll likely need to make some edits. This includes:

• Audio normalization: Normalizing audio means ensuring the volume is consistent throughout tracks.
• EQ (equalization): This balances frequencies to enhance sound clarity.
• Background noise removal: Here you can get rid of any distracting noise in your audio.
• Music and sound effects: To spice up your show, use a tool where you can add background music and sound effects for your intro, outro, or between segments.
• Silence removal: You can use this to cut out long, awkward pauses without needing to sift through everything.

It's also worth looking for automatic audio enhancement tools. These can save you hours of time touching up your audio. 

Video podcast editing features

If you’re creating video podcasts, choose an editor compatible with video. 

In this case, you’ll mostly want tools to customize your video for example:

• Branded backgrounds and logos.
• Dynamic captions for better accessibility.
• Text and image overlays for lower thirds and demonstrations.

AI features

This isn’t a must, but AI tools save you so much time editing your podcast. You’ll find many podcast editors now offer AI tools. For example, you could try look for AI:

• Clips generators: These tools turn your long podcast episode into short shareable clips for social media.
• Summaries: You’ll get automatic descriptions of your episodes with titles, chapters, and key takeaways. 
• Chapter markers: Segment episodes into sections, allowing the audience to navigate more easily.
• Filler word removal: Weeds out “ums” and “ahs” automatically, so you don’t have to do it manually.

If you want to streamline more of your workflow with AI, then check out our guide on AI podcasting tools.

Budget

Some apps are entirely free, though most are paid. However, paid apps sometimes come with a free version. 

Whether you want a free or paid app depends on what features you require. Browse through the pricing section of each app to see if the feature you need is available and it’s within your budget. 

User-friendly interface

Apps like Reaper are excellent for professional editing, but that can also be a problem – only professionals can navigate such software. 

If you’re a beginner, look for apps with an intuitive and snappy interface. Apps like Riverside, Alitu, and Zencastr fall into this category.

Best podcast editing software for 2024

Best overall and online podcast editing tool: Riverside

Price: Free version, Standard version at $15/month, Pro version at $24 per month

Ease of use: Easy

Compatibility: Browser-based, iOS, Android

Video or audio: Audio and video editing

Looking for a podcast platform that can handle everything from recording to editing? Then try Riverside. Its generous free version lets you test out its plethora of editing tools. 

Riverside is one of the few tools that can record and edit 4K video. Plus, its editor is highly intuitive for beginners. But, its AI features will cut professionals’ editing time by half.

You can edit with text-based editing or try the multitrack editing timeline. The timeline has chapters and is color-coded by speakers for easy organization. 

Then, in a few quick clicks, remove background noise, long, awkward silences, and filler words.  

And, if you’re creating a video podcast, you can choose a layout, add music, or place dynamic captions and text or image overlays.

Key Features:

• Text-based Editing: Easily trim your video by removing text in the transcript to automatically delete the corresponding portion of the video.
• Timeline editing: Zoom in on the timeline for precision editing, with features including trimming, splitting, and adding images, video, and audio.
• Social media clips: Use AI to automatically turn your podcasts highlights into social media clips.
• Separate track editing: Record and edit each participant’s audio and video in separate synced tracks.
• Audio enhancement: AI editor that lets you remove background noise, normalize your audio levels, and remove long silences/pauses automatically.
• Enhanced editing efficiency: Color-coded labels differentiate between speakers in the timeline to reduce errors and speed up the editing process.
• AI captions and transcription: Download highly accurate transcripts or add and style dynamic captions to your video podcasts. 
• Text and image overlays: Customize your video or add video to your audio by adding your own images and text. 
• Live editing: Upload, play, and record audio and video clips instead of having to add them manually post-production.
• AI show notes: Generate show notes with titles, chapters, key takeaways, and a full description of your podcast episode.

Pros:

• High-quality audio and video regardless of internet connection
• Easy to use and accessible on various browsers as well as mobile
• Record and edit podcasts all in one tool
• AI-powered editing features for quick edits
• Multitrack sync, ensuring all tracks from different participants stay aligned during editing

Cons:

• Fewer advanced features

Start recording with Riverside

Easily record high-quality podcasts & videos remotely

Get Started

Best audio editing software for podcasts: Reaper

Price: $60 for lifetime use, $225 for commercial license

Ease of use: Geared towards professionals

Compatibility: macOS, Windows, Linux

Video or audio: Advanced audio editing with basic video editing tools

Reaper is a powerful digital audio workstation (DAW) that’s popular among podcasters. It has tools for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering audio projects of any size and complexity. 

While tools like Alitu cater to beginners, Reaper is designed for more advanced podcast editors. You can customize your workflow and you can stretch your capabilities with a variety of third-party plugins. 

Reaper is a multitrack editor, giving you full control over each person’s audio. 

The interface is a little outdated. But, you’ll find a huge choice of video tutorials on Reaper’s site to help you get started.  

Overall, I’d say this is a great budget-friendly audio editing software for professionals.

Key Features:

• Intuitive interface: Easy to use drag and drop editing
• Lightweight software: Loads fast and isn’t resource-intensive
• Plugin support: Plugins and extensions that vastly improve Reaper’s capabilities
• Non-destructive editing: So you can apply effects to the track, leaving clips intact
• Multi-track audio recording: For creating complex and layered audio productions
• Wide audio format support: Supports a wide range of audio formats like WAV, MP3, FLAC, and more
• Basic editing tools: Including splitting, trimming, copy, paste, undo, fades, etc
• Customizable interface: Highly customizable interface so you can tailor workflows and functionality

Pros:

• Affordable one-time fee
• Great for professionals
• Frequent updates

Cons:

• Isn’t the most intuitive and prettiest DAW to work with
• Huge learning curve for a beginner

Best podcast editing software for Adobe users: Adobe Audition

Price: 7-day free trial, Single plan at $20.99/month

Ease of use: Difficult

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

‍Video or audio: Audio only but you can integrate it to Premiere Pro for video editing.

Adobe Audition is a high-caliber sound editing tool. It’s not the most budget-friendly. But, those at home with Adobe Cloud applications will appreciate Audition as it fits cleanly into the workflow. 

While Audition is audio-focused, you can integrate it into Premiere Pro for video podcasts.

The interface is intuitive, but it has a learning curve since it’s a professional editor. It’s also highly customizable; you can arrange the panels in your workflow to fit specific tasks. 

I like its wide array of effects, templates, and presets. You won’t have an issue finding any audio filter you may need. 

Plus, you can create your own templates and run them automatically. 

This podcast editing software is known for its batch-processing capabilities.  You can apply the same effects to multiple files at once. 

Key Features:

• Multitrack recording: So you can record and edit multiple audio tracks simultaneously.
• De-noising: To remove background noise from recordings.
• Effects: Add effects recording EQ, compression, reverb, and others.
• Nondestructive editing: Non-destructive so that changes aren’t permanent.
• Royalty-free sound effects: Library of royalty-free sound effects.
• Loudness matching: Feature that helps keep sounds consistent.
• Special noise reduction feature: Show the software the noise you want to remove, and it will intelligently remove similar noises from the whole recording.

Pros:

• Advanced editing tools ideal for professionals
• Easy integration with Premiere Pro for editing video podcasts
• Save time with recording templates

Cons:

• Higher price than other options
• Has a steep learning curve for beginners

Read more in our full guide on how to use Audition for podcasting.

Best free podcast editing software: Audacity

Price: Free

Ease of use: Medium

Compatibility: macOS, Windows, Linux

Video or audio: Audio only

Audacity is a free and widely used audio editor. It’s a favorite among both professionals and hobbyists.

The original interface is somewhat outdated. But with their recent update, you can choose between a light and dark theme. You’ll still have a bit of a learning curve due to all the advanced tools.

That said, Audacity’s help forum is rather active. You can ask questions, and little by little, you can learn the platform.

If you want to expand Audacity's functionality further, you can download third-party plugins. Adobe has a wide range of them, much more than many competitors. You can even write your own plugin using the Nyquist programming language. 

Key Features:

• High-quality audio recording: Audio recording up to 32-bit, 44.1 kHz
• Multitrack recording: So you can record from multiple sources simultaneously
• Multitrack editing: So you can edit multiple tracks (background music, sound effects, etc) simultaneously.
• Basic editing tools: Like cutting, copying, trimming, and deleting segments
• Built-in effects: Like normalization, compression, reverb, fade-in, fade-out, and auto-ducking 
• Large plugin library: Plugins for AI, noise removal, effects, and more

Pros:

• Completely free and accessible on all desktops
• Can add plugins to enhance features and abilities
• Plenty of online tutorials and community support to help troubleshoot problems

Cons:

• The interface is outdated and not very intuitive
• Lacks a mobile app
• Might not be useful more complex audio projects

Learn more in our full guide on Audacity for podcasting.

Best podcast editing software for Mac: GarageBand

Price: Free

Ease of use: Easy

Compatibility: macOS, iOS

Video or audio: Audio and video editing

GarageBand is a free digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Apple. It’s beginner-friendly and comes pre-installed on all Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

The editing app is actually more for musicians -  hence the name. But, it has enough features suitable for podcasting. 

The interface layout is simple with drag-and-drop functionality. Despite its simplicity, GarageBand offers a surprisingly wide range of features. 

You can do all the basic edits like trimming, fade-outs, and EQ filtering. But, you’ll also get multitrack recording, reverb effects, and automation curves. 

Key Features:

• Waveform editing: Create more precise edits.
• Can be used on the go: iOS app lets you record and edit on-the-go recording.
• Sound library: Get access to instruments, amps, and effects.
• Editing tools: Like trim audio, split, loop, adjust volume levels, add effects like reverb and compression.
• Record multiple audio tracks simultaneously: Ideal for interviews or podcasts with multiple people.

Pros:

• Free for Mac/iOS users
• Large sound library for audio effects
• Easy to use
• Non-destructive editing so you can undo changes easily

Cons:

• Limited to the Apple ecosystem
• Lacks remote recording
• Lacking in features for those looking for a high-end DAW

Learn more in our full guide on GarageBand for podcasting.

Best podcast editing software for professionals: Pro Tools

Price: Free version, Pro Tools Artist at $9.99/month, Pro Tools Studio at $31.99/month, Pro Tools Ultimate at $99/month

Ease of use: Geared towards professionals

Compatibility: macOS, Windows

Video or audio: Audio editor with basic video tools

Pro Tools is used in recording studios, broadcast facilities, and post-production houses. It’s used by musicians, producers, and sound engineers. This software has almost any feature for recording, editing, and mastering audio files. 

I specifically like Pro Tools’ cloud collaboration. A whole remote team can work on one project. This is ideal if you’re part of a podcast production team.

Given its many features, it can take some time to learn them all. However, you can gradually go from beginner to pro as you improve your editing skills. 

Key features

• Multitrack recording and editing: Record and edit multiple audio tracks simultaneously, which is useful for balancing levels between hosts and guests.

• Advanced mixing and mastering tools: Professional-grade mixing and mastering tools. These include EQ and compression, reverb and delay, panning, stereo imaging, and more. 

• Automation: Automate volume adjustments, panning, and effects over time. Useful for creating smooth transitions between segments.

• Template creation: Create and save custom templates, streamlining your workflow for future episodes. 

• Third-part plugin support: Supports a wide range of third-party plug-ins, allowing you to expand your toolkit with specialized effects and processing tools.

Pros

• Advanced mixing and mastering tools
• Third-party plugin support
• Non-destructive editing

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Free version has limited functionality

Best podcast editing software for beginners: Alitu

Price: 7-day free trial, Indie Podcaster tier at $38/month, Business version at $195/month

Ease of use: Beginner-friendly

Compatibility: Chrome 

Video or audio: Audio only

Alitu is a web-based podcast recording and editing tool. It’s great for beginners because it doesn’t have many technical tools. You can navigate the app without extensive tutorials and edit audio in just a few clicks. 

Most of the editing is automated. You can perform tasks like removing background noise, mixing your audio and adding music. 

The biggest fallback with Alitu is that it’s audio-only editor. I’d also say it’s not ideal for professionals who want more editing flexibility.

‍Key Features:

• Templates: Intro and outro templates that can be reused for each podcast you record.
• Basic editing features: Options to split recording, add music, transitions, and more.
• Remove silences and filler words: One-click removal of “ums”, “ahs” silences, and hesitations.
• Non-destructive editing: So you can bring back sections of the podcast you’ve deleted. 
• Text-based editing: So that you can edit your audio like a text document.
• Transcription: In 17 languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German.
• Auto-EQ: AI tool that helps make voices sound vibrant and deep. 
• Background noise removal: To remove audio annoyances like traffic sound.
• Volume normalization: To keep audio levels consistent throughout.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• AI features that make editing easy
• Stock collection of free music

Cons:

• Doesn’t have advanced audio editing features
• Not optimized for mobile devices
• Doesn’t edit video

Best AI podcast editing software: Auphonic

Price: Free usage (2 hours of audio/month), One-time credits starting at $11 for 9 hours of audio 

Ease of use: Easy

Compatibility: Browser

Auphonic is more of a post-production than an editing tool. Most of its features solely rely on AI. 

All you need to do is upload your recording. Then, you can select a preset to apply to your audio. For example, you can level your audio, clean up your voice or cut out filler words and long silences.

Beyond this, you won’t have much control. I’d say it’s best for people who don’t want to actually edit. But, if you’re not happy with the outcome, you won’t be able to do much to alter the edits you’re receiving.

Key Features:

• Auto-audio balancing: Auto-audio balancing between speakers, music, and speech.
• Noise removal: Restores audio plagued with noise. Filters out hums and other low-frequency sounds (like those from an air conditioner).
• Transcription: Speech recognition and transcript editor in over 80 languages.
• Removes unwanted frequencies: To create a clear, pleasant, and warm sound.
• Set loudness feature: Set loudness and peak audio limit to get consistent audio across multiple files.
• Filler word removal: Removes filler words and silences like ‘ahs’ and ‘uhms’.

Pros:

• Enhances audio quality of poor audio recordings
• Easy to use
• Its automation is helpful for beginners

Cons:

• Limited editing features
• No video recording
• You likely still have to manually check the whole recording after running it through Auphonic to ensure the quality output is good 

FAQs on podcast editing software

How can I edit my podcast for free?

Apps like Audacity and GarageBand help you edit your podcast for free. You can also use the free version of Riverside, and get full access to the editing suite.

What goes into editing a podcast?

Here are some things that go into editing a podcast

• Cleaning up the audio to remove background noise, clicks, pops, and other distractions.
• Cutting out mistakes like flubs, long pauses, filler words, and irrelevant sections.
• Adjusting volume levels to ensure consistency throughout the episode.
• Adding intro/outro segments to the recording.
• Rearranging segments, adding sound effects, or incorporating music to create a compelling story.

To learn more, we’ve got a complete step-by-step on podcast editing.

What are the top podcast editing software options for beginners?

Beginners should choose podcast editing software with a simple interface and more automated tools.

From our list, the top podcast editing options for beginners are Audacity, GarageBand, and Riverside. Audacity and GarageBand are free options, while Riverside has a free version. 

Do I need podcast editing software?

Whether you need podcast editing software depends on a few factors:

• Your desired level of production quality
• Your budget
• If your audio quality is poor and needs to be cleaned
• If you need to add music, sound effects, etc. 

Overall, we’d suggest working with a dedicated podcast editor. Audio quality is an important factor in getting listeners. So, polishing up your podcast recording with the appropriate tools is worth it.