Ever tried recording a podcast, and it sounded… well, bad?
You know, like you’re talking in a tin can? It’s super frustrating, right?
You want your voice to sound crisp and clear, but tech stuff gets in the way.
Well, you’re in the right place!
We’re going to break down Riverside vs Zencastr and tell you which software can save your podcast.
Let’s get your podcast sounding awesome in 2025.
Overview
We dove deep, testing both Riverside and Zencastr extensively.
We recorded numerous sessions, analyzed audio and video quality, and explored every feature.
This hands-on approach lets us see the real-world differences, not just spec sheet claims.
Record studio-quality podcasts and videos from anywhere. Your content always feels amazing with Riverside. Try it free today.”
Pricing: It has a free plan. Paid plan starts at $24/month
Key Features:
- Studio-quality video
- Live call-in features.
- Separate audio tracks.
Zencastr: Elevate Your Podcast to Pro Level. Get 2 Hours Back, Every Time. Free Trial Awaits. Give it a exploration today.
Pricing: It has a free trial. Paid plan starts at $18/month.
Key Features:
- Separate audio tracks
- live soundboard
- built-in VoIP.
What is Riverside?
Riverside? It’s a platform for recording podcasts and videos.
It’s built for quality.
Think clear sound and sharp video.
It’s all done remotely. You don’t need fancy studios. Just your computer.
Also, explore our Riverside Alternatives.
Our Take
Want pro-level recordings? Riverside. FM offers 4K video and separate audio tracks. Thousands of creators use it. Explore it free and see the difference!
Key Benefits
- Remote recording made easy: Invite guests from anywhere in the world.
- Local recording for top-notch quality: Capture separate audio and video tracks on each participant’s device, ensuring flawless recordings even with shaky internet connections.
- Live streaming capabilities: Seamlessly stream to popular platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and more.
- Built-in editing tools: Polish your recordings directly within the platform.
- Magic Clips: Automatically create short, shareable clips from your recordings, perfect for social media.
Pricing
All the pricing will be billed annually.
- Free: $0/month.
- Pro: $24/month.
- Live: $34/month.
- Business: Contact them for pricing.
Pros
Cons
What is Zencastr?
Okay, let’s talk Zencastr. It’s a remote recording tool.
Think of it like a virtual studio.
You can record podcasts or videos with guests, no matter where they are.
It focuses on separate audio and video tracks. This means better quality later on.
Also, explore our Zencastr Alternatikves.
Our Take
Ready to record studio-quality audio without the studio? Zencastr has millions of recordings to prove it works. Explore it today!
Key Benefits
- Studio-quality audio recordings: Capture lossless audio tracks for each participant, ensuring crystal-clear sound.
- Cloud-based storage: Automatically save your recordings to the cloud for easy access and sharing.
- Post-production tools: Edit and enhance your recordings directly within the platform.
- Transcriptions: Automatically generate transcripts of your recordings.
- Live editing: Edit your recordings in real time during the session.
Pricing
All the plans will be billed annually.
- Standard: $18/month.
- Grow: $24/month.
- Scale: $40/month.
- Business: $80/month.
Pros
Cons
Feature Comparison
Riverside and Zencastr are top-tier podcast recording platforms designed for recording remotely with guests to ensure highest quality audio.
Both capture separate tracks to avoid audio syncing issues, making them reliable podcast recording software.
This comparison details their core differences, from handling video content to the efficiency of the podcast episodes production workflow and progressive upload features.
1. Core Recording Technology
- Riverside: Utilizes local recording technology to capture the audio recording and video recording locally on each participant’s machine. This guarantees highest quality audio and multi-track video content for podcast episodes.
- Zencastr: Also relies on local recording technology to capture the podcast audio and video recording from remote locations. This provides excellent sound quality and minimizes the impact of internet fluctuations on the raw files.
2. Multi-Track Separation
- Riverside: Records separate tracks for both audio and video recording for every speaker. This is essential for professional post-production and editing the final podcast episodes with precision.
- Zencastr: Also captures separate tracks for podcast audio and video, ensuring highest quality audio assets are available for the editor to address any potential audio syncing issues.
3. Video Content Focus
- Riverside: Places a strong emphasis on video recording and video content. It records high-resolution video streams alongside the audio recording, positioning itself as a key tool for creators producing video content for channels like YouTube.
- Zencastr: Primarily focuses on the podcast audio quality, though it has increasingly added video recording features. For many years, its reputation as podcast recording software was built on pristine audio capture.
4. Recording Duration and Limits
- Riverside: Offers unlimited recording of both audio recording and video recording on its premium plans, providing unlimited single track recording time for lengthy podcast episodes.
- Zencastr: Also offers tiered plans with unlimited single track recording and unlimited recording time, depending on the subscription level, ensuring creators can record audio sessions without constant time constraints.
5. Post-Production and AI Tools
- Riverside: Provides all the tools needed for post-production within the platform, including AI clipping and editing tools, which streamline the process of finalizing podcast episodes and video content.
- Zencastr: Primarily focuses on capturing the raw files. While it offers some automated processing, users may need external editing tools for advanced manipulation of the podcast audio.
6. File Upload and Redundancy
- Riverside: Features progressive upload, constantly uploading segments of the audio recording and video recording to the cloud during the session. This provides crucial redundancy, protecting against local hard drive failures.
- Zencastr: Also utilizes progressive upload to the cloud, ensuring that even if a participant drops out, the captured portion of the podcast recording platforms session is saved and recoverable.
7. Interface and Ease of Use
- Riverside: Provides a highly intuitive user friendly interface designed to simplify the process of inviting guests and managing the audio recording quality.
- Zencastr: Also features a simple, clean user friendly interface, making it easy for guests who are new to podcast recording software to quickly record audio with excellent sound quality.
8. Output Quality Guarantee
- Riverside: Guarantees highest quality audio and multi-track video content by recording every record audio and video stream locally, delivering excellent sound quality that is ready for professional mixing.
- Zencastr: Guarantees highest quality audio by isolating the podcast audio from the bandwidth impact, ensuring the isolated podcast recording platforms files maintain excellent sound quality.
9. Target Use Case
- Riverside Fm: Favored for creators who require both pristine podcast audio and high-resolution video content, positioning it as a comprehensive solution for podcast episodes published on video platforms.
- Zencastr: Favored by users whose primary concern is the final podcast audio quality and who might prefer using all the tools of an external DAW for detailed editing of the audio recording.
What to Look For in a Podcasting Tool?
- Audio Quality: Prioritize local recording for clarity like studio quality audio.
- Video Resolution: Higher resolution means better visuals.
- Multistreaming Needs: How many platforms do you need to reach?
- Editing Features: Do you need robust post-production tools?
- Ease of Use: Is the interface intuitive for your skill level?
- Budget: Compare free versions and paid tiers carefully.
- Customer Support: Quick and helpful support is essential.
- Integration: Consider integrations with other tools like OBS.
Final Verdict
After extensive testing, we lean towards Riverside.fm.
Its superior audio quality, thanks to local recording, and reliable 4K video give it an edge.
The intuitive interface and integrated transcription tools streamline the entire recording and editing process.
While Zencastr offers solid features, Riverside’s consistency and high-quality output make it our top pick for serious podcasters.
If you want a platform that prioritizes quality and ease of use, you should try Riverside.
Trust us, we’ve done the legwork, and your listeners will hear the difference.
More of Riverside
Let’s see how Riverside stacks up against these other recording and streaming platforms:
- Riverside vs Restream: Riverside excels in producing high-quality recordings with separate tracks. Restream is primarily for simulcasting live video to multiple platforms, with recording as a secondary feature.
- Riverside vs Streamlabs: Riverside is designed for professional-quality podcast recording, particularly with video. Streamlabs is popular for live streaming with overlays and widgets, offering recording mainly for streaming purposes.
- Riverside vs Streamyard: Riverside records separate, high-quality audio and video tracks locally. Streamyard is a browser-based tool focused on easy live streaming and recording of conversations with guests.
- Riverside vs Zencastr: Both Riverside and Zencastr prioritize high-quality remote audio recording with local track capture. Riverside also offers robust video recording capabilities, which Zencastr lacks.
- Riverside vs Ecamm: Riverside is a dedicated platform for high-quality remote recording and live streaming. Ecamm Live is macOS software with extensive live production features, including recording.
- Riverside vs Castr: Riverside focuses on high-fidelity recording and live streaming with an emphasis on quality. Castr is more geared towards reliable live video streaming to various destinations.
More of Zencastr
Let’s see how Zencastr stacks up against these other recording and streaming platforms:
- Zencastr vs Riverside: Both prioritize high-quality remote audio recording with local track capture. Riverside also offers robust video recording capabilities, which Zencastr lacks.
- Zencastr vs Restream: Zencastr is specifically for high-quality audio recording for podcasts. Restream is primarily for live video streaming to multiple platforms, with recording as a secondary feature.
- Zencastr vs Streamyard: Zencastr focuses on clean audio recording for podcasts. Streamyard is a browser-based tool mainly for live video streaming and recording conversations.
- Zencastr vs Ecamm: Zencastr is designed for straightforward remote audio recording. Ecamm Live, for Mac users, offers extensive live streaming and recording features, including audio.
- Zencastr vs Streamlabs: Zencastr is dedicated to high-quality podcast audio recording. Streamlabs is popular for live video streaming with audience engagement tools and recording features.
- Zencastr vs Castr: Zencastr excels in remote audio recording for podcasts. Castr is a platform focused on reliable live video streaming to various destinations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Riverside.fm better than Zoom?
Yes, absolutely. Zoom compresses audio and video over the internet, leading to glitches. Riverside records locally on each device. The result is studio-quality footage, regardless of connection speed.
Is Zencastr worth it?
For audio-focused podcasters, yes. It provides high-quality local recording tracks for every guest. It’s reliable and affordable. However, for 4K video needs, competitors often perform better.
What is the best podcast recording platform?
Riverside.fm usually takes the top spot for video quality and reliability. Zencastr is a runner-up for audio simplicity. Descript is the winner if you prioritize editing over recording features.
Is Riverside better than Zencastr?
For video, Riverside is the clear winner with 4K support and social clips. Zencastr holds its own on audio. If you need video content, switch to Riverside.
What is the sound quality of Zencastr?
It records locally in lossless 16-bit 48k WAV format. This ensures crystal clear audio. It sounds professional, unlike the compressed “robot voice” often found on standard video calls.
Is Squadcast or Riverside better?
Riverside offers superior video resolution and features. Squadcast, however, is now integrated directly into Descript. If you use Descript for editing, Squadcast’s workflow is unbeatable. Otherwise, Riverside wins.
Is Zencastr any good?
It is a solid, veteran choice for remote audio. The interface is simple. It separates tracks automatically. While video features lag slightly behind Riverside, the audio engine is top-notch.
More Facts about Zencastr and Riverside
- Pricing and Plans: Zencastr offers a 14-day free trial for its best features, but it still has a limited free version. Riverside offers a “free forever” plan that lets you record for 2 hours a month, but it adds a watermark (logo) to your video.
- Video Quality: Riverside is famous for being the best choice for video creators because it is very reliable. However, both Zencastr and Riverside can now record in super-sharp 4 K.
- All-in-One Tools: Zencastr is built to handle everything in one place. It lets you record, edit, host, and share your podcast with the world.
- Making Money: Zencastr has a special “Ad Marketplace” feature. It uses smart computer programs (AI) to match your podcast with sponsors who want to pay for ads.
- Editing Magic: Riverside has a cool tool called a “text-based editor.” This lets you cut parts of your video just by deleting words from the written transcript.
- Automatic Fixes: Zencastr is great for people who aren’t audio engineers. It automatically fixes volume levels and removes background noise for you.
- Mobile Recording: Riverside has mobile apps for both Android and iOS. Zencastr now has an app for iPhones, but Riverside is often still preferred for mobile recording.
- Recording Limits: If you pay for Zencastr, you usually get unlimited recording time. Riverside’s paid plans often have a limit on how many hours you can record each month.
- Social Media Clips: Riverside has a feature called “Magic Clips.” It helps you quickly turn long recordings into short TikTok or Instagram videos.
- Simplicity: Many people think Zencastr is easier to use and less distracting, making it a great choice for beginners. Riverside is often seen as the “pro” choice for high-end video brands.
- How They Record: Both tools record audio and video directly on your computer (locally) first. This ensures the sound is crystal clear, even if your internet connection slows down a bit.
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