Short answer: Descript is the best audio editor for solo podcasters and beginners because you edit by editing text, while Riverside is the best tool for recording remote interviews in studio quality.
For podcasters, 'audio software' covers two different needs: editing what you recorded, and recording it well in the first place. Here's which of our picks solves each.
Best for: Solo podcasters & beginners · From: Free, then $16/mo
Descript lets you edit audio like a text document — delete words to cut the recording and remove filler in a click. For beginners who dread traditional editing, nothing gets you to a clean episode faster.
Read our full Descript review →Best for: Remote interviews · From: Free, then $15/mo
Riverside records each guest locally in up to 48kHz audio, so remote interviews sound like a studio instead of a compressed call. It's the recording half of the workflow that Descript then makes easy to edit.
Read our full Riverside review →| Tool | Best for | Price | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Descript | Solo podcasters & beginners | Free, then $16/mo | 4.4/5 |
| Riverside | Remote interviews | Free, then $15/mo | 4.3/5 |
These aren't scraped rankings. Every tool above has its own hands-on review on SoftwareAlmanac, written by me after digging into its real pricing, trade-offs, and who it fits. I only include tools I'd genuinely recommend — and I tell you who each one is not right for, because that's usually more useful than another list of features.
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