Tools for Podcasters
Looking for tools to get started or improve your workflow? 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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).
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.
Planning / Organizing
One often overlooked aspect of podcasting is putting a planner and processes in place early on. 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
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.
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.
Trello
A SUPER simple Kanban board/planner that’s perfect for keeping track of episode statuses. And it works with Zapier and Make!
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.
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.
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,
Transcription
Transcripts are table stakes now. 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.
Descript
Even if you don’t use Descript for editing, the transcription feature is great. You can also publish to various hosts, transcript included.
Riverside.fm
It’s worth mentioning Riverside again too, as it does accurate transcripts along with each recording!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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
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!
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.
Tidycal
A limited scheduling, but popular because, as it’s part of the Appsumo family, there’s a very cheap lifetime price. Great if you only need the basics.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Disclosures: I am an evangelist for RSS.com. Page contains affiliate links.