The Top Tools I Use and/or Recommend for Podcasting

I have gone through ALOT of online tools & services, as well as various pieces of podcasting equipment since I started podcasting in 2020. All with a view to offer the most value for as little cost as possible. Below is a list of tools I use now to create & grow this show, OR, tools I've used in the past that I'd still recommend. (Most links are affiliate ones)

What I use to record interviews

Riverside.fm

Recommended

I used Riverside.fm to record every guest interview in Inside the Podcast Studio & I couldn't recommend it highly enough! It record audio & video on each guests device, and then uploads it in the background so you end up with audio and video quality that is EXACTLY the same as it sounded and looked in real life.

Compare that with something like Zoom or Skype where the audio & video you hear and see is exactly what is recorded and you can instantly tell the difference. It also means if you or your guest have a bad internet connection, you still get awesome audio and video recorded, regardless of whether or not it look/sounds terrible at the time.

Pricing:
  • $7.50/month - 2 hours of recording
  • $15/month - 5 hours (I use this tier)
  • $24/month - 15 hours

1 hour free trial available

Learn More

Squadcast.fm

Alternative

I used to use Squadcast.fm before I switched to Riverside & I was using it for just under a year with zero issues. It offers the same features as Riverside.fm, it worked flawlessly all but one time for me & I probably recorded about 30+ episodes with it for my other podcast Coffee & Coding.

Why did I switch? Cost. Riverside is MUCH cheaper than Squadcast.

Pricing:
  • $20/month - 5 hours (audio only)
  • $40/month - 5 hours (audio + video)

That's $25 more than Riverside.fm for the same thing!

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Audio Editing Software

Reaper.fm

My Choice

I used Audacity for years to edit audio before I discovered Reaper, and I switched immediately. Why? Because Reaper.fm is a NON DESTRUCTIVE audio editor.

What does that mean?

It means if you cut a piece of audio, or you EQ it, or you apply a noise gate, or a compressor, etc etc.. None of those changes are permanent. So if like me you accidentally cut audio sometimes, you can easily put it back, or if, also like me, you apply eq or a noise gate and later on find it massively distorted one portion of the audio – you can reverse that too.

One Drawback:

The waveform doesn't update with the effects you apply (compressor, eq etc) so when you go to export the final mp3 file – you're not entirely sure what your audio levels will be like and therefore the actual final master takes a little bit of trial and error vs audacity.

Get Reaper.fm

Calendar Booking Tool

TidyCal

Best Value

When you approach a guest to be on the show, you want to barrier to entry to them saying yes to be as low as possible. The way I achieve this is with TidyCal.

Why TidyCal over Calendly?
Calendly

Free tier: 1 calendar link only

Paid tier: $8/month for unlimited calendars

TidyCal

$20 one-time payment

Unlimited calendars forever!

Bonus Tip:

When you send a calendar link to guests so they can book a time slot to be on your show, you can add questions to the link which the guest is required to fill out – I use this to try and get some information on interesting topics of discussion or stories that might be fun for listeners.

Get TidyCal

The Gear

Samson Q2U

Best Budget
Microphone

If you're familiar with podcasting equipment or you've been looking for a cheap but good microphone – you should have heard of this one. It's the first podcast microphone I ever bought and I could not recommend it highly enough!

Features:
  • Both USB & XLR
  • Under $100
  • Produces awesome audio
  • Perfect for beginners

The ONLY reason I switched from this microphone is because I'm a bit of tech geek and I wanted something a little "fancier".

View on Amazon

Rode Procaster

Premium Choice
Microphone

This is the microphone I upgraded to from the Samson Q2U. Do you need to upgrade if you have a Samson Q2U? In my opinion, nope – the difference in sound quality is noticeable but not enough to make someone listening to your show go "wow! it sounds so much better!".

Key Differences:
  • XLR only
  • Noticeably less background noise
  • Better sound quality
  • Looks awesome without windshield
Recommended Setup:

Pair with Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface + Fethead (to boost gain cleanly) for great audio with very little white noise.

View on Amazon

Social Media Tools

Clipscribe

Game Changer

This is the ONLY tool I've paid for to use to promote the show & it's pretty damn cool.

My Workflow:
  1. While editing the episode audio, I mark down timestamps of interesting or clip worthy moments
  2. I pull up the video from Riverside.fm and clip those parts out
  3. Upload them to Clipscribe which transcribes them automatically
  4. Create video clips for Instagram Stories or IGTV with subtitles
  5. Drop into social media to promote the episode

It's that simple!

Try Clipscribe

What tools are you using?

What's your microphone of choice? What's one app or service that's been a game changer for you with your podcast?

DM over on Instagram and let me know – I'd love to hear from you!

Message on Instagram