Async (formerly Podcastle) vs Riverside vs Descript vs Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
Async (formerly Podcastle)
Podcastle renamed: chat-based AI video editing plus a podcast studio
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Riverside
Remote podcast and video studio that records every guest locally in up...
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Descript
Edit video and audio by editing the transcript
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Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech
Free browser tool that strips noise and echo from voice recordings
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| RECATOOLS Score | 7 / 10 | 7.5 / 10 | 7.7 / 10 | 8.2 / 10 |
| Capability | — | |||
| Value for money | — | |||
| Ease of use | — | |||
| ASEAN readiness | — | |||
| API quality | — | |||
| Pricing | Freemium | Subscription | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free tier | Free: 10 lifetime AI credits, 1 hour of lifetime recording, 720p video, one export file; content deleted after 30 days | No free plan (withdrawn per Riverside, Sep 2026): 14-day free trial of Pro, Grow or Webinar; card required, billed on day 15 unless cancelled | 60 media minutes a month, 100 one-time AI credits, 720p export | Enhance Speech free with an Adobe account: 1 hour a day, files up to 30 minutes and 500 MB, audio only; 2 Studio downloads a day |
| Paid from | $11.99/month (Essentials, billed yearly), or $19.99 billed monthly | Pro $24/mo yearly or $29 monthly (SG); $29/$35 in US, UK, EU; Business custom | Hobbyist $16/mo (annual) or $24 (monthly); Creator $24/mo (annual) or $35 (monthly) | $19.99/month (Adobe Firefly Pro, which replaced Podcast Premium for new customers) |
| Has API | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open source | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free to use | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Users | — | — | 500k+ creators | 10m+ users |
| Founded | 2020 | 2020 | 2017 | 2022 |
| Maker | — | Gideon Keyson, Nadav Keyson | Andrew Mason | Adobe Inc. |
| Verdict | Async (formerly Podcastle) still does the podcast basics well, with browser-based remote recording, one-click Magic Dust cleanup and text-based editing, and now adds a chat editor that cuts, captions and clips video and... |
Riverside earns its place through local recording: each guest is captured on their own device in up to 4K and uploaded as the session runs, so a bad connection spoils the call, not the file. Transcript editing, Magic Cli... |
Descript's core trick — cut a word from the transcript and the video or audio trims to match — is still why podcasters and YouTubers adopt it, and the AI layer (filler-word removal, Studio Sound, custom voice clones) mea... |
Enhance Speech remains one of the best free fixes for a phone-recorded interview or a badly miked call: upload, wait, download, and the room noise and echo are largely gone. The free hour a day covers a weekly solo show,... |
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Comparisons cover up to 4 tools. Scores are RECATOOLS editorial assessments; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.