Adobe’s AI tools for podcasting launched in 2022 and have grown quickly since. AI podcast editing software has become a crowded category, and browser-based platforms like Adobe Podcast are part of that shift.
Picking the right podcast editing software takes research. This guide covers the Adobe Podcast AI suite: what it is, how to use each tool, what it does best, and where it falls short. It also covers alternatives if Adobe doesn’t meet your needs.
Table of Contents
- Does AI Make Sense for Podcast Editing?
- What is Adobe Podcast: AI?
- How Do You Use Adobe’s AI Tools for Podcasting?
- Enhance Speech
- Mic Check
- Studio
- What Do Adobe’s AI Tools Cost?
- When Should You Use Adobe Podcast?
- What Are the Best Alternatives to Adobe’s Enhance Speech?
- What Are the Alternatives to Adobe Mic Check?
- Alternatives to Adobe Podcast: Studio
- Are Adobe Podcast AI Tools Worth It?
Podcasts and AI: Does It Make Sense?
Adobe AI tools can automate basic audio cleanup tasks, including removing background noise, smoothing room tone, and compensating for subpar guest microphones. They lower the barrier to entry for new podcasters but cannot replicate the judgment of a trained audio engineer on complex or high-stakes recordings.
The main practical benefit is automating repetitive tasks. AI-powered audio cleanup reduces the friction of remote recording: it can reduce background noise and compensate for lower-quality microphones, which matters when you’re working with guests who aren’t in a studio. Adobe Podcast Enhance is particularly useful in these situations, letting you clean up a usable file without opening a traditional DAW (digital audio workstation, the software engineers use to edit audio).
That said, Adobe’s AI tools for podcasters can’t replace a trained audio engineer. More complex work requires a trained ear, which is why it’s best left to podcast production companies.
Some users don’t like the results either. Here are recent reviews:
- “I tried it and thought it made me sound like AI.” — Reddit
- “If you want a more natural and true-to-the-source sound, you need to use stuff like Acon DeVerberate and voice isolate or the equivalents from iZotope.” — Gearspace
- “It ends up making your voice sound robotic, like you are a bad text-to-speech voice. It no longer sounds natural.” — YouTube
“Despite the range of interviews, the varying equipment (or lack of) used by guests, unreliable wifi and human idiosyncrasies in speech, TPC never fails to produce a clear final version that makes both my guest and me sound far better than we really are.”
— Katie Brewer, Bandwidth Conversations
So is Adobe Podcast AI a good fit for your needs?
What is Adobe Podcast: AI?
Adobe Podcast AI is a free browser-based audio editing suite with three tools: Enhance Speech for noise removal, Mic Check for setup optimization, and Studio for remote multi-track recording. Premium costs $9.99/month.
The suite includes three tools: Enhance Speech for removing background noise and cleaning up voice tracks, Mic Check for determining mic settings and fixing problems before recording, and Studio for recording audio in 16-bit 48k WAV and editing or enhancing with AI.
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How Do You Use Adobe’s AI Tools for Podcasting?
The Adobe Podcast suite includes three browser-based tools, Enhance Speech, Mic Check, and Studio, each accessed from podcast.adobe.com. No downloads or DAW experience are needed.
Sign up for a free Adobe account, then use each tool independently depending on whether you need audio cleanup, mic diagnostics, or full remote recording.
You’ll need an Adobe account before getting started. If you don’t already have one, go to account.adobe.com and sign up for free.
Enhance Speech
Enhance Speech uses AI algorithms to analyze voice frequencies and noise profiles, then applies spectral subtraction to remove background sounds while preserving vocal characteristics. Processing completes in under 10 minutes.
Adobe Podcast Enhance is free for audio files under 30 minutes. The process is straightforward: open the website, drop your files in, adjust the enhancement scale to decide how much processing is applied, hit render, and download your files. No plugins, no complex mixing, or expensive software required.
To get started:
- Go to podcast.adobe.com/enhance.
- Upload an audio file under 500 MB and under 30 minutes long. Compatible file formats include .wav, .mp3, .aac, .flac, .ogg, .oga, and .m4a.
- Click ‘enhance’ and wait up to 10 minutes for the audio to process. If you have an Express Premium plan, you can also upload video files, enhance audio files in batches, or adjust the strength of the AI effect.
- Once your audio has finished processing, listen to the enhanced and unenhanced versions to compare the differences.
- Click ‘download’ to download the enhanced .wav file(s).
With the basic plan, you can enhance one hour of audio per day. The Express Premium plan raises that to four hours per day.
When Should You Use Enhance Speech?
Enhance Speech excels at removing background noise from recordings made in less-than-ideal environments:
- Busy streets
- Live conference recordings
- Rooms with air conditioning noise
One of the best use cases is for podcast episodes where hosts have a great recording setup, but their guests don’t. Perhaps guests are using an ambient room mic or their laptop’s built-in microphone instead of a proper microphone, resulting in distant audio with excessive room reflection. Adobe Podcast Enhance has saved TPC clients numerous episodes that would have otherwise been unlistenable.
You can learn more about Adobe Podcast Enhance in our complete guide.
“Meticulous attention to detail, from sound quality to post-production polish, elevates every episode.”
— Naresh Sunkara, Lab to Startup, on working with TPC
Mic Check
Adobe Mic Check evaluates four key recording metrics through a 5-second audio sample: microphone distance, gain levels, background noise, and echo. The AI provides sliding scale visualizations and personalized improvement recommendations.
How Do You Use Adobe Podcast: Mic Check?
- Visit podcast.adobe.com/miccheck.
- Click ‘start.’
- If you haven’t already, plug in your podcast microphone. This could be your native computer microphone, a podcast mixer, or a podcast audio interface.
- Click ‘test mic’ and say: “How is my microphone setup and placement?” Be sure to speak for at least five seconds so the AI has time to evaluate your audio quality.
- You should now see four metrics with sliding scales: Distance to microphone, gain, background noise, and echo. The AI lists an acceptable range and shows where your setup falls on the scale.
- On the left, you should see personalized recommendations and links to more information. You can also listen back to your recording to reevaluate the quality.
Keep in mind that Adobe Podcast: Mic Check identifies problems in your mic setup. Resolving those problems is still up to you.
Mic Check evaluates four key audio metrics: distance to microphone, gain levels, background noise, and echo. You speak a test phrase, and the AI provides personalized recommendations with sliding scales showing where your setup falls within acceptable ranges.
Studio
Adobe Podcast Studio is an invite-only browser tool that records multi-track audio at 16-bit 48kHz directly in Chrome. Users can invite remote guests via email, edit through AI-generated transcripts, and access Adobe’s stock music library.
How Do You Use Adobe Podcast: Studio?
Studio is invite-only. Once you have access, here’s how to use it:
- Go to podcast.adobe.com.
- Click ‘new project.’
- Start recording directly in Chrome or upload an audio file. You can also use Mic Check directly in the editor.
- To add a remote guest, click ‘invite guest’ on the top right and enter their email. This lets them join you inside Adobe Podcast without connecting via Zoom or Skype.
- Once you stop recording, you can split your track, add fades, or transcribe your audio into text.
- To edit your podcast, click ‘transcribe’ and wait for the transcription. Then look for areas you want to edit.
- Highlight the text you want to remove and press delete. Adobe Podcast will automatically remove those sections from your audio file.
- You can use Speech Enhance directly inside Adobe Studio to clean up your audio.
- Add background music from the Adobe stock library or upload a WAV file of your own. You can set the track as an intro/outro or use it as background music.
- Download your finished podcast episode or use the ‘share’ button to send it to a colleague.
Adobe Podcast Studio is only available in English and only for those using Chrome.
What Do Adobe’s AI Tools Cost?
Adobe’s podcast production tools are free for basic use: up to 30-minute files and one hour of daily Enhance Speech processing. The Premium plan at $9.99/month adds batch uploads, video support, enhanced strength controls, and 4-hour daily processing, making it worth considering for podcasters publishing weekly episodes longer than 30 minutes.
With the paid plan (Express Premium), you unlock expanded features for both tools. Prices start at $9.99 USD per month ($99.99/year), with a 30-day free trial available.
Whether Premium is worth it depends on your publishing cadence. If you publish weekly audio or video podcasts, it’s likely a worthwhile investment. If your schedule is irregular or your episodes run under 30 minutes each, the free plan may be sufficient.
| Feature | Free | Premium ($9.99/mo) |
| Enhance Speech — max file length | 30 min / 500 MB | 2 hours / 1 GB |
| Enhance Speech — daily limit | 1 hour/day | 4 hours/day |
| Batch uploads | No | Yes |
| Video file support | No | Yes |
| Enhancement strength control | No | Yes |
| Mic Check | Full access | Full access |
| Studio downloads | 2/day (30 min each) | Unlimited |
| 30-day free trial | — | Yes |
Check out our in-depth article on podcast analytics to learn more about the benefits of creating a consistent release schedule for your podcast.
When Should You Use Adobe Podcast?
Adobe Podcast is best suited for new podcasters who want browser-based editing without installing traditional DAW software. It’s a reasonable fit for occasional recordings in non-studio environments but falls short for regular publishers recording episodes longer than 30 minutes, those who can’t wait for a Studio invitation, or anyone who needs precise hands-on control.
Adobe’s AI tools suit anyone who isn’t familiar with traditional DAWs (digital audio workstations) such as Reaper. You can edit podcasts directly from your browser, with no need to pay for or install large editing programs.
Adobe Podcast is a reasonable fit if you’re new to podcasting, you’re not recording in a dedicated studio, or you’re working with a tight budget. Longer episodes, hands-on editing requirements, and multi-speaker recordings are where the tools’ limits become apparent. If those factors apply to your show, the alternatives below are worth reviewing.
What Are the Best Alternatives to Adobe’s Enhance Speech?
Adobe Podcast AI tools are a reasonable starting point, but they may not scale well as your show grows. Here are a few alternatives, starting with Enhance Speech substitutes.
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition is a traditional DAW (digital audio workstation) you can use to enhance audio files. Unlike Adobe Podcast Enhance, it isn’t free. It does include tools to remove background noise and enhance speech, and it can automatically repair damaged files. It’s the better fit for users who need more precise control, though it carries a steeper learning curve if you’re new to audio software.
Learn more about Adobe Audition in our user guide.
Audacity
Audacity is an open-source DAW for experienced audio engineers. It’s compatible with all major operating systems (including Windows, MacOS and Linux) and integrates with hundreds of third-party plugins, including some for enhancing audio.
Some of the most popular AI plugins you can use to enhance speech in Audacity are Noise Suppression, NVIDIA Broadcast, and Whisper Transcription. Audacity is more complex than Adobe Podcast Enhance, so expect a learning curve before you get consistent results.
Descript Podcast Software
Descript offers podcast editing software with support for audio enhancement. There are two different tools you can use: the Free Voice Enhancer, or Studio Sound.
You can use Descript’s free plan to enhance podcast audio, although your options are limited. If you want to edit audio more than 10 minutes long, you need to upgrade to the next tier up (starting at $12 per user per month).
Our guide provides a full breakdown of Descript’s tools.
iZotope RX Suite
The iZotope RX Suite is the professional standard for audio repair. It handles deverbing, denoising, declipping, and other cleanup tasks that AI tools like Enhance Speech can’t manage cleanly. It’s the go-to bundle for podcast engineers who need precise, natural-sounding results on complex recordings.
What Are the Alternatives to Adobe Mic Check?
Descript is the most practical alternative to Adobe Mic Check for podcasters already using its editing workflow, as it offers built-in microphone setup testing before recording. For a more rigorous pre-recording audio quality check, professional podcast editors remain the most reliable option.
In addition to its audio enhancement tools, Descript includes built-in features for checking your microphone setup. Clicking the ‘record’ button lets you select equipment, choose microphones and headsets, and test audio before going live.
Descript doesn’t provide acceptable input ranges the way Adobe Mic Check does. If you want a clear read on whether your audio quality is up to standard, professional podcast editors are a more reliable option.
Alternatives to Adobe Studio
If Adobe Studio doesn’t meet your needs, a full DAW is a better option. Two worth considering:
Descript is a strong alternative to both Adobe Enhance and Mic Check, and it also offers features Adobe Studio doesn’t. You can build AI voice clones, generate text-to-speech, and create green screen effects for podcast videos. Those features come at a cost. If you’re not at that stage of podcast production, a simpler alternative may make more sense.
Hindenburg PRO is an audio editor specifically for the spoken word. It’s primarily used for audiobooks and narration, although it’s also a favorite among B2B podcasters. You won’t get any AI tools with Hindenburg PRO, but you can still edit audio from a transcript like Adobe Podcast. It also offers video support if you’re publishing to distribution platforms like YouTube.
The drawbacks? Some users feel Hindenburg PRO isn’t a fit for granular editing, but this largely depends on your workflow and use case. There’s a 30-day free trial available so you can test it for yourself.
Check out our full guide to the Hindenburg PRO here.
Are Adobe Podcast AI Tools Worth It?
Adobe AI tools are a useful entry point for podcasters who need basic browser-based audio cleanup without traditional DAW software. They handle noise removal and mic setup analysis well, but complex edits, longer files, and multi-speaker recordings still require professional production support. For shows that need to scale, a full-service production partner remains the more reliable long-term investment.
Adobe’s AI audio tools sit at a practical intersection of accessibility and functionality. Even with limited audio editing knowledge, you can accomplish basic cleanup tasks using Adobe Podcast Enhance and Mic Check. The tools are a credible first step for new podcasters or occasional recordings.
That said, AI tools aren’t a silver bullet for successful podcasts. Complex edits require the work of a professional podcast editor. Podcast AI also can’t audit, promote, market, or publish your podcast on hosting platforms. The Podcast Consultant can handle all of that.
“I’m amazed with how TPC uses AI to handle episodes where I’m using the Zoom file instead of my microphone because of some sort of issue.”
— Steve Curley, Investors First Podcast (CFA Orlando / 55 North Private Wealth)
We are a full-service podcast production company serving both new and established podcasts. We offer a holistic approach to podcasting so you can spend more time creating and less time editing.
If you’d like to learn more about our approach to podcast production, or if you’re interested in past case studies for our clients, we invite you to book a discovery call today.
- Adobe Podcast Enhance: How It Works and When to Use It — Deep dive on the Enhance Speech tool
- The Ultimate Guide to Podcast Editing Software — Compare all major DAWs
- Audio Editing Best Practices for Podcasters — TPC’s professional editing standards
Frequently Asked Questions About Adobe Podcast AI Tools
What are the three Adobe Podcast AI tools and their main differences?
Adobe Podcast AI includes three distinct tools: Enhance Speech removes background noise and improves voice clarity in pre-recorded files; Mic Check analyzes your recording setup in real-time and provides optimization recommendations; and Studio (invite-only) enables browser-based recording with remote guests, transcription editing, and Adobe’s stock music library. Enhance Speech and Mic Check work on existing files, while Studio handles the recording process itself.
Is Adobe Podcast AI completely free to use in 2026?
Adobe Podcast offers free access to all three tools with limitations. The free tier includes Enhance Speech processing for 1 hour daily (30-minute files, 500MB max), full access to Mic Check with no restrictions, and Studio access after receiving an invitation (2 project downloads per day, 30 minutes each). The Premium plan ($9.99/month or $99.99/year) extends Enhance Speech to 4 hours daily processing with files up to 2 hours and 1GB, adds batch uploads and video support, and removes Studio download limits.
How does Adobe Podcast AI compare to hiring a professional podcast editor?
Adobe Podcast AI provides one-click enhancement ideal for beginners and occasional podcasters, while professional editors offer nuanced audio treatment, compliance review, and strategic content guidance. AI tools work best for basic noise removal but can produce artificial-sounding results according to recent user reviews. Professional services like The Podcast Consultant combine technical expertise with industry knowledge, including compliance-conscious editing and ROI-focused content strategy that DIY tools cannot replicate.
What are the main limitations of Adobe Podcast AI’s free tier?
Free tier constraints include Enhance Speech limited to 1-hour daily processing with 30-minute maximum file length (problematic for longer interviews or panel discussions), Studio requiring invitation and limiting downloads to 2 projects daily, no batch processing for multiple files, no video format support, and no adjustment controls for enhancement strength. Podcasters producing weekly 45-minute episodes would exceed free tier limits and need Premium or professional services.
Can Adobe Podcast AI tools handle multi-speaker recordings?
Adobe’s AI tools have a known limitation with multi-speaker audio. Enhance Speech can’t reliably distinguish between the primary speaker and voice bleed from other participants. When both voices are present on the same track, the algorithm produces strange artifacts or audio that sounds distorted. For multi-speaker recordings, track separation at the recording stage, using tools like Riverside, Squadcast, or a local DAW with separate tracks, produces far better results than AI cleanup after the fact.
How does Adobe Podcast compare to Descript for podcast editing?
Adobe Podcast and Descript overlap in audio enhancement and transcript-based editing, but serve different workflows. Adobe Podcast’s strength is frictionless browser-based cleanup: drop in an audio file, click enhance, and you’re done. Descript is the better fit for podcasters who edit primarily by cutting transcript text, want AI voice cloning or text-to-speech, or need green screen for video. Descript’s free plan is more limited than Adobe’s for audio-only work. Its paid tiers start at $12/month.