
There are dozens of podcast platforms on the market today, but not all that many offering tools for recording video. To make matters worse, they all offer varying degrees of quality. How can you distinguish the bad from the good?
We’ve already done the heavy lifting for you by comparing the five best podcast platforms for recording podcast video. We list each platform’s pros and cons, setup process, and features, and unique pricing model so you have an idea of what to expect.
Let’s dive in.
- Top Video Podcast Recording Platforms Compared
- How We Selected the Best Video Podcast Recording Platforms
- The Bottom Line on Podcast Recording Platforms

Top Video Podcast Recording Platforms Compared
Not sure how the best video podcast platforms line up side by side?
Get the high-level overview in this comparison chart:
Platform | Hosting | Distribution | Browser App | Recording Type | Price |
Zoom | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | Local (cloud requires upgrade) | Starts at $0 per user per month |
Riverside | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ | Local | Starts at $0 per month |
Streamyard | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | Local (requires upgrade) | Starts at $35.99 per month |
Squadcast | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | Cloud (local requires upgrade) | Starts at $0 per month |
Zencastr | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | Cloud (local backups available) | Starts at $18 per month |
1. Zoom: Best for Remote Interviews
Pros | Cons |
Free plan available | Limited to 40-minute meetings without upgrade |
HD recording | Cloud storage requires an upgrade |
Mac and Mobile apps (No Windows app) | No hosting/distribution integrations available |
Zoom is a popular video conferencing tool that also works for remote interviews and launching newer podcasts. The free version comes with free local recording and 40-minute meetings, so you can capture your interviews in HD quality.
Setup is intuitive and relatively stress-free. To use Zoom for podcasting, you simply:
- Sign up for an account.
- Set up a meeting and send an invite to the guest.
- Join and record the meeting.
- Edit the file when complete.
- Upload the final footage to a hosting or distribution platform.
Of course, Zoom isn’t inherently designed for podcasting, so don’t expect any hosting or distribution features. You will have access to AI clips for highlights, but getting more than five requires an upgrade (and don’t forget the add-on fees).
Key features of Zoom
- 1280 x 720p max resolution
- 5 GB of cloud storage (with upgrade)
- Up to five AI clips for content repurposing
- AI documents (full features require upgrade)
- Automated captions for meetings
Zoom pricing
Here’s what you can expect when billed annually:
- Basic: $0 per user per month for one license count, 40-minute meetings, local recording, up to five stored clips
- Pro: $13.33 per user per month for up to nine licenses, 30-hour meetings, 5 GB of cloud storage (per license), AI companion, unlimited clips, and more
- Business: $18.32 per user per month for 10 to 250 licenses, custom mail domain, translated captions, recording transcripts, and more
2. Riverside: Best for Team Collaboration
Pros | Cons |
Unlimited audio/video recordings | Low audio/video quality on the base plan |
Strong AI features on the base plan | No access to unlimited storage |
Live stream capabilities (requires upgrade) | Users report buggy features |
If you’re ready to upgrade your audio podcast to video, you might have Riverside.fm on your radar. This platform’s upgraded plans come with unlimited storage and 4K video, plus third-party integrations, comments, and private chats.
Here’s how to get started in 15 minutes or less:
- Sign up for the free plan
- Send guests the link to your studio
- Click Start recording
- Edit the raw audio or video (either inside Riverside or with your DAW)
But Riverside isn’t a perfect platform, and you should know that it arbitrarily limits its base plan. You get lower video and audio quality unless you upgrade to the Standard plan, which costs $15 per month.
Key features of Riverside:
- Unlimited storage (requires the Business plan)
- 720p quality (4K requires upgrade)
- Automatic cloud backups
- Desktop, mobile, and browser apps
- 12+ native integrations
Riverside pricing
- Free: $0 per month for 720p video quality, 44.1 kHz audio quality, unlimited single-track recording, up to two hours of multi-track recording, access to AI Magic Clips, filler word removal,
- Standard: $15 per month for five hours of multi-track recording, 4K video quality, 48kHz audio quality,
- Pro: $24 per month for 15 hours of of multi-track recording,
- Business: Custom pricing for unlimited multi-track recording
3. Streamyard: Best for Live Streaming
Pros | Cons |
Specifically designed for live streaming content | Extremely steep prices compared to competitors |
Natively integrates with Facebook, YouTube, and other live streaming platforms | Only 50 hours of cloud storage on every plan |
Engagement tools (live comments, giveaways, multi-streams, and more) | No built-in analytics tools to improve your podcast performance |
Streamyard is a browser-based live streaming platform that connects with YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and other streaming platforms. It’s easily adapted to webinars and podcasts and comes with built-in tools for audience engagement and contests/giveaways.
As long as you own a decent camera and podcast microphone, you can get started with Streamyard in a few easy steps:
- Open Streamyard in your browser
- Sign up for an account
- Connect your destinations (like YouTube)
- Create your stream or recording
Remember: Streamyard was designed for live streaming specifically, so its capabilities for video podcast production are somewhat limited. There’s no in-app editing or analytics dashboard available, despite the hefty starter price at $35.99 per month. You’re also capped at 50 hours of platform storage, no matter what plan you use, which means you’ll need a separate podcast host to store your footage.

Key features of Streamyard
- Mobile app for guests (iOS only)
- Local recordings (requires upgrade)
- 50 hours of cloud storage available
- 1080p available on every plan
- 2+ hours of pre-recorded streams
Streamyard pricing
Streamyard no longer publicly posts its pricing. However, an update post published in August 2024 and a helpdesk article published in October lists the following tiers:
- Core: $35.99 per month ($431.88 per year) for all essential studio features, unlimited streaming, 10 on-screen participants, 50 hours of cloud storage, two seats, three multistream destinations, branding customization, custom RTMP, dark mode, camera shapes, 1080p screen sharing, two-hour pre-recorded streams, full HD recording, and more
- Advanced: $68.99 per month ($827.88 per year) for everything in Core plus 4-hour pre-recorded streams, eight multistream destinations, four seats, 4K local recordings, 15 backstage participants, 1,000 on-air webinar viewers, extra camera, and transcript downloads.
- Teams: $238.99 per month ($2,867.88 per year) for everything in Advanced plus 10 seats, eight-hour pre-recorded streams, 10,000 on-air webinar viewers, and a Greenroom for up to 25 people.
4. Squadcast: Best for Transcriptions
Pros | Cons |
Edit video by editing transcriptions | Limited audio/video quality |
Timeline exports to REAPER, Audition, Premier, and more | Watermarks on video without upgrading |
Underload AI assistant on all plans | Integrations limited by plan |
SquadCast is a remote recording studio specifically designed for Descript users. It combines all the features of Descript — including the editable transcriptions — and combines them with AI features, screen recording, and more.
Recording in SquadCast is fairly similar to recording in Descript:
- Link your SquadCast account to your Descript account
- Set up a recording session in the Green Room
- Invite your guest to join the platform
- Record in SquadCast
- Import your SquadCast recording into Descript for further editing (or use the timeline export function to send your video to another editing platform like Adobe Premiere)
Just keep in mind the free plan is intentionally throttled unless you upgrade for more bandwidth.
For example, the base plan only supports 720p video, and you’re limited to a single integration unless you pay extra for the Hobbyist plan ($12 per month).
Key features of SquadCast
- Included access to Descript
- Unique cloud backup recordings per session
- 5 GB to 2TB of cloud storage (depending on plan)
- 720p to 4K publish resolution (depending on plan)
- Edit video with audio transcriptions (additional transcription time costs $2 to $2.50 per hour)
SquadCast pricing
SquadCast’s pricing plans are exactly the same as Descript’s. The features you get are tacked onto your Descript plan so you can use both tools at the same time.
Here’s what to expect if you’re paying annually:
- Free: $0 per month for one recording hour per month (plus transcriptions), 5 GB of storage, up to one show, one integration, AI features trial, 720p exports, and more
- Hobbyist: $12 per month for 10 recording hours per month (plus transcriptions), 100 GB of storage, up to five shows, two integrations, 30 minutes of AI speech, 1080p exports, and more
- Creator: $24 per month for 30 recording hours per month (plus transcriptions), 1 TB of storage, unlimited shows, unlimited integrations, master audio with Dolby Voice, 120 minutes of AI speech, 4K exports, and more
- Business $40 per month for 40 recording hours per month (plus transcriptions), 2 TB of storage, 300 minutes of AI speech, unlimited regenerate and overdub, SLA priority support, and more
5. Zencastr: Best for Social Media Posting
Pros | Cons |
Free 14-day trial | No free plan available |
No per-user pricing | 4K video quality requires upgrade |
Unlimited recording storage | Team features require multiple upgrades |
Zencastr is an all-in-one video podcasting tool that supports recording, editing, hosting, distribution, and monetization. You can record unlimited podcasts directly into the cloud, with a local backup feature available on every plan.
According to Zencastr, it only takes a few steps to start recording video:
- Create a session and invite your guests
- Join the call and start the recording
- Edit the file in-app (phone, laptop, or browser)
- Host and distribute your podcast with your RSS feed
Zencastr’s many features are reflected in its price, which starts at $18 per month plus a two-week free trial. You might also need to upgrade even before you feel ready, since 4K video quality and collaboration features require more expensive plans.
Key features of Zencastr
- 4K video quality (requires upgrade)
- AI editing features (filler word removal, audio sweetening, etc)
- Transcription-based editing
- Unlimited recording storage
- Redundant backups
Zencastr pricing
- Standard: $18 per month for 1080p video recording, unlimited multi-language transcriptions, live editing soundboards, and up to 1,000 video downloads per month
- Grow: $24 per month for 4K video recording, publishing to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, and AI clips for social media
- Scale: $40 per month for up to two concurrent podcasts, 2,000 video podcast downloads per month, support for Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, advanced social post scheduling, dynamic insertion, and access to team members (up to two)
- Business: $80 per month for priority support, up to four team members, 6,000 video podcast downloads per month, unlimited editing credits, and up to five concurrent podcasts
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for an unlimited number of concurrent podcasts, custom video podcast downloads per month, and dedicated support
How We Selected the Best Video Podcast Recording Platforms
We used a two-step process to find the best podcast platforms for recording video. First, we went through review sites such as Capterra and G2 to pinpoint platforms with above-average user ratings. Then, we demoed each platform to test its quality, usability, and features, paying close attention to:
- Remote and local recording. The best podcast recording platforms offer a mix of both, so you can mix and match options depending on your needs.
- Essential podcast features. This includes multi-track recording, high-quality video, and the ability to integrate with other platforms you’re already using (including hosting and distribution platforms).
- Recording quality. You should at least be able to record in 1080p.
- Storage options. If the platform offers cloud-based storage, you should be able to store videos without upgrading your plan.
- Backup and recovery Features
- Cost. Money isn’t everything when picking a recording solution, but it certainly has an impact on what you can do with the resources at your disposal.
- Set up. This should be simple, fast, and intuitive, so it’s easy to start recording at the touch of a button.
The Bottom Line on Podcast Recording Platforms
So what’s the best video podcast platform? It mostly depends on your show. But whether you’re a solo podcaster or growing a team, there’s something on this list with the pricing, features, and benefits you need.
Just keep in mind it’s not an end-all, be-all—you’ll still need a podcast host or distribution platform to keep your episodes humming.
Still looking for the production tools to power your podcast? One of these resources might point you in the right direction:
- The Ultimate Guide to Podcast Equipment
- Ultimate Guide to Video Podcasts: Equipment, Software, and Recording
- The Ultimate Guide to Podcast Editing Software
- Cloud Recording 101
- Recording In Batches
- Handling Room Reflections and Reverb in Your Podcast Recordings
- How The Podcast Consultant Ensures The Highest Editing Quality
- How to Pick the Perfect Theme Song for Your Podcast
- Recording Video Podcasts: A Step-By-Step Guide
- Best Video Podcast Software for Editing and Recording
- Video Podcast Equipment: Cameras, Microphones, and More
- Podcast Cameras: The Essential Guide
- Why Upgrade Your Podcast from Audio to Video