Top 10 Podcast Editing Software Applications for Any Beginner

Have you recorded your first-ever podcast? Before you can publish your podcast on sites like Apple Music or Spotify, you want to make sure that you edit it. After all, you don’t want people to hear that you cut your audio at a certain time, or there might be some background noise people shouldn’t hear. What you need then is a podcast editing software. But which is the best one? We list the top 10 best ones.

1. Audacity

If you are a beginner and recently started a podcast, Audacity is one of the best podcast editing software applications to use. With Audacity, you can record, cut, copy, and paste audio. Plus, you can redo or undo any actions. In addition to those, you can add audio effects to make your podcast even more compelling to listen to and import or export file formats.

Pricing: Free

2. Alitu

Alitu is an all-in-one podcast tool since you can record, edit, clean up audio, host, and transcribe your podcasts. The podcast tool is intuitive and beginner-friendly and will help podcast hosts edit their audio in a few minutes, compared to other podcast editing software applications.

With Alitu, you can highlight parts of your audio you want to split or remove as mistakes. You can also clean up your audio by removing background noise and ensuring loudness is consistent.

Pricing: $38/mo

3. Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is a popular tool among experienced podcast hosts and editors. But novice editors can play around with Adobe Audition. With Adobe Audition, you can record and edit your audio. You can bring out your creative side by adding audio effects. Plus, you can clean up your audio, restore, reduce noise, and mix audio when needed.

This software works best with other Adobe applications. Plus, it’s helpful if you need sound bites from videos, and you can use this software alongside Premier Pro, making editing seamless.

Pricing: $20.99/mo

4. GarageBand

iPhone users would be familiar with GarageBand. Although GarageBand is for recording and editing music, it’s also a handy app for editing your podcasts. However, those who need to edit audio files or their podcasts will benefit from GarageBand. This app is perfect on the go or if you want to edit your audio on the computer.

Pricing: Free

5. Descript

If you record videos and podcasts, Descript is the best editing software for you. Descript is AI-powered and will ensure that you will get the best audio quality once edited. With Descript, you can edit something you have said by typing it, and their AI will make an AI clone from your voice. Plus, you can eliminate background noise and remove ‘um’s’ and ‘uhs’.

Pricing:

• Free
• Creator – $15/mo
• Pro – $30/mo
• Enterprise – Contact sales

6. Riverside

Riverside is an alternative to Descript if you need to record video and audio. Many podcast hosts love using Riverside because they ensure clear audio and separate audio and video tracks. This is beneficial to many podcast hosts who record via video first and edit the audio only. 

Plus, Riverside is also great for podcast hosts on the go, which can help them record audio anytime. Once they’re done with the recording, the Riverside cloud stores the recording, and you can edit it on your desktop.

Pricing:

• Free
• Standard – $19/mo
• Pro – $29/mo
• Teams – Book a meeting

7. Hindenburg Journalist

Hindenburg Journalist is an audio editing software that many professionals use. You have two options for your podcast needs: Hindenburg Lite or Hindenburg Pro.

With Lite, you can learn how to edit audio through leveling and modifying inconsistent voice sounds. Plus, with Hindenburg Lite, you can even publish your podcasts on different platforms. Of course, it has other essential features, like import and export, cut, and undo. Pro is similar to Lite. However, it has additional features like reducing uneven leveling and keeping loudness consistent.

Plus, they have an iPhone app where you can record audio and make simple edits to your audio.

Pricing:

• Hindenburg Lite – $99
• Hindenburg Pro – $10/mo

8. Auphonic

Auphonic is another online podcast editing software. Their software is geared toward professional audio editors. However, with their AI, editors of any level can use their software to edit their podcasts. Here are some of its neat features:

• Loudness normalization
• Audio restoration
• Speech recognition and transcript editor
• Encoding, metadata, and chapter marks
• Intelligent leveler

Unlike most audio editors, Auphonic charges users depending on how many hours they may need the software. However, if you just need to edit quickly, you can use Auphonic for free for two hours!

Pricing:

Recurring credits

• Auphonic S – 9 hours – $11/mo
• Auphonic M – 21 hours – $24/mo
• Auphonic L – 45 hours – $49/mo
• Auphonic XL – 100 hours – $99/mo
• Auphonic More – Contact Sales

One-time credits

• 5 hours – $12
• 10 hours – $22
• 25 hours – $50
• 50 hours – $88
• 100 hours – $150
• More – Contact sales

9. Wavepad

If you want a basic audio editing software, Wavepad is one of your options. Wavepad is similar to Audacity, where you can download this app to your computer. However, their software is also available on iOS and Android devices. 

With Wavepad, you can edit your audio by trimming or cutting it, add effects, restore audio, and edit multiple audio files at once. It’s free for non-commercial use and has all the basic features. But if you need more than the basics, you can upgrade to their Master’s edition version, which you can purchase.

Pricing:

• Free (non-commercial use)
• Master’s Edition – $79.99

10. PodCastle

If you want an affordable all-in-one podcast solution, PodCastle is your best bet! It has all the features you’d find in a podcast editing software and more! With Podcastle, you can use their fade-in and out feature in your audio, change the speed, and add amazing effects with their sound library. Plus, if you have an iPhone and want to edit audio on the go, Podcastle has an app you can download.

Pricing: 

• Basic – Free
• Storyteller – $14.99/mo
• Pro – $29.99

Key Takeaways

As a podcast host, you don’t want to skip over the editing process since you want to have a clear flow or seamless conversations with your guests. Most of the podcast editing software applications above ensure that you can use its tools and features for quick editing. And in some cases, some of them are AI-powered, shortening your editing time from hours to minutes.