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Riverside Review
Reviewed by Carlos Gil · Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Updated 7 min readEditorially reviewed
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Pro $35/mo ($24/mo billed annually) · 14-day free trial
- Free plan
- No
- Best for
- B2B content teams, podcasters and marketers recording remote interviews, podcasts and webinars
- Platforms
- Web (Chrome, Edge, Safari 18.2+), Mac app, iOS, Android
BestStacked Score
Weighted average of 5 categories. Methodology below.
Quick answer
Where does Riverside excel—and where does it fall short?
Riverside is strongest at reliable remote recording. Each participant is recorded locally on their own device, then the tracks upload and sync for editing, so a weak connection doesn't ruin the master. The built-in AI editing, clipping and cleanup are good enough for most business shows. Specialist editors still offer more control. The limits to know about: separate-track downloads are capped each month, the cap doesn't roll over, and Riverside can use your recordings to train its AI unless you're a Business customer with a written opt-out.
- Repurposing clips
- Magic Clips picks 30–90 second highlights, is included on every plan and doesn't use AI credits. If clipping is your main workflow, a dedicated clipper like Opus Clip offers more control.
- Audio cleanup
- Magic Audio removes background noise and balances levels. It's included on Pro and above and doesn't use AI credits.
- What it does badly
- The text-based editor trails Descript for detailed post-production. Separate-track hours are capped monthly, and collaboration features like roles and producer mode are Business-only.
- Price and value
- Pro ($24/mo billed annually, $35 monthly) is the practical starting point for a recurring show. Grow ($34 annually, $45 monthly) adds livestreaming, and Webinar ($79 annually, $99 monthly) adds registration and HubSpot sync.
The Verdict
Riverside remains our default recommendation for recording remote conversations that need to sound and look professional. That covers podcasts, customer interviews, expert panels and webinars. Local recording protects quality, and the platform now goes well past recording: AI editing, clips, show notes, hosting, livestreaming and a webinar product with CRM sync. Two things deserve attention before you commit. First, separate-track downloads are capped monthly and unused hours disappear. Second, the default terms let Riverside train its AI on your content, and only Business customers with a written agreement can opt out. That matters if you're recording customers or confidential material.
Best for
Teams publishing a recurring video podcast, interview series or webinar program who want recording, editing and distribution in one place.
Skip if
Your recordings include confidential customer or internal content and you can't negotiate a Business-plan AI opt-out, or you mainly need deep timeline editing (Descript) or large live events (Zoom Webinars).
The Background
What Is Riverside?
Riverside is a browser- and app-based studio for recording remote podcasts, video interviews and webinars. Its core technique is local recording. Each participant's audio and video are captured on their own device at up to 4K and 48 kHz, then uploaded during and after the session. Internet hiccups affect the live call, not the recording. Around that recorder, Riverside has built a production stack: a text-based editor, an AI editing agent it calls Co-Creator, Magic Clips for short-form highlights, Magic Audio cleanup, transcription and show notes, podcast and video hosting, livestreaming to social platforms, and a webinar product with registration, polls and CRM sync. Guests join from Chrome, Edge or Safari 18.2+ (Safari has some limits), or from Riverside's iOS and Android apps. Hosts can also use a Mac desktop app.
The Product
Riverside Features: What You Actually Get
Local recording up to 4K / 48 kHz
Each participant is recorded on their own device, and tracks upload progressively. 4K is available on Pro and above, but only if the participant has a 4K-capable camera. Riverside recommends at least 10 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up, at least 5 GB of free browser storage, and 8+ CPU cores for video recording.
Customer interviews and expert panels where you can't control each guest's internet connection.
Separate-track downloads (the number that matters)
Recording, editing and exporting are unlimited on every plan. What's capped is downloading each participant's separate, studio-quality track. The cap is cumulative per month, livestreams count toward it, it doesn't depend on how many people are on the call, and unused hours don't roll over.
Budgeting plan size for a weekly show. Count total session hours per month, not per guest.
Co-Creator AI editing and the text-based editor
Edit by deleting words from the transcript, remove silences and filler words, add AI B-roll, and correct eye contact. Co-Creator, Riverside's AI editing and repurposing agent, is included from Pro.
Turning a 45-minute interview into a publishable cut without a dedicated editor.
Magic Clips
AI selects 30–90 second highlights for short-form social. It's available on every plan, and Pro and Business can generate extra clips.
A clip set for LinkedIn and Shorts from every episode.
Magic Audio, transcription and show notes
Magic Audio cleans and balances audio on Pro and above without using AI credits. Pro and above include unlimited transcriptions; Riverside's help center lists dozens of supported languages. AI show notes are included from Pro.
Publishing transcripts and show notes for SEO and accessibility.
Livestreaming and audience call-ins (Grow and above)
Grow, Webinar and Business stream in 1080p to unlimited destinations: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Twitch, Instagram, TikTok and custom RTMP. Live call-in lets viewers watching on a computer in Chrome or Edge request to join.
A live LinkedIn show that becomes a podcast episode afterwards.
Webinars with CRM sync
The Webinar plan supports up to 100 registrants, with branded registration, reminders, Q&A, polls, analytics, lead capture and HubSpot sync. Business raises the limit to 10,000 registrants and adds Salesforce and Marketo. Webinar webhooks can send registration data to other tools.
Demand-gen webinars where registrants need to land in the CRM automatically.
Business controls
Business adds SSO (Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and others, on some Business plans), SCIM provisioning, production workspaces with custom roles, producer mode, collaborative editing, brand-kit locking, password-protected review links, API access, and SOC 2 / ISO 27001 documentation.
Marketing orgs that need IT sign-off and multiple producers on one show.
Feature recap
- Local recording up to 4K / 48 kHz on Pro and above
- Up to 100 participants per session
- Magic Clips on every plan
- Co-Creator AI editing, transcription and show notes from Pro
- Livestreaming to unlimited destinations from Grow
- Webinars with HubSpot sync (Webinar) or Salesforce and Marketo (Business)
- SSO, SCIM, API and roles on Business
- Monthly separate-track download caps with no rollover
The Numbers
Riverside Pricing: Every Plan Explained
On October 19, 2026, Riverside's pricing page listed four plans: Pro, Grow, Webinar and a custom-priced Business plan, each with a 14-day free trial that needs a credit card. It no longer showed a Free plan, though some of Riverside's help-center articles still mention one. Annual billing saves up to 20%. The same page's FAQ still says "Pro drops from $29 to $24/month, Grow from $39 to $34", while the plan cards show $35 and $45 monthly (re-checked October 19, 2026), so confirm the monthly price at checkout. The figure to plan around is the monthly allowance of separate-track downloads. Riverside's pricing page currently shows two different sets of hour figures for the same plans, so confirm the allowance at checkout before you commit.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Included Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProBest value | $35/mo | $24/mo, billed $288/yr | Up to 4K and 48 kHz, no watermark, Co-Creator AI editing, unlimited transcription, show notes, Magic Audio, podcast hosting, 2,000 AI credits, 1 studio | Weekly podcasts and interview series |
| Grow | $45/mo | $34/mo, billed $408/yr | Everything in Pro, plus 1080p livestreaming to unlimited destinations, social scheduling, hosting for 2 shows, Riverside MCP, 2 studios | Shows that stream live and repurpose |
| Webinar | $99/mo | $79/mo billed annually | Everything in Grow, plus webinars up to 100 registrants, registration pages, reminders, Q&A, polls, analytics, HubSpot sync, 3 studios | Marketing teams running lead-gen webinars |
| Business | Custom | Custom | Up to 10,000 registrants, unlimited separate-track hours and video storage, producer mode, roles and workspaces, collaborative editing, Salesforce/Marketo, API, SSO, SOC 2 / ISO 27001, 12,000 AI credits | Larger teams needing IT, security and multi-producer workflows |
Separate-track hours: Riverside's plan cards list 15 (Pro), 20 (Grow) and 25 (Webinar) hours per month. The comparison table on the same page lists 5, 15 and unlimited. Confirm on riverside.com/pricing before buying. Count session hours, not guests. A one-hour interview with three people uses one hour of separate-track downloads. Livestreams count too. Once you pass the monthly allowance, separate-track downloads switch off for the rest of the cycle, and deleting recordings doesn't restore hours. Cost scenarios (calculations from Riverside's published prices): a weekly 60-minute interview podcast (about 4–5 hours a month) fits Pro under either set of published hour figures, at $288/yr annual or $420/yr monthly. The same show plus a monthly 1-hour LinkedIn Live needs Grow for livestreaming, at $408/yr annual or $540/yr monthly. A monthly lead-gen webinar for up to 100 registrants, synced to HubSpot, needs Webinar, at $79/mo billed annually or $99 monthly. On any plan with more than one editor, extra editor seats on Pro, Grow and Webinar are an add-on; Riverside doesn't publish the price outside the app, so ask before you budget. AI credits are separate from the plan's core features. Translation, AI B-roll, AI Twin and voice cloning use credits. 100 credits buy 1 minute of translation. Credits don't renew monthly and aren't refundable. Magic Clips, Magic Audio and Co-Creator don't use credits. Refunds: monthly plans within 24 hours, annual plans within 14 days. Riverside's terms give 30 days' notice of price changes, and annual plans change only at renewal.
The Tradeoffs
Riverside Pros and Cons
What we love
- Local recording protects quality when guests have weak connections
- Recording, editing and exports unlimited on every plan; only separate-track downloads are capped
- Magic Clips included on every plan without using AI credits
- Webinar product with HubSpot sync, and Salesforce/Marketo on Business
- Business plan offers SSO, SCIM, API, roles and SOC 2 / ISO 27001 documentation
- Guests can join from a browser or the iOS and Android apps
What could be better
- Monthly separate-track caps with no rollover; livestreams count toward them
- Pricing page shows conflicting hour allowances
- Default terms allow AI training on your content; opt-out is only for Business customers with a written agreement
- Producer mode, roles and collaborative editing are Business-only (custom pricing)
- Extra editor seat price isn't published
- No Windows desktop app, Safari support is limited, and Chromebooks aren't supported
The Audience
Who Should Use Riverside?
B2B marketing teams running an interview or customer-story series
Record customers and experts remotely at broadcast quality, cut clips for LinkedIn, and publish transcripts, all in one tool. Read the AI-training terms first if interviews include confidential details.
Demand-gen teams running monthly webinars
The Webinar plan covers registration, reminders, polls and HubSpot sync for up to 100 registrants. Larger audiences need Business or a dedicated webinar platform.
Teams that mainly edit footage recorded elsewhere
If recording isn't the problem, Descript's editor and team plans are a better center of gravity. Riverside's value is concentrated in capture.
The Methodology
How We Reviewed Riverside
This is an editorial review, not a documented hands-on test. It's based on Riverside's pricing page, help center (support.riverside.com), Terms (updated October 5, 2026) and Privacy Policy (revised June 15, 2026), all checked on October 7, 2026; plan prices and the plan lineup re-checked on riverside.com/pricing on October 19, 2026. Where Riverside's own pages disagree, as with separate-track hour allowances, we show both figures instead of choosing one. Cost scenarios are calculations from published prices. We make no performance or time-saving claims.
Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
Our review methodology →What changed
- : Fact-check follow-up (checked on riverside.com/pricing on 2026-10-19). Noted that the pricing page's FAQ still quotes $29/$39 monthly against the $35/$45 plan cards. The "Billed $408 annually" line now sits under Grow ($34 x 12), and Webinar shows "Billed $948 annually". Score untouched.
- : Price check on riverside.com/pricing: monthly prices rose to $35 (Pro, was $29) and $45 (Grow, was $39); annual prices are unchanged at $24 and $34, and Webinar is still $99 monthly or $79 billed annually. The pricing page no longer lists a Free plan, only 14-day free trials that need a credit card (help article 'Can I try Riverside for free?'), though some help-center articles still mention a Free plan. Removed the Free plan row and Free-only claims, and updated cost scenarios. Scores unchanged.
- : Substantive update. Replaced the nonexistent "Standard" plan with the current lineup (Free, Pro, Grow, Webinar, Business). Corrected "unlimited recording": recording is unlimited, but separate-track downloads are capped monthly with no rollover. Moved livestreaming to Grow and above, and 4K to Pro and above. Corrected the Free allowance (2 hours one-time) and browser support (Safari 18.2+). Removed Cliphouse, Dropbox and Zapier, which were unverified or discontinued. Removed unsourced customer logos, funding figures, a predicted price increase and time-saving numbers. Added webinar, CRM, SSO, API and AI-training terms. Removed the "9.0/10" sentence that contradicted the 8.9 score.
The Field
Riverside vs The Competition
Riverside's competition depends on whether you're buying a recorder, an editor, a streaming studio or a webinar platform.
| Tool | Starting Price | Free plan | Best Feature | BS Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside | Pro $35/mo ($24/mo billed annually) · 14-day free trial | No | Local recording up to 4K / 48 kHz | 8.9/10 |
| Descript | Hobbyist $16/mo annual ($24 monthly) | Yes | Text-based editing depth | 9.1/10 |
| StreamYard | Core $35.99/mo annual ($44.99 monthly) | Yes | Live production and multistreaming | 7.8/10 |
| Restream | Free; Standard $16/mo billed yearly ($19 monthly) | Yes | Multistreaming | 8.4/10 |
| Opus Clip | Free / $15/mo | Yes | Dedicated AI clipping | 8.9/10 |
Descript: The stronger editor, with remote recording through Descript Rooms (2 hours on Free; 5, 15 or 25 hours a month on paid tiers). Creator ($24/mo annual) and Business ($50/mo annual) add team seats.Read our Descript review →See Riverside vs Descript →
StreamYard: Built for live shows: Core includes 10 on-screen participants and 3 destinations, and Advanced ($68.99/mo annual) adds On-Air webinars for 100 viewers. Core and Advanced are for personal use; businesses are steered to an unpriced Business plan.Read our StreamYard review →
Restream: Multistreaming first. Its Webinars add-on costs $99/mo for 100 attendees.Read our Restream review →
Opus Clip: If short-form clipping is the main job, a dedicated clipper gives more control than Magic Clips.Read our Opus Clip review →
Use cases
Example setups by buyer type
B2B customer-story series
Record a 30-minute remote interview with a customer, cut a 6–8 minute edit with the text editor, pull Magic Clips for LinkedIn, and publish the transcript as a case-study draft. Check whether your customer agreement allows the recording to be used for vendor AI training, or negotiate the Business opt-out.
Founder-led podcast
Pro covers a weekly show. Use Co-Creator to remove filler and silences, add show notes, and publish to YouTube and podcast platforms from Riverside.
Webinar program
Run monthly product webinars on the Webinar plan with registration and HubSpot sync, then repurpose each recording into clips and a podcast episode.
The Ecosystem
Riverside Integrations
Riverside's integrations focus on publishing, CRM and post-production rather than broad automation.
- →HubSpot (Webinar plan)
- →Salesforce (Business)
- →Marketo (Business)
- →Webinar webhooks
- →Google Drive (exports)
- →YouTube, Spotify for Creators, Apple Podcasts, Instagram, LinkedIn publishing
- →Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro timeline export
- →Riverside MCP (Grow and above)
- →Riverside API (some Business plans)
Riverside's help center says the Dropbox integration is no longer available, and we found no official Zapier integration. Use webinar webhooks or the Business API for automation.
Common Questions
Riverside FAQ
The Final Word
Should You Use Riverside?
Riverside is the most complete remote-recording platform for business content in 2026. The recorder is the reason to buy it. The webinar, CRM and Business-plan controls are what make it viable for marketing teams beyond podcasting. Size your plan by monthly session hours, and read the AI-training terms before recording customers. If both check out, it's an easy default.
Yes, if
You record remote conversations every week and want capture, editing, clips and publishing in one tool, or you run webinars that should feed HubSpot.
No, if
You need an AI-training opt-out without a Business contract, you edit far more than you record, or you host events beyond 100 registrants without Business pricing.
Riverside Is Part Of These Stack Packs
About the reviewer
Carlos Gil
Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Carlos Gil is the Founder & Editor of The Best Network, bestselling author of The End of Marketing, and a LinkedIn Top Voice. His digital marketing career began in 2008 and spans corporate roles at LinkedIn and BMC Software, consulting for global brands, creator partnerships, and building his own businesses.
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