Riverside Pro costs $35/mo, while the free plan records at up to 720p with a watermark and includes only 2 hours of multi-track recording, once. AI credits for translation, B-roll and animated clips are a one-time starting pool that needs top-ups, and extra editor seats cost extra below Business. None of the apps in our catalog replicates Riverside's remote multi-track recording studio, so the picks below cover what happens after you record: editing, clipping and publishing.
Descript ($24/mo) is the closest editing replacement, cutting episodes by editing the transcript. For turning episodes into shorts, OpusClip ($15/mo) and Vizard replace Magic Clips, and Vizard also schedules posts.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside | Yes | $35/mo | $99/mo | Podcasters and marketing teams recording remote interviews and turning them into clips, episodes and webinars |
| Descript | Yes | $24/mo | $65/mo | Podcast and video editing, transcript-based cutting, voice cloning for solo creators |
| OpusClip | Yes | $15/mo | $29/mo | Podcasters, streamers, and marketers repurposing long recordings into short-form social clips |
| Vizard | Yes | $29/mo | $39/mo | Podcasters, coaches and marketers repurposing long recordings into shorts for several social accounts |
| Kapwing | Yes | $24/mo | $64/mo | Social and marketing teams who edit together in the browser and need fast subtitles and translations |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
Descript's transcript-based editing covers the same ground as Riverside's text-based editor, with voice cloning and an AI co-editor. Hobbyist ($24/mo) includes 10 media hours a month and 1080p watermark-free export; Creator ($35/mo) adds 4K and up to 3 team members.
Pick it if: you want one place to edit full episodes.
Where it falls short: Every plan caps media hours, and long projects can lag or crash.
Full Descript pricing →OpusClip turns long recordings into short clips with AI reframing, virality scoring and auto-posting to TikTok, Shorts and Reels. Paid plans start at $15/mo.
Pick it if: clips were the Riverside feature you used most.
Where it falls short: It only clips existing footage, and free exports are watermarked with a 3-day storage window.
Full OpusClip pricing →Vizard cuts long videos and podcasts into captioned, reframed clips and schedules posts. Free includes 60 credits a month (1 credit per minute of video); Creator ($29/mo) adds 600 credits, 4K export and scheduling to 6 social accounts.
Pick it if: you want clipping and social scheduling, which Riverside keeps for its Grow plan.
Where it falls short: Free clips are watermarked 720p with 3-day storage, and team seats need Business.
Full Vizard pricing →Kapwing is a collaborative browser editor with AI subtitles, dubbing and voice cloning. Pro ($24/mo) includes a shared workspace, 4K export without a watermark, projects up to 2 hours and 1,000 credits a month.
Pick it if: several people edit your episodes together in the browser.
Where it falls short: All AI features share one credit pool, and monthly billing costs up to 50% more than annual.
Full Kapwing pricing →Riverside sells recording, editing, clipping, live streaming and webinars as one ladder of plans, with separate-track downloads metered by hours a month (15 on Pro, 20 on Grow). Hosts who depend on remote multi-track recording have no direct substitute in this list. Hosts who mostly edit and clip can pair the recorder they already use with Descript or a clipping tool and pay only for that part.
For editing, Descript Free includes 60 media minutes a month with 720p export. For clips, Vizard Free gives 60 credits a month and OpusClip Free offers basic AI clipping, both with watermarked exports.
They lead in different places. Descript is focused on editing, with transcript-based cutting and voice cloning, and Creator adds the full AI co-editor. Riverside is built around studio-quality remote recording, with up to 4K video and 48 kHz audio on Pro and live streaming on Grow.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.