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By the toolist.ai editors. Researched from Riverside's own pages and hands-on tests published by others, not hands-on tested by toolist.ai. Updated October 13, 2026.

Riverside review: pricing, features and what testers found

Riverside records podcasts and video interviews in up to 4K on each guest's own device and edits them by transcript, with AI that cuts Magic Clips, cleans audio and writes show notes. It has a free plan with watermarked exports; paid plans start at $35 a month for Pro, or $24 a month billed yearly.

Our take

Riverside suits podcasters and interviewers who record remote guests and want separate studio-quality tracks, a text-based editor and AI clips in one tool; Pro costs $35 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly. Next to Descript it is recording-first: Holly Mack, who records on Pro, still picks Descript for deep post-production, and Unite.AI's Janine Heinrichs, in a review first published in July 2025, found the built-in editor basic beyond quick trims. Next to Opus Clip, Magic Clips comes with every plan and Pro takes 15 hours of uploaded video a month on top of unlimited recordings; Mack cancelled Opus Clip for it but warns that it sometimes misses the best moment, so clips need a look before posting. The catches: AI credits for translation, B-roll and AI twins are a one-off balance, monthly plans are refundable only within 24 hours of purchase, and Riverside's terms and privacy policy let it train its own AI on your recordings; the only opt-out they name is a written agreement for Business customers.

Based on Riverside's published plans and the hands-on tests linked below, not on a test of our own.

Good for

  • Podcasters and interviewers recording remote guests who want separate studio-quality tracks plus the edit, clips and show notes in the same tool
  • Creators and B2B marketers turning their own recordings into short clips without a separate clipping subscription
  • Teams that also live stream or run webinars and want to repurpose them (Grow and Webinar plans)

Watch out for

  • Refunds are narrow: Riverside refunds Pro and Grow in full only on request within 24 hours of buying a monthly plan or 14 days for a yearly one; otherwise fees are non-refundable, AI credits are never refunded, and plans bought in the iOS or Android app are final.
  • AI credits for translation, AI B-roll and AI twins are a one-off starting balance (2,000 on Pro, Grow and Webinar, 12,000 on Business) that does not renew monthly: a minute of AI twin video uses 200 credits, a minute of translation 100 and 5 seconds of AI B-roll 100. Magic Clips, Magic Audio and Co-Creator use no credits.
  • Riverside's terms (updated 5 October 2026) and privacy policy let it use your recordings, transcripts and AI inputs and outputs to train its own AI models, and the only opt-out they name is for Business customers, by written agreement (the privacy policy also mentions the right to object to processing that some privacy laws give); its FAQ nonetheless says it does not use your content 'in any way'. Its outside AI providers may not train on your data.
  • Pro, Grow and Webinar cap separate-track downloads at 15, 20 or 25 hours a month (live streams count, unused hours do not roll over) and uploads of outside files at 15 hours a month, with no way to see the upload hours used; recording, editing and exports are unlimited, and Business has no caps.
  • Free exports carry a 'Created with Riverside' watermark (a 'Powered by Riverside' track on audio) that only paid plans can remove, and free accounts left unused for 120 days are deleted with their content; a cancelled plan drops to free at the end of the billing period, so download separate tracks first.
  • The 14-day trial of a paid plan needs a credit card and is charged when it ends unless you cancel. The pricing page's FAQ still quotes $29 (Pro) and $39 (Grow) a month while its plan cards show $35 and $45, the App Store's in-app purchases list Pro at $29 and Grow at $39, and Riverside says it adjusts prices by region.

What Riverside does

Price

Free plan: Free with no card needed: recording, editing and Magic Clips with a Riverside watermark on exports; the pricing page now hides the free plan, but its card in the page code lists 720p video and a one-off 2 hours of separate-track recording.

PlanBilled monthlyBilled yearly, per monthIncludesPrice per minute of uploaded video
Free free free No card needed: unlimited single-track recording and editing, Magic Clips and the AI Co-Creator; the free card and comparison data in the pricing page's code (both hidden on the page) list 720p recording and exports, 44.1 kHz audio, a one-off 2 hours of separate-track recording, no AI credits and a watermark that cannot be removed –
Pro $35 $24 $288 a year on yearly billing. Unlimited recording, transcription and text-based editing; up to 4K and 48 kHz, no watermark; 15 hours of separate-track downloads and 15 hours (900 minutes) of uploaded outside video a month; Magic Clips (up to 3 sets per recording), show notes, AI Co-Creator and 2,000 AI credits to start; podcast hosting for 1 show; 1 studio and 1 seat (an editor seat is a paid add-on) $0.039
Grow $45 $34 $408 a year on yearly billing. Everything in Pro plus 1080p live streaming to unlimited destinations, social scheduling, a newsletter, a creator website, video hosting, AI thumbnails and the Riverside MCP; 2 studios, podcast hosting for 2 shows, 20 hours of separate-track downloads and 15 hours (900 minutes) of uploaded video a month; 2,000 AI credits to start $0.050
Webinar $99 $79 $948 a year on yearly billing. Everything in Grow plus webinars for up to 100 registrants with registration forms, email reminders, Q&A, polls, analytics and HubSpot; 3 studios, podcast hosting for 3 shows, 25 hours of separate-track downloads and 15 hours (900 minutes) of uploaded video a month; 2,000 AI credits to start $0.110
Business not listed not listed Contact sales: unlimited studios, separate-track downloads and outside uploads; 12,000 AI credits to start; up to 10,000 webinar registrants; producer mode, async recording, collaborative editing, timeline export to Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, API, SSO and a dedicated CSM; up to 5 Magic Clips sets per recording; admins can switch off AI features –
Mobile Plus not listed not listed Bought only in the iOS or Android app: 1080p, 4K and WAV exports without a watermark in the mobile app and 15 hours of uploaded video a month, but no separate-track downloads, after a 3-day trial; the App Store lists RS Mobile Plus at $9.99 monthly and $64.99 yearly, plus a Mobile Plus purchase at $72.00 with no period given –

Price per minute of uploaded video is our calculation: the monthly-billing price divided by what the plan includes, assuming you use all of it. It is not a measured cost.

Prices last checked: 2026-10-16 on Riverside's pricing page. Full breakdown: Riverside pricing.

Price history

No price change since we first recorded these prices on October 13, 2026. We re-check them every week and list each change here.

What hands-on testers found

We have not tested Riverside ourselves. These are the published tests we found that used it hands-on, newest first; follow the links for the full reviews.

Marriage Kids and Money · Andy Hill · updated September 22, 2026

What they tested: Two years of recording his podcast and YouTube interviews with remote guests; first published in September 2025.

  • Moving from Skype to Riverside's local recording gave a clear jump in audio and video quality.
  • Guests join from a link; he reminds them to open it in Chrome to avoid problems.
  • Many of the show's social clips come from Magic Clips, and live chat support was quick on the rare delayed upload.

Their score: 5 out of 5 stars

hollymack.com · Holly Mack · May 20, 2026

What they tested: Two-plus years of use, now on the Pro plan, recording founder video, client testimonials, podcasts and training videos, with Magic Clips, Magic Audio, eye-contact correction and the transcript editor.

  • She cancelled her Opus Clip subscription because Magic Clips did the same job, but it sometimes misses the best moment, so she advises reviewing clips before posting.
  • Uploads after recording and exports take time, and the editor can lag on longer projects.
  • She still prefers Descript for heavy restructuring of long recordings, but rates Riverside the better single tool for recording, editing, clipping and sharing.

Unite.AI · Janine Heinrichs · updated March 30, 2026

What they tested: An account opened through 'Start for Free', first reviewed in July 2025: recording a video in the browser studio, the guest invite flow, then editing in the transcript editor and exporting.

  • Uploads ran during the recording, so her files were ready within minutes, as MP4 video and separate WAV audio.
  • The editor was basic but fine for simple cuts; for anything beyond trimming she would export to Premiere Pro.
  • Her cons: Chrome gives the best results, a slow connection holds up uploads, and guests have to stay on the page until their files have uploaded.

What users say

Test result

toolist.ai has not run its own test of Riverside; the findings above come from the published tests linked. See how we research and test.

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Sources