Top 5 AI Tools for Podcasters in 2026

Written By Mark Hunter

Starting a podcast in 2026 means you're entering at the best possible time. Not because competition is low (it isn't), but because the barrier to entry has collapsed. Five years ago, you'd need to understand audio engineering, spend hours editing silence and filler words, manually transcribe everything, and somehow find time to repurpose content for social media.

Now? AI handles most of that grunt work while you focus on what actually matters — recording good conversations and building an audience.

If you're just starting out, these five AI tools will save you 2-4 hours per episode while making your podcast sound significantly more professional. We've picked a mix of free and paid options, focusing on tools that solve real problems beginners face rather than adding unnecessary complexity.

We have a handy table breaking this all down for you. Scroll down to see it.

a 1950s comic book style image of a robot working at a computer editing a video podcast.

1. Descript: Edit by Editing Text

What it does: Converts your audio into text, then lets you edit the podcast by editing the transcript. Delete a sentence, the audio disappears. Rearrange paragraphs, the audio follows. It's editing without a traditional timeline.

Why beginners need it: If you've never opened an audio editor before, Descript removes the learning curve entirely. You're editing words, not waveforms. The interface feels like Google Docs, not like piloting a spaceship.

Key features:

  • Automatic transcription (90-95% accuracy for clear speech)

  • Filler word removal ("um," "uh," "like") with one click

  • Text-based editing — cut/paste text to cut/paste audio

  • Overdub voice cloning for fixing mistakes without re-recording

  • Studio Sound AI cleans up background noise, room echo

The workflow: Record your episode. Upload to Descript. It transcribes automatically. You read the transcript, delete the rambling bits, remove filler words, tidy it up. Export. Done.

Pricing: Free plan includes 1 hour of transcription per month and basic features. Hobbyist plan: £12/month (annual billing, £16/month) gives 10 hours. Creator plan £24/month (annual) includes 30 hours and unlimited AI features like Studio Sound.

Real use case: You recorded a 45-minute interview but realised halfway through you kept saying "you know" after every sentence. In Descript, you click "Remove filler words," and 200+ instances vanish in 30 seconds. That's the efficiency we're talking about.

Source: Descript Pricing, Tekpon Descript Review

2. Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech: Studio Sound from Terrible Audio

What it does: Takes audio recorded in noisy environments — cafés, home offices with traffic noise, echoey rooms — and makes it sound like you recorded in a professional studio. It's a single-purpose tool that does one thing exceptionally well.

Why beginners need it: Because your recording environment probably isn't perfect. Most people starting out don't have treated rooms, expensive microphones, or quiet spaces. This tool rescues recordings that would otherwise be unusable.

Key features:

  • AI-powered background noise removal

  • Echo and reverb reduction

  • Vocal clarity enhancement

  • Batch processing (Premium)

  • Video file support (Premium)

The workflow: Upload your raw audio file. Wait 2-10 minutes while the AI processes it. Download the enhanced version. That's it. No knobs to turn, no settings to configure. It either works or it doesn't (it usually works).

Pricing: Free tier processes 1 hour daily, files up to 30 minutes, 500MB max. The Premium plan at £7.82/month (£9.99 in USD, or £78.24/year) includes 4 hours of daily usage, 2-hour files, 1GB, batch uploads, and video support.

Real use case: You recorded an interview with a guest whose dog was barking in the background, and their laptop fan was running full blast. Adobe Enhance Speech strips out the barking and the fan noise while keeping the voice crystal clear. The episode is salvageable.

Important caveat: The recent Version 2 update has mixed reviews — some users report that voices sound slightly robotic or overprocessed. Always test with your own voice first. For most people, it's still dramatically better than unprocessed audio.

Source: Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech, The Podcast Consultant Adobe Review

3. ChatGPT (Free): Planning, Research, and Writing

What it does: Generates episode ideas, writes outlines, creates interview questions, drafts show notes, suggests SEO-optimised titles, and basically acts as a research assistant who never gets tired.

Why beginners need it: The hardest part of podcasting isn't recording — it's showing up consistently with fresh ideas. ChatGPT accelerates the planning process from hours to minutes. It won't replace your voice or creativity, but it'll eliminate the blank-page paralysis that kills most podcasts within 10 episodes.

Key features:

  • Episode topic generation based on your niche

  • Detailed episode outlines with timestamps

  • Interview question lists tailored to specific guests

  • SEO-optimised show notes and descriptions

  • Social media caption drafting

  • Content repurposing (turning transcripts into blog posts)

The workflow: Open ChatGPT. Tell it your podcast topic and target audience. Ask it to generate 10 episode ideas. Pick three. Ask for a detailed outline for one. Use that outline as your script framework. Record. Upload transcript back to ChatGPT and ask it to write show notes and social posts.

Pricing: Free tier (GPT-4o-mini) handles all podcasting tasks with 30 chat turns per hour. Heavier queries automatically route to full GPT-4o when available. ChatGPT Plus (£16/month, $20 USD) gives higher limits and priority access, but the free version is sufficient for most podcasters.

Real use case: You're doing a podcast about sustainable living but you've run out of angles. You ask ChatGPT for 15 episode ideas focused on beginners making their first changes. It returns: composting basics, plastic-free kitchen swaps, understanding food labels, second-hand shopping strategies, energy-saving habits, etc. You've got two months of content in 90 seconds.

Critical reminder: ChatGPT speeds up drafting, but don't publish its output verbatim. Use it for structure and ideas, then rewrite in your own voice. Otherwise, your podcast sounds like every other AI-generated podcast — generic and forgettable.

Source: OpenAI ChatGPT Free Features, Ausha ChatGPT for Podcasters Guide

4. Riverside.fm: Record Remote Guests in Broadcast Quality

What it does: Records podcast interviews with remote guests (via browser) while capturing separate 4K video and 48kHz audio tracks locally on each person's device. No quality loss from internet connection issues. Then it auto-generates short clips for social media and provides AI transcription. Check out our remote podcast recording service.

Why beginners need it: If your podcast involves interviewing guests who aren't physically with you, Zoom and Google Meet produce mediocre quality. Riverside records locally, so even if someone's Wi-Fi drops during recording, you still get broadcast-quality files. The AI repurposing tools then turn that one long episode into 10-15 social media clips without manual editing.

Key features:

  • Local 4K video and 48kHz WAV audio recording (no internet quality loss)

  • Separate tracks for each participant (easier editing)

  • Magic Clips: AI identifies highlights and creates vertical social clips

  • Automatic transcription with text-based editing

  • Background noise removal (Magic Audio)

  • Live streaming to YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.

The workflow: Send your guest a Riverside link. They click it, join from their browser (no software download). You both record. Riverside captures everything locally and uploads in the background. When done, you get separate video and audio files per person, plus AI-generated clips, transcript, and show notes.

Pricing: Free plan includes 2 hours of recording per month, 720p video, basic AI features (watermarked). Standard plan: £15/month (annual: £19/month) includes 5 hours, 4K video, and no watermark. Pro plan £24/month (annual, £29 monthly) includes 15 hours, unlimited transcription, and advanced AI features.

Real use case: You're in Glasgow, your guest is in London. Their internet is patchy. During the 40-minute interview, their connection drops twice. With Zoom, you'd have glitchy audio and frozen video. With Riverside, you get perfect 4K video and crystal-clear audio because it all recorded locally on their laptop before uploading. The internet hiccups are invisible in the final file.

Source: Riverside Pricing, Tekpon Riverside Review

5. Opus Clip / Riverside Magic Clips: Turn Long Episodes Into Social Content

What it does: Analyses your long-form podcast episode and automatically identifies the most engaging moments, then creates short vertical video clips (30-90 seconds) formatted for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts. Each clip includes captions, framing, and a "virality score" predicting performance.

Why beginners need it: You've recorded a 60-minute episode. Great. Now you need to promote it. But manually watching 60 minutes, finding good moments, editing clips, adding captions, resizing for vertical format, and exporting takes 2-3 hours. These tools do it in 5 minutes.

Key features:

  • AI identifies engaging moments (hooks, punchlines, key insights)

  • Automatic vertical formatting for social platforms

  • Auto-generated captions

  • Virality scoring (Opus Clip)

  • Brand kit application (colours, logos)

  • Batch clip generation (one episode → 10+ clips)

The workflow (Opus Clip standalone): Upload your podcast video. Opus analyses it, identifies 10 highlight moments, and creates vertical clips with captions. You review, make minor edits if needed, and download. Post to social media.

The workflow (Riverside built-in): If you recorded in Riverside, Magic Clips is already there. Click "Generate Clips," wait 2 minutes, get 10-15 clips ready to download. No separate platform needed.

Pricing:

  • Opus Clip: Free plan with limited features. Paid plans from £24/month for unlimited clips.

  • Riverside Magic Clips: Included in Pro plan (£24/month annual), limited in Free and Standard plans.

Real use case: You recorded an episode about personal finance. You mention a counterintuitive tip about credit cards at minute 37. Opus Clip identifies that moment, clips it as a 45-second vertical video with captions, and scores it 87/100 for virality potential. You post it to Instagram Reels. It gets 10x as many views as your full episode link ever would.

Important note: AI-generated clips aren't always perfect. Virality scores are predictions, not guarantees. You'll still need to review clips and potentially trim or adjust them. But it's exponentially faster than doing it manually.

Source: The Podcast Host AI Tools Roundup, Lemonfox AI Tools for Podcasters

How to Actually Use These Tools Together

Here's a realistic workflow combining all five:

  1. Planning (ChatGPT): Brainstorm episode ideas, create detailed outline, generate interview questions.

  2. Recording (Riverside.fm if remote): Record episode with guest. Riverside captures local tracks and handles transcription.

  3. Audio cleanup (Adobe Enhance Speech): If the audio quality is poor, run the raw files through Adobe Enhance Speech to remove background noise.

  4. Editing (Descript): Import cleaned audio. Edit via transcript. Remove filler words. Tighten pacing.

  5. Repurposing (Opus Clip or Riverside Magic Clips): Generate 10+ social clips automatically. Review and post.

Total time saved per episode: 2-4 hours. Total additional cost if using all tools: £25-50/month, depending on plan selections.

What These Tools Don't Do

Let's be clear about limitations:

They don't replace your voice. ChatGPT can help you plan, but if you're just reading AI-generated scripts verbatim, listeners will notice. The podcast will feel generic.

They don't make bad content good. Descript can remove filler words, but if the underlying conversation is boring, editing won't fix that.

They're not foolproof. Transcription accuracy drops with strong accents, multiple overlapping speakers, or poor audio quality. AI clip selection sometimes picks random moments instead of actual highlights.

You still need to show up. These tools reduce production time, but you're still responsible for recording consistently, promoting your podcast, and building an audience. AI handles grunt work, not strategy.

Why These Tools Matter for Beginners Specifically

If you're experienced, you probably already have a production workflow involving Audacity or Adobe Audition, manual transcription services, and social media schedulers. You know what you're doing.

If you're starting out, you don't. These five tools give you:

  1. Speed: Produce a polished episode in hours, not days.

  2. Confidence: You don't need to understand audio engineering to make something that sounds professional.

  3. Sustainability: The easier production is, the more likely you'll stick with it past episode 10.

  4. Reach: Repurposing tools automatically create 10-20 pieces of promotional content from each episode.

The difference between podcasts that survive and podcasts that die in the first two months often comes down to production friction. These tools remove that friction.

Tool Primary Function Free Tier Paid From Best For
Descript Text-based editing, transcription, filler word removal 1 hour/month £12/month Beginners who've never edited audio
Adobe Enhance Speech AI noise removal, audio cleanup 1 hour/day (30min files) £7.82/month Rescuing poor-quality recordings
ChatGPT Planning, research, show notes, ideas 30 chats/hour (GPT-4o-mini) £16/month Overcoming blank-page paralysis
Riverside.fm Remote recording, separate tracks, AI clips 2 hours/month (720p) £15/month Interviewing remote guests
Opus Clip / Magic Clips Auto-generate social media clips Limited (or included in Riverside) £24/month Repurposing long episodes for social

What About the Podcast Studio Glasgow?

If you're in Glasgow and want to skip the software learning curve entirely, recording at Podcast Studio Glasgow gives you professional-grade audio and video from the start — a multi-camera setup, broadcast microphones, a treated room, and separate tracks per speaker. Your raw recording already sounds better than anything Adobe Enhance Speech could achieve by fixing a home recording.

You'd still use Descript for editing, ChatGPT for planning, and Opus Clip for social repurposing. But you eliminate the "rescue bad audio" step entirely because the source material is already studio-quality.

Ad hoc studio time is £75/hour. If you're recording monthly (2-3 hours per session), that's £150-225/month for a recording environment that makes everything downstream significantly easier.

Final Recommendation

If you're starting a podcast in 2026 with zero experience:

Start free: Use Adobe Enhance Speech (free tier), ChatGPT (free), and Descript's free plan (1 hour transcription/month). Record at home. See if you actually enjoy podcasting before spending money.

Upgrade strategically: If you're still recording after 5-10 episodes, upgrade to Descript Creator (£24/month) for unlimited editing. If you're interviewing guests, add Riverside Standard (£15/month). That's £39/month total, which covers 90% of production needs.

Consider studio time: If podcast quality matters for your business (corporate podcasts, client interviews, thought leadership), recording at a professional studio like PSG makes more sense than trying to build a home setup that matches the quality.

The AI tools don't replace good conversations or strategic thinking, but they remove the tedious parts of production so you can focus on what matters — recording, publishing, and growing your audience.

Sources:

Mark Hunter

Mark is the founder of Postable Limited and the co-founder of the Podcast Studio Glasgow. He became a pioneer of podcasting in 2005 and has worked extensively as a podcast producer, digital marketing consultant and content creator.

https://podcaststudioglasgow.com
Previous

Video Podcast recording in Glasgow: How to Record One That's Actually Worth Watching
Next

Multi-Camera Podcast Studios in Glasgow: What to Look For