Riverside

What it is

Riverside solves the reason remote interviews sound bad: instead of recording the compressed video call, it records each participant locally at full quality and uploads the tracks afterwards. A guest on a shaky connection still ends up with clean audio and video, because the internet was never in the recording path.

Around that sit the parts that used to need a separate editor: text-based editing of the transcript, AI editing and repurposing, Magic Clips for short vertical cuts, show notes, and on higher tiers podcast and video hosting, a newsletter, a creator website and live streaming.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits anyone recording interviews or conversations remotely and publishing them: podcasters, video interview series, companies producing customer stories. The quality difference against recording a normal video call is immediately audible, and it is the difference between amateur and professional output.

It is a weaker fit for solo recording, where a decent microphone and any recorder will do, and for internal meetings, where a meeting assistant such as Fireflies.ai is the right tool. It is also not a full editor: for detailed post-production, Descript gives more control.

Pricing

Riverside is freemium. The free plan gives 2 hours of multi-track recording as a one-off, at 720p with a watermark and 44.1 kHz audio. Pro is $29 per month, or $24 per month billed annually at $288 per year, with 15 hours of separate track downloads per month, up to 4K video, 48 kHz audio, no watermark, unlimited text-based editing, AI editing and repurposing, Magic Clips, show notes and podcast hosting. Grow is $39 per month, or $34 billed annually at $408 per year, with 20 hours plus social scheduling, newsletter, creator website, video hosting, AI thumbnails and 1080p live streaming. Webinar is $99 per month, or $79 billed annually, with 25 hours and webinars for up to 100 registrants. Business is custom.

Hours of separate track downloads is the meter to plan around, and it counts recording time rather than published time, so an hour-long interview with two guests consumes accordingly.

Set it up

Official guide: Record and edit on Riverside: Overview

1. Create a Riverside account on the Free plan. Its 2 hours of multi-track recording (one audio track per person) are a one-off, not monthly, so the test in step 5 lasts two minutes. Use Chrome, Edge or Safari on a computer, not a private or incognito window. Your Free account is now ready.
2. Invite your guest. On the sidebar click "Home", then "Plan", then "Invite to record". Under "Share a link", select the guest role and click "Copy link". Send the link to your guest a day early and ask them to open it and run the device check, so problems show before the real recording. You now have the guest link copied.
3. On the sidebar click "Home", then "Record" at the top of the page. This opens the device check screen ("Let's check your devices") of your studio, the online room where you record. Ask everyone to wear headphones, which prevents echo. Enter your name, click "Request Camera Permissions" and then "Allow" if asked, choose your camera, microphone and speaker, select that you use headphones and click "Join Studio". You now see yourself in the studio.
4. Let your guest in. Your guest enters their name, runs the same device check and clicks "Join Studio". If the guest is waiting, click "People" in the studio sidebar and then "Let in" next to their name. You now see both of you in the studio.
5. Record a two-minute test. Click "Record" at the bottom of the studio, talk with your guest, and click "Stop". Each person's recording is saved on their own computer first and then uploaded to Riverside, so your guest keeps their tab open until they see "Successfully uploaded". When it works, "Upload Complete" shows next to each name under "People".
6. Click "Go to project", then "Recordings" in the top menu, and play the test back. Listen for echo and background noise and fix them before the real recording. You now see your test recording in the list.
7. Record the real conversation, then click "Stop". Do not close the browser window until "Upload Complete" shows next to each person's name under "People". Your real recording is now saved in Riverside.

When this works, you have a recording with your voice and your guest's voice on separate tracks, fully uploaded to Riverside.

On Pro ($29/mo or $24/mo billed annually ($288/yr)): text-based editing (you edit the recording by editing its transcript), Magic Clips (short clips for social media), 4K video and no watermark.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is recording quality that does not depend on the connection. That is a real technical advantage rather than a feature list item, and it is the reason to choose this over a video call plus a recorder.

The limitations are the metered hours and the free tier. Two hours as a one-off is a demonstration, not a plan. Local recording depends on guests keeping the tab open until upload completes, which is the most common way a session is lost. And the higher tiers bundle hosting, newsletters and websites you may already have, so check that you are not paying twice.