Are you looking to find the best podcast recording software?
Want to learn what podcast recording software is the best, whether you have a big budget or a small budget?
In today’s article, we’ll be digging into what software works for macs, pcs, and even what to use if you’re recording a podcast with your phone.
As the co-host of the Thriving Launch podcast, I’m happy to walk you through the best software and tools to use to record a show that helps you:
- Create amazing sound quality
- Minimize the costs for recording, while also sounding like a pro
- Record a show with ease on mac, pc, or your phone
- Optimize your show so you can start to make money podcasting
As an expert podcaster who earns a great living with his, a Facebook Podcast Community with 2500 members, two shows of my own, and a free training on podcasting – I’m excited to dive in!
Best Podcast Recording Software For Macs And PCs:
When it comes to recording on Macs or PCs, you have a number of choices.
The best recording software for Macs and PCs are Zoom or Skype.
Depending on your preferences, you’ll want either Skype or Zoom. These are both great options, it just comes down to preferences and if you’re doing solo-episodes or interviews.
To make sure we cover the full scope of podcast recording software here’s a list of your options for Macs and PCs.
The best podcast recording software you can use on either Mac or PC:
- Zoom (Great on Mac and PC, works for interviews and solo-episodes)
- Skype (free, easy to use. Limited to interviews only)
- Adobe Audition (Mac & PC friendly, steep costs for podcasting)
- Ringr (free with a limit, great for both Mac or PC)
- Audacity (clunky on Macs, great for PC and it’s free)
- Skype + Ecamm
Now that we’ve got the lay of the land, let’s review the pros and cons of your options. This will help you decide what’s the best podcast recording software for your specific needs. Then we’ll go over what microphone is best, what tools to use for recording with your phone, and anything else related to podcast recording.
The Best Podcast Recording Software For Interviews On Mac Or PC:
After recording hundreds of episodes, and helping thousands of podcasters, we’ve found that whether you’re on Mac or Pc, there are two options that are the clear winners.
The best podcast recording softwares are:
- Skype
- Zoom
- Audacity (PC only)
- Logic Pro (Mac only)
These two recording software systems are fantastic, easy to set up and use right away. They both work ‘out the box’ and without any cost to you.
Skype is fantastic for recording podcasts even on Mac or Pc, and most people you’ll interview will be able to easily log in and do the interview with you.
Zoom is also great, it offers video recording or audio-only. For interviews Zoom is great, but the one drawback is that after one hour of use per recording, you’ll need a paid account, otherwise you’ll need to restart the interview.
In our opinion, Skype is the winner for podcast interview recording software because just about everyone knows how to use it, and it will never cost you to do interviews – even interviews that go over that one hour mark.
The Best Podcast Recording Software For Episodes Without Guests
When you’re doing podcast episodes by yourself, or with a co-host who is in the room with you – we suggest recording without Skype – and instead use different recording software.
While podcast interviews require you to dial someone, and therefore Zoom and Skype will be optimal. But, when you’re doing episodes where it’s just you or you and someone else in the room, it’s best to use better recording software.
Whether you’re on Mac or PC will make a difference here.
For Macbooks, when you’re recording solo episodes, or in-person interviews check out:
- Logic Pro (an excellent program, but costs more than other options)
- Garageband (it’s either free or costs to purchase on Macs)
- Zoom (you can set this up for recording solo episodes, or with guests)
These three options are all great. There is one option, that is the very best though.
The Best Podcast Recording Software For Macbooks:
If you can swing it, spending $199 for Logic Pro is worth it for recording podcast episodes.
Logic Pro will offer superior editing software, configurable setup for multiple audio tracks, and an interface that is much like Garageband, but better.
The Second Best Choice For Recoding On Macbooks
If you don’t have a lot of money, or would rather wait to spend on recording software – go with Zoom. It’s free for every hour of recording (after an hour, you’ll either have to set up a new meeting, or you’ll need to pay).
For Pcs, When You’re Recording Solo Episodes
When you’re recording episodes alone on your PC, I suggest Zoom or Audacity.
In our opinion, the best option is to have both Zoom and Audacity on your PC. They are both great for recording, but only Audacity offers recording and editing. You may find you like to record with Zoom, then edit with Audacity.
For PC you’ll do the best with Zoom for recording and Audacity for editing.
A side note about Adobe Audition for PCs:
While Adobe Audition is a fantastic tool, the $20+ monthly fee, and complexity of the program makes it overkill for most podcasters (I used it, paid for it, took hours to learn it, and realized I didn’t need it).
Stick with the free tools, even professional editors like singers, rappers, and sound mixers like to use Audacity.
Podcast Recording Software On Smart Phone Or Tablets
While we don’t recommend recording from your phone, we’ll still offer some software in case you need to record from your phone.
For Andriod or Apple products, we suggest these applications:
Spreaker (Android only as of this writing)
Podbean (for Apple and Android)
Our personal choice for both Android and Apple is Podbean. You can use a free acount and start recording. But, if you’re looking for podcast hosting, we recommend Podbean too (here’s a link for one free month).
These tools are all that we want to recommend as of right now, many applications are not good for recording with phones and are faulty.
The Best Podcast Recording Microphone
The podcasting world has been wowed by many types of setups. Mixers, fancy microphones, portable recorders, and all kinds of softwares.
Our personal philosophy is that simple and easy to use is the best choice. Even expert podcasters have come to agree with us.
Podcasting isn’t about creating grammy-award winning audio, it’s about recording the best audio for an interview or solo based show.
For recording, remember it all begins with your microphone and the room you’re recording in.
For microphones, we have one suggestion:
Get the ATR2100 microphone.
The ATR2100 is a simple plug-and-play mic, that offers a good amount of sound cancellation from the outside world, and it’s what people like Tim Ferris use for his podcast. As professional podcasters who make a good living from podcasting, we’ve been sent all kinds of mics – and repeatedly we find ourselves going back to the ATR2100.
Learn All About Podcast Recording And Launching A Podcast
Keep things simple, use the podcast recording software I recommended.
Also, if you want to uplevel your podcasting, learn the exact steps to launch a profitable podcast in just 7 days.
The Podcast Launch Guide will walk you through how to start recording and get your show running fast!
I’ll see you over there.
I look forward to seeing your podcast on iTunes and everywhere else.
