Compare: Solo podcast

Up to 4 ways to do Solo podcast, side by side. Cost, tools, level, and workflow.

Solo podcast

Audio · Podcast

Level: Beginner
Cost (Small): $55/mo
1 episode / week
Cost (Medium): $87/mo
2 / week + clips
Cost (Heavy): $210/mo
Daily, multi-show
Tools: Riverside Descript Castmagic Opus Clip
Workflow: 1. Record
2. Edit by transcript
3. Notes + posts
4. Auto-clip
5. Publish
Pitfalls: • Episode length drifts
• Clip captions wrong

Solo podcast (lean)

Audio · Podcast

Level: Beginner
Cost (Small): $16/mo
1 episode/wk, free clips
Cost (Medium): $35/mo
2/wk + clips
Cost (Heavy): $110/mo
Daily, multi-show
Tools: Descript Opus Clip
Workflow: 1. Record in Descript
2. Edit by transcript
3. Show notes from transcript
4. Auto-clip
5. Publish
Pitfalls: • Descript Studio Sound != local-track
• Opus free tier caps fast

Solo podcast

Audio · Podcast

Riverside records studio quality, Descript edits with the transcript, Castmagic produces show notes + clips, Opus auto-clips for shorts.

Solo podcast (lean)

Audio · Podcast

Descript records, edits by transcript, and exports both audio and video. Castmagic's show-notes job becomes a Claude prompt against the Descript transcript. Opus Clip handles shorts.

Level

Beginner

Cost (Small)

$55/mo

1 episode / week

$16/mo

1 episode/wk, free clips

Cost (Medium)

$87/mo

2 / week + clips

$35/mo

2/wk + clips

Cost (Heavy)

$210/mo

Daily, multi-show

$110/mo

Daily, multi-show

Tools

Riverside Descript Castmagic Opus Clip

Descript Opus Clip

Workflow steps

1. Record
2. Edit by transcript
3. Notes + posts
4. Auto-clip
5. Publish

1. Record in Descript
2. Edit by transcript
3. Show notes from transcript
4. Auto-clip
5. Publish

Pitfalls

• Episode length drifts
• Clip captions wrong

• Descript Studio Sound != local-track
• Opus free tier caps fast