Comparison

Riverside vs Zoom for recording a podcast

By Tiffany Scott, founder of myScout and host of Out of Line. Updated November 2026.

Short answerUse Zoom for meetings. Use Riverside for anything you plan to publish. Riverside records every person on their own device, so a guest's spotty wifi doesn't end up in your episode. I record my podcast, Out of Line, on Riverside.

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The real difference: what gets recorded

Zoom records the call. Whatever the internet does during the conversation, frozen faces and robot voices included, is what you get. Riverside records each participant locally on their own computer and uploads it, so the file is clean even when the live connection wasn't.

	Riverside	Zoom
Built for	Recording content to publish	Meetings and calls
Recording quality	Each person recorded on their own device	Depends on the live connection
Separate tracks per person	Yes, audio and video	Audio tracks available as a setting
Guest joins with	A link in the browser	A link, usually with the Zoom app
Editing and short clips	Built in	Not built for it

When Zoom is fine

If the podcast is internal, audio only, or you just want to test whether you even like doing a show, Zoom costs you nothing new. Everybody already has it.

When to switch to Riverside

The moment the show is part of how you build your brand or reach buyers, the recording quality is your first impression. Riverside makes a kitchen table setup look and sound like a studio, and the clip tools turn one episode into a week of social content.

Who should use which

Use Riverside if	Stay on Zoom if
You publish video or audio publicly	The recording is internal only
Your guests have unreliable internet	Everyone is in the same office
You want clips for social without an editor	You never repurpose episodes

Questions people ask

Is Riverside better than Zoom for podcasts?

For a podcast you plan to publish, usually yes. Riverside records each person on their own device and uploads it, so a guest's bad connection shows up in the conversation but not in the final recording. Zoom records the call itself, which is fine for meetings but shows every glitch.

Can I record a podcast on Zoom?

Yes. Plenty of shows start on Zoom because everyone already has it. The tradeoff is quality: the recording is only as good as the internet connection during the call.

Do guests need an account to join Riverside?

No. Guests click a link and join from their browser. Mobile guests can use the Riverside app.

Start recording on Riverside

This is an affiliate link. If you sign up through it I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I use Riverside for my own podcast.