★★★★★Trustpilot · October 2026
Says an error on the cancellation page let a yearly charge of about 144 USD go through, and support wouldn't reverse it.
Picture a small interview show. Your guests live in other cities, you don't own a studio, and you'd rather not juggle one app for recording, another for editing and a third for social clips. Podcastle pitches itself as the single place for all of that. To see whether it delivers, we ran it through the identical half-hour interview, host plus two guests, that every tool in our podcast recorder group.
The short answer: it works, with caveats. Blind listeners rated the sound 3.1 out of 5, the whole job took 69 minutes, and someone new to the tool finished a first piece in 117 minutes. Against that, the call dropped 3 times and only 6 of 10 track alignment checks passed.
That adds up to 2.5 out of 5, good for third place among five recorders. It fits a light-schedule show that wants recording and AI editing under one login. If you record several hours a week, the cheaper plans will feel cramped.
Podcastle's five part scores
Its marks run from 1.5 to 3.5. Getting started was the easy part; keeping the connection stable was the hard part.
Output quality3.0
Ease of use3.5
Features2.0
Performance1.5
Value for money2.5
Overall: 2.5 out of 5, which is the five parts averaged and rounded to the nearest half point.
- Output quality (3/5): Listeners who didn't know which tool they were hearing gave it 3.1 out of 5; 6 of 10 file checks passed.
- Ease of use (3.5/5): 69 minutes for the full job and 117 minutes for a newcomer's first piece, among the quicker results in the group.
- Features (2/5): Lots of AI tools, but most run on monthly credits, and Essentials allows only 2 hours of remote multitrack recording.
- Performance (1.5/5): Three dropouts in a 30-minute call and tracks that lined up in just 6 of 10 checks, its weakest area.
- Value for money (2.5/5): $11.99 a month on a yearly plan is reasonable, but paying monthly costs $19.99 for the same limits.
Best of 2026
See the ranking →
Where Podcastle sits in our ranking
Every tool recorded the same two-guest show. See where Podcastle landed before you sign up.
What Podcastle actually is
Podcastle is a website (there's no software to install) where you can record a conversation with people in other places, clean up the audio, edit video and publish the result. Think of it as a recording studio, an editing desk and a small marketing team rolled into one browser tab.
One naming note before we go on. In early 2026 the company started calling itself Async, and podcastle.ai now carries the Async name at the bottom of every page. Plenty of tutorials still say Podcastle, so if you search for help you'll meet both names. They're the same product.
The recording part is called remote multitrack recording. "Remote" means your guests join from their own homes through a link. "Multitrack" means each person's voice is saved as its own file, so if one guest coughs or talks over someone, you can fix that voice without touching the others. That single feature is the main reason podcasters pick a dedicated recorder over a normal video call.
Around the recorder sit the AI tools: noise removal, a "Magic Dust" button that tries to make voices sound studio-clean, automatic silence cutting, subtitles, short social clips and computer-generated voices (text to speech). That puts Podcastle closer to the broad creator tools than to a plain recorder.
Credits, explained before you pay
Most of Podcastle's AI features don't come free with your plan. They spend credits, a kind of in-app currency. Each plan tops up a set number every month: 450 on Essentials, 1,200 on Pro and 3,000 on Teams. The free plan gets 10 credits once, and they never refill.
Why does that matter? Because a heavy editing week can drain your balance, and unused credits don't carry over to the next month. Some users on review sites say AI edits burned through credits faster than they expected. If you plan to lean on the AI tools, start on a higher plan or watch your balance closely in the first month.
Recording time is capped separately. The plan comparison on the official pricing page lists 1 hour of remote multitrack recording for the whole life of a free account, 2 hours a month on Essentials, 20 on Pro and 50 on Teams. The Essentials plan card itself advertises 4 hours of "audio and video recording", so read the detailed table if multitrack hours matter to you.
Your first episode, step by step
Here's the path we followed, written for someone who has never recorded a podcast.
1. Open a studio and send links. A studio is your virtual recording room. You create one, copy the invite link and send it to your guests. They click it in their browser; nobody installs anything.
2. Record. Everyone talks as they would on a video call while Podcastle saves each voice separately. Keep an eye on the connection indicator, because this is where our test ran into trouble.
3. Clean and trim. Run noise removal and silence cutting, then edit. You can drag clips on a timeline or describe changes to the chat-based editor in plain English.
4. Export or publish. Paid plans export unlimited files as WAV or MP3, with separate stems (one file per speaker) if you want to edit elsewhere. You can also publish the finished show to podcast apps from Podcastle.
The main tools inside
What you can use depends on your plan, and many items draw on credits.
Multitrack studio
Up to 10 people per session. Essentials records up to 720p video and 44 kHz audio; Pro and Teams go up to 4K and 48 kHz.
AI audio clean-up
Magic Dust, noise reduction, auto levelling and silence removal tidy a rough recording in a few clicks.
Chat-based video editor
Type what you want changed and the AI makes the edit. Available on every plan, paid for in credits.
Text to speech
Turns written text into a spoken voice. About 15 minutes for the life of a free account, about 2 hours a month on Essentials.
Clips and subtitles
Cuts short vertical clips for social media and adds captions. Subtitles are English-only below the Teams plan.
What two weeks of testing showed
Our Podcastle test ran from October 3 to October 16, 2026, a 14-day stretch. The brief never changes between tools: one host and two remote guests record a 30-minute episode on the same reference computer, and then we export it. Our testing method lists every step.
Speed was a bright spot. From opening the studio to holding a finished export took 69 minutes, and 30 of those were the conversation itself, so set-up, guest joining and exporting took well under 40. We also handed the tool to someone who had never used it. They had a first finished piece after 117 minutes, which ties for the second-quickest beginner result in this group.
The recording itself was shakier. Our call dropped 3 times in half an hour. Each drop is a gap or a glitch you may need to patch, or a question you have to ask again. Afterwards we checked whether the separate voice tracks lined up in time; 6 of 10 checks passed, so expect some manual nudging in the edit.
Sound quality landed in the middle. Three listeners, kept in the dark about which recorder made the file, gave it a mean of 3.1 out of 5: clear enough for most listeners, but not polished. Files came out as WAV, MP3 and stems, and 6 of our 10 file-quality checks passed.
Finally, the strain on the computer. Podcastle used 58% of the processor and up to 4,579 MB of memory during the session. A recent laptop copes, but close video calls and big browser tabs while you record.
| What we measured | Result | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Full recording job, start to export | 69 min incl. 30-min recording | Little time lost to set-up, which helps if you record often. |
| Blind listening score (3 judges) | 3.1/5 mean | Decent, everyday sound rather than studio polish. |
| Exports and file checks | WAV/MP3/stems; 6/10 passed | Common formats, but check files before you publish. |
| Newcomer to first finished piece | 117 min | A beginner can get something out in one long sitting. |
| Computer load | CPU 58%; peak RAM 4,579 MB | Fine on a modern laptop with other apps closed. |
Put together, Podcastle is easy to pick up and sounds fine, but the unstable call is a real weakness for interview shows, where you can't always re-record a guest's best answer.
Tested October 3, 2026 to October 16, 2026.
Strengths and weak spots
Easy for beginners
A first-time user finished a piece in 117 minutes, and the full job took 69. Few podcast tools get a newcomer going faster.
Sound listeners rated fairly
Our listening panel scored it 3.1, ahead of Zencastr's 2.8 and Cleanfeed's 2.5 in the same test.
One login for the whole job
Recording, clean-up, clips, subtitles and publishing live in one place, so a small show may need nothing else.
An unstable connection
Three dropouts in 30 minutes and only 6 of 10 aligned tracks. For an interview, that can mean lost answers.
Credits run the show
AI features spend monthly credits that don't roll over, so a busy editing month can leave you short.
Small recording allowance
Essentials includes 2 hours of remote multitrack a month in the plan table. A weekly hour-long show outgrows it.
Pros
- Newcomer finished a first piece in 117 minutes
- Blind listening score of 3.1 out of 5
- Recording, AI clean-up and clips in one tool
- Free plan and a free trial on paid plans
- WAV, MP3 and per-speaker stems
Cons
- Call dropped 3 times in our 30-minute session
- Tracks aligned in only 6 of 10 checks
- 2 hours of remote multitrack on Essentials
- Credits reset monthly with no rollover
- Monthly billing costs about two-thirds more
Podcastle prices and plans
There's a free plan, three paid plans with published prices and a custom Business tier. Paying for a year up front brings the monthly cost down a lot, which is why the pricing page leads with "save 40% with yearly plans".
Essentials costs $11.99 a month billed yearly or $19.99 billed monthly. Pro is $23.99 yearly or $39.99 monthly, and Teams is $49.99 per creator yearly or $84.99 monthly. A light show will manage on Essentials; a weekly show with guests should look at Pro for its 20 recording hours.
Free
$0
no time limit
- 10 AI credits, once
- 1 hour of remote multitrack, once
- 1 export, up to 720p
Essentials
$11.99
a month billed yearly, or $19.99 monthly
- 450 credits a month
- 2 hours of remote multitrack a month
- 20 GB storage
Pro
$23.99
a month billed yearly, or $39.99 monthly
- 1,200 credits a month
- 20 hours of remote multitrack, up to 4K
- 120 GB storage
Teams
$49.99
per creator a month billed yearly, or $84.99 monthly
- 3,000 credits a month
- 50 hours of remote multitrack
- 1 TB storage, unlimited studios
Paid plans come with a free trial. During the trial you get 50 credits; the full monthly allowance unlocks once the first payment goes through.
On refunds, Podcastle's policy as we last read it on November 3, 2026 offered 7 days on new subscriptions, minus any credits already spent. Its refund page didn't load for our recheck on November 9, so confirm the terms before you pay for a year.
Plan changes work the usual way: upgrades start at once with the price adjusted for the time left, and downgrades wait until the end of the billing period.
Prices checked on November 9, 2026 from Podcastle's own pricing page; plans and prices may have moved since.
How it stacks up against the other four
Descript topped our test with 4 out of 5. It's built around editing: you change the episode by editing its written transcript, like a document. Paid plans start at $24 a month. Zencastr came second on 3 out of 5 and costs nothing, with hosting included, though Podcastle's sound was judged slightly better.
Below Podcastle, Cleanfeed scored 2 out of 5. It records audio only, with no AI editing, and its Pro plan costs $36 a month for businesses or $23 at the reduced rate. Riverside also scored 2, adding high-quality video recording for shows that publish on YouTube.
| Tool | Starting price | Best known for |
|---|---|---|
| Podcastle | $11.99 a month, billed yearly | Recording plus AI clean-up, clips and voices in one place |
| Descript | $24 a month | Editing audio and video through the transcript |
| Zencastr | Free | Free remote recording with hosting built in |
| Cleanfeed | Free; Pro from $23 a month | Audio-only browser studio with separate tracks |
Privacy, billing and other risks
We didn't find any reported security incidents. Still, Podcastle doesn't say clearly whether recordings may be used to train its AI, how long it keeps your files or which security certifications it holds. If guests discuss anything confidential, ask the company first.
Billing is the risk that comes up most among users. Several Trustpilot reviewers describe trouble cancelling, and one says a yearly charge went through after the cancellation page showed an error. The company answers every negative review, but money back after the first week isn't promised.
Cancel from your account settings at least a few days before renewal, and save a screenshot of the confirmation screen.
What customers report
Opinion is divided. On Trustpilot, checked November 9, 2026, Podcastle holds 3.5 out of 5 from 269 reviews, rated Average, with 92 reviews posted in the last 12 months. Most people either love it or hate it: 55% give 5 stars and 32% give 1.
The positive reviews mostly praise fast, helpful support, a simple set-up and the Smart Layout feature for video. The negative ones focus on cancelling and yearly billing, credits disappearing on AI edits, and the odd audio or lip-sync bug.
Liked by users
- Quick, helpful support
- Easy set-up
- Smart Layout for video
Disliked by users
- Cancelling and yearly charges
- Credits used up by AI edits
- Occasional audio or lip-sync bugs
Four recent Trustpilot reviews, paraphrased
Retold in our words; reviewer names removed.
★★★★★Trustpilot · October 2026
Thanks support for spending a week solving a 4K video problem and plans to keep the Pro plan.
★★★★★Trustpilot · October 2026
Likes the set-up and Smart Layout, got audio and lip-sync glitches fixed quickly, but warns that AI edits eat credits.
★★★★★Trustpilot · October 2026
Had an upload problem sorted soon after writing to support.
Our results sit in the middle of those reviews. Recording and exporting worked and the sound was acceptable, while the dropouts echo the glitches some users mention. Billing didn't come into our test, but it's worth reading the renewal terms before choosing a yearly plan.
Ratings checked November 9, 2026.
Other recorders to consider
Two tools beat Podcastle in our test and two finished behind it.
Descript
First place on 4 out of 5 and ahead of Podcastle in every area. You edit by changing the transcript.
Zencastr
Second on 3 out of 5, half a point ahead, with stronger features and free hosting. Good for shows with no budget.
Cleanfeed
2 out of 5, with weaker sound and a harder start for beginners. Suits audio-only shows that edit in another app.
Riverside
2 out of 5 and last of five. Strong on video recording, but behind Podcastle on sound and ease of use.
2.5/5
Is Podcastle worth it?
For a small show that records an hour or two a month and wants editing, clips and publishing in the same place, Podcastle is a sensible pick. It was easy to learn, finished our job in 69 minutes and produced sound that blind listeners scored 3.1 out of 5. Three dropouts and patchy track alignment are what held it to 2.5 out of 5 and third place.
Try the free plan or the paid trial with a real guest before you commit, and watch the connection closely. If the call holds up and the 2-hour multitrack allowance on Essentials is enough, the yearly price is fair. If not, compare it with Zencastr or Descript first.
Podcastle suits light-schedule interview shows that want one tool for everything; frequent recorders and anyone who can't risk a dropped call should look elsewhere.
Still deciding?
Compare podcast recording software →
Compare all five podcast recorders
Same episode, same guests, same computer. Our ranking lays out sound, speed and price side by side.
Disagree with our review?
Make your case
If you use Podcastle, or work there, and think we got something wrong, email us. Tell us what you saw and attach screenshots if you have them. We'll take another look and update the review if it changes our findings.
review.now.team@gmail.com
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Frequently asked questions
Are Podcastle and Async the same thing?
Yes. The company began using the name Async in early 2026, and podcastle.ai now shows Async branding. The tools, accounts and plans are the same, so older Podcastle tutorials still mostly apply.
How much does Podcastle cost per month?
Essentials is $11.99 a month if you pay for a year up front, or $19.99 if you pay month to month. Pro is $23.99 yearly or $39.99 monthly, and Teams is $49.99 per creator yearly or $84.99 monthly. We checked these on Podcastle's pricing page on November 9, 2026.
Can I use Podcastle for free?
Yes, there's a free plan with no time limit. It gives you 10 AI credits once, 1 hour of remote multitrack recording for the life of the account and a single export at up to 720p. That's enough to test a short episode, not to run a regular show. Paid plans also offer a free trial.
What are Podcastle credits used for?
Credits pay for AI features such as the chat-based video editor, AI video and image generation and other add-ons. Each paid plan refills them every month (450 on Essentials, 1,200 on Pro, 3,000 on Teams), and unused credits don't roll over to the next month.
How many hours can I record with guests?
Podcastle's plan table lists 1 hour of remote multitrack recording in total on the free plan, 2 hours a month on Essentials, 20 on Pro and 50 on Teams. Up to 10 people can join one session. A weekly hour-long interview show needs Pro or higher.
When did you test Podcastle?
We tested it over 14 days, from October 3 to October 16, 2026. We recorded a 30-minute episode with two remote guests on our reference computer, timed the job, had three judges rate the sound blind, checked the exported files and measured how long a newcomer needed to finish a first piece.
Can I get a refund from Podcastle?
When we last read the policy, on November 3, 2026, Podcastle offered refunds for 7 days on new subscriptions, minus any credits already used. Its refund page didn't load for our November 9 recheck, so confirm the current terms before buying a yearly plan.
Written by
Grace Sullivan
I've always been interested in how people connect and build communities online. When exploring a new service, I pay attention to usability, transparency, pricing, and whether its advertised features make sense in everyday situations.