Best AI Podcast Editors Compared: Selects, Descript, Autopod, and More

AI is changing podcast editing in a very practical way. It is not replacing editors. Their work is too creative, and the decisions they make are too specific to be automated, but there are many podcast editing options available to assist them. 

But pre-editing tasks like transcription, silence removal, and camera switching take days. Editors want something that cuts prep time without stripping away their creative control. You’ll hear the same problems mentioned over and over again whenever people talk about long-form editing because everyone is trying to solve the same bottlenecks.

That desire is why interest in the modern AI podcast editor has exploded. Selects, Autopod, Descript, and Riverside also show up in these conversations because they all solve different problems in the early prep stage.

Don’t miss out on our ultimate guide to podcast and interview editing either!

Why Editors Are Using AI Podcast Editing Software

Modern creators and editors fall into a few common workflows:

• Remote interviews (Riverside-friendly)

• Video podcasts with guests (Selects or Autopod)

• Solo creators with retakes (Selects or Descript)

• Editors delivering to clients weekly (Selects)

This helps you match the tool to your workflow faster.

Ever wondered what software video podcasters use? Long podcasts are tough to prep because the recordings are raw in the truest sense. Most sessions run for an hour or more, sometimes much longer. Nothing is paused just for the editor’s sake. Conversation might stop mid-sentence, someone adjusts a mic, or a guest backtracks to a previous topic. 

With multicam setups, A-cam, B-cam, and wide shots run nonstop. You have to decide when the shot should be on the host, the guest, or the wide, then add those cuts by hand. Long recordings also drift slightly between angles, so the footage needs to be realigned to the main audio before you can even start placing those switches.

All of this takes time, and the hours spent on cleanup leave very little flexibility in your schedule. Editors want to bring down turnaround times because faster editing means more time to finish other content in the same window. 

Editors report that prepping a 2-hour, 3-camera podcast can take 5-12 hours before creative cuts even begin (sync, trims, labeling, storyline planning). AI removes 60-90% of that setup time.

The most obvious way to do that is to offload the repetitive work, and this is something AI is exceptionally good at. 

Podcast Video Editing in NLEs

Most creators still cut their podcasts in Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut because the creative features these editors offer are hard to replace. While they do offer complete control, they come with a steep learning curve and don’t deal well with messy source files. A two-hour recording dropped straight into an NLE is going to need a long cleanup pass before the storytelling cuts can begin. 

AI tools help by handling the parts that sit outside an NLE’s strengths. You’ll still color, mix, and shape the final cut in the NLE, but AI can produce a prepared timeline that drops directly into the NLE through XML or timeline handoff. 

The best podcast editing software works alongside the NLE instead of trying to replace it.

A Side-by-Side Look at 4 Automated Podcast Editors

1. Selects

Selects is a prep assistant for podcasts, interviews, and talking-head content. It handles transcription, speaker detection, multicam sync, and silence removal. Selects also lets you search through the script, select the clips you want, and generate a clean stringout. It builds an edit-ready timeline to slot directly into your NLE workflow.

Choose the prep tasks you want, press Proceed, and Selects will process in the background while you focus on something else.

Pros

• Names and key terms are flagged for quick review

• Flags filler clips as “Unnecessary clip” 

• Automatically breaks the conversation into chapters

• Produces a clean transcript with correct speaker labels

• Removes silences using custom gap length settings

• Search clips by keyword to locate short-form material, e.g., by searching “funny moments” you can easily repurpose your podcast content into smaller clips.

• Syncs all cameras and switches angles based on the active speaker

• AI works automatically and is not limited by a credit system

• Create multiple timeline drafts

• Handoff is simple. Click Handoff and then pick your NLE (Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or DaVinci Resolve) from the dropdown

• Ready-to-edit timeline with color-coded video chunks in your preferred NLE

Selects lets you search by keyword or idea to gather clips tied to topics, reactions, or viral moments.

Customize silence cuts for tighter dialogue

Cons

• Storyline beta is useful, but not ready for final-cut decisions

• Focused on prep, mixed-media assembly stays in the NLE

• No captioning yet

What makes Selects unique

• Every edit action is anchored to transcripts, not waveforms

• Prepared timelines preserve multicam context for NLEs

• Provides a non-destructive editing workflow

• Works before Premiere/Resolve, not inside them → no timeline chaos

• Unlimited AI processing (no credit caps) based on your plan

Pricing

Free 7-day trial. Tiered pricing, starting at $16/month, billed yearly or $20/month. 

Best for professional video editors, podcasters, studios, and agencies with footage-heavy edits to tackle.

Star Rating

4.5 / 5

2. Autopod

Autopod.fm works as a one-click workflow inside Premiere Pro. It builds multicam timelines, switches cameras automatically, and assembles a basic edit for interview-style podcasts. Autopod can also spin out social clips quickly by auto-reframing and resizing the footage. 

It is built for editors who want fast structure without leaving the NLE.

Pros

• One-click multicam switching

• Works for up to 10 cameras and 10 microphones

• Works directly inside Premiere Pro

• Lets you save presets for repeat layouts

• Automatically creates social-ready sequences in multiple aspect ratios

• Auto-reframes and resizes clips for vertical formats

• Cuts the podcast's silence using a decibel cutoff setting

Adjust the dB threshold to control what gets cut

Cons

• No transcript

• No clip search

• Need to name and tag speakers to audio and cameras

• Needs multiple audio tracks and cameras to make the editing decisions

• Cannot be used for long-form content with just one speaker/camera

• Only good if you use Premiere Pro; it does not work with any other NLE

• Cannot use the license on more than one computer

If you’re experiencing problems in Autopod, check out some quick solutions in our guide.

Pricing

Individual license only at $29 per month, billed yearly.

Star Rating

3 / 5

3. Descript

Descript brings text-based editing to podcast production. You cut the video by editing the transcript. It includes filler word detection, silence trimming, and basic multicam features. 

Descript also adds AI tools like an AI Chat feature for natural-language edits and automatic retake removal. It works well for structured edits but is not designed for more complex timelines. 

Pros

• Text-based editing

• Good filler word detection and removal

• Automatically identifies and removes retakes for better video pacing

• Multicam switching 

• AI features like Eye Contact that fix an off-camera gaze

• Supports quick additions of captions, visuals, and on-screen elements

• AI Chat (Underlord) allows you to change the edit by describing what you want in chat-based editing

• Helps draft show notes, titles, summaries, and YouTube descriptions

Descript’s Underlord bot lets you guide the edit with natural-language prompts in a chat UI

Finds word gaps in the transcript so you can clean them up quickly. Note: Use AI credits

Cons

• No automatic chaptering or segmenting; need to use Underlord to do this

• Supports exports to YouTube, Google Drive, etc, but not directly to an NLE

• Uses an AI credit system with a monthly allotment; you may run out and need to purchase more

Pricing

Free tier available. Paid plans start at $16/month, billed yearly. 

Star Rating

4 / 5

4. Riverside

Riverside is built around remote recording with local files, which gives you higher-quality inputs than a standard video call. It is better known as audio editing software for podcasts or a best podcast recording software, due to its limitations with video file uploads. It adds light AI cleanup, silence removal, and transcript editing so you can fix small issues quickly. Riverside also includes simple clipping tools for short-form repurposing.

Pros

• Color-coded speakers

• Text-based editing

• Adjust audio volume for different speakers

• Divides content into chapters

• Supports guest-and-host PiP layouts

• Identifies short form clips (Magic Clips) for social media

• Remove silences and filler words with Magic Audio

• AI Chat (Co-Creator) allows you to change the edit by describing what you want

• Schedule and host events within Riverside

Riverside’s Magic Clips automatically finds shareable moments and creates ready-to-share clips

One-click trimming for pauses, fillers, and extra fluff

Cons

• Many AI features are only available if all speakers are visible during the entire recording, which prevents real multicam setups

• Limited to 15 hours of audio and video per month unless you have a Business plan

• Browser-based, so footage recorded elsewhere must be uploaded first

• Uses an AI credit system. You get some free, but you will need to purchase more if you plan to use the AI features regularly

Pricing

Limited free tier available. Paid plans start at $24/month, billed yearly. 

Star Rating

3.5 / 5

Podcast Software/Video Tool Comparison Table

How we evaluated: transcript accuracy, speaker detection, silence and filler removal automation, multicam reliability, clip extraction workflow, NLE handoff, and pricing fairness.

Best Podcast Editing Tools: AI Podcast Editors Compared (2026)

Which AI Podcast Editor Is Best for You

Each of these tools tackles a different pain point in the editing process:

Choose Selects if you want the fastest prep workflow for long-form podcasts or interviews. 

It’s the strongest option for cleaning raw sessions. It handles transcription, speaker labels, chaptering, silence cuts, filler-word removal, multicam sync, and camera switching automatically. Selects isn’t a full editor, but it gives you the cleanest, most organized starting timeline for your NLE workflows, in the least amount of time. It reduces the time spent in your video editing workflow by 90%. It’s not only the best podcast editing software for professionals and serious creators, but also on the development path to be an excellent video podcast editing software for beginners.

Choose Autopod if you're already working in Premiere Pro.

Autopod is built for editors who want instant multicam editing timelines in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve and quick social exports without leaving the NLE. It’s great for simple interview layouts, but Autopod is limited outside Premiere and doesn’t help with transcripts or filler word removal.

Choose Descript if you prefer text-based editing and structured edits.

With Descript podcast editing is done by rewriting the transcript. This makes cleanup fast for solo creators with lots of retakes or conversational shows with fewer cameras. The AI-powered editing features go far, but credit limits can get in the way, and if you need bigger edits, you may still end up in an NLE.

Choose Riverside if remote interviews, webinars, or panel recordings are your main format. 

It captures each participant locally for much higher quality, then gives you transcript editing, light cleanup, and quick social clips. Riverside’s layout, transcript tools, and overall workflow are very close to Descript (and it has the same AI credit problem), but its multicam features are limited for multitrack editing.

Final Verdict on the Best Podcast Editing App

Podcasts generate a lot of structural work that AI can handle well. Offloading those tasks gives editors back meaningful time for the creative process. Different editing software for podcasts are coming at this problem in different ways.

• Best for podcasts with multiple cameras and other video formats → Selects

• Best if you only edit in Premiere Pro/DaVinci Resolve → Autopod

• Best for transcript-based cleanup → Descript

• Best for remote interview capture → Riverside

Selects is unique because it automates the entire front half of a long-form edit without getting in the way of your NLE. This includes transcripts, speaker labels, chapters, silence cuts, filler-word removal, multicam sync, and camera switching. 

If your goal is to reduce prep time and keep full control over the final cut, Selects is the most efficient AI podcast editor for getting into Premiere Pro, Resolve, or Final Cut fast.

Try out a free 7-day trial of Selects today (with no watermark or credit caps)!