Best for
Best for professionals who need surgical repair of damaged or complex audio.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI Sound & Audio Comparison
iZotope RX vs. Riverside
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for podcasters and teams recording remote interviews in studio quality.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | iZotope RX | Riverside |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Elements ~$99 Standard around $399, Advanced around $1,399. Perpetual licences for RX 12. | Free tier; Pro from $24 / month The $24 Pro tier is billed annually ($29 monthly). Grow, Webinar and Business tiers above. |
| Free trial | Trial | Free tier, 2 hours of multitrack recording |
| Commercial use | Yes | Yes |
| Output | Restored, repaired audio | Recorded audio and video up to 4K, transcripts, clips |
| API | N/A | Yes, on the Business tier |
| What it does | Repair and restoration of damaged audio | Records remote audio and video locally in high quality, then edits it with AI |
| Noise removal and repair | Yes, spectral repair, De-noise and Dialogue Isolate, with fine artifact control | Yes, Magic Audio removes background noise |
| Mastering and loudness | Loudness Control and Loudness Optimize modules for hitting delivery loudness targets | Magic Audio evens out loudness and volume levels and adjusts frequency bands as part of its one-click clean-up |
| Where it runs | Standalone desktop editor, plus VST3, AU, AAX and ARA plugins for a DAW or NLE | In the browser: records each participant locally for quality |
| Also included | Music Rebalance, Scene Rebalance, Dialogue Isolate, Repair Assistant and Trim Silence; over 20 of the modules also load as plugins | Text-based AI editor, unlimited transcription, Magic Clips and show notes, live streaming and podcast hosting |
| Deployment | On-premise | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Not stated | Email helpdesk, Chat, Chat, 24/7 |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Not stated | YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify for Creators, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro |
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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price iZotope RX Elements ~$99 Riverside Free tier; Pro from $24 / month
- Free trial iZotope RX Trial Riverside Free tier, 2 hours of multitrack recording
- Deployment iZotope RX On-premise Riverside Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size iZotope RX Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Riverside Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Output iZotope RX Restored, repaired audio Riverside Recorded audio and video up to 4K, transcripts, clips
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
iZotope RX
Strengths
- Broadcast-grade restoration
- Surgical spectral control
- The professional standard for damaged audio
Limitations
- Expensive, especially Advanced
- Steeper learning curve
- Desktop software, not one-tap
Riverside
Strengths
- Records each guest locally for high-quality audio and video
- AI editor, transcription and Magic Audio noise removal built in
- Up to 4K video and 48 kHz audio on paid tiers
Limitations
- Free tier includes only a one-time 2 hours of multitrack recording
- API access only on the Business tier
Plans
Pricing
iZotope RX
- Elements ~$99 Perpetual licence for RX 12. Basic repair tools.
- Standard ~$399 Perpetual licence for RX 12. The core restoration modules.
- Advanced ~$1,399 Perpetual licence for RX 12. The full set of more than 50 modules.
Riverside
- Free $0 2 hours of multitrack recording (one-time), with watermark.
- Pro $24 Per month, billed annually ($29 monthly). Up to 4K, unlimited text-based editing.
- Grow $34 Per month, billed annually ($39 monthly). Adds social scheduling and newsletter.
- Webinar $79 Per month, billed annually ($99 monthly). Adds webinar tools for up to 100 registrants.
- Business Not stated Custom pricing. Unlimited studios, API access and SSO.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
iZotope RX
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Riverside
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
iZotope RX https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rx.html · no check date recorded yet
Riverside https://riverside.com · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.