Best for
Best for podcasters and teams recording remote interviews in studio quality.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Audio Editing & Mastering Comparison
Riverside vs. Samplitude
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for Windows engineers who record, mix and master in one application, through to the DDP master.
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Riverside | Samplitude |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value Free tier; Pro from $24 / month The $24 Pro tier is billed annually ($29 monthly). Grow, Webinar and Business tiers above. | From $25 / month Samplitude subscription billed monthly; $145 per year billed annually. Perpetual licences cost $395 for Samplitude and $495 for Samplitude Suite. |
| Free trial | Free tier, 2 hours of multitrack recording | Free 15-day trial through the Boris FX Hub |
| Commercial use | Yes | Not stated |
| Output | Recorded audio and video up to 4K, transcripts, clips | Recorded, edited, mixed and mastered audio, including Redbook-compatible masters and, in Suite, DDP masters and Dolby Atmos mixes |
| API | Yes, on the Business tier | Not stated |
| Hosting | Not stated | Desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) |
| What it does | Records remote audio and video locally in high quality, then edits it with AI | Digital audio workstation for songwriting, MIDI programming, recording, mixing, mastering and final delivery |
| Multitrack or two-track | Multitrack: each participant is recorded as separate local audio and video tracks. The free plan includes 2 hours of multitrack recording once, paid plans cap separate-track downloads per month, and Business has no cap. Recording itself is unlimited | Multitrack with up to 999 tracks and 256 inputs and outputs, object-based editing and the Take Composer for comping |
| Noise removal and repair | Yes, Magic Audio removes background noise | DeHisser, DeClipper and DeNoiser in both editions; Suite adds spectral editing at the track level, Acoustica 7 Premium, CrumplePop restoration plug-ins and SoundApp ARA |
| Mastering and loudness | Magic Audio evens out loudness and volume levels and adjusts frequency bands as part of its one-click clean-up | sMax11 brickwall limiter, DynamicEQ and Redbook-compatible masters on blank media; Suite adds inter-sample peak detection, EBU R128 loudness measurement and DDP master export |
| Formats and resolution | Up to 4K video and 48 kHz audio on paid plans, 720p and 44.1 kHz on the free plan, and custom frame rates of 24, 25 and 29.97 fps on Business | 16-bit to 32-bit float at up to 384 kHz; imports WAV, Broadcast WAV, AAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, AIFF, FLAC, SD2 and DDP, exports WAV, Broadcast WAV, AAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, AIFF and FLAC, plus MIDI, AAF/OMF and EDL |
| Where it runs | In the browser: records each participant locally for quality | Desktop app for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) hosting VST3 plug-ins and ARA |
| Licence and pricing model | Subscription billed monthly or yearly, with up to 20 percent off yearly. A free plan with a watermark, a 14-day free trial of paid plans, and Business priced through sales | Two editions, Samplitude and Samplitude Suite, each by subscription or as a perpetual licence, with paid upgrades from a previous version and a free one-year licence for students and faculty |
| Also included | Text-based AI editor, unlimited transcription, Magic Clips and show notes, live streaming and podcast hosting | Spatial mixing up to 5.1, or up to 7.1.4 with native Dolby Atmos and an ADM editor in Suite; video import and export; 22 virtual instruments, or 33 in Suite, which also bundles Melodyne 5 Essential, Convology XT and Sound Forge 2026 |
| AI features | Yes | Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | On-premise |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Chat, 24/7 | Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Guided onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Not stated |
| Integrations | more entries YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify for Creators, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro | Soundly |
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The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Riverside Free tier; Pro from $24 / month Samplitude From $25 / month
- Free trial Riverside Free tier, 2 hours of multitrack recording Samplitude Free 15-day trial through the Boris FX Hub
- Deployment Riverside Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Samplitude On-premise
- Support Riverside Email helpdesk, Chat, Chat, 24/7 Samplitude Email helpdesk, Community forum
- Output Riverside Recorded audio and video up to 4K, transcripts, clips Samplitude Recorded, edited, mixed and mastered audio, including Redbook-compatible masters and, in Suite, DDP masters and Dolby Atmos mixes
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Riverside
Strengths
- Records each guest locally rather than through the call stream
- 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
Samplitude
Strengths
- Up to 999 tracks with sample rates up to 384 kHz
- Suite bundles Sound Forge, Acoustica 7 Premium and Melodyne 5 Essential
- Choice of subscription or perpetual licence in both editions
- DDP master export for the pressing plant in Suite
Limitations
- Windows only, with no macOS version
- Dolby Atmos, spectral editing and EBU R128 loudness metering are reserved for Suite
- The base edition's surround mixing stops at 5.1
Plans
Pricing
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.
Samplitude
- Samplitude $25 / month Subscription, or $145 per year. Perpetual licence $395, upgrade from a previous version $185.
- Samplitude Suite $175 / year Subscription. Perpetual licence $495 with a free year of upgrades and support, upgrade from a previous version $275.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Samplitude
- 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. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
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What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on what they tell us, plus the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot have a review removed, cannot buy one, and cannot have one changed. Paid placement and a paid listing have no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Riverside https://riverside.com · no check date recorded yet
Samplitude https://www.samplitude.com/products/samplitude/ · checked against the official source on 2026-10-20
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.