Video Tech Review: Zoom vs Riverside vs Descript

A variety of new tech platforms for creating, editing, and distributing audio/video have been recommended by publishers recently: Podcast.co is great for hosting and distributing audio-based podcasts, according  Walt Cooley of AgProud. The network is so robust that some of his podcasts get up to 7,000 downloads, a report that is a key sales tool for acquiring new sponsors. LocalPod.co has a slightly different proposition. The tool allows publishers to turn any article or report into an audio-only podcast, and distribute it across 300 podcast platforms. Advertising units are already built in.

However, most of the discussion has been around when to use Zoom versus Riverside, and how to set up a studio with multiple cameras. Publishers want to know enough about these platforms to make good decisions. Here’s our analysis after using three of the most popular platforms for recording video: Riverside, Zoom, and Descript, with insights from the Riverside for Publishers Workshop ( view here). 

When Zoom wins and loses

While Zoom is great for quick meetings and virtual roundtables, when creating video podcasts and shows,  or live streams, they still need to be edited. So publishers have turned to Riverside or Descript. 

A few are still using Adobe Premiere for editing because so many video producers know the program; however, the newer tools save more time.

Another  drawback to Zoom is video quality, it’s lower quality, not up to the 4K standard, and also  glitches can happen when everyone  is recording in the cloud and the internet is not stable.

For Riverside and Descript  recording is native on the computer, so it records there even if the internet is glitchy. Also the recording is already there, saving a step. A quick edit with a few shorts sent to social media can take half an hour. Dropping graphics and intros is typically a 4 to 1 edit-to-recording length ratio.

What Riverside and Descript have in common

Starting with the editing function, today, both platforms also have almost identical advanced editing features, including audio correction, pause removal, editing from transcript, drop-in images, music, intro/outro, shortening clips to share on social media,  sharing and exporting to multiple destination sources, teleprompters, eye contact correction, a media library, and more.

Contrary to Riverside’s reputation for higher-quality recording, podcasting experts have not been able to detect a difference in quality (PSS Creative Media), and both offer “lossless audio” by recording on the computer.

The most important tools in both are noise correct, Magic Audio or Studio Sound, respectively, for Riverside and Zoom. Reviewers say it’s a draw between the two platforms. Both are great, and this is the first step for almost all editing. 

Similarly,  the “uhm” removal is automated on both, saving an hour of editing for about an hour of video. Finally, both have pause removal and allow the user to set the length of pauses allowed; about .5 seconds is fine for a natural conversation.

Recording

This is where it gets trickier. In theory, guests can join from a link without a subscription. Descript has built-in rooms for multiple guests, while Riverside creates a shareable link for multiple guests to join to record in-studio, and also has a separate category for guests who do not participate, another advantage.

Zoom is still easier and more stable; our  Riverside expert was unwilling to host the workshop on the platform, and even  Descript hosts its own larger meetings (15 or so) on Luma, not Restream. 

Finally, both platforms now have royalty-free music and image libraries, and are able to create AI-generated voices, avatars, and video.

We tested Descript’s version for a client, and it was pretty good.  The AI bot, Underlord, provides a variety of voices, helps with or creates the script and shot list, and even produces the shots and speakers as needed. It’s a great starting point. If the user wants to use their own images or video, they can simply drop them into the timeline of the video created.

We took a very good sales-oriented PDF, dropped it into Underlord, and had a script, shotlist, and AI-generated images created in about two minutes.

In short, both of these platforms have moved into each other’s territory, with Riverside developing editing tools almost daily, while Descript is doing the same and has added recording to the options.

Where Riverside has the edge

Full disclosure: I’ve been a Descript user for years (or what feels like years).

Riverside, which was developed first as a professional-quality remote studio,  seems to be easier to just start recording, especially when multiple cameras or other inputs are involved. It recognizes multiple inputs, which can then be selected from a drop-down. We had trouble recording in Descript, but will get to that later.

Livestreaming is a click away in the studio on Riverside, although our experts said that API’s can be tricky and advised testing it all out an hour in advance of the show (Yikes).  YouTube for livestreaming is still the “gold standard,” according to Paul Gewuerz, a professional producer who creates shows for his clients and has used Riverside for livestreaming, told the workshop attendees. He also livestreams on LinkedIn, where many of his customers are.

Descript does not offer livestreaming itself, but integrates with Restream if users have an account.  For its own livestreams, Descript uses Luma.com, which should tell you something.

For multi-camera shoots, Riverside seems to have the superior tool, “Smart Layouts,” that automatically does things like cutting away from the person who is not talking, then adding reaction shots and two-sided views for interest.

Descript also has automated cutaways, but one professional podcaster we trust commented that  Riverside’s automated layouts are smarter, and that Descript’s seemed too long with too few side-by-sides.

The pros we talked to who used Smart Layouts raved about this function.  There is also a manual layout option, but Gewuerz said that Smart Layouts are so good, you don’t need anything else, saving more hours in post-production.

Similarly, while both have automated uhms and duplicate word remover tools, Riverside has an option that can avoid jump cuts – that jumping look when you cut a long “uhm” and the speaker moved their head.  A new  auto-mute feature that simply mutes the uhms and uhhs, with a smoother result, what one reviewer  called “mind-blowing.”

Descript does not have this.

Finally, and this was a deal-breaker for us, Descript sometimes could not find my computer’s mic. The  “allow” pop-up to use the mic just fails to appear, even when other software from Otter.ai to Zoom,  Google Meet, and so on, all detect the mic and show an “allow” button.  That was enough for me to reserve this platform for editing only, even though I find it easier to use.

Where Descript has an edge

It’s hard to describe exactly what makes Descript easier to use for editing. Maybe just fewer clicks to achieve the same result. I’ve never actually gotten lost in Descript. While I thought my troubles understanding Riverside were due to my background as a word editor, one of our members with a strong background in Adobe Premiere also got lost.

A half dozen YouTube videos did not help all that much, so I strongly advise watching the workshop here before jumping in. For example, in Riverside,  I have inadvertently created new projects by clicking record when I thought I was already inside a project, then had to figure out how to move them into the right place.

In Descript, you are forced to start a new project first.

It took the workshop to understand that in Riverside, create a studio, which is like a Google folder, for all similar projects. Gewuerz has a studio for each client, for example.

Then,  once you export in Riverside – on the right – the completed videos are saved on the left rail. To find them, go to the studio, project, and  “exports,” one of three options, which actually means “Here are all your saved downloads.”

In Descript, the saved downloads are the project, and “recents” gets you back to what you were working on.

Feature creep led Riverside to also have numerous navigation bars – on the left, on the right, and above the recording. Descript’s navigation is left or Right for all editing tools.

Not to get overly wonky about the UE, but trying to find where to drop in a background for my podcast in Riverside, I could not find the tool. Support was nice, but it took time: you hover over the video when you are about to record. Then “Visual effects” is one of three options that show up when hovering.  Background is under that link.

In Descript, the background tool is with all the other editing tools on the right rail, and you can change a background after the fact.

Riverside has Magic Clips…blessing or curse? 

Riverside automatically creates shorts from the video using a tool called Magic Clips, which you can use as reels and export to social media.

I did not need Magic Clips.  So after recording 8 or 9 short clips for a project, dozens of  “Made for you” video shorts appeared in my clip list.

Some experts like Gewuerz say occasionally they produce a cool short, so he leaves them on. But there is also an option to just turn them off.  One more thing to learn.

In Descript, on the other hand, the option to create shorts is with the rest of the tools when you need it.

Finally, the default timeline in Descript is larger, so you don’t need to zoom in, and the default size of the editable transcript – where most of my editing is done- is also larger, while Riverside’s looks a bit squeezed (you can drag to enlarge it, but it took time to learn that).

Underlord, Descript’s AI bot seems, sometimes, to do more things.

For example, it dropped clips from the project library into the timeline on command and exported multiple clips at a time to my download folder, something Riverside’s Co-creator couldn’t or wouldn’t do (something I said?).  It easily found names of tech mentioned with useable quotes to repurpose.

Finally, Descript has weekly trainings live-streamed on YouTube, where they take questions as they go. I attended one that had just 15 other attendees, so I could ask a lot of questions and get most of them answered. The tour of advanced features, which they dropped into a sample video, was robust: Drop backgrounds, transitions, solve jump cuts, create AI-generated YouTube thumbnails, and so on.

Descript is now promoting  a workshop on how to create and edit a video without leaving Claude or GPT, 

We also tried out both teleprompters. On Riverside, the script appeared as reverse type on top of the video image being recorded. That was a little disconcerting. In a different studio view, it is on top of the video. Better.

In Descript,  the teleprompter is off to one side, so the user can see the images they are talking over.

However, both are difficult to use in practice.

Pricing

I think this is a wash, but possibly some producers might wind up paying more for reasons hard to figure out and which may change tomorrow.

Both plans start at under $20, with Riverside’s plan starting at a reasonable $34 a month for almost anything you might want. Gewuerz runs 5 or  6 client podcasts from the $34 plan with no issues.

Riverside charges more for additional hours of recording time, while Descript charges for hours of transcription.

But there is another murkier pricing element: Charges for the use of AI.

Since both platforms are developing new tools and media components at speed, both dashboards are getting complicated, and the AI assistants are needed to do things users can’t easily find. No one knows what the AI charges will ultimately be, and they change.

I found out during the workshop that, unbeknownst to me, Descript is charging additional credits for using Underlord,  and one user was in the workshop to lower her fees. She must be editing a lot, because I do one or two videos a week, and have only been charged a small overage once.

On further research, we found that Descript credits are used for Eye Contact,  not a popular feature,  Studio Sound (10 credits), which you definitely need, and AI Voice Generation (more credit-intensive).  When overages kick in, the platform asks the user to purchase  “top-offs” to keep using the tools at $35 to $100.  Underlord was great about telling me that I would be charged for Studio Sound, which was well worth it. Riverside’s Magic Audio is free.

Riverside also includes AI credits in the monthly plan, and exceeding the limit requires users to bump up to a higher tier. But it is completely unclear which is more expensive for which type of editing workflow.

What about embedding video?

Both Descript and Riverside offer shareable and embeddable links so users can play the final video on your website. The video automatically updates whenever you update your file. This is great for publishers using video to promote products and special offers that change.

If you are not using one of these two platforms, Vimeo also offers affordable ad-free hosting with an embeddable share link.

Conclusion

In the end, depending on what you are producing, any one of these options could be the better tool.

Descript is still my go-to for a light edit of a Zoom video. If I were creating professional-quality webinars with one to four guests and multiple cameras, I’d use Riverside.

So those are the new tools in NPB’s  Media Tech Stack this month, and, as you might say, that’s a wrap.