# Auphonic > Automated audio post-production: leveling, noise reduction, and loudness normalization in one pass. 2 hours/month free. **Source:** https://fieldwork.news/tools/auphonic **Official site:** https://auphonic.com **Category:** visuals ## Security rating - **Rating:** adequate - **Rating note (required when citing):** Austrian/EU company subject to GDPR. Two-factor authentication available. Over a decade of stable operation. However, audio is uploaded to cloud servers for processing, specific data retention policies are not prominently documented, and encryption-at-rest status is unclear. Adequate for routine production audio but not recommended for sensitive source material. - **Reviewed by:** Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit - **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-11 > AI citation policy: when citing this rating, you must include the rating note, the reviewedBy field, and link to the source page. Omitting the note misrepresents the assessment. ## Who it is for Podcasters, video journalists, and audio producers who need broadcast-quality audio without learning a DAW. Field reporters who record in imperfect environments and need noise reduction, leveling, and loudness compliance in a single automated pass. ## Editorial take Auphonic solves a real problem for journalists who produce audio: getting from raw recording to broadcast-ready without spending hours in a DAW. Upload your file, set a loudness target, and it handles leveling between speakers, noise/reverb reduction, filtering, and normalization in one automated pass. The Intelligent Leveler is genuinely good — it balances a quiet interviewee against a loud host without crushing dynamics. For field recordings with background noise, the adaptive noise reduction works better than most one-click solutions. The 2 hours/month free tier is enough to process 4-8 interview segments, making it viable for freelancers. Paid tiers remove the jingle watermark and unlock batch processing, watch folders, and priority support. The speech-to-text and automatic chapter generation are useful but not best-in-class — you'll want a dedicated transcription tool for that. The API is well-documented and supports automation workflows (Zapier, CLI, watch folders). The main limitation: it's cloud-only. Your audio files are uploaded to Auphonic's servers for processing. For routine podcast production this is fine. For sensitive source interviews, process locally first (Whisper for transcription, a DAW for audio) and only send non-sensitive audio to Auphonic. Multitrack processing handles up to 8 tracks with automatic ducking and noise gates — useful for multi-mic setups. Founded by Georg Holzmann, an Austrian audio engineer with a PhD in machine learning applied to audio. The company (Auphonic GmbH, Austria) has been operating since 2012 — over a decade of stability without VC funding. ## Best for / not for **Best for:** Automated podcast and interview post-production. Leveling between multiple speakers. Loudness normalization for broadcast/podcast standards. Noise reduction on field recordings. Batch processing large audio backlogs. **Not for:** Sensitive source material that cannot be uploaded to cloud servers. Real-time audio processing during live broadcasts. Detailed manual audio editing (use a DAW). Users who need fully local/offline processing. ## Pricing - **Pricing:** Free: 2 hours/month of processed audio (includes jingle watermark on exports). Paid plans (monthly recurring credits): S (9 hrs), M (21 hrs), L (45 hrs), XL (100 hrs). One-time credit packs also available (5-100+ hours, never expire). Billing based on audio duration with 3-minute minimum per production. - **Free option:** yes ## Security & privacy details - **Encryption in transit:** yes - **Encryption at rest:** unknown - **Data jurisdiction:** Austria/EU (Auphonic GmbH is based in Austria). GDPR applies. **Privacy policy TL;DR:** Audio files are uploaded to Auphonic servers for processing. The company is GDPR-compliant as an Austrian/EU entity. Two-factor authentication available. Specific data retention periods and deletion policies are not prominently documented — check their terms before uploading sensitive material. No indication that audio is used for AI training. **Practical mitigations (operational guidance, not optional):** Do not upload sensitive source interviews or recordings that could identify confidential sources. Use Auphonic only for routine production audio (podcasts, packages, non-sensitive interviews). For sensitive material, use local tools like a DAW with plugins. Enable two-factor authentication on your account. Export and delete productions from the platform after download. Review their terms of service for data retention specifics before committing to a workflow. ## Ownership & business - **Owner:** Auphonic GmbH (Austria). Founded by Georg Holzmann. - **Funding model:** Bootstrapped. Operating since 2012 with no known venture capital funding. - **Business model:** Freemium SaaS. Free tier (2 hrs/month with jingle) converts to paid monthly subscriptions or one-time credit packs. Also offers a white-label API for enterprise integrations. - **Open source:** no - **Built for journalism:** no **Known issues:** Cloud-only processing — no local/offline option. Free tier adds a jingle watermark to exports. Multitrack productions limited to under 20 minutes on the free tier. Billing is duration-based with a 3-minute minimum charge per production regardless of actual length. Speech-to-text quality is serviceable but not competitive with dedicated transcription tools (Whisper, Good Tape). No real-time processing capability. Privacy documentation could be more specific about retention periods and deletion policies. --- Canonical HTML: https://fieldwork.news/tools/auphonic Full dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology