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Riverside

Remote recording studio. Records locally on each participant's device — up to 4K video and 48kHz WAV audio, regardless of internet quality.

Adequate
https://riverside.fm Reviewed 2026-04-03 Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit

What should journalists know about Riverside?

Riverside solves the biggest problem in remote journalism: interview quality. Most video call platforms (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams) compress audio and video through a central server. If your guest's connection dips, the recording degrades. Riverside records locally on each participant's machine — uncompressed 48kHz WAV audio and up to 4K video at a constant frame rate — then progressively uploads separate tracks after the session. If the internet drops mid-interview, the local recording continues. Each participant gets an isolated track, perfectly synced. Founded in 2019 by brothers Nadav Keyson (CEO) and Gideon Keyson (CTO) in Palo Alto. Raised $35M Series B led by Zeev Ventures, with investors including Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder) and Lachy Groom (early Stripe). Backed by creators including Guy Raz (NPR), Gary Vaynerchuk, and Marques Brownlee. SOC 2 certified. The built-in transcription and text-based editing are genuinely useful — edit the transcript and the audio/video cuts follow. The free tier exists but is limited: 2 hours total, 720p, watermarked. Most journalists will need the $29/month Pro plan. The domain moved from riverside.fm to riverside.com in 2024, reflecting the company's push beyond podcasting into webinars and live events.

Best for

Recording remote interviews with broadcast-quality audio and video. Podcast production with separate tracks per guest. Text-based editing (edit the transcript, video follows). Producing clips for social media from long-form recordings. Live streaming to multiple platforms simultaneously (Live tier).

Not for

Journalists who need end-to-end encrypted recording for source protection — Riverside records locally but uploads to cloud servers, and recordings are accessible to Riverside's infrastructure. For confidential source interviews, use Signal voice calls or Jitsi Meet (self-hosted). Also not ideal for one-off quick calls where a phone recording would suffice. The $29/month minimum for usable quality is a cost journalists should weigh against free alternatives like OBS Studio (local-only) or Audacity + Zoom.

Security & Privacy

Encryption in transit Yes

Data is scrambled while being sent to their servers

Encryption at rest Partial

Data is scrambled when stored on their servers

Data jurisdiction United States (Palo Alto, CA). Some data processors may be located outside the EEA. EU transfers governed by adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses.

Where servers are located — affects which governments can request your data

Security rating Adequate

Privacy policy summary

Riverside collects account data (name, email, IP), usage analytics, and recording content. Recordings upload to cloud storage after local capture. Payment processing handled by third-party processors — Riverside does not store payment details. Data shared with internal teams, analytics providers (Google Analytics), and HubSpot. GDPR rights for EU residents. Recordings may contain personal information disclosed during sessions. Riverside can share data in merger/acquisition scenarios or with law enforcement when legally required.

How to protect yourself:

Recordings upload to Riverside's cloud after each session. (1) Download and delete recordings from Riverside's servers promptly if you handle sensitive material. (2) Inform interview subjects that recording occurs locally on their device and uploads to Riverside's cloud — get consent. (3) For confidential sources, do not use Riverside — use Signal, Jitsi Meet (self-hosted), or record locally with OBS. (4) Disable YouTube API integration if you don't need it — it grants Google access to session metadata. (5) Use a dedicated email for your Riverside account to limit cross-platform tracking.

SOC 2 certified. Local-first recording architecture means audio/video quality is not compromised by network conditions. Recordings upload to cloud servers post-session — not end-to-end encrypted between participants. VC-backed with standard data sharing (analytics, marketing tools). Suitable for standard journalism workflows. Not suitable for confidential source interviews where recordings must never touch third-party infrastructure.

Who Owns This

Owner Riverside.fm, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA). Founded 2019 by Nadav Keyson (CEO) and Gideon Keyson (CTO).
Funding Venture-backed. $35M Series B led by Zeev Ventures. Investors include Alexis Ohanian (Seven Seven Six), Lachy Groom, and creator advisors (Guy Raz, Gary Vaynerchuk, Marques Brownlee).
Business model SaaS subscriptions. Free tier as acquisition funnel; revenue from Pro ($29/month), Live ($39/month), Webinar ($99/month), and Business (custom) plans. Expanding from podcast recording into webinars, live streaming, and enterprise content production.

Pricing

Free: 2 hours of multi-track recording, 720p video, 44.1kHz audio, Riverside watermark. Pro: $29/month ($24/month annual) — 15 hours/month, 4K video, 48kHz audio, no watermark, AI tools (Magic Audio, transcription, silence removal). Live: $39/month ($34/month annual) — 15 hours/month, 1080p, multistreaming to YouTube/LinkedIn/Twitch. Webinar: $99/month ($79/month annual) — unlimited hours, 1080p, up to 1,000 registrants. Business: custom pricing — 4K, API access, up to 10,000 webinar registrants.

This is an editorial assessment based on publicly available information as of 2026-04-03, using our published methodology. Independent security review is pending. Security posture can change at any time. This is not a guarantee of safety.

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