TL;DR / Key Takeaways
- Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech is the go-to free tool for one bad recording.
- Auphonic and Cleanvoice cost about $1 to $1.50 per hour of audio on their subscriptions.
- ElevenLabs' Voice Isolator costs about $11 an hour but handles voices buried in music or crowds.
- Descript and Riverside users may not need a separate tool.
- Krisp is the option for live calls, from $8 a month.
Short answer: to rescue one bad recording for free, use Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech. To process a podcast every week, Auphonic (2 free hours a month, then from about $1.20 an hour) and Cleanvoice (from about $1 an hour) are the cheapest per hour. If you already edit in Descript or record in Riverside, their built-in cleanup may be enough. For live calls, Krisp removes noise in real time. Updated October 29, 2026.
How we checked: prices, free allowances and features come from each vendor's own pricing and documentation pages, read October 29, 2026. Where a page shows two price sets without labelling them, we say which we assumed. We did not process the same file in every tool, so this guide does not rank sound quality. The cost-per-hour table is our own arithmetic.
AI audio enhancers at a glance
| Tool | Free allowance | Paid from | Works on | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech | Free tier (Adobe's plan page loads its limits dynamically) | Premium: up to 4 hours a day, 1 GB files, video; price not shown on Adobe's plan page | Files | One-off rescues |
| Auphonic | 2 hours a month; free productions add a short Auphonic jingle | $13/month for 9 hours (about $11 billed yearly), or 5 one-time hours for $12 | Audio and video files | Weekly podcasts: levelling, loudness, noise and filler cuts |
| Cleanvoice | 30 minutes, no card | $11/month for 10 hours, or $11 for 5 pay-as-you-go hours | Audio and video files | Removing filler words, breaths and mouth sounds |
| Descript Studio Sound | Limited on the free plan | Hobbyist $16/month on annual billing | Audio and video in Descript | If you edit in Descript |
| Riverside Magic Audio | Not on the free plan | Riverside Pro and up | Uploads incl. MP3, WAV, MP4 | If you record in Riverside |
| ElevenLabs Voice Isolator | About 10 minutes a month on the free plan (personal use) | Credits: 1,000 per minute of audio | Audio and video files up to 1 hour | Separating a voice from music or crowd noise |
| Krisp | 7-day trial | $8/month on annual billing ($16 monthly) | Live calls: Zoom, Teams, Meet, Slack | Noise-free calls |
| Podcastle (Async) Magic Dust | Not on the free plan | Essentials $11.99/month on annual billing | Audio and video files | If you already use Podcastle |
What an hour of cleanup costs
| Tool and plan | Price | Hours included | Cost per hour (our math) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleanvoice, 30 hours a month | $28/month | 30 | About $0.93 |
| Cleanvoice, 10 hours a month | $11/month | 10 | $1.10 |
| Auphonic S, billed yearly | About $11/month | 9 | About $1.22 |
| Auphonic S, monthly | $13/month | 9 | About $1.44 |
| Auphonic one-time credits | $12 for 5 hours to $171 for 100 hours | 5 to 100 | $2.40 down to $1.71 |
| ElevenLabs Voice Isolator on Creator | $22/month for 121,000 credits | About 2 | About $11 |
Auphonic
Auphonic is built for producers who publish on a schedule. Every plan, including the free 2 hours a month, gets the Intelligent Leveler, noise and reverb reduction, loudness targets for podcast and broadcast specs, filler-word and silence cutting, video support and audiograms. Unused hours do not roll over on subscriptions; one-time credits suit irregular use.
Cleanvoice
Cleanvoice focuses on the edits that take longest by hand: removing filler words, background noise, mouth sounds and breaths, including on video podcasts. Subscriptions start at $11 for 10 hours a month; pay-as-you-go credits last two years. Prices exclude VAT.
Live calls: Krisp
Krisp works differently from everything else here: it sits between your microphone and your call app as a virtual device and removes background noise, other voices and echo in real time on Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex and Slack. It costs $8 a month per user on annual billing after a 7-day trial. For a free, open-source equivalent, DeepFilterNet offers real-time noise suppression on Linux.
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Which one to choose
- One recording, no budget: Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech.
- A weekly podcast: Auphonic for levelling and loudness, or Cleanvoice if filler words are the bigger problem.
- You already edit in Descript or record in Riverside: try Studio Sound or Magic Audio before paying for another tool.
- A voice buried under music or crowd noise: ElevenLabs Voice Isolator.
- Noise on live calls: Krisp.
Still choosing a recorder? See our best podcast recording software.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free AI audio enhancer?
Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech is the best-known free option for rescuing a single recording. Auphonic gives 2 free hours a month with a short jingle added, and Cleanvoice gives 30 free minutes.
Is Adobe Podcast Enhance free?
Yes, Enhance Speech has a free tier. Premium raises the limits to 4 hours a day and 1 GB files and adds video and bulk upload; Adobe's plans page does not list the Premium price.
What is the cheapest way to clean up podcast audio every week?
Per hour, Cleanvoice (about $0.93 to $1.10 an hour on its subscriptions) and Auphonic (about $1.22 to $1.44 an hour on its smallest plan) are the cheapest of the tools we compared.
Can AI remove background noise from a live call?
Yes. Krisp removes background noise, other voices and echo in real time on Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex and Slack, for $8 a month per user on annual billing after a 7-day trial.