Last updated: 2026-01-15

For most financial advisors in the US, StreamYard is the best default studio for recording remote conversations, capturing high-quality local and cloud files, and quickly turning them into polished, branded podcast episodes. When you have unusually heavy post-production needs or want built-in editing and hosting in one place, Riverside can be a useful alternative alongside dedicated compliance and publishing tools.

Summary

• StreamYard gives advisors a simple, browser-based recording studio with local multi-track files, automatic cloud recording, and AI-powered noise cleanup.StreamYard podcasting
• Guests join from a link with no downloads or accounts, which matters when you interview clients, COIs, and portfolio managers.StreamYard podcasting
• Paid plans support long, recurring sessions with unlimited local recording hours (within storage caps) and optional separate cloud audio tracks for deeper edits.Local Recording Cloud individual tracks
• Riverside is another solid option when you specifically want AI-heavy editing, hosting, and built-in publishing tools, but its multi-track hours are capped per month.Riverside pricing

What do financial advisors actually need from podcast recording software?

If you’re an advisor, RIA owner, or marketing lead at a broker-dealer, the goal isn’t just to “sound good.” You need a repeatable, compliant way to record conversations with clients and experts, archive them, and repurpose them across channels.

Most advisory teams tell us they care about:

• High-quality and reliable audio/video so your brand feels trustworthy.
• Ease of use for hosts and guests, especially for HNW clients and time-strapped CIOs.
• Automatic recording so nothing gets missed when the conversation gets interesting.
• Custom branding that matches your firm’s look and disclosure requirements.
• Simple in-app clipping for short highlight reels to use in email, social, and on your site.

StreamYard is built around those exact priorities: browser-based joining, local recordings for each participant, and AI-assisted audio cleanup, all wrapped in a studio that feels more like a Zoom link than a production truck.StreamYard podcasting

Why is StreamYard a strong default for advisor podcasts?

Think about the people you invite onto your show: clients, portfolio managers, planning specialists, estate attorneys. The last thing you want is a 15‑minute delay because your guest needs to download an app or create a login.

With StreamYard, guests join from a browser link—no download, no account creation.StreamYard podcasting That single detail removes a ton of friction and makes your podcast feel like a normal meeting invite.

From there, you get a studio that’s tuned for professional content:

• Local recordings per participant, captured on each device so internet hiccups don’t ruin your masters.Local Recording
• 4K local video and uncompressed 48 kHz WAV audio per participant, giving your editor high-fidelity source files for long-term use.
• AI noise removal and echo cancellation, designed to tame office HVAC, keyboard clicks, and less-than-perfect room acoustics.StreamYard podcasting
• Custom branding, including logo, colors, and visual presets, so your firm identity is consistent from thumbnails to full episodes.StreamYard podcasting

For many advisory firms, this checks the boxes for both marketing and supervision teams: strong technical quality, reader-friendly workflows, and minimal friction for guests.

How do local recordings and individual tracks help compliance and editing?

If your show covers investments or planning strategies, you’re probably reviewing episodes carefully before they go live. Clean files make that process faster and safer.

StreamYard supports local recording, which captures individual audio and video for each person directly on their device, then uploads it after the call.Local Recording On paid plans, local recording hours are effectively unlimited within your storage limits, so a weekly or even twice-weekly show is easy to sustain over time.Local Recording

On higher-tier plans, you can also enable separate cloud audio tracks for each participant.Cloud individual tracks That matters when:

• Your compliance team wants to quickly isolate and review a guest’s remarks.
• Your editor needs to cut coughs or side comments without affecting the rest of the conversation.
• You want clean intros and outros recorded live but polished in post.

In practice, local and individual tracks give your firm a “master file” view that’s much closer to professional studios—without forcing you into a dedicated recording booth.

Can StreamYard satisfy SEC/FINRA podcast recording and retention requirements?

No podcast recording studio, including StreamYard or Riverside, is a magic one-stop compliance solution. Neither vendor publicly claims to be an out-of-the-box system of record for SEC or FINRA books-and-records rules, and there is no documented certification that their native storage alone meets your specific retention, WORM, or supervision needs.

Here’s the practical way most advisors handle it:

• Use StreamYard as the capture and production layer. Record episodes, generate local and cloud files, and export them after each session.How Many Hours Can I Stream and Record
• Move final files into your firm’s approved archiving solution (for example, the same vendor used for email, social, and website content).
• Retain working files and masters (local WAV and video) in secure storage that aligns with your policies.

This separation keeps StreamYard focused on production quality and ease of use, while your compliance stack handles retention, supervision, and audits.

Riverside vs StreamYard — multi-track hours, audio quality, and publishing features

Riverside is a well-known alternative for advisors who want recording-first workflows with more built-in editing and hosting capabilities.

On the recording side:

• Riverside offers local multi‑track recording with up to 4K video and 48 kHz audio on paid plans.Riverside podcasting
• Its plans cap multi‑track hours each month (for example, 5 or 15 hours on common paid tiers).Riverside pricing
• StreamYard uses local multi‑track recording on each participant’s device as well, with paid plans allowing unlimited local recording hours subject to storage caps.Local Recording

In day‑to‑day use, most advisory podcasts rarely bump up against StreamYard’s per‑session or storage limits, while monthly hour caps on multi-track in other tools can require more planning for high-frequency shows.How Many Hours Can I Stream and Record

On the editing and publishing side:

• Riverside bundles AI tools like Magic Audio, show notes, and publishing/hosting into its higher tiers, giving you more built-in post-production in one place.Riverside pricing
• At StreamYard, we intentionally keep editing lightweight in-app, focusing on AI Clips and fast highlight generation for social and promotional use, while expecting deeper structural edits to happen in dedicated editing software.
• StreamYard deliberately does not provide an RSS feed or full podcast hosting, and instead pairs with specialist hosting providers for distribution to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other apps.Can I Use StreamYard to Create a Podcast?

For many US advisory firms, this separation of duties works better: StreamYard as the live/recording studio and clipping engine; your compliance stack and podcast host as the distribution and retention backbone.

How should advisors think about pricing and value?

You don’t pick a recording platform based solely on a headline price; you pick it based on how many people it lets you bring together and how often you can record without worrying about hidden limits.

StreamYard offers a free plan plus paid plans that, for new users on annual billing, start at a modest monthly rate for the first year and go up from there. Those paid plans unlock unlimited monthly streaming and recording time (within per‑session and storage caps), more participants on screen, and stronger branding options.StreamYard pricing

Riverside also has free and paid tiers, with plan prices that increase as you add more multi‑track hours, higher-quality recording, and AI tools.Riverside pricing Because those plans cap multi‑track hours, firms running frequent interview shows may find that StreamYard’s recording model scales more predictably over time.Riverside pricing

For most advisory teams, the bigger ROI lever is simplicity: how quickly your staff can learn the tool, invite guests, hit record, and hand clean files to your compliance and marketing teams.

What does a compliant, advisor-friendly workflow look like in practice?

Imagine a weekly “Market Clarity” show hosted by your lead advisor with a rotating analyst guest.

A streamlined StreamYard workflow typically looks like this:

1. Schedule the session in StreamYard and send the studio link to your guest—no login or software install for them.StreamYard podcasting
2. Go live or record-only in the browser studio, using your custom branding layout and color presets for a consistent firm look.
3. Capture local and cloud recordings automatically, with AI-based noise removal to clean up office sounds.StreamYard podcasting
4. Use AI Clips to quickly identify and export a few highlight segments for social and email.
5. Download the master files and move them into your editing, compliance review, and hosting stack, where you add disclosures and schedule publication.How Do I Download My Recordings

This keeps your advisors focused on content and client conversations—not on software setup—and gives your marketing and compliance teams the control they want downstream.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your primary recording and live studio for advisor podcasts, client education shows, and virtual events that later become episodes.
• Combine StreamYard with a dedicated podcast host and your firm’s approved archiving vendor for RSS distribution, analytics, and regulatory retention.
• Consider Riverside when you specifically want bundled AI editing and hosting and are comfortable managing monthly multi-track hour caps.
• Start with a simple, repeatable workflow; only layer in advanced editing tools once your show format and compliance process are stable.