Pro Tools
The industry-standard DAW behind most major scripted podcasts.
Our take
Pro Tools is the standard at every major scripted podcast studio because that's where the senior editors learned the keyboard shortcuts — not because it's actually better at dialogue than Hindenburg. Unless you're delivering session files to a post-production house, you're paying $35/mo for prestige.
At a glance
- Pricing
- $$
- Category
- Editing
- Price
- Artist $9.99/mo, Studio $34.99/mo, Ultimate $99/mo
- Platforms
- macOS, Windows
- Best for
- Studio post-production
In depth
Pro Tools is Avid's flagship DAW and the de facto industry standard at most professional audio facilities, including the studios behind a large slice of scripted, narrative, and major-network podcasts. Pricing now starts with a free Intro tier capped at eight tracks, then Artist at $9.99/mo for hobbyists, Studio at $34.99/mo for working professionals, and Ultimate at $99/mo for high-end post with surround and Atmos workflows.
Perpetual licenses still exist for Studio and Ultimate at roughly $599 and up. It runs on Mac and Windows. The reason Pro Tools is everywhere isn't really feature parity — competitors have caught up on most fronts.
It's that every freelance editor, sound designer, and dub-stage tech in the audio industry has Pro Tools muscle memory, and the .ptx session file is the lingua franca for handoffs between studios. If your podcast is co-produced with an audio house or eventually needs to deliver session files to a mix engineer, Pro Tools is the path of least resistance.
For solo creators, indie podcasts, and small in-house teams that don't trade sessions with external studios, the subscription cost and depth of the interface are overkill. Logic Pro for $200 one-time, Reaper for $60, or Hindenburg for $8/mo will all get you to broadcast-ready audio without paying the Avid tax.
Related research and guides
- Best podcast editing softwareOur researched shortlist of editors, with prices checked.
- Podcast Loudness CheckerMeasure LUFS and true peak in your browser before you publish.
- Best free podcast editing toolsEditors and DAWs you can use without paying.
- Anatomy of a good podcast excerptWhat a clip that gets watched looks like, frame by frame.
Alternatives to Pro Tools
See all Editing →
Edit podcasts and video by editing the transcript — delete a word, delete the audio.
Free, open-source audio editor that's been the entry point for podcasters for 25 years.
Spoken-word DAW with automatic voice leveling for journalists.
Pro Tools FAQ
What is Pro Tools in one line?
The industry-standard DAW behind most major scripted podcasts.
Who should pick Pro Tools?
Pro Tools is shaped for studio post-production. Unless you're delivering session files to a post-production house, you're paying $35/mo for prestige
Is Pro Tools free?
No, it is a paid tool. What we have on record: Artist $9.99/mo, Studio $34.99/mo, Ultimate $99/mo. Check their pricing page for current plans and any trial.
What can I use instead of Pro Tools?
Other tools in the same category: Descript, Audacity, Hindenburg Pro.
Shorts by Slice
From the team behind these free tools
One video. A week of posts.
Upload an episode and get back the moments worth posting, cut and captioned.
- Reads the whole episode, then picks the excerpts worth posting
- Captions burned in and framed vertical, ready to post
- Your first video and first 3 clips are free, no card
Maintained by the team behind Podshare. No paid placements, and nobody can buy a listing or a ranking. A few entries are our own products and each one says so.
How we research each tool
Each entry is compiled from the tool’s own homepage and pricing pages, plus public reviews on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot. Editorial copy reflects our independent take — not the vendor’s marketing language.
We refresh the directory monthly to catch pricing changes and discontinued tools. Last full sweep: May 2026.
If we’ve got something wrong, please email mediabyslice@gmail.com and we’ll fix it.
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