Iris review: $9 a month for two recording hours
Iris gives you lossless audio, 4K video and transcription on every tier, including the free one, and charges by recording hours rather than by seats. Our check of iris.fm on 15 June 2026 recorded a free hour, $9 a month for two hours, $19 for five and $29 for ten. That evidence is four months old.
The short answer
Buy Iris if you record a few hours a month and want the best source files you can get for the money. Starter was $9 a month for two recording hours when we checked iris.fm on 15 June 2026, with 48 kHz audio, 4K video and transcription included at that price.
Skip it if you record ten or more hours a month or want editing in the same tool. Riverside at $29 a month on Pro, verified 1 October 2026, bundles editing and clip generation that Iris does not attempt.
Where Iris fits
Iris fits the podcaster who treats recording as a separate job from editing and wants the raw files to be as clean as possible. Lossless 48 kHz audio, 4K video per participant and automatic transcription were on every tier on our June check, including the free one, which is unusual in this category.
The meter is recording hours, so the question is not how many guests or seats you have but how long your microphone is open. Our 15 June 2026 check recorded one free hour a month, then $9 for two hours, $19 for five hours and $29 for ten hours.
That makes the per-hour cost worth working out. At $9 for two hours you are paying $4.50 an hour, at $19 for five hours $3.80 an hour and at $29 for ten hours $2.90 an hour, so the rate falls as you record more, which is the normal shape of a usage tier.
Overage was $5 an hour on the lower plans when we checked. That is above the in-plan rate at every tier, so one extra hour on Starter takes the month to $14 and makes the $19 Standard tier the cheaper way to buy the same five hours. Work out your usual hours before choosing.
Annual billing saved 10% on our check, which is $8.10 a month on Starter, $17.10 on Standard and $26.10 on Pro. Across a year that is $97.20 against $108 on Starter, so the saving is real but small, and these per-month figures are our own division of the discount rather than rates Iris quotes.
Against the alternatives Iris is the cheap entry with expensive-sounding output. Riverside was $29 a month on Pro when we checked it on 1 October 2026 and adds editing. Squadcast was $20 a month on Hobbyist, verified 11 June 2026. Remotely.fm was $19 a month for five audio hours, verified 15 June 2026, and mixes the episode for you.
This pricing was last verified on 15 June 2026 and has not been re-checked since, which is four months of drift on a smaller vendor whose tiers may well have moved. Confirm the hour allowances and the overage rate before you subscribe. The podcast recording software category holds the rest of the field.
Iris pricing
Iris meters by recording hours, not by participants or seats, and every tier carries the same recording quality. The figures below come from our check of iris.fm on 15 June 2026 and have not been re-verified since, so confirm them before you buy.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 1 hour of recording, no credit card recorded at our check |
| Starter | $9/mo | 2 recording hours, $4.50 an hour. $8.10 a month on annual billing, 10% off |
| Standard | $19/mo | 5 recording hours, $3.80 an hour. $17.10 a month on annual billing |
| Pro | $29/mo | 10 recording hours, $2.90 an hour. $26.10 a month on annual billing |
One meter runs here, recording hours. Five things set your cost:
- Recorded hours a month, measured by session length rather than by participant. Two hours was $9 and ten hours was $29 on our 15 June 2026 check.
- Overage, recorded at $5 an hour on the lower plans. One extra hour on Starter takes the month to $14, which is close to the $19 Standard tier.
- Whether the free hour is enough. A fortnightly 30-minute show fits inside it, which is a real option rather than a teaser.
- Billing period. Annual saved 10%, so Starter was $8.10 a month and $97.20 across a year against $108 monthly.
- Nothing else. Quality, transcription and multitrack were on every tier including free, so you are buying time rather than features.
Iris pricing against the other recording tools
Iris was the cheapest paid entry point we recorded in this category in June 2026, and the hour cap is the reason. Ringr was $7.99 a month on Basic, verified 11 June 2026, with unlimited calls but audio only. Zencastr was $20 a month on Standard, verified 13 June 2026. Riverside was $29 a month on Pro, verified 1 October 2026, which is a fresher check than ours, so that line is not strictly like for like.
Iris billing terms worth knowing
The hour cap is the only term that decides anything here, because the feature set does not change by tier.
- Unit
- Recording hours per month, as of 15 June 2026.
- Free plan
- 1 hour a month at full quality, no credit card recorded.
- Starter
- $9 per month for 2 hours, $4.50 an hour. $108 across a year.
- Standard
- $19 per month for 5 hours, $3.80 an hour. $228 across a year.
- Pro
- $29 per month for 10 hours, $2.90 an hour. $348 across a year.
- Extra hours
- $5 an hour on the lower plans, above the in-plan rate at every tier.
- Check date
- 15 June 2026. Not re-verified since, so confirm before buying.
If Iris has changed its hour allowances since June, the current rate card is right and this page is four months behind. Count your recorded hours honestly before choosing a tier, because the overage rate of $5 an hour is what turns a cheap plan into an expensive month. Our creator tool cost calculators will total a year once you have today's numbers.
What Iris gives up
Every plan is capped by hours, so the cost of a long recording session is real money rather than an inconvenience. A three-hour conversation you later cut to fifty minutes still consumes three hours of the allowance.
There is no editing or post-production. Iris produces source files and transcripts, so the episode is assembled elsewhere, and the full cost of the workflow includes whatever does that work.
Overage is priced above the plan rate at $5 an hour, which means the cheapest tier is only cheap if you fit inside it. Two hours on Starter plus two extra hours is $19, the same as the five-hour Standard tier, for fewer hours.
Video recording support on phones and tablets is limited, so a guest who only has a mobile is a problem rather than a minor adjustment. Desktop browsers are the reliable route.
It is a smaller platform, which shows up as fewer tutorials, fewer integrations and a thinner community when something goes wrong mid-session. That is a cost that appears nowhere on the rate card.
The interface asks more of a beginner than the all-in-one tools do, because it assumes you know what to do with multitrack WAV files. Someone who wants a finished episode handed to them is better served elsewhere.
Our pricing evidence is from 15 June 2026 and four months old. Hour allowances and overage rates on a small vendor are exactly the figures most likely to have moved, so read the current page before you plan a budget around these numbers.
How Iris compares
The three tools below are the ones weighed against Iris, and the axis is source-file quality against breadth and hour limits. Each price is that vendor's own published rate with the date we checked it, and those dates are not the same. The full field sits in the podcast recording software category.
| Tool | Best for | Price | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | Clean source files on a small monthly recording load | Free 1 hour, $9/mo for 2 hours (June 2026) | Hour caps, $5 an hour overage, no editing |
| Riverside | Recording plus editing and clips in one platform | Free, $29/mo Pro (October 2026) | More tool than a quality-focused recordist needs |
| Remotely.fm | Having the episode mixed for you automatically | $19/mo Audio, $35/mo Audio + Video (June 2026) | No free plan to test with |
| Squadcast | Dependable multitrack with a producer workflow | Free, $20/mo Hobbyist (June 2026) | Hour caps on the lower tiers too |
What to test on the Iris free hour
The free plan carried one recording hour a month at full quality on our 15 June 2026 check, with no credit card recorded. That is one real episode. Confirm the allowance first, because our figures are four months old.
- Check the current free allowance, the tier hours and the overage rate on iris.fm. Our June 2026 figures are the oldest thing on this page.
- Record one full episode inside the free hour and download the WAV files. The source quality is the entire reason to consider Iris.
- Read the transcript that comes with it. Transcription on every tier is part of the value, so test it on your own accents and vocabulary.
- Have a guest join from the device they would use in practice. Mobile video support is the known weak point.
- Add up your recorded hours across a normal month, including the takes you throw away. Two hours was $9 and five hours was $19 on our check.
- Work out whether overage or the next tier is cheaper for you. Two extra hours on Starter at $5 each is $19, the same as the five-hour Standard plan.
- If you want editing in the same subscription, price Riverside at $29 a month on Pro, verified 1 October 2026, before you buy two tools. The cost calculators will total either route.
Iris questions buyers ask
How much does Iris cost per month?
Our check of iris.fm on 15 June 2026 recorded three paid plans metered by recording hours: Starter at $9/month for 2 hours, Standard at $19/month for 5 hours and Pro at $29/month for 10 hours. Extra hours were $5 each on the lower plans, which is above the in-plan rate. Annual billing saved 10%, so Starter came to $8.10 a month by our own division. A free plan carried 1 hour of recording a month. All plans included the same recording quality and features, with only the hour allocation differing. That check is four months old.
Does Iris have a free plan?
Yes. Iris offers a free plan with 1 hour of recording per month at full quality: 48 kHz WAV audio, 4K video, multitrack recording, and transcription included. No credit card is required. It's enough to record one complete episode and evaluate whether Iris fits your workflow before committing to a paid plan.
Who is Iris best for?
Iris is best for quality-focused podcasters who record 2-10 hours per month and want the cleanest possible audio and video source files. It's ideal for interview shows, co-hosted podcasts, and anyone who edits in a separate DAW. It's not the best fit for high-volume producers or beginners who want an all-in-one recording-to-publishing tool.
Iris vs Riverside: which is better for podcasting?
Iris offers comparable or slightly better raw recording quality (48 kHz lossless WAV, 4K video) and includes free transcription. Riverside offers built-in editing, AI clip generation, and more recording hours on comparable plans. Choose Iris if raw recording quality is your priority and you edit externally. Choose Riverside if you want recording and editing in one platform.
Does Iris include transcription?
Yes. Every Iris recording is automatically transcribed at no additional cost on all plans, including the free plan. Transcripts are generated for every participant in every recording. Quality is good for English content and decent for other languages, though accuracy drops with heavy accents, overlapping speech, or technical terminology.
Can I record a video podcast with Iris?
Yes. Iris records video at up to 4K resolution with separate video tracks for each participant, directly in the browser. Video files are exported as MP4. However, video recording has limited support on iPhones, iPads, and some Android devices. For the most reliable video recording experience, maintain all participants join from a desktop or laptop browser.
What audio formats does Iris export?
Iris exports audio in two formats: WAV (lossless, 48 kHz) and MP3 (compressed, optimized file size). Each participant gets their own separate audio file for independent editing. For the best post-production results, always download the WAV files and compress to your preferred format after editing.
Can my team access recordings in Iris?
Yes. All paid plans let you add team members to your workspace. Team members can access recordings, manage sessions, and collaborate on production. This is useful for shows with a dedicated producer or editor. However, there are no role-based permission levels: all team members have equal access.
Is Iris worth the money compared to free alternatives?
If recording quality is your top priority, yes. Iris's 48 kHz lossless audio and 4K video outperform what you get from Zencastr's free plan or Cleanfeed's free tier. But if you record more than 5 hours monthly, the costs add up quickly compared to Riverside's flat-rate plans. Iris is worth it for podcasters who record less but demand the best source files.
Can I cancel Iris anytime?
Yes. Monthly plans can be cancelled anytime and stop at the end of the current billing period. Annual plans continue through the prepaid year. Download your recordings before cancelling, as access to stored files may be restricted after your subscription ends. Unused recording hours do not carry over between months.