Cleanvoice vs Zencastr Comparison 2026
Zencastr records each guest locally on their own machine, so a dropped connection ruins the monitor and not the file, with a free tier for a first show and $24 a month above it. Cleanvoice takes whatever recording you already have, from Zencastr or anywhere else, and strips the ums, mouth sounds and dead air automatically for $11 a month per ten hours. They are not really rivals: one records the conversation, the other cleans it up afterward.
Filler words and mouth sounds removed
Remote recording with a local track each side
At a glance
- Cleanvoice starts cheaper, at $11.
- Only Zencastr has a free tier.
Side by side
Cleanvoice | Zencastr | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $11 | From $24 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free trial, then paid | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API |
Cleanvoice
Filler words and mouth sounds removed
Cleanvoice takes a finished recording and strips out the parts nobody wants to hear: filler words, mouth sounds, breaths and dead air. It handles video podcasts as well as audio and hands back a timeline export you can drop into whatever you edit in. Billing counts hours of audio processed rather than seats, so an occasional show is cheap to run. Credits bought outright stay valid for two years.
Our note
Buying by the hour rather than by the seat is the right shape for a fortnightly show, and it is why this beats a general editor's subscription for that use. Descript is the better buy if you want to edit the words as well as clean them.
Zencastr
Remote recording with a local track each side
Zencastr records each guest on their own machine and uploads the file afterwards, so a bad connection ruins the live monitor rather than the recording. That is the whole reason to use a tool like this instead of a call recorder. Video is recorded the same way. Editing, transcription and distribution sit on top, which means a short interview show can start and finish in one place rather than moving files between four tools.
Why people weigh these two
- Zencastr instead of Cleanvoice
- Zencastr records each remote guest on a clean local track, which cuts down what needs fixing after; it has a free tier and paid plans from $24, against Cleanvoice's no free tier at $11.
- Cleanvoice instead of Zencastr
- Cleanvoice removes filler words and mouth sounds at $11.
Which one should you pick
Buy Zencastr if remote guests who are not technical need to join a session with nothing to install, and a bad connection should not cost you the recording. The free tier covers a first show, and paid plans start at $24 a month, moving up by recording hours, transcription and how many people can join a session.
Add Cleanvoice once the recordings exist and editing them is the part eating your week. Ten hours of automatic cleanup a month costs $11, cheaper than paying an editor to do the same pass by hand. A show that records inside a full DAW already, without Zencastr, can still send its files to Cleanvoice afterward, since it works on audio from anywhere.
Common questions
- Do Zencastr and Cleanvoice do the same job?
- No. Zencastr records a conversation, with each guest captured locally so a bad connection does not ruin the file. Cleanvoice takes a recording that already exists, from Zencastr or anywhere else, and removes filler words and dead air from it.
- Can I use Cleanvoice on a file recorded in Zencastr?
- Yes. Cleanvoice accepts any finished recording and hands back a cleaned timeline export, so a Zencastr session is exactly the kind of file it is built to process.
- Which one has a free plan?
- Zencastr does, covering a first show before the paid tiers begin at $24 a month. Cleanvoice has no free tier, only a trial that does not require a card.
- Does Zencastr clean up filler words and mouth sounds?
- No, Zencastr's job is capturing a reliable local recording from each guest along with transcription. Removing ums, breaths and dead air is what Cleanvoice does afterward, billed separately by the hour.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.