Yes, Podcastle has a free plan, but it looks different now. Podcastle.ai loads as Async, and its pricing page lists a Free plan with 10 AI credits and 1 hour of media minutes for AI chat, both as lifetime allowances rather than monthly ones. The paid plans, Essentials, Pro and Teams, add monthly credit allowances.
If you remember Podcastle as a podcast recording and editing app, the site has moved on. The home page now describes an AI video editor you control by chatting, with podcast recording still in the tool list. Here's what the free plan gives you and how far the credits go, from the pricing and home pages at podcastle.ai, checked as of October 2026.
Podcastle (Async) plans at a glance
| Plan | AI credits | Media minutes for AI chat |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 10 (lifetime) | 1 hour (lifetime) |
| Essentials | 450 a month | Unlimited |
| Pro (most popular) | 1,200 a month | Unlimited |
| Teams | 3,000 a month | Unlimited |
| Business | Custom | Unlimited |
The plan prices on the pricing page didn't come through in the page as fetched, because they load with the page's scripts, so check the figure on screen before you pay. Every plan, including Free, lists chat-based video editing, which the page calls Bumblebee.
The catch: free credits are lifetime, not monthly
This is what most people miss. The free plan's 10 credits and 1 hour of media minutes are marked lifetime. They don't refresh each month. Use them up and you'll need a paid plan or a top-up pack to keep using the AI features.
There's a second detail in the small print. The pricing page says a plan's full credits are activated after the trial payment is done, and until then you'll have 50 credits. So if you start a trial expecting 1,200 credits on day one, you won't see them straight away.
How far 10 credits go
Every AI feature is priced in credits, depending on the model. These are some of the costs on the pricing page:
| Task | Credits |
|---|---|
| GPT Image 2 Medium image | 1 per image |
| Nano Banana 2 image | 2 per image |
| Veo 3.1 Fast video (720 to 1080p) | 12 per 4 seconds |
| Veo 3.1 video (720 to 1080p) | 24 per 4 seconds |
| HeyGen Avatar 4 | 3 per second |
| Topaz video upscale up to 1080p | 1 per second |
Credits are also charged differently by model and resolution. The same Veo 3.1 clip costs 24 credits per 4 seconds at 720 to 1080p and 47 at 4K, and Nano Banana 2 images cost 2 credits, or 5 at 4K. Higher quality burns through an allowance fast, so match the resolution to where the video will be watched.
Do the maths and the free plan is a taster. Ten credits covers a handful of images, but not a single four-second Veo 3.1 Fast clip. If you mainly want to edit a podcast or record an episode, try that first before you spend credits on generation.
What you can do on Podcastle (Async)
- Remove filler words, pauses, repeats and bad takes without scrubbing the timeline.
- Clean up background noise and voices with Magic Dust.
- Add subtitles, fix line breaks and keep captions in sync.
- Turn long videos, podcasts and webinars into short clips for TikTok, Reels, Shorts or LinkedIn.
- Dub videos with AI voices and lip sync.
- Generate B-roll, visuals, music or sound effects inside the chat.
- Save your editing style as a reusable skill.
The home page also lists a Recording Studio, Text to Speech, Voice Cloning and an Audio Enhancer among its tools, so the podcast features people came for are still there.
Who it suits
The home page FAQ is clear about the audience. It says you don't need any editing experience: you start with an idea, a prompt, uploaded media or a ready-made workflow, and the AI tools help turn it into a finished video. It also says it's built for both creators and teams, with collaborative workflows and brand consistency for teams scaling content.
There's a templates library too, aimed at creators and small businesses: aesthetic reels, quote videos, fashion lookbooks and brand intros, all customised through chat. And for anyone selling abroad, the FAQ says the subtitles and dubbing tools can translate content and create versions in other languages with multilingual AI voices, without rebuilding each project from scratch.
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How to start on the free plan
- Go to podcastle.ai and choose Edit for free or the Free plan.
- Upload a short recording first so you don't burn your 1 hour of lifetime media minutes on a long file.
- Try the editing features, noise clean-up and subtitles before anything that costs credits.
- If you test generation, pick a cheap model such as a 1-credit image.
- Decide on a paid plan only once you know which features you'll use every month.
Is Podcastle worth paying for?
If you make video podcasts or repurpose long recordings into clips every week, a monthly credit allowance makes sense, and the chat editing is a real time saver. If you just record audio, compare it with simpler tools first. My list of video podcast software and my roundup of AI podcast generators cover the alternatives, and Descript vs Riverside compares two of the biggest rivals.
My verdict
Podcastle is free to try, but the free plan is a sample, not a working plan: 10 lifetime credits and 1 hour of media minutes go quickly. Use them to test the editing and clean-up, then choose a paid plan by how many credits a month your real workload needs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Podcastle free?
Yes. The pricing page lists a Free plan with 10 AI credits and 1 hour of media minutes, both lifetime allowances.
Is Podcastle now called Async?
The podcastle.ai website now loads as Async, an AI video editor, with podcast tools still in its tool list.
How many credits does Podcastle Pro include?
The pricing page lists 1,200 AI credits a month on Pro and 450 a month on Essentials.
Do Podcastle free credits reset every month?
No. The free plan's 10 credits and 1 hour of media minutes are marked lifetime.
Why does a trial show only 50 credits?
The pricing page says full credits are activated after the trial payment is done, and until then you'll have 50 credits.
Can I remove background noise on Podcastle?
Yes. The home page says Magic Dust removes background noise and makes voices clearer.
