Iris.fm vs OpenStudio

Iris.fm records remote podcast interviews in a browser, capturing each participant locally and delivering separate audio and video files for editing. Live captions appear during a session and are saved with the recording, while progressive uploads back up the session as it proceeds. Guests join through a browser link without installing an app or creating an Iris account. Rooms support host, producer, and guest roles with device controls and up to nine people recording at once. The service supports desktop and laptop browsers as well as iPhone and Android, with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge listed. Users can create a branded studio with a custom URL. Paid plans include Google Drive and Dropbox uploads, and recording hours are counted by total session time rather than multiplied by participant count. Starter costs $9 a month and includes two recording hours; Pro costs $19 a month and includes five, while Studio costs $29 a month and includes ten. Iris operates its services in the United States, where information from users elsewhere is transferred, stored, and processed.

OpenStudio is a free, self-hosted virtual broadcast studio for live call-in shows, multi-host podcasts, and community radio. It runs through web, API, and self-hosted deployments. Browser sessions use peer-to-peer WebRTC mesh audio with mix-minus monitoring for around 15 participants. Operators can send programs through Icecast to unlimited listeners on their own domain. The browser records separate voice tracks and a program mix, exporting WAV or WebM; MP3 export requires ffmpeg. Optional on-device tools add whisper.cpp transcription, audio cleaning, and LLM-generated show notes. Show notes can connect to OpenAI-compatible endpoints, including LM Studio, Ollama, OpenAI, Together AI, and Groq; Anthropic needs a compatibility shim. Self-hosted broadcasts have unlimited airtime, while the live demo expires after 15 minutes. Setup uses git clone, npm install, and npm start, opening localhost:6736. Hosts currently share room URLs manually because invite-link creation is not exposed.