Auphonic: Two Free Hours of Grown-Up Audio Cleanup
Auphonic is the most professional free tier on this site: upload a recording and its automated post-production chain handles noise reduction, level balancing between speakers, and broadcast loudness in one pass — the boring, correct engineering podcasts actually need. The free allowance is 2 processed hours per month with the full algorithm set. Two fine-print items from Auphonic's own pricing page: unused free hours don't accumulate, and free productions are marked with an Auphonic jingle — so listen to your first export before publishing anything.
Quoted in the currency Auphonic publishes. Credit packs are priced separately and do not expire.
Free vs paid
| Free | Paid | |
|---|---|---|
| Processed audio | 2 hrs/month | From €10/mo billed yearly (€12 monthly) for 9 hrs (S) up to XXL; one-time credit packs from 5 hrs that never expire |
| Algorithms (denoise, leveler, loudness) | All included | All included |
| Rollover | Monthly hours reset | One-time credits keep |
| Free-production marking | Auphonic jingle (per their pricing page) | Clean |
| Billing quirks worth knowing | 3-minute minimum per production; re-editing the same input isn't recharged; failed runs don't consume credits | |
How it holds up
From Auphonic's documentation — this is a fourteen-year-old service with unusually transparent docs:
For podcast episodes and interviews: the target use, and where it shines. The value isn't one spectacular algorithm — it's the chain: denoise plus per-speaker levelling plus loudness normalisation to platform standards, decisions most hobbyists get wrong by hand. Its noise reduction also lets you choose whether to treat only static noise or faster-changing noise, and whether music should survive.
For quick one-off cleanups: workable but heavyweight — the upload-configure-download loop is built for episodes, not voice memos. Simpler web tools feel faster for a 90-second file (and mind the 3-minute billing minimum).
What to check on your own audio: whether the jingle marking on free productions is acceptable for your use; how its noise reduction compares to Adobe Enhance on your voice (Auphonic subtracts, Adobe rebuilds — they fail in opposite directions); and whether 2 hours actually covers your month.
Running your first production
- Create a free account at auphonic.com.
- Click New Production and upload your file.
- Enable Noise and Hum Reduction (Auto is a sane start) and leave Adaptive Leveler and loudness target on.
- Start the production, then listen to the result next to your original — including how the free-tier marking sounds.
- Download, and note your remaining free hours on the dashboard.
When you'll outgrow it
- You publish more than ~2 hours monthly — the direct wall. €12 a month (€10 billed yearly) buys 9 hours; occasional producers do better with the never-expiring one-time credit packs.
- The jingle marking doesn't fit your output — paid removes it.
- Your problem is live calls — wrong tool family entirely; see the desktop options.
Paid hours from €10 a month — or credits that never expire
Regular publishers fit the 9-hour S plan (€10 a month billed yearly, €12 month to month); bursty schedules do better with one-time credit packs that keep forever. Both drop the free tier's jingle marking.
See Auphonic pricing When paying starts to make sense →What two free hours a month actually covers
Auphonic's meter is monthly, not daily — which changes the strategy completely from Enhance's. Two hours covers: a weekly show of 25–30 minute episodes with nothing to spare, a fortnightly hour-long show comfortably, or one long interview plus change. The hours don't roll over, so an unused month is a spent month — batch your processing near month-end if your schedule is lumpy.
Auphonic vs Enhance: polish vs rescue
They look like rivals and mostly aren't. Adobe's Enhance is a rescue tool — it rebuilds damaged speech, dramatically, and gives you an hour a day to do it. Auphonic is a finishing tool: loudness normalization to podcast standards, leveling between voices, and noise reduction that's deliberately gentler than a rebuild. Feed a genuinely wrecked recording to Auphonic and you'll wish you'd used Enhance; feed a decent recording to Enhance and you may get an over-polished sheen where Auphonic would have delivered broadcast-ready. Damaged audio → Enhance first. Decent audio that needs to sound professional → Auphonic. Both free lanes are compared head-to-head in the online noise removers roundup.
Quick questions
Do unused free hours carry over to next month?
No — the 2 free hours reset monthly and don't accumulate. If your production schedule is bursty, Auphonic's one-time credit packs (which never expire) fit better than the subscription.
Is Auphonic's free tier feature-limited?
No — that's its distinguishing move. You get the full algorithm chain on free; the tier is limited by hours (and the production marking), not by capability. It's a genuine test of the real product.
Auphonic or Adobe Podcast Enhance?
Different philosophies: Auphonic subtracts noise and engineers levels while keeping your voice yours; Adobe rebuilds the speech and can sound more transformed — sometimes better, sometimes artificial. Run the same rough file through both free tiers and trust your ears.