Most podcasters are looking forward to upgrading their home-recording space to an actual professional video podcast studio. And most touring brands have no idea how much they should be paying for that.
The first thing you notice when walking into a properly treated studio is the engineer sitting right next to your gear. That’s because this isn’t just a studio – it’s also a camera setup designed to make sure you’re ready to film. And where it used to take 9 hours to record your podcast, now it’ll only take 3. But here’s the problem – getting a good recording is only half the battle. Getting something watchable is another whole process.
Here’s a complete, US-based list of Podcast Studios you can rent in 2026 along with their Hourly rental costs and city-specific recommendations, questions to ask prior to renting these spaces and the potential “post production” gap that could gobble up 50% or more of the value of high-priced studio rentals.
24 of the Best Podcast Studios in the United States: Finding the Right Podcast Recording Studio
Below is a comprehensive list of active Podcast Studios with confirmed prices through early 2026. Rental prices will vary so please visit each studio’s website prior to booking:
|
City |
Studio |
Price/hour |
Good for |
|
Tribeca, New York City |
Laughing Man Studios |
$150/hr |
Video setups for Engineer-included projects |
|
Hudson Square, NYC |
Six+One studios |
$199/hr |
High-End video podcasts |
|
Midtown NYC |
Gotham Production Studios |
Prices vary |
Transit-accessible, Three rooms available |
|
Ridgewood, NY |
Blitz Club Studios |
$35/hr + |
Low-cost audio and video |
|
NYC |
SHMONG TV |
Customized quote |
Multi-camera shoots with same day edits 24-48 hours |
|
NYC |
Murray Hill Studios |
Prices vary |
Well-established Engineer-run studio |
|
DUMBO, Brooklyn NY |
Wolff Island studios |
Customized quote |
Boutique Multi-set studio |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
A4s Podcast Studios |
$125/hr |
Fully-equipped LA flagship studio |
|
Pasadena / Los Angeles, CA |
PodLab Studios |
$59/hr |
State-of-the-art affordable option |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
Studio+ |
$90/hr |
Middle-tier video podcasts |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
Quest Pacifica |
Customized quote |
Complete End-to-End production including motion graphics |
|
San Francisco / Bay Area, CA |
BAVC media |
Starting @ $70/hr |
Recording with multiple tracks and on-site Engineer |
|
Chicago, IL |
Mediaburn |
$125/hr |
Friendly Storytelling environment |
|
Chicago, IL |
Catalyst Ranch |
Customized quote |
Panels with creative teams |
|
Austin, TX |
Brushy Creek Studios |
$90/hr |
One-on-one and two-host recordings |
|
Austin, TX |
The Pod Mill |
$120/hr |
Texas branding opportunities |
|
Nashville, TN |
The Nashville Podcast Studio |
$150/hr |
Music savvy engineers |
|
Nashville, TN |
OmniMedia |
Customized quote |
Multi-camera shoots with control room |
|
Atlanta, GA |
Atlanta podcast studio |
$95/hr |
Brand shows targeting Southeast region |
|
Atlanta, GA |
EchoLab ATL |
Customized quote |
Live audiences with shoot options |
|
Miami |
Miami Pod Studio |
$120/hr |
Bilingual shows; hosts and guests recording in English and Spanish. |
|
Miami |
The Box Miami |
Custom |
Multi-camera shoots with a full lighting package and a dressed set. |
|
DC |
DC Podcast Hub |
$110/hr |
Policy and government shows; catering can be arranged for guest sessions. |
|
Mobile/national |
Regular Guy Creative |
Custom ($300 for a six-hour shoot) |
A mobile rig brought to your office or venue; no studio travel required. |
National rates for pricing of video podcast studios in 2026 are within a $30 – $200 + an hour price range; the middle market or useful video podcast studio rentals can be found between $90 and $200 per Flexwork Studios’ Rate Analysis. The average hourly cost in Manhattan is $125; however premium rooms can reach as high as $199 – $286 per Tagvenue and Peerspace. For serious hosts filming a professional podcast, renting spaces with broadcast-grade recording equipment and low-noise audio interfaces gives independent audio creators the acoustic foundation needed to compete with established networks.
Top Studios in NYC and Downtown LA: Comparing Rates for Hourly Rentals and Watch Out for Extra Fees
New York City is the largest market in the United States, and the most uneven — the range between a purpose-built podcast room and a repurposed rehearsal space is wider here than anywhere else. Some useful search parameters include asking if the room was specifically built for podcasting; asking if an engineer will be provided during the session; and asking what kind of multi camera coverage will be available. What is the cost? Is that covered under the base price? Is this going to cost extra? This will help you make informed decisions when choosing your studio.
Laughing Man Studios (TriBeCa)
Cost: $150 per hour with a two hour minimum. The space is completely sound proof. There is a resident engineer. Four cameras, with 4K capture available for an extra $50 an hour. Four guest capacity.
Six+One Studios (Hudson Square)
Cost: $199 per hour. Podcastrental.com offers Six+One Studios. Six plus one has premium equipment and a modern set design.
Gotham Productions Studios (MidTown)
Three studios near the Port Authority. Gotham has operated since 2006. One commenter on the NYC studios thread called it “the highest rated and largest studio in NYC” — treat the superlative as one user’s view rather than a verified ranking.
Blitz Club Studios (Ridgewood)
Cost: From $35 per hour. Blitz Club Studios has the lowest rate for professional studios in the greater metropolitan area. A posting from Alan L states “chill space. bring yourself, your crew and your knowledge and you can record to your hearts content.”
SHMONG
Multi camera production with cinematic lighting and 24-48 hours of turn-around time for post production. SHMONG is one of the only studios that includes post-production services as part of their package. Per SHMONG, “We offer a complete solution for creating high-quality podcasts.”
Wolff Island Studios (DUMBO)
From u/KB131220: “It’s full service, has several different sets, the studio itself has a great vibe and everyone who works there is very laid back”
There are some red flags associated with booking a studio. One r/podcasting commenter warned about add-on fees at a studio she had booked: “a ton of add-on fees… they want an additional fee to get the raw files, which doesn’t make any sense to me.” Always ask whether the raw multitrack is included before you sign.
The top studios in Los Angeles (Hollywood, West LA, Downtown LA) are split among Hollywood-area video-focused rooms and DTLA / pasadena-based value studios.
A4s Podcast Studios: $125/hour per www.podcastrentals.com; branded as “top-rated LA podcast studio (full service)”. An engineer is provided with most bookings.
Pod lab studios (l.a./pasadena): $59/hour. This is the least expensive legitimate podcasting room available to individual hosts looking for a well-appointed room without the need for a full multi-camera rig.
Studio+: $90/hour. A solid middle-of-the-road video podcast studio for hosts transitioning from home recording to professional studio environments.
Quest Pacifica: an End-to-End facility including green rooms, make-up rooms, large set stages and complete post production services (mixing, motion graphics and publishing) based on www.questpacifica.com/podcasts.htm. More costly; the final product is delivered ready to air.
If you have to book in multiple locations across different cities while running your touring show, consider renting two days at one location instead of splitting the two cities. Setting up takes about an hour each time you move to a new studio.
Top studios in Chicago, Austin, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami
Secondary market studios: secondary markets consist of small, independent businesses. They offer lower prices and quicker turnaround times, often at the expense of having less than multi camera capabilities.
Chicago: mediaburn ($125/hour) and Catalyst Ranch (custom).
Austin: Brushy Creek Studios ($90/hour) for two person shows; The Pod Mill ($120/hour) for brand focused productions using multiple cameras. These studios sell out quickly around South by Southwest.
Nashville: The Nashville Podcast Studio ($150/hour) and OmniMedia. All engineers in this area come from a musical background, providing superior gain staging compared to other video based studios.
Atlanta: Atlanta podcast studio ($95/hour) and EchoLab ATL.
Miami: miami pod studio ($120/hour) and The Box Miami. Both provide bilingual productions.
For those who cannot afford to be committed to any single city while hosting podcasts, Regular Guy Creative offers a mobile studio with a full array of equipment to use at your own offices. It is billed as a block rather than by the hour and requires advance notice, however it eliminates the need for travel and allows the ability to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
What to look for when choosing a podcast studio
Beyond what appears on the studio’s marketing materials there are five critical factors that determine whether the recording works.
Proper acoustic treatment of the recording room. Thick walls alone do not qualify as properly soundproofed. In addition to being thick enough to prevent sound leaks, the room should also include treated acoustic absorption panels placed near the first reflection point of sound waves and a treated ceiling. Un-treated rooms typically result in a recording that sounds like a hotel conference room. This is difficult or impossible to correct in post-production.
An on-site engineer, not just someone who can be called in. Having a live control room with a resident engineer provides immediate identification and correction of technical issues during the actual recording session. Check if the engineer is included in the initial rental fee or if they charge extra for their services.
Three cameras minimum with proper lighting. While three cameras minimum (two host cameras, one wide angle) and a lighting package that does not create unwanted forehead highlights may seem basic requirements for a video podcast, these are the absolute bare minimums necessary. Additionally, the studio should also have an experienced operator who can either switch live between all angles or capture all angles for later use in editing.
Raw file delivery included in rental fee. If raw files must be purchased separately after the initial rental, consider adding these costs when comparing options. Some studios add $100-$200 worth of raw-file charges that are not initially disclosed in the quoted hourly rate.
Specific equipment list including microphones. Commonly used microphones include the Shure SM7B, Electro-Voice RE20 and Sennheiser MKH 416. While some studios advertise their “pro-grade microphones”, if they only list condenser mics for a podcast studio, question them as to why.
Comparison of recording studios (video ready vs. Audio only)
Studio rates vary widely. Rates for pure audio recording range between $25 and $150 per hour. Pure audio recording studios typically are fully sound-proofed, equipped with professional microphones and/or digital consoles. These types of recording studios are ideal for interviews with no video component.
Rates for video ready studios can cost between $75 and $300+ per hour. In addition to being fully sound-proofed and having professional quality microphones, these recording studios also come equipped with multi-camera capabilities, a control room for engineers and lighting. Video ready studios often times offer video editing capabilities as well.
Before selecting which type of recording studio to use, find out whether the studio regularly records video podcasts or simply offers it as an option for live streaming. A studio that regularly records video podcast episodes is likely going to have better overall quality due to consistent color for their cameras, better quality lighting and a professional audio engineer that views both video and audio equally important.
Skip the studio altogether? Check out this DIY recording set up guide and compare it to a studio-grade gear list.
Studio Pricing benchmarks (hourly & half day/full day)
There are three levels of podcast recording studio operating today.
Tier 1: pure audio recording (entry level). This tier of recording studios charges approximately $25-$50/hour (solo creators-no engineer).
Tier 2: professional quality equipment-multi-camera (mid-tier). This tier of recording studios charges approximately $75-$150/hour (interview style shows, video as add-on)
Tier 3: multi-camera + on-site engineer (premium). This tier of recording studios charges approximately $150-$300+/hour (branded content, panel discussions).
Half day blocks: 80-90% of hourly rate; full days: 70-80%
Batch booking is the cheap way for hosts that produce weekly episodes. Record four episodes in one session-pay one setup fee-save two hours per episode.
Gear, engineer, Deliverables
In addition to getting written answers to your questions about what’s included in the hourly rate (engineer-gear-raw files-basic editing), cancellation window/fee, max guest capacity for room, BYOM policy (bring your own microphone), raw multitrack file format (separate WAV per speaker plus separate MP4 per camera), get answers in writing regarding delivery turnaround time.
Deliverables is the question that will bite unprepared bookers. If a studio gives you a single mixed down stereo file, they have destroyed your ability to fix a coughing guest in post. Always require separate stems of audio & video per speaker.
The post production gap: why having only clean recording time is not enough
Although a clean recording is approximately 30% of completing a finished video podcast, the other 70% is editing, mixing, color matching across cameras, captions, intro/outro insertion, vertical clip creation and platform exports. However, the base studio rental rates rarely include any of those additional services. The ones that do are generally at higher tiers (Quest Pacifica-SHMONG TV-BAVC).
As seen with brand teams at Vidpros: pay $1,500 for a half-day at a premium NYC studio, then ship a 55-minute single-cam video three weeks later because no one on the marketing team knows how to cut multicam in Premiere. That studio investment was wasted.
The post-production layer(Vidpros): exists because we would rather take the studio’s clean multitrack and ship a finished episode than watch another premium recording die in someone’s Dropbox.
Partnering an editing service with a studio recording session
Clean hand off: studio engineer provides separate WAV files per speaker plus MP4 per camera plus live mix reference as output from their recording software. Editor cuts to picture, mixes, colors matches all cameras, adds intro/outro clips generates all necessary short form videos and ships completed episode plus shorts within 5 business days.
Math works out for weekly shows @ $400-$1200/episode for editing on top of $1000-$2500 in studio time. Much more reliable than hiring an in-house editor; less expensive than doing it yourself every week.
Strategies for Touring and multi city booking sessions
Touring hosts operating in 2026 typically follow one or more of the following patterns:
Anchor city + remote guests (one studio for host – Riverside or SquadCast for guests),
Two city batch (two days every other month at one studio in city a, then city b),
Mobile rig (hire Regular Guy Creative to bring studio to you for one off events).
If you’re going to be traveling to different cities each week and recording at a new studio each week – plan extra time per venue for set up issues that can arise such as mic placement gain staging color match between cameras etc.
Our top rated podcasts recorded at best studios roundup showcases several examples of good production styles worth studying. If you are looking to hire an in-house facility for your network-owned shows, network owned facilities covers Pushkin, NPR, SiriusXM and other large-scale networks that operate their own studios but also offer them for outside use.
FAQs
Do I need to use my own microphone when I record?
Most studios will use professional microphones. If you would like to use your own microphone that is okay as well; just let them know ahead of time.
Is there a difference between an audio recording studio versus a podcast studio?
A podcast studio has been built specifically for spoken word and is ideal for multi-host conversations. It includes a “treated” recording space, a boom mic system which allows multiple microphones, and video friendly lighting. The control room is also designed to be centered around dialogue.
Are there options for booking a podcast studio for less than a full day?
Yes many podcast studios can be booked for half days. Typically they are available by the hour or 4 hours for a lower hourly fee than booking for an entire day.
Does the studio include any editing?
Some studios do include some level of editing, including SHMONG TV, Quest Pacifica and BAVC. However, this is typically minimal editing. As such, you will likely want to plan separately for your post production needs.
How much advance notice is required when trying to book a podcast studio?
Two to four weeks in advance for popular podcast studios located in major cities (such as NYC and LA). Less time may be needed when booking in smaller markets.
The worst case scenario when renting out a high quality podcast studio is that everything goes perfectly during the recording process and yet the episode never makes it into circulation due to a broken editing pipeline. At Vidpros we will edit your clean multitrack recordings regardless of where you recorded them on a flat monthly basis. Simply send us a sample session and we will give you the first one free.
*Sources: Tagvenue NYC pricing index; Peerspace listings; Podcastrental.com directory; Flexwork Studios rental rate research; SHMONG TV services page; Quest Pacifica podcast services; BAVC Media production page; r/podcasting on Reddit. Prices were confirmed at the start of 2026; prices change. Verify prices with each studio prior to booking.
