Updated 12.17.2025
These are the SaaS products, plugins and hosting, gear and other stuff that I use and recommend on both OpenChannels.fm and here at BobWP. And yes, a very few of these are affiliate links.
What keeps my site humming
- Activity Pub – my way of getting connected to the Fediverse. Decentralization all the way!
- Akismet – I don’t like SPAM as much as the next person. This one has always helped.
- Block Visibility – one of those WordPress plugins that does one thing good
- Castos (podcast hosting) – not sure when I started using them for our podcast hosting, but I have never regretted it.
- Gutenberg – I use it. I am still a fan.
- Hover (domains and emails) – it just works
- Jetpack – again has been on my WordPress sites as long as I can remember. And now they are À la carte
- User Role Editor – one of my long-standing plugins
- WordPress – what can I say. Been using the CMS WordPress on all my sites since 2006
- WordPress.com (hosting for both sites + domains) – Never regretted putting both OpenChannels.fm and this site there.
Podcast Recording and Production
- Auphonic – A long-time tool I use at the very end of my production workflow for leveling out the audio. Best tool I have found to do this.
- Castmagic – An amazing AI tool for podcasters. Drop your audio in. Get a transcript and generate all kinds of content you can use to create your show notes, post content, social and other blog posts. Unlimited uses for repurposing.
- Riverside.fm – I use this platform for all my remote recording of podcasts. Have found their quality in recordings is absolutely great.
Scheduling and Organization
- ClickUP – This is where I manage it all. I don’t use it in the regular way a team might, but have been able to fine-tune if for my podcasting, ideas and personal stuff.
- CoSchedule – This has been the one social sharing platform that I have found the most useful for several years.
- NetWireNews – The best and simplest RSS reader around. And it’s open source.
- SavvyCal – Back and forth on calendars. No calendar is perfect for the kind of scheduling I need to do on our podcast, but after testing things, it’s the closest.
- BackBlaze – After that Mac caught fire so many years ago, well, I learned my lesson.
Podcasting gear
- Elgator Stream Deck – Short cuts. Tap a button. Leave Zoom. Boom. Good stuff.
- Elgato Facecam – Been using this for years, and if you need a video camera, it will do the trick. Also works great with the Elgato Prompter.
- Elgato Wave Mic Arm Pro – Avoid that looming mic arm from above that others cannot unsee when you are on video or in a meeting.
- Elgato Wave XLR – I changed my microphone interface from the Rodecaster Duo to this one for a simpler interface and a smaller footprint which still getting good quality sound.
- Shure Microphone SM7B – When I hit that upgrade with my microphone, I went for this high quality piece of tech. Certainly don’t regret it and it’s still the one I use.
- Rode Wireless Go II Mics and Transmitter – My goto for doing podcasts on the go. (no pun intended)
- Sony ZV-1 Vlog Camera – A nice mix of camera and vlogging although a bit heavier to carry around than some other options out there. I add this here as I use it as my personal camera and if I feel like doing a video. Not so much professionally, but I will never say never.
Podcasting gear and other tech in reserve (which means they have been replaced or not used anymore – all packed into a closet)
- Rode Shotgun Mic NTG5 – Ideal if you need a shotgun mic on the go but you will need an XLR interface.
- Rodecaster Pro – Compared to the Duo Pro, you can have up to four mics on this one. One of the buttons went sideways for me after quite sometime, but I keep it as a backup.
- Rode PodMic – I have a great mic to begin with and I have two stored away which could be used for backup.
- Sennheiser MD 46 Microphone – I have two of these and have used them for on-site recordings at conferences and such. High quality XLR mics that I used with the Zoom PodTrak4. Not exactly super portable but damn good quality.
- Zoom PodTrak P4 interface – My original on the go interface for the mics above. A nice piece of tech that has been around for sometime.
- Elgato Keylights – I bought these when I was doing more video tutorials and recently stored them away. But if you are looking for lights, they do a good job. I have three sizes, including a small one mounted on my Elgato Prompter.
- Rodecaster Duo Pro Interface – my previous XLR interface. Started with the Pro and moved to this one. Has a lot of features that will give the nerdy podcaster a thrill, and is perfect if you do in-studio podcasting with others.
- Rode Mic Arm – Your standard “above” mic arm that I use for my backup mic. It’s much sturdier and stronger than a lot of off brand mic arms.
- Elgato Prompter – I bought this not so much as a prompter, which it’s great for, but a screen where I can meet or record and actually look directly at the person or audience. Over time I found myself using it less and less. The small screen when having a meeting or doing a video just didn’t work for me.
- reMarkable2 – I was fortunate enough to get one of these as swag at CloudFest 2024. Yes, for free. At first tried using it for notes and such but found myself using it less and less.
Other gear and services that I recommend that don’t fit above, have used in the past or simply something that may help you.
- BackBlaze – After that Mac caught fire so many years ago, well, I learned my lesson.
- Rode NT – USB Mini – this is such a great mic for those who are starting and a small footprint for your desk. I have given several of these away at conference raffles and to my podcasting friends.
- Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface – when I got my first XLR microphone I used the Scarlett and is simple yet a solid piece of a podcasters stack.
- Descript – The tool I have used for editing the podcasts. Bit of a learning curve, but once you have it down, it’s sweet.
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