Podcast Maker

Inspiration

As someone with social anxiety, I find it challenging to put my face or voice on camera, even though I have a lot of thoughts and stories I want to share. This internal struggle led me to explore alternatives, and text-to-speech (TTS) technology stood out as an empowering solution. It allows me to communicate my ideas clearly without the pressure of being on screen or speaking live. This personal need inspired me to build a tool that helps others overcome similar barriers and express themselves through podcasting with ease.

What it does

Podcast Maker is a tool that leverages generative AI to assist users in crafting engaging podcast scripts. After generating the script, it converts the text into high-quality audio using a selection of realistic, diverse voices. The process is designed to be simple and fast, enabling users to create professional-sounding podcasts without requiring advanced technical skills or expensive recording equipment. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced podcaster, this tool streamlines the entire workflow—from idea generation to audio production—in just a few clicks.

How we built it

The hackathon gave me the perfect opportunity to finally bring this idea to life. I followed an incremental development approach, building the project step-by-step to ensure functionality at each stage. For the backend, I used Supabase, which I was exploring for the first time; it provided a quick and relatively simple way to manage user data and authentication. We integrated Stripe to handle subscription payments and access control, adding a commercial layer to the project. For the voices, we leveraged ElevenLabs’ advanced TTS technology, which produces natural-sounding speech that enhances the listener’s experience. The combination of these tools allowed us to create a functional prototype in a short timeframe.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest hurdles was implementing the subscription system. My initial attempt didn’t work as planned, leading to bugs and poor user experience. When I rebuilt it, the codebase became cluttered with duplicated logic, which made maintenance difficult. To tackle this, I shifted to a local development environment where I could debug more effectively and clean up the codebase. This restructuring made the project much more manageable and improved stability. Additionally, integrating multiple third-party services like Supabase, Stripe, and ElevenLabs required juggling different APIs and handling edge cases, which was a valuable learning experience.

Accomplishments we're proud of

We’re especially proud of how well the audio clips stitch together to form a cohesive, natural-sounding dialogue. Achieving smooth transitions between generated voice segments is critical for listener engagement, and the results exceeded our expectations. This feature showcases the power of combining generative AI scripting with advanced TTS voices, producing a podcast experience that feels professional without the typical recording hassle. It’s a strong foundation to build on as we continue to refine the user experience and add new capabilities.

What we learned

This project was my first real experience with Supabase, and it taught me a lot about modern backend-as-a-service platforms. While Supabase was easier to set up than building my own backend from scratch, I noticed some reliability issues compared to the system I had developed previously. Managing authentication, data storage, and real-time updates through Supabase was eye-opening and helped me appreciate the trade-offs between speed of development and system control. Overall, this experience expanded my skills in integrating cloud services and working with complex APIs under time pressure.

What’s next for Podcast Maker

Looking ahead, the goal is to commercialize Podcast Maker and make it accessible to a broader audience. We plan to enhance the platform with additional features like more voice options, advanced editing tools, and personalized content generation. Improving the subscription system’s robustness and adding better analytics for creators are also on the roadmap. Ultimately, we want Podcast Maker to empower anyone to create and share high-quality podcasts effortlessly, helping voices like mine—and many others—be heard without barriers.