If you are looking to set up your podcast with a podcast hosting site, you should know that 2021 is the PERFECT time to start and host a podcast show. That’s why we’ve prepared this full guide on the best podcast hosting sites available so you get it right from the start. Picking the best podcast hosting provider will impact your podcasting success as the features of several hosts vary with some excelling with monetization, sharing/distribution, storage, and bandwidth.
If you get the right podcast host, you can make a lot of money as podcasts fetch higher ad revenue compared to blogs or Youtube channels. You can read more on the 8 ways to make money with podcasts and podcast vs other platforms such as Youtube and webinars.
And why is this a great time to get started?
There were 103 million podcast listeners in the US in 2020 and by 2023, that number will increase by 59% to 164 million.
The snapshot below shows the steep growth of podcasting in the US and across the globe.
Starting a podcast isn’t as easy as recording some audio and uploading it to some online sharing platform such as Youtube or iTunes. Before you share the audio that you’ve recorded, your files need to be stored somewhere where people with access to the internet will have access to it. Storing these audio files, therefore, require hosting and that’s what podcast hosting is all about. Let me recap.
Table of Contents
What is Podcast Hosting?
Podcast hosting sites or podcast hosting providers such as Podbean and Buzzsprout provide storage space for you to store your recorded audio files and make it easy for you to distribute the files or podcast episodes through different channels.
If you are a beginner on podcasting, you can start with our basic guides such as:
The table below shows the difference between podcast hosting and web hosting:
| Podcast Hosting | Web Hosting |
|---|---|
| Made of large media files, around 25 MB for a 30-minute audio file recorded at 96 Kbps | Made of small files, a typical web page is only about 1 MB and the content is cached in the browser to make it easy for future visitors to access it |
| Large bandwidth needed for download | Small bandwidth needed |
| Servers need to be able to support multiple downloads simultaneously. Most podcast hosts provide unlimited storage and bandwidth | Most servers can easily support multiple downloads of files simultaneously but most hosts require you to upgrade your hosting plan if you outgrow the starter plan. Only Bluehost offers unlimited bandwith with its shared plan |
| It has built-in Monetization opportunities | No built-in opportunities but you can have ads such as Google Ads or other premium ads once you significant pageviews |
| Optimized, distribution-ready RSS feeds | No distribution-ready RSS feeds |
How Much Does Podcast Hosting Cost?
Podcast hosting can cost you as low as $5 to $50 per month depending on the storage you need for your audio files/podcast episodes and the download bandwidth you want your listeners to have. For example, a cheap $5 podcast hosting plan may allow you to record 5 hours of audio and up to 100 downloads per month with a more expensive plan allowing you more storage and downloads.
Free Podcast Hosting
Are there some Podcast Hosting Sites for Free? A number of podcast hosting providers have a free plan that allows you to create an account and host your audio files with them for free. However, most of these free podcast hosting plans have limitations ranging from the storage space provides, the bandwidth you’re offered and the period of hosting them.
For example, Buzzsprout’s free hosting plan provides 2 hours of free storage per month but the episodes hosted in the free plan get deleted after 90 days. In addition, the free podcast hosting available does not provide you the tools to monetize your podcasts. In fact, ads appearing on your free podcast account is revenue to your podcast host – not yours. You can skip to our four best free podcast hosting providers.
In summary, free podcast hosting may appear appealing since you are not parting with any money but considering the value you get, I highly recommend going for paid plans which we’ll discuss in each of the hosting providers we’ve reviewed below.
Depending on your podcasting needs, choose the hosting plan that you think will be cost-effective so you are not paying for audio space and bandwidth you may not use. We’ll explain below how you can get a podcast hosting account from each of the podcast hosting providers on this list.
How Podcast Hosting Works
Podcast hosting provides storage for audio files and RSS feed for files distribution. When you upload an audio file, your hosting provider will get your show’s details such as the title, and generate your unique feed. This feed will be used by the podcast host to send media files to your subscribers directly every time you upload a new podcast episode.
To summarize, podcast hosting is there to facilitate the storage of audio files and to distribute the media files to subscribers using RSS feed.
The video below has more details on how podcasts work:
How to Choose the Best Podcast Hosting Platform
I have condensed a list of features to look out for as you choose a podcast host and below are the main ones:
- Upload Space/Storage: The storage space allowed by hosting providers will guide you on the amount of space you have to upload your podcast episodes. To give you an idea, a 128Kbps file is about 1MB per minute and this means that you’ll use 60MB for an hour of storage. I recommend going for paid plans that offer unlimited storage space such as Buzzssprout and Podbean.
- Bandwidth/Downloads: Once you upload your podcast episodes, the podcast hosting provider may limit the amount of downloads your listerners can do in a month. We recommend going for podcast hosting provides that do not meter/limit the downloads that your users can have.
- Monetization: Different hosts have different ways that podcasters can monetize their podcasts. Be keen on the resources available for your to monetize your podcast when hosted with any particular hosting sites you are considering. Remember to also take note of the revenue share that your podcast hosting provider keeps when you get paid.
- Podcast Distribution and Embedding: There are over 20 podcast distribution channels such as iTunes, Google Podcasts, Youtube and several others. Before picking a podcast host, check to see if they offer automated distribution of podcasts to other channels to give your episodes a wider audience. In addition, take note of whether a podcast host will allow you to embed your podcast on your website – especially WordPress, Squarespace or Wix.
I am writing this post to assist anyone starting out on the journey to build an audience through podcasts. This post will also assist you to pick the most ideal and perhaps your best podcast hosting platform available in the market.
If you are starting out, you should know that there are a range of options available for you. These are the key available podcast hosting platforms available:
- Free podcast hosting: You can pick the free unlimited podcast options
- Starter podcast hosting: This is mainly for sole podcast entrepreneurs as well as small audiences such as churches with fewer sessions
- Enterprise podcast hosting: If you are a growing agency, a church or have a significant number of listeners, you can pick the enterprise options.
We have spent over 100 hours (combined) comparing the various podcasts hosting plans as we prepared to share our list of best podcast hosting providers available. The main aim of the exercise was to enable anyone with a dream of being successful in podcasting to pick the best hosting platform available.
Below the list below, I have provided detailed reviews of each hosting provider that made to this list.
How We Ranked the Top Podcast Hosting Sites
Below are some of the factors we used to rank these podcasts hosts:
- Storage/upload storage offered by podcast hosting provider per month
- Cost/Price per month,
- Technical support,
- Compliance,
- Monetization,
- Ease of use,
- Marketing features and,
- Integrations with apps
Best Podcast Hosting Providers in 2021: Buzzsprout
After reviewing over 20 podcast hosts available in the market in 2021 and using the 8 ranking factors above, Buzzsprout emerged as the overall best podcast hosting provider in the market in 2021. It ranked better than other popular brands such as Podbean and has won the hearts of several editors including Adam Enfroy who also ranked it top based on his analysis of Buzzsprout’s functionalities.
If you are getting started with podcasting or you’ve been in the industry for a while, this podcast host has a very simple podcast sign-up process and even easier podcast episode recording and listing on different platforms. I’ll go into details on why I picked Buzzsprout later.
Before we go into reviews, I want to answer a common question to give you a good understanding of what Podcast hosting is and how it works.
Benefits of Podcast Hosting
You may be wondering why you need to go for a podcast-specific host and the basic answer is this. With podcast hosting, you get unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth, a feature you can’t get with web hosts unless you want to pay a significant amount. Podcast host servers are also configured to allow simultaneous downloads of large media files.
Aside from the above key reasons, here are more features you can get with podcast-specific host:
- Advanced analytics reports on your listeners,
- Marketing tools to grow your audience,
- Streaming compliance
- Social sharing options,
- 24/7 support, and more.
You should, however, create a website for your podcast (link to my guide on how to start podcast blog. You don’t need to host your podcast files on your website but it can be a great marketing site to allow people to find you. You can easily start a WordPress website/blog and can pick one among these select hosts ideal for podcast websites.
Without further delay, below is the list of the 10 best podcast hosting the made it to our 2021 list.
10 Best Podcast Hosting Sites in 2021
Below is our list of all our best podcast hosting providers:
- BuzzSprout: Easy to Use and Monetize
- PodBean.
- Transistor.
- Simplecast.
- Captivate.
- Spreaker.
- Smart Podcast Player.
- Podcast Websites.
- Audioboom.
- Libsyn
Reviews of the Best Podcast Hosting Providers in 2021
1. Buzzsprout: #1 Pick for Ease of Use & Monetization
Buzzsprout is my top pick podcast hosting provider, specifically because it is the easiest podcast hosting site with advanced monetization and stats features in this 2021 list of best podcast hosting sites. There are several reasons I have recommended hundreds of podcasters since early 2019. 18 months later, it is still my all-time favorite podcast host and in the 18 months I have used it, they’ve continuously upgraded their product to include several cool features.
Buzzsprout has a free plan which offers 2 hours of upload per month and only 90 days of hosting on Buzzsprout’s website. After 90 days, your episodes in the free account gets deleted. I started with this plan but since I could not monetize it (you can’t monetize the free plan), and I was increasing my frequency of episodes, I opted for their cheapest paid plan which goes for $12 per month.
This plan offers 3 hours of upload storage, unlimited storage and listerners can download 20,000 to 40,000 of your episodes per month. I find this pretty decent for my growing podcast and given their advanced stats and monetizatin features, I’d pick Buzzsprout all the time.
It currently boasts of over 100,000 podcasters and in February 2020, it upgraded its stats dashboard and you can easily get insightful data to engage and gauge your podcast success. There is nothing more important than getting helpful advanced statistics that are essentially feedback from your hosting provider as this would enable you to learn and grow fast. I also picked Buzzsprout because of ease of use and would work best for any beginner or pro.
Here are 9 other reasons I picked Buzzsprout as the top host on this list:
- Custom Site: You get your own custom website, similar to this (free plan) or this (paid plan). The free plan allows you to host episodes for up to 90 days where they get deleted. It’s probably better to get started with their paid plan if you plan on actually scaling and hosting subsequent episodes with them.
- Distribution: You get your published podcasts listed on top directories such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Alexa, Overcast, among others.
- Advanced Stats: When you start your podcasts, you are able to view advanced accurate stats to track your progress. They upgraded their stats dashboard recently to give a comprehensive outlook and summaries that will save you the time you would spend analyzing. Read more about their Feb 2020 stats update here.
- Ease of upload and optimization: Very easy upload and automatic episode optimization. You won’t have to worry about the file type or the bitrate (tech stuff). Buzzsprout takes care of it. Just upload it!
- Transcription: Buzzsprout can also assist you to transcribe your episodes – saves you time! Unlike Podbean that has a list of recommended transcription vendors, Buzzsprout’s software supports automated transcription. Just another reason why Buzzsprout came top ahead of Podbean. FYI, transcription costs about $1/ audio min but that can add up quickly, and if you want to start saving, opt for Buzzsprout.
- Unlimited Number of Team Members: If you run a group-based podcast platform such as church podcasts, you can have an unlimited number of people as team members. You may think this is an insignificant podcast feature but you’ll thank me later if you chose Buzzsprout over other single-manager platforms
- Episode Markers: It has chapter markers that allow your podcast listeners to select the subtopics or sections they want to listen to instead of having to listen to a long episode.
- Magic Mastering: This feature enhances your audio with adaptive sound leveling, perfect loudness/peaks, and audio filtering to make your episode match those of the pros. Before this tool, which they recently introduced, I used Auphonic which is a separate AI audio algorithm used to achieve professional sound quality in recorded audio files. You can watch this short video to learn more about Buzzsptout’s new magic mastering feature.
- Embedding: You can also easily embed a beautiful podcast player on your site similar to the one shown below:
The 1-minute video below will show you how easy it is to use Buzzsprout:
Buzzsprout got a Wikipedia mention as one of the ‘free hosting providers’ similar to archive.org. It’s not really similar to archive.org but here is the truth; Buzzsprout has no upfront costs or billing when you sign up and this has been the case since 2009.
Below is a snapshot of their website:
The free plan is great for you as a beginner just starting out your podcast and yet to really build a community/audience. This free plan enables you to upload 2 hours of audio files and can store the files for up to 90 days. This free plan is one preferred by most churches and beginners trying to get a hang of things.
You can opt for their paid plans which range from $12 to $24 per month and you can be assured with the following:
- Host your files indefinitely,
- Get unlimited storage,
- 250GB of bandwidth per month which support approximately 20,000 to 40,000 episode downloads/plays per month,
- Embed a podcast player right on your website.
Buzzsprout also enables you to easily create podcasts, upload them, edit title and description and easily submit them to major directories.
It takes less than 2 minutes to create and upload your podcast file to Buzzsprout:
Another reason I like Buzzsprout is that you can add chapter markers which are great at helping your listeners understand the details of your podcast. You don’t have to use this feature but several podcasts now provide this breakdown as it gives more incentive for interested users to listen.
The table below shows comparisons of Buzzsprout’s pricing plan including the free plan that allows you 2 hours of upload per month.
Buzzsprout Pros:
- Very clean and easy to use interface
- Buzzsprout offers a free plan that you gives you the chance to try it out before upgrading to the paid plan
- It has a player that allows you to play multiple episodes
- It has episode markers/chapters that make it easy for your listeners to follow your podcast
- Their latest feature enables you to capture video snippets ideal for social media posts
- It has a unique audio balancing feature called magic mastering that improves audio quality significantly
- It offers audio transcription
- It is great for monetization with its affiliate marketing integration
- It has robust distribution platforms
Buzzsprout Cons:
- With the free plan, the audio gets deleted after 90 days
- The automatically optimized audio reduces the audio quality to 96kps on the standard plan, unless you pay extra.
- It doesn’t have generous bandwidth packages in all its paid plans, compared to Podbean.
- It has limited monetization options and thier ads marketplace is not free. It deducts 30% of all ad revenue as their commisssion, unlike Podbean that is 100% free and charges 0% commission.
Below is a detailed video review of Buzzsprout:
You can also check out our review and comparison of Buzzspout vs other podcast hosts such as Podbean, Simplecast, Transistor and why we prefer it to Podbean and others.
Buzzsprout vs Podbean
Buzzsprout is three years younger (founded in 2009) than Podbean (founded in 2006) and over the last decade, the two platforms have grown significantly as the podcasters also grew in number. As of 2021, Buzzsprout has over 100,000 which is about a third of Podbean’s podcasters that currently stand at 300,000+.
The main difference between the two platforms is their pricing plans and features. Podbean is very generous with offering a free plan that indefinitely, unlike Buzzsprout’s free plan that deletes the files after 90 days. Podbean is also generous with its storage and bandwidth with all its pricing plans. Podbean offers unlimited bandwidth and you can have your listeners downloads or play your podcasts for unlimited times, unlike Buzzsprout which limits the plays/downloads to 20,00 to 40,000 per month.
The table below explores more differences between Buzzsprout and Podbean:
| Buzzsprout | Podbean |
|---|---|
| It has a free plan that allows you two hours of upload per month and unlimited bandwidth and unlimited team members | Podbean offers a free plan that gives you up to 5 hours of storage of upload content per month. The free plan comes with 100GB bandwidth monthly |
| You can monetize your Buzzsprout podcast regarless o the plan – free tier accounts can monetize too | You can monietize your Podbean podcast if you are in the $9/m plan (when paid annually). |
| Buzzsprout takes 10% commission from your sponsorship ads | Buzzsprout takes 0% commission from your sponsorship ads |
| There are three Buzzsprout paid plans. The cheapest of $12/m offers 3 hours of upload per month. The mid-tier plan costs $18/month and offers 6 hours of upload per month. The most expensive plan of $24/month offers 12 hours of upload per month | There are three Podbean paid plans. The cheapest of $9/m offers unlimited uploads per month. The mid-tier plan cost $29/month also offers unlimited upload and storage, so is the $99/m plan. |
| Founded in 2009 | Founded in 2006 |
| Offers 250GB monthly bandwidth, equivalent to 20,000 to 40,000 plays/downloads per month | Offers unlimited bandwidth |
| Used by over 100,000 podcasters | Used by over 300,000 podcasters |
| If you sign up, you get a $20 Amazon gift card | If you sign up with Podbean, you get the first month for free. |
| Sign up & get a $20 Amazon gift card. | Sign up |
Buzzsprout vs Blubrry
The table below shows the differences between Buzzsprout an Blubrry.
| Buzzsprout | Blubrry |
|---|---|
| Its cheapest paid plan costs $12/month | Its cheapest paid plan costs $12/month |
| Offers unlimited monthly storage | Offers 100MB monthly storage |
| Offers 250GB monthly bandwidth | Offers unlimited monthly bandwidth |
| Used by over 100,000 podcasters | Uses by over 750,000 podcasters as per stats on their website. |
| Founded in 2009 | Founded in |
| Offers a free plan that enables you to upload up to 2 hours per month | It does not offer a free plan |
| You get a $20 Amazon gift card when you purchase a plan here. | You can get the first month for free with this code |
Below are some similarities between Buzzsprout and Blubrry:
- They provide podcast analytics
- They provide RSS support and distribution
- They provide a website and host it on their platforms
Buzzsprout vs Libsyn
Libsyn has been around longer than Buzzsprout but they are both decent podcast hosts you can pick from. Libsyn was founded in 2004 and Buzzsprout was founded 5 years later in 2009. Buzzsprout is great for its simplicity, ease of use and speed and is among the most straight-forward host when it comes to publishing and hosting your show. On the other hand, Libsyn is not as intuitive and does not have the most user-friendly platform.
The table below has more details of the diferences between Buzzsprout and Libsyn:
| Buzzsprout | Libsyn |
|---|---|
| Buzzsprout has a better-looking platform, the app is more intuitive compared to Libsyn | The Libsyn app is not very intuitive. |
| Better podcast player, similar to Soundcloud | Libsyn has an equally good podcast player – its cover-art version of the player is attractive |
| Takes 10% as commission on ad revenue | Takes 50% as commission on ad revenue and you need at least 5,000 downloads per month to qualify |
| Easier to integrate with WordPress | Currently working on a Beta WordPress app |
| They help you set up premium monetization features | They help you set up premium monetization features |
| No mobile app | Allows you to create a mobile app |
| Easy to manage multiple shows | Not very easy to manage multiple shows |
| Sign up | Sign-up |
Here is the bottom line:
- Buzzsprout is great for you if you are looking for a fancy, easy-to-use platform.
- Libsyn is great for you if you want to an easy-to-monetize podcast platform with its mobile app and it’s sponsorship and premium content features
Buzzsprout vs Simplecast
| Buzzsprout | Simplecast |
|---|---|
| It has a free plan | No free plan |
| Its cheapest plan costs $12/month | Its cheapest plan costs $15/month |
| provides unlimited monthly storage | Provides unlimited monthly storage |
| You can have unlimited team members in all their paid plans | The number of team members is limited, with the cheapest plan allowing you only 2 team members. |
| Limited 250GB bandwidth which translates to 20k to 40k downloads per month | 20k downloads per month in its cheapest plan |
| Unlimited team members in its cheapest plan | A single individual can operate Simplecasts’ cheapest plan |
| Sign up | Sign-up |
Buzzsprout vs Soundcloud
| Buzzsprout | Soundcloud |
|---|---|
| Its free plan gives you 2 hours monthly for free | 3 hours of storage for free |
| Its cheapest paid plan that offers unlimited storage is $12/month | Its unlimited plan costs $135/year |
| Based in the US | Based in Germany |
| Launched in 2009 | Launched in 2008 |
| No charts of trending podcasts | Has a chart of top 50 trending streams and podcasts |
| Sign up | Sign-up |
If none of the above reasons have enticed you, you should also know that you get a free $20 Amazon gift card Plus when you sign up for Buzzsprout here.
2. PodBean: Best for Unlimited Bandwith/Downloads
Podbean is my second-best podcast hosting site in this 2021 that you can rely on for unlimited hosting and wide distribution on 20+ platforms including iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify. Aside from unlimited hosting and good distribution, Podbean has a truly free plan that allows you to host episodes forever! Unlike Buzzsprout that limits the number of downloads per episode, Podbean allows unlimited downloads and does not delete episodes stored in the tier plan.
If you are starting a podcast with a plan to monetize and earn from it, you’ll be better off with Podbean as it gives all podcasters 100% of fthe revenue generated rom ads, compared to Buzzsprout that deduct 10% as commission. The 0% commission from your sponsorship and ad earnings is a very sweet deal and I ranked podbean as the oveal best podcast host for monetization. In addition, Podbean dynamically servers ads on their PodAd platform, making sure you are optimizing all your earning opportunities. However, you should note that Podbean’s ads marketplace is only accessible to podcasters that opt or the $14/m plan ($9/m annually) which you can start a 14-day trial here.
Podbean company was founded in 2006, 3 years before Buzzsprout was founded and it has grown its number of podcasters to over 300,000. Thanks to its generous storage and its reliable 24/7 support.
As of this review in 2021, there are over 340,000 podcasters using Podbean and over 6.8 billion podcast downloads and a whopping 10+ million episodes on the website.
Podbean Pricing
What you get with a free tier:
- 5 hours of file uploads per month,
- 100GB of bandwidth per month and
- Basic stats.
Their $9/month plan, called Unlimited Audio offers the following:
- This plan gives you unlimited audio storage
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Beautiful Podcast Themes
- Map your own domain
- Comprehensive Podcast Stats
- iPhone and Android App
- Premium Content
Their $29/month plan offers the following:
- Unlimited Storage
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Beautiful Podcast Themes
- Map your own domain
- Comprehensive Podcast Stats
- iPhone and Android App
- Premium Content
Aside from the features you get with each of the above plans, Podbean also has the following key features:
- Easy to monetize: It allows you to dd your own sponsored ad campaigns
- YouTube version: Auto-upload to youtube
- Automatic posting to Facebook and Twitter
Podbean Pros:
- Very friendly for beginers
- Will list your podcasts in most of the leading distribution platforms
- It can host video podcasts
- You get free subdomain such as 10webtools.podbean.com
- It has a free plan
- It comes with customizable themes
- You can dynamically add content for monetization
- Provides Patreon support for monetization
- Allows you to automatically post content to social media and Youtube.
- It has a mobile app
Podbean Cons:
- The subdomain may not provide the ideal podcast website you’d want.
- Not the most intuitive
Below is a helpful Podbean video review:
Podbean Vs Libsyn
The table below shows the comparison between Podbean vs Libsyn podcast hosts:
| Podbean | Libsyn |
| Storage space of 100 MB monthly to unlimited | Storage space of 50 MB to 1500 MB |
| You can advertise with podbean if you go for its $14/m plan. | You can monetize your Libsyn podcast from the cheapest $5/m plan if you have at least 5,000 downloads per month |
| Podbean does not take sponsorship commission and you will have 100% of the revenue as they take 0% commission | Podbean takes 50% commssion |
| Can distribute your Podbean using the personalized site, iTunes support, RSS, network page at higher price points | You can distribute your Libsyn podcast using RSS and your own Libsyn podcast hosted page |
| Other great features: Unlimited hosting, network page, and personal site, aesthetically pleasing and advanced interface | Other great features: Publish to multiple aggregators simultaneously, flexible plans |
| Why we don’t like it that much: It has limited customer support. | Why we don’t like it that much: Additional features like statistics, mobile app, and storage come with added costs |
| Cost: $3, $9, $29, $99 | Cost: $5, $15, $20, $40, $75 |
| Podbean Deal: First month for free | No deal |
Podbean vs Soundcloud
| Podbean | Soundcloud |
| Minimum package is $3 | Minimum package is free |
| Easy to embed to your website | You can’t embed on your website |
| Allows you to easily create your website page | Soundcloud does not allow you to create a personalized web page |
| You can host all your podcasts on your website | You cannot host your podcasts on Soundcloud |
| Podbean is known for use by businesses to run podcasts for brand awareness and for lead generation | Soundcloud is known as being a platform where individual artists share their music |
| You can check out Podbean other features here | You can go to the Soundcloud site here. |
Podbean vs Blubrry
Blubrry and Podbean were in our 2021 lists of best podcasts hosts but there are a few differences. Blubrry offers lower storage space in its plans and if you want higher storage space for your podcasts, I recommend Podbean.
The table below has more details on what differentiates Podbean from Blubrry.
| Podbean | Blubrry |
| Podbean gives you as low as 100 MB monthly storage to unlimited | Blubrry gives you as low 100 MB monthly storage but limits the allowed storage at 1000 MB monthly |
| Allows you to distribute your podcasts using your personalized site, iTunes support, RSS, network page at higher price points | Allows you to distribute your podcasts using RSS, iTunes support and WordPress integration with PowerPress |
| Why we like Podbean: Unlimited hosting, network page, and personal site, aesthetically pleasing and advanced interface | Why We like Blubrry: Strong community and resources for podcasters, created by podcasters, visible ethical philosophy. |
| Why we don’t like Podean much: Not great with customer support | Why We don’t like Blubrry much: Very expensive if you want to scale your storage space |
| Podbean’s cheapest plan is $3, significantly cheaper than Blubrry. Its other price plans are $9, $29, $99 | Blubrry price plans start with a $12 plan, 4 times more expensive than Podbean’s cheapest plan. Its other plans are $20, $40, $80 |
| You can get Podbean plan for free for the first | For the first month, you can enjoy Blubrry for free |
When you sign up for either of the paid plans, you get the first month for free. Get started today here.
3. Transistor: Multiple Podcasts
Third on this list of best podcast hosting sites in 2021 is Transistor.fm that allows you to host multiple podcasts easily using one account. Transistor also appeared on our list of podcast hosts for multiple podcasts. This list wouldn’t have been complete without the Transistor podcast host that’s great for professionals that require advanced analytics. If you have a large and growing audience, you can rely on Transistor for everything you need to grow your audience.
While transistor is great as a holistic host providing a range of services, it is recognized as a great podcast host for private podcasts.
Some of the tools include:
- Unlimited shows,
- Managing multiple users per account,
- Generating branded websites your own domain name,
- Distributing your podcast, and
- Viewing advanced analytics.
Transistor host a number of popular podcasts including Drift, Honeybadger, and Cards Against Humanity.
Transistor starter plan
$19/month starter plan is the cheapest of them all and has the following features:
- Unlimited podcasts
- customer support – live
- Advanced podcast analytics
- 2 additional users (per podcast)
- Podcast website
- Up to 10,000 monthly downloads
With this plan, you can’t remove branding from the player
Professional Plan:
The professional plan costs $49/month and has the following features:
- Unlimited podcasts
- customer support – live
- Advanced podcast analytics
- 5 additional users (per podcast)
- Built-in podcast website
- Up to 50,000 monthly downloads
- Enhanced private podcasting
- Number of private podcasts
- Number of private subscribers (per podcast)
4. Simplecast: Advanced Analytics
Simplecast is my fourth-best podcast hosting provider with the most advanced analytics platform in this 2021 list. It also provides podcasters with the easiest way to publish their audios to the world owing to its one-click publishing to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other platforms.
Simplecast makes it our best podcast hosting plans because it powers some of the world’s most prominent brands such as Facebook, Twitter, SHOWTIME, NIKE, POLITICO, FastCompany, Harper’s Bazaar. Harvard University, and Barneys New York.
Simplecast is a favorite of the big companies because of its features, which include:
- It has a one-click tool that enables you to publish and distribute your episode at a go in all listening platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, among others
- It has a powerful framework that is particularly built for audio that facilitates the delivery of millions of audio in minutes every day.
- It has a first of its kind analytics platform that allows you to understand your listener’s preferences, to compare episodes trends to expand your listeners.
- Simplecast Show Migrator enables you to migrate to Simplecast seamlessly
- Simplecast is oEmbed-ready that makes it easy for you to use them on-site builders such as Squarespace and WordPress, blogs like Medium, and across all social media.
- Simplecast has Recast, a podcast sharing and discovery tool that allows you and your listeners to share custom clips of your episodes for increasing your traffic.
- Has Simplecast API 2.0, the most advanced audio publishing and distribution tool available in the market that enables you to build your website, use it as an upload tool, a listening app, and to create your analytics dashboard.
Pricing
Simplecast costs depend on the type of podcaster, as an independent podcaster or Networks and Businesses. Also, prices vary with the podcast plan.
Simplecast provides its ‘Independent Podcaster’ hosting services through three plans, which are the Basic Plan, Essential plan, and Growth. The Basic plan costs $15/month billed monthly, Essential costs $35/month billed monthly, while the Growth plan costs $85/month billed monthly.
The image below shows ‘Independent Podcaster’ plans and prices:
Simplecast hosts podcasts for ‘Networks and Businesses’ through two plans, Professional and Enterprise, as shown in the image below:
Prices for ‘Networks and Businesses’, however, are not revealed to the public; interested parties must contact the Simpecast sales team.
Pros
- Simplecast enables private podcasting by allowing you to select the ‘Hide from RSS’ option
- Uses Redcast, the Industry’s first listener-powered audiogram tool that facilitates your engagement with your audiences
- Provides hassle-free migration
- You can manage all your shows from one account
- You can create a website with Simplecast
- Its lightning-fast analytics help you to keep track of your podcast, which translates into more traffic
- It has a powerful audio framework that prevents audio outages.
Cons
Simplecast has minimal disadvantages because it is a great podcast hosting plan. However, critIc argue that Simple can better its services;
- by availing API Publishing tools to all pricing options.
- It is not the cheapest podcast hosting platform in the market
- Has a re-encoding file speed of 128kbps, which might be troublesome when mixing highly-produced audio dramas that require higher bitrates
- Has a limited number of total monthly downloads that can be a problem for established podcasts with large back catalogs
Simplecast vs Libsyn
- Simplecast and Libsyn differ in their prices and hosting plans. The cheapest Libsyn cost is $5/month and its most expensive plan costs $150/month. Comparatively, the most affordable Simplecast hosting plan goes for $15/month prepaid annually and its most expensive plan costs more than $85/month prepaid annually for its customized platforms.
- Simplecast provides unlimited storage for all its plans while Libsyn has unlimited storage for all its tiers except the advanced 1500 and advance 3000 plans that you have to dork out an extra coin
- Simplecast has limited downloads per month for all its plans while Libsyn provides unlimited downloads for all its hosting plans
- Simplecast provides analytics for all its hosting plans free of charge, while Libsyn charges its $5 plan 2$ per month for analytics. However, Libsyn provides free analytics for all other plans.\
- All Simplecast plans have IAB Certification while only Linsyn’s Advanced plans have the certification
- Simplecast allows you to use your own website without an extra cost while Libsyn charges you $2 per month to use your own domain
Simplecast vs Buzzsprout
- The most affordable Simplecast plan costs $15/month prepaid annually while the cheapest Buzzsprout plan goes for $12/month.
- Simplecast has limited participants in all its hosting plans except for Enterprise, while Buzzsprout has no limitations in all its plans
- Buzzsprout provides money-back guarantee while Simplecast does not
- Simplecast has an embedded player while Buzzsprout does not
- Simplecast provides Network App Listing while Buzzsprout does not
- Simplecast gives a free 14-day trial while Buzzsprout gives a free 90-days trial
Simplecast vs Podbean
- Simplecast provides unlimited storage and uploads for all its hosting plans while Podbean has limited storage and bandwidth for its free plan; all other plans are unlimited and unmetered respectively.
- Simplecast provides comprehensive podcast statistics in all its plans but Podbean provides basic stats in its free hosting plan.
- Podbean has a free hosting plan while Simplecast only has a 14-days free trial
- Simplecast provides audio hosting while Podbean does not
- Simplecast uses podcast RSS Feed but Podbean does not
- Simplecast has a 99.99 uptime guarantee but Podbean doesn’t
- Simplecast does not provide cloud hosting but Podebean does
- Simplecast uses an embedded player but Podbean doesn’t
- Simplecast offers Network App Listing but Podbean does not
- Podbean offers 24/7 support but Simplecast does not as its customer care is only available via live chats and emails
- Podbean provides a free website builder but Simplecast does not.
Simplecast vs Soundcloud
- Simplecast is available on all devices but Soundcloud is only through a smartphone App
- Simplecast does not have a free hosting but Soundcloud does
- Simplecast allows you to distribute your podcast to all updated audio listings but Soundcloud does not
- Simplecast has five tiers of podcast hosting while Soundcloud has two. Soundcloud charges $8.25/month billed yearly for its paid plan while the cheapest Simplecast plan goes for $15/month prepaid annually.
- Simplecast provides full stats and embeds controls for all its plans but Soundcloud provides basic stats and embed controls for its free plans and full stats and embed controls in its Pro Unlimited plan.
Simpecast vs Transistor
- Simplecast is more affordable than Transistor because its basic plan cost $15/month billed yearly while the Transistor’s most basic plan goes for $19/month billed annually
- Simplecast allows fewer users per podcast thaN Transistor because it allows 2, 4, and 9 team member seats for its Basic, Essential, and Growth plans while Transistor accommodates 2, 5, and 10 users in its Starter, Professional, and Business plans.
- Simplecast allows more downloads per month than Transistor. Simplecast has limits of 20k, 50k, and 120k for its Basis, Essential, and Growth plans while Transistor enables 10k, 50k, and 150k in its Starter, Professional, and Business Plans
- Transistor allows you to run more than one show per plan for one monthly price while Simplecast charges you for every show in a particular tier
Simplecast vs Anchor
- Simplecast is a subscription-based podcast hosting platform while Anchor provides an unlimited free podcast hosting platform
- Simplecast is suitable for all business sizes while Anchor is most fitting for persons who are to keen with branding their content
You can try Simplecast for 14 days at no cost to you (Free trial) and can get 50% off the first two months. For the free trial, you don’t need to use your credit card to sign up.
To get started, register on their website here.
5. Captivate: Growth-Focussed Podcast Hosting Site
Our fifth best podcast hosting site in this 2021 list is Captivate and we included it in this list for being excellent as a multi-show host and with growth-focussed tools. Captivate is known for its generous package ideal for a growing podcast. For example, they allow unlimited team members making it easy to scale your show
If you are looking to grow your audience, Captivate is your go-to podcast host. It’s the cheapest plan of $12/month ($19 paid per month) allows up to 12,000 downloads by your listeners.
This podcast is owned by Rebel Base Media, which runs a number of podcast sites. Mark, the CEO of Rebel Base Media announced the launch of Captivate in Jan 2019. Barely 15 months later, Captivate captured our attention after it outdid a number of popular podcast hosting brands.
It prides itself as the world’s only growth-oriented podcast host owing to its features such as;
- Laser-Accurate Easy-to-understand podcast statistics
- Unlimited Podcasts/RSS feeds for one inclusive price
- Stunning Podcast Player on any device and platform
- Inbuilt call to action that helps you to generate more leads
- Automatic Podcast Website
- Auto-generated links to Overcast, Pocket Casts, and more that loop in more subscribers
Some of the corporations that use captivate are Fincon, Podcast Movement, Youpreneur Summit, Harvard University, MeetEdgar, Entrepreneur, and Santander.
Pricing
Captivate has three pricing tiers, which are;
- Podcaster that costs $19 per month
- Professional that costs $49 per month, and
- Brand Plan that costs $99 per month
Pros
- its clean, simple, and easy-to-use setup
- Its provision of 24/7 support
- Flexible podcasting with no contracts
- Provides free migration
- Its quick, simple, and easy-to-use from your website, external sites, and social media profiles because it can be embeded everywhere
- It synchronizes easily and fast with Captivate’s WordPress Plugin, Captivate Sync.
- It provides maximum exposure owing to its links to all major podcast directories
- It enhances your branding because it allows customizations
- Provides useful analytics that enhances monetization
Cons
- You cannot link individual episode posts on your Captivate pre-built site
You can try Captivate for free for 7 days here.
6. Spreaker
If you a fan of using mobile for most functions including creating and distributing podcasts, Spreaker is your best option. Spreaker came 6th in this list and users talked very highly of the Spreaker Studio available for both mobile and Desktop users.
Spreaker is an all-round podcasting solution that allows listeners to find unique podcasts and podcasters, chat with hosts as they listen in live, leave comments on episode pages, follow Networks, and ‘like’ their favorite episodes. Also, Spreaker provides a competitive podcast hosting platform owing to its simplicity and its high speeds of the podcasting process.
Spreaker is an effective podcast host owing to its superb features that include:
- Easy to use a recording app on both the desktop and mobile
- Has the ability to migrate content using an RSS feed importer and connecting to external tools and mixers
- Audio storage space for hosting shows
- Automatic episodes sharing content to social networks
- One-click distribution to submit podcasts to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer among others
- Embeddable players
Spreaker Pricing
Streaker provides podcast hosting through types of plans, the professional and Enterprise.
The professional plan has four tiers, which are the Free Speech, On-Air Talent, Broadcast, and Anchorman. Free Speech is free always, On-Air Talents costs $6/month billed yearly or $7/month billed monthly, Broadcaster costs $18/month billed annually, and Anchorman costs $45/month billed yearly.
The image below shows details of the Professional plan tiers and their pricing.
The Enterprise plan has two tiers, the Station and the Custom. Station costs $100/month billed yearly while the price for the Custom plan is tailor-made.
The image below shows the Enterprise pricing.
Pros
- It’s available in English, Italiano, and Espanol
- Podcasters can connect with their audience in social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and Vox Nest
- Provides analytics that allows you to improve your marketing strategies
- It is available on IOS and Android mobile, which enables you to record and manage your podcasts on the go.
- It has a free plan
Cons
- Users cannot cancel their active subscription during an active period.
- Podcast Monetization tool is not available to free users
- They deduct 40% as commission from ad revenue which is relatively high compared to others such as Podbeans’ 0% and Buzzsprout’s 10%.
7. Smart Podcast Player
Smart Podcast Player makes the list on the best Podcasting hosting platform in 2021 because it is the only podcast player that allows you to grow your email list directly owing to its unique and superb feature that allows you to capture your listener’s email addresses.
The smart podcast player is a reliable podcast software because:
- It’s the only podcast software that a customizable web-based player that enhances binge-listening while keeping the audience in your website
- It has a track player (the Smart track player) that enables you to highlight each episode
- Has a sticky player that highlights your most recent track
- Has an in-built mobile player that adjusts automatically to fit mobile phones and tablets
Pricing
Smart Podcast Player provides its hosting services through two pricing options that suit your level of podcasting.
Both plans have the following features:
- Display unlimited episodes
- Has a Smart Track Player
- Enables image customization
- Enables email capture
- Has a down button
- Have a social sharing button
- Enable color customization
- Provide email support
- Have plugin updates
- Have the speed control button
Pros
- All paid subscription plans can be canceled any time
- Allows the purchase of multiple licenses
- Has a 60 days money-back guarantee
- It has high performance-speed
- It is mobile friendly
- It facilitates email marketing through its email capture feature
- Enables social sharing
- Facilitates branding with its custom colors
Cons
- All purchases of the Smart Podcast Player are for a single license of the software
- Does not have the annual billing pricing for the ‘most flexible’, which can be cumbersome
- Works only with WordPress
- Does not provide support on weekends
You can get started with Smart Player Podcast here.
8. Libsyn: Best for Unlimited Bandwidth & Downloads
Libsyn is our 8th best podcast hosting provider that you can rely on in 2021 for unlimited downloads and bandwidth.I also like the fact that Libsyn has been around and has demonstrated that it can withstand market cycles as it was founded in 2004. It is among the oldest in this list – older than Pobean and Buzzsprout. As a podcaster, you should note that your podcast host goes bust, you’ll loose all your work and it is important to pick a reliable and trusted podcast host.
I asked a few of my fellow podcasters what they think of Libsyn. What stood out in the responses is their straightorward pricing plans that is solely based on storage capacity you need. No restrictions on downloads (which you get unlimited) and is all about the content you can upload per month. More on their pricing plans below.
Whether you are a beginner or a pro, you can rely on this 16-year old podcasting services provider. In 2021, it has over 40,000 registered podcasters and over 60 million audience listeners. As one of the 40k podcasters, you’ll be able to advertise from any of its plans including the cheaperst tier, $5/m plan unlike Podbean and Buzzsprout that limit monetization to expensive hosting plans. Libsyn, however, takes 50% commission from ad revenue and require you to have at least 5,000 downalods per month to qualify.
Libsyn is a powerful podcast hosting that allows you to control your podcast, hosting, distribution, and monetization through its features such as:
- Custom Podcast Branding Tools including the podcast page minisite, smartphone app for both iOS and Android, Custom Domain, and Color Swatches
- Custom Episode Publishing and Optimization tools unique to your podcast such as WordPress Libsyn Publisher Hub, Compliant RSS Feed, Audio, Video, PDF, and Text Posts, File Manager, FTP Upload Support, and Libsyn Directory Listing.
- Provides Advanced Stats that facilitate smarter marketing investment with powerful audience insights.
- Monetization Tools that enhance the control of your brand
- Competent support
- Enterprise Level Tools specifically for professional producers, networks, and corporations.
Pricing
Libsyn provides podcast hosting through 7 tiers, which are the Classic 50, Classic 250, Advanced 400, Advanced 800. Advanced 1500, Advanced 3000, and Libsync Pro. Classic 50 costs $50, Classic 250 costs $15, Advanced 400 costs $20, and Advanced 800 goes for $40, all billed monthly.
The image below demonstrates the four most popular plans.
One of the most competitive features of the four plans is that they allow unlimited audiences. I mentioned above that Libsyn does not limit podcast bandwidth or the number of downloads but the $5 plan gives you 50mb upload space. The length of episodes that this plan can support depends on the podcast bitrate. Using a rule of thump that 96kbps mono provides a good balance between file size and sound quality for spoken word content, you can expect one hour of audio to finish 41mb or weekly 15-20 mins episodes.
Comparatively, Advanced 1500 costs $75 per month while Advanced 3000 costs $150 per month, as shown in the image below.
Finally, LibsynPro is most suitable for professional producers, networks, and corporations, which has quote-based prices.
Pros
- It allows you to publish your podcasts everywhere
- Provides detailed audience stats with advanced plans
- Facilitates monetization through premium content subscriptions and opt-in advertising
- Has excellent uptime
- Its is compatible with mobile phones owing to its mobile-compatible player
- Enables automated-social media sharing
- Has custom smartphone apps that facilitate your podcast branding
Cons
- Additional features like statistics, mobile app, and storage comes at an extra cost
- Its does not offer a free trial period
- High ad commssion rate of 50%, among th highest in this list
9. Audioboom
AudioBoom is an on-demand audio and podcasting distribution platform that provides business to business services to the radio, media, and podcast sectors. For podcasters, AudioBoom is a hosting platform that also enables them to distribute and monetize their audio content.
AudioBoom key users and partners are Russell Brand, Cumulus Media, Westwood One, Associated Press, Zee TV, and The Guardian.
AudioBoom key features include:
- Unlimited audio hosting on branded podcasts through a publisher dashboard
- Automated distribution through partnerships with Google Play Music, Stitcher, Facebook, Twitter, Deezer, Spotify, and iTunes
- Embedded media players
- Advanced analytics and consumption data
- Monetization via podcast sponsorships and a built-in ad network
Pricing
AudioBoom has two podcast hosting plans, the Podcasters, and the Podcast Pros. ‘Podcasters’ cost $9.99/month billed monthly or $99 per year. It is appropriate for individual podcasters that want ad-free options. ‘Podcast Pros’ is suitable for podcasters that have over 10, 000 plays per episode. The cost of ‘Podcast Pros’ is customized.
Pros
- Enables unlimited episodes per month
- Provide simple hosting that facilitates the easy and fast upload of new episodes or importing an existing podcasts
- It is available in all distribution platforms
- Provides advanced analytics that enhances your marketing strategies
Cons
- Monetization is only possible with episodes that attract more than 10, 000 plays
- Support is only available submitting your query online or using the FAQs available on its website
10. Anchor: 100% Free Podcast Host
Anchor is our tenth best podcast hosting platform for 2021 and I picked it as a favorite for being the only host that provides all podcast hosting services, 100% free. In a popular Medium article, Anchor’s co-founder Nil Zicherman made the case that the podcast hosting cost shouldn’t be a reason you aren’t starting your podcast. As of this review in 2021, Anchor is now owned by Spotify after its acquisition in February 2019 for about $340M.
Anchor is especially beneficial to persons who are venturing into the podcasting industry and have limited resources to invest in the business. Furthermore, Anchor provides convenient podcasting services because it is an all-in-one-platform where you create, distribute, and monetize your podcast from any device. Also, you can use Anchor either on Android platforms or iOS making it one o the best podcast host that’s friendly to mobile.
Despite offering free plans, they take a 30% cut as their commission from ad revenue, a similar amount Buzzsprout cuts from your ad revenue.
Apart from its free podcast hosting services, Anchor has made podcasting easy, fun, and economically-empowering because of its features such as:
- It has a one-click distribution, which makes it easy for you to distribute your content to all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Conveniently, Anchor does not force you to use their One-Click Distribution as it is entirely optional. Anchor gives you the option of managing your RSS feed and distribution yourself..
- Anchor monetizes your podcasts through anchor sponsorships and listener support. Anchor matches you with great brands that are interested in sponsoring your show. After that, you choose which brands you want to integrate into your podcast, which one you will monetize, and where to put the ads. Also, Anchor adds you a button on your Anchor profile that listeners use to sign up for monthly donations that sponsor your podcast.
- Anchor provides you with straightforward analytics that enables you to track your growth and enhance your growth by understanding your listeners.
- Anchor’s episode builder is easy and intuitive because it does not require editing and it provides you with a visual list of segments. As such Anchor is suitable for beginner podcasters.
- Anchor’s editing tool makes it easy for you to edit your podcast from any device. Anchor’s editing tools are especially easy to use as a beginner because they are designed specifically for podcasting.
- Anchor creation tools allow you to add any music from Apple Music or Spotify, a feature that is available in Anchor only.
- Transcriber also generates video transcriptions automatically for audio sections that are less than a minute long. Video transcriptions enhance marketing because they offer beautiful, animated videos to your social networks.
Pricing
Anchor provides podcast hosting services entirely free, forever.
Below is a video review of Anchor.fm review:
Pros
- It is absolutely free
- It is versatile because it is a platform creating, editing, and hosting your podcasts.
- It is easy to integrate listeners into your show because Anchor allows listeners to record messages concerning a show and it pops up inside your show account. Consequently, you just drag and drop the listener’s messages into the audio of your show, which enhances communication between you and your audience.
- It enables you to use music that matches your content from Spotify, Google Tunes, and Apple Music.
Cons
- You do not have control over content as your files are stored with a third party
- Sponsorship is limited and there have been reports of low CPM, as low as $2.5 (per 1,000 listens). The average ad revenue in most platorms is $18 to $25 per 1,000 listeners.
- It doesn’t have all the features that will make your podcast succeed.
You can get started with Anchor here.
11. Blubrry
Blubrry is our eleventh best podcast hosting platform in 2021. Blubrry prides itself as the most flexible tool for podcasting.
Also, Blubrry has the largest podcast directory in the world as it has over 750, 000 podcasts that touch on any possible content that you could think of. Blubrry podcasting hosting is popular because it provides you with all the resources that you require for creating, editing, and publishing your podcast. For instance, Blubrry offers you a large podcast directory to grow your audience, PowerPress podcast plugin, statistics, media hosting services, and adequate podcasting support.
Other Blubrry podcasting features include:
- Storage with no-fault overage
- Optional Advanced Statistics
- Long-tail Podcasting
- Availability of FTP or Web Upload options
- World-class CDN with over 35 data centers worldwide
- Free Migration option
- Optimized for iTunes, Google Play, and podcasting
- Free email support for every account
- Podcast RSS Feed, and
- Availability of Pro-production services
Pricing
Blubrry podcast hosting services prices are more affordable than many other podcast hosting platforms. Blubrry provides podcasting hosting through five tiers, the Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, and Professional.
Its costs start at $12. Month, while its highest cost is unlimited. The Medium tiers cost $20/month, the Large tier is priced at $40/month, and the Extra Large tier costs $80/ month.
All plans have unlimited bandwidth and support audio and video content except for the Small tier that supports audios only.
Pros
- Provides unlimited bandwidth for all its uses
- Provides premium analytics in all its plans
- Gives a 25% allowance for all users that subscribe for extra storage
Cons
- Power Press is not beneficial to websites that do not use WordPress
- It is complex for non-WordPress users
- It does not provide a free option
Best Free Podcast Hosting
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is a top rated podcast hosting service that has various podcast hosting plans, suitable for a very diverse market. Furthermore, they also have a free podcast hosting service that you could use to get your podcasts on the relevant podcast directories.
With Buzzsprout’s free podcast hosting service, you will be able to get up to two hours of podcasting length for each month you are hosted by them. However, the free podcast hosting can only host continuous episodes for a period of 90days, after which you will be prompted to upgrade to a paid subscription service to continue the podcast.
Otherwise, you will be forced to end the podcast and start a new one. You could potentially risk losing your audience by so doing. It will be difficult for all your subscribers to subscribe to your new podcast channel not to mention that it would be grossly unprofessional.
However, I am not discouraging you from using Buzzsprout free podcast hosting. You could learn a lot in 3 months of podcast hosting to get you ready for the big guns. In essence, free podcast hosting on Buzzsprout is meant for novice users who are just getting started in the podcasting field.
You will also be preview to much information and metadata on the progress of your podcast during this time. Buzzsprout offers ‘Advanced stats’, ‘Unlimited Team Members’ and an offer to ‘Upgrade to Remove Ads’. This information will help you track your progress in the podcasting industry such that you can be able to tell whether you are making an impact with your topic or not.
If you feel that you are ready to continue with your podcasting after the initial 90 days, you can subscribe to the $12, $18 or the $24 monthly plans. Here you will be able to get 3, 6, and 12 hours of monthly airing respectively under these hosting plans. You will also be interested to know that Buzzsprout hosting plans are only paid monthly and thus you can change your subscription at your convenience.
Libsyn
Libsyn does not have a free podcast hosting service. What? That’s Right! Libsyn does not offer any free podcast hosting to any of its users. That having being said, you might be wondering why I have included the podcast hosting platform in this list. It’s simple! Libsyn have some of the best podcast hosting features offered at next to free prices.
With just $5, you can be able to start your podcasting with Libsyn. Other than the fact that you will only get 50Mb of storage space per month, the Classic 50 hosting plan will allow you access to almost all of Libsyn’s podcast hosting features.
I have carefully analysed and listed all the available features that you will get when using Libsyn’s Classic 50 podcast hosting plan:
- Unlimited Audience
- Apple Podcasts Compliant RSS
- Custom Podcast Page Mini Site
- Libsyn Directory Listing
- Podcast Source App Listing
- Custom HTML5 Media Player
- WordPress Publisher Hub
- Show Color Swatches
- Secure RSS Feed Available
- Audio, Video, PDF & Text Post Hosting
- Advanced Episode Scheduling
- FTP Upload Support
- File Manager
- OnPublish Destinations
Imagine getting access to all these features at only $5 a month. Further, you can be able to access Libsyn’s Basic Statistics at an additional $2 only. This makes for the whole package. In fact, this feature is the only major difference between the Classic 50 podcast hosting plan and other Libsyn’s hosting plans.
The Classic 250, Advanced 400 and Advanced 800 hosting plans could host up to a monthly storage space of 250Mb, 400Mb and 800Mb respectively. Whether you are a beginner or a pro podcaster, Libsyn’s Classic 50 plan is an ideal plan for hosting your podcasts at relatively free pricing.
SoundCloud
If you want to access millions of listeners around the globe, SoundCloud is the best podcast hosting service for you. You will even be able to get unlimited hosting time and advanced stats for every episode that you air on your episodes. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; these options are only available with Pro Unlimited hosting package.
SoundCloud has three podcast hosting packages from which you can subscribe: SoundCloud Basic, SoundCloud Pro, and SoundCloud Pro Unlimited.
The SoundCloud Basic hosting package is free. This is indeed great news for new podcasters looking to establish themselves in the podcasting industry. SoundCloud’s Basic pricing tier offers you a free service with 3 hours of podcasting airtime. Further, you will be able to get the basic statistics of your episodes.
You will find 3 hours to be a very long time for broadcasting, and especially for new users. 3 hours means that you can be able to podcast 30 – 45 minute episodes weekly. This is plenty of podcast time even with the most involving topics.
With the Basic embedded controls also offered in the Basic tier, you have all the tools to get you started on your podcasting journey with SoundCloud. All you have to do is create an account with SoundCloud and follow the sign up process.
But do not get too comfortable; as your audience grows, you will require unlimited load time and unlimited space provision for your podcast. You will also need to keep a closer watch for your audience and the response from your podcast episodes. To get access to these exclusive features and more, you will have to spend $7 – $15 per month under the SoundCloud Pro and the SoundCloud Pro Unlimited hosting plans.
Podomatic
Last but never least is Podomatic podcast hosting platform. Podomatic is a great podcasting platform that could help you reach out to millions of listeners through their access to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, as well as deezer.
You can host your podcasting service with Podomatic with very easy and straightforward steps, and get to record, upload, publish, and promote your podcasts with ease. Even further, you will be able to use Podomatic promotional tools to expand your target market and reach a much larger audience.
Interestingly, you can get access to all these features with Podomatic’s free hosting tier. Under this plan, you will have access to 500Mb Storage space for your podcasts for every month. This is approximately 6 hours of airtime on the podcast episodes.
Furthermore, you will also get 15GB of bandwidth per month, for your podcast. This is enough bandwidth to host a very large audience without upsetting the podcasting traffic. More so, Podomatic enables you to keep total track of your episodes as well as the basic statistics for every episode absolutely free.
Seems too good to be true? You better believe it! Podomatic has outdone itself with this free hosting package. To cap it all off, this free podcast hosting plan has no expiry and is by no chance a trial version. You can host your podcasts on Podomatic endlessly for free.
This does not however mean that you cannot upgrade to higher versions of the hosting platform. You can subscribe to the paid hosting plans which earn you more features with your podcasting service. Needless to say, Podomatic is a great podcast hosting platform, suitable for start-up businesses and small businesses.
Why You Need A Podcast – Benefits
There are many reasons for you to use podcasts to transfer the relative information that you require to your target audience. If you have an already established business, it is important that you start a podcast that could market all the relative elements regarding your business proponents.
I have listed some of the benefits of using podcast services in the list below:
- Information is more personal – Podcasts make the information passed much more personal; You will be able to communicate directly to your target audience as compared to other forms of communication that you may find among other online media
- Convenience and ease of use – Podcasts are surprisingly easy to use. Once you subscribe to a particular podcast feed, you will automatically get any updates related to the subscribed podcast. You will also be able to listen to the podcasts at your own convenience. This will not inconvenience the timing of your target audience unless they prefer live streaming services
- Minimal costs used – You cannot go wrong if you decide to market your business or your brand using podcast services. It is prudent to argue that podcast hosting is relatively cheap as compared to other forms of online media content. I will discuss more on the pricing offered among various other podcast hosting providers in a later topic
- Fast communication of information – With Podcasts, you will be a preview to a lot more information, available instantaneously, on the platform. Further, you can be able to listen to podcasts while doing other things while at home or even at work. This will enable you to manage your time much more efficiently and use less time acquiring the content
- Podcasts are easily portable and accessible from anywhere on the globe – Again, once you download the episode that you want on your computer or on your smartphone device, you will be able to get access to listening to the audio podcast as long as you have your personal computer with you
- Fast-growing technology – Podcasts are a fast-growing technology and millions of users continue to join the platform every year. In fact, over the past four years, there has been a relative increment of up to 120% in the podcast listeners worldwide
- Good for social networking technology – podcasts helps in social networking as you can be able to gather like-minded individuals within a specified field to launch a community. These inter-relationships are crucial in establishing a wide network of individuals within a given niche. Furthermore, you can be able to link your podcasting services to other social media networks, expanding your network capabilities and target audience
Steps To Start A Podcast
Starting a podcast can be either really simple or really complex depending on the angle of approach. To easily set up a successful podcast you need to have a procedural sequence in which you will be able to launch your podcast with all the necessary features for its success.
I have listed some of the most relevant steps that could help you achieve a successful launch:
- Pick a Topic – Before you even think of establishing a podcast, think about the relevant topics that you may want to talk about. For already established businesses or blogs, this should be a fairly simple process. Nonetheless, for a startup brand or business, you might struggle with finding the right topic for your podcast. The best topic should be unique to you and your audience at the same time
- Pick a Format – Once you select the topic of your discussion, you should then proceed to think about the relevant formatting of your podcast. You will find that you need to think about the hosting procedure in your podcast. Do you need one or two hosts? How long will your episodes be? How regularly will you upload your episodes? Do you need to publish audio or video podcasts? All these considerations should be made in relation to your target audience so as to establish the best formatting for your podcasts
- Get Equipment – It is surprisingly easy to start a podcast with the right topic and formatting as you do not need much equipment to get you started with the basics. In fact, with a good microphone, and a basic audio editing software, you are all set for recording audio podcasts. With the video podcasts, however, you may need a good camera or a digital recorder for quality recordings
- Set up Hosting – Podcasts operate just like any other online media content. You will need a good hosting platform that is able to store your media files. It is possible for you to host your podcast on an already existing website. Nonetheless, as your visitors grow and your site traffic increases, it will be impossible to handle the podcasts as loading the website would be extremely slow. There are many podcast hosting providers with varied feature and price provisions that would be adequate for your hosting needs
- Pick a title – Sometimes, you might have all the necessary tools for your podcast already setup but get stuck on the title. Your podcast title needs to be catchy and markets your topic. The best podcast titles will typically use jargon from the industry in which their topic lies. To pick a suitable title for your podcast, you need to consider not only the topic of discussion but also your target market as well as industry trends
- Pick you Cover Artwork – Very close to picking the title is picking your cover artwork. For ideal results, designing your own cover artwork could be the best way to sell your podcast. Nonetheless, the technical expertise required to create the artwork would mean that you have to hire third parties to do this work for you. Be sure to relate you cover artwork to the topic and title of your podcast
- Recording the intro and outro – Your podcast certainly needs to have an introductory piece that lets your audience be aware of the topic of discussion, the name of your show, as well as the catchy line that lures them in. The same applies to the outro, to bargain with the listeners to want to listen to more of your podcast episodes in the future. Record the ideal intro and outros as they will be part of every episode that you air within your podcasts
- Record your First Episode – Record your first episode so that it has the introductory content for your target audience. The first episode will give your podcast a little bit of traction, introduce your audience to the topic of discussion as well as what to expect for the upcoming episodes
- Marketing your Podcasts – With an audio podcast, you will have to market your site a lot more than with typical website blogs, or even video channels. Surprisingly, setting up website blogs is much easier than when setting up audio podcasts. However, once you’ve launched your podcast, it is easier to just maintain and increase your target audience as the more they listen, the more subscribers you will get. Obviously though, with increased effort in your marketing strategies, you will get more response and more listeners in your podcast.
My name is Nate Reiner and I am the editor here at 10Webtools. I have 8 years of experience using 50+ different web tools ranging from podcast, web hosting, email marketing, and much more. I previously managed a team offering support services to a large conglomerate that utilized tens of software solutions. I now run this blog full-time and when I am not reviewing or testing software, I enjoy riding bikes and supporting my clients achieve internet success. You can reach me directly at [email protected]
