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Podcasts are one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment. From formal news podcasts, to pre-scripted comedy shows, there is something for everyone in the podcast world.
An interesting consideration, when starting a podcast, is where to host it. There are many options for hosting sites, and as a result, it can be tough to determine which option is the best choice.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the best podcast hosting sites to determine how they compare in terms of the features they offer, the benefits to using each, and the cost associated with each.
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Touted as “the easiest way to start podcasting,” Buzzsprout is a user-friendly site that provides all the tools necessary to host, boost, and gain analytics on your podcast. Buzzsprout enables users to list their podcasts in all of the well-known directories such as Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and many more.
There are 4 plan levels: ranging from $0.00/month to $24.00/month. The free plan enables you to upload 2 hours each month, and episodes are hosted for only 90 days. At $12.00/month, you can upload 3 hours per month. With the $18.00/month plan, you can upload 6 hours of content each month. Finally, the $24.00/month plan allows you to upload 12 hours each month.
All of the paid plans allow you to pay an extra fee per hour if you go over your monthly allotment of hours. Additionally, the paid plans all enable you to host your podcast forever.
Transistor offers the option to host multiple podcasts for one flat monthly fee while also providing assistance with analytics, distribution and even the option to create private podcasts for small groups or members of your organization. While other sites offer the option for private podcasts, Transistor’s service is incredibly intuitive, which helped to land it on the list of best podcast hosting sites.
Pricing on Transistor ranges from $19.00/month for the starter option to $49.00/month for the professional option to $99.00/month for the business option. Each version comes with the ability to upload an unlimited number of podcasts, have access to customer support, and perform advanced analytics on your podcast. From there, the features vary significantly between plans in terms of number of logins, number of monthly downloads allowed, and private podcast options.
Spreaker is a site that has been around for more than 10 years, enabling podcasters to distribute, monetize and run analytics on their shows. It’s easy to see why Spreaker is on the list of the best podcast hosting sites, as the service boasts the ability to help podcasters grow in scale and provides easy ways to customize podcasts as desired.
Spreaker offers 4 pricing plans within its “professional” level, then an option for an “enterprise” level.
Podbean is another platform that promotes ease of use and intuitive features that are perfect for beginners and experienced podcasters alike. With Podbean, users can even upload podcasts from their mobile device, without need for a computer. So, for podcasters on the go, PodBean is an excellent option.
Podbean has 4 pricing options, from the free version to the business version:
The business plan offers all of the features of the “unlimited plus” plan with the addition of numerous business options such as live chat support and the ability to utilize multiple admins.
Simplecast heavily promotes its ability to provide analytics and podcast management to users. The company provides astoundingly in-depth analytic capabilities, which allow you to gain insight into which specific parts of your show are appealing to listeners based on geographic location and many other categories. Additionally, the platform is used by various well-known brands such as Facebook and Nike, among many others, demonstrating that it is a trusted brand by the big players in the field and one of the best podcast hosting sites.
The pricing options for simple cast are broken down into two main categories, with subcategories from there. All plans offer a 14 day free trial.
Captivate is a great option for first-time podcasters. The platform offers a 5 step breakdown of the process to start a podcast, while also offering support, analytics, and the ability to monetize your podcast. The five-step podcast breakdown provides a plain-english description of a good way to get started on the road to success, for novice and intermediate level podcasters alike to improve on their abilities and reach a wider audience with a better product.
All three pricing options offered by Captivate include a 7 day free trial. Starting with the “Personal” plan, you can expect to pay $17.00 per month. The next step up is the “Professional” plan, which costs $44.00/month. The highest cost plan is the “Business” plan, which costs $90.00/month.
Each option contains tons of enticing features, with each successive plan offering more than the lower tier option, as to be expected.
Castos offers podcasters the option to create both public and private podcasts, all while allowing unlimited bandwidth and storage, regardless of which plan the user selects. The platform appeals to businesses and independent podcasters alike with features such as “internal company podcast” and “member-only” content options. For companies looking to utilize podcasts to boost productivity and employee satisfaction, Castos is one of the best podcast hosting sites available.
All plans start with a 14 day free trial. After that, there are 3 levels of subscription:
Since 2014 Resonate has worked with over 2,500 podcasts including 13 shows that have reached #1 in Apple Podcasts.
They are a successful podcast production company and just recently became a podcast hosting plaform.
This obviously gives the added bonus of getting production services and hosting through the same provider.
Their suite of products includes a Remote Recorder, Podcast Hosting, Private Podcast Hosting, and a Mobile App.
You can start with a 14-day free trial and then have three options from there on out:
Podcasttics is another platform on this list that strives to make the process easy for users. There is no limit on the number of episodes users can upload and management, analytics, and support features are intuitive for users of any level of technological competence.
There are 5 different pricing options available through Podcastics, with the first month free:
Like a website host is a place to store all the files developers use to create the site, a podcast needs to store all of the audio files you will publish.
They also provide different levels of analytics and other tools depending on the host.
You will want to analyze each podcast hosting site to understand which offers the suite of services you will need to grow your podcast.
The answer is you can host your own podcast. Here are some detailed directions with different options, including one that’s free.
But realize, as the above article will attest to, it’s not a simple process. Just like hosting your own website is not simple to most people, even many web developers.
Unless you have experience, it may not be worth your time compared to a podcast hosting site.
Podcast hosting has some free options. But that’s only going to last you for a period of time, or until you get a decent number of podcast downloads.
Pricing can range anywhere from $5 to $50, and will likely increase as you gain more listeners.
Podcast hosting costs that scale as you increase users ensure you only pay more when you become more successful.
The good news is the podcast hosing sites listed in the article will help you to publish your podcast.
But it doesn’t hurt to know yourself the option for publishing a podcast. That said, the most popular podcast services are Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
You can find a detailed list of other publishing options here.
The above list of the best podcast hosting sites will hopefully give you a starting point when deciding on which platform to choose for your podcast.
There are so many options out there, it’s hard not to get bogged down in all of the details. However, if you make a list of features that you must have for your podcast hosting site, compare them to the article above, and then conduct further research based on your needs; you’ll find the right fit for your podcast in no time.