Podcast hosting platform hosts audio content files for your podcast and your RSS feed. Using hosting platforms you can upload your audio files, show notes, and other details to help you generate your feed.
Crucial for your podcast is choosing a reliable podcasting hosting platform, because it will help you manage your podcast files easier while grow your audience faster.
What is Podcast Hosting?
If you want the viewer/listener to be able to access your content at any time, after the podcast data including media files is stored somewhere and then needs to be made available via the internet.
Top 10 Podcast Hosting
BuzzSprout
BuzzSprout is a podcast hosting platform founded in 2009. Over 100,000 people start their own podcast using Buzzsprout. It is the easiest way to track your podcast, host, and promote it.
Buzzsprout is the easiest way to promote, and track your podcast and host using their podcasting software. Each of your podcasts are automatically optimized by Buzzsprout for you.
You can easily list your podcast in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more and it helps you reach millions of potential listeners.
Up to 2 hours of audio with no ads is offered from their free plan, but the episodes are deleted after 90 days.
If you need more then 2 hours free you can subscribe to their paid plans starting at $12 a month up to $24 a month for 12 hours upload each month.
Features:
- Great social media features
- Easy upload and hosting
- User-friendly
- Get proper stats
- Have a WordPress plugin
- Affordable pricing
- Great storage limit
Pros
- Free Trial
- Friendly customer service
- Easy to use even for a beginner
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Support only includes emails
- Lack of features
Captivate
With Captivate you can grow your podcast and is focused on helping your show succeed. Users can create multiple podcasts using this podcast platform.
The platform is infinitely changeable to perfectly represent your audio brand and auto-configured based on your podcast cover art. Each layout has been crafted to work on any device, from laptop to phone, and it is designed to work beautifully on every device.
During the week Captivate offers 24/7 support and dedicated weekend hours. Captivate helps you to focus on the expansion of your audio influence and audience growth. Using their simple WordPress plugin, Captivate Sync, you can synchronize instantly with your website.
They offer a free trial and the paid plans start at $19 a month and based on your downloads can go up to $99 a month.
Features:
- Unlimited podcasts
- 7 Day Free Plan
- Advanced Analytics
- Unlimited Podcasts
- Import Your Show, For Free
- Stunning Podcast Player
- Calls to Action, Built-In
- Automatic Podcast Website
- Unlimited Team Members
- Analytics, Anywhere
- Thoughtful Podcast Marketing
Pros
- Free Trial
- Friendly customer service
- Easy to use even for a beginner
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Support only includes emails
- Lack of features
PodBean
PodBean offers new podcasters great plans with reasonable prices. They offer a free app available for Android and iOS devices.
Podbean is powerful tool and one of the easiest way to start a podcast. Everything you need for a
successful podcast. No difficult technology to learn.
All the features you need for starting a podcast are included in this podcast hosting platform, as well as promoting your podcast, and monetizing your podcast. With Podbean podcast hosting you can easily publish your podcast to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Podbean Podcast App, and more.
Their paid plans start at $9 a month up to $99 a month. They have a free plan as well that is limit to 5 hours total.
Features:
- Free subdomain of your choice
- Syndicate your podcast on multiple platforms
- Promote episodes on social media
- Easy embedding
- Monetization
- Analytics and Statistics
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Easy publication and integrating to your social media sites
- Great mobile app
- Plans for all types of podcasters
Cons
- Limited security features
- No uptime guarantee
- Expensive podcast hosting
- No phone support
Transistor
Transistor podcast hosting site has a comprehensive tool to build and grow your podcast. Transistor is trusted by businesses, professional podcasters and creatives, who use their audio hosting and analytics.
For one monthly price using the same account Transistor you can host unlimited shows. Your podcast can be embedded on your websites and blogs via Transistor’s customizable players.
You can invite individual users to work on each show or create multiple podcasts with the help of Transistor. It provides you an opportunity to popularize your show to numerous podcast stores including Spotify, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Castro, and on social media.
They offer 14-day free trial and their paid plans start at $19 a month for 10,000 downloads per month up to $99 a month mostly based on downloads.
Features:
- Create unlimited podcasts
- Live customer support
- Add and manage team members
- Advanced analytics
- Built-in podcast website
Pros
- Host unlimited podcasts
- Podcast Analytics
- Focus on team management
- Create Private Podcast for Members
- Free Trial
Cons
- Limited monthly downloads
- No free plan
- Can’t remove player branding unless on Business plan
Simplecast
Simplecast is a modern independent podcast hosting and analytics platform. Simplecast remains the easiest way for podcasters to publish audio with one-click publishing.
Using Simplecast you’ll have access to analytics, industry-leading publishing, sharing and distribution tools. Simplecast exists for the podcaster, giving shows of all shapes and sizes access to the same tools powering shows from some of the world’s biggest brands.
If you want to embed a single episode or an entire show, it is easy with oEmbed-ready functionality, Add them effortless to site-builders like Squarespace or WordPress, blogs like Medium, and across social media.
Simplecast offers unlimited uploads, unlimited storage space, social media sharing clips, listener analytics & reports, and a customizable themed.
Their paid plans start at $15 a month up to $85 a month
Features:
- Unlimited storage & uploads
- Distribution to everywhere your audience listens
- Customizable show website with a custom domain
- Manage multiple shows with one account
- Web Player analytics
- A secure (HTTPS) site and RSS feed
Pros
- Streamlined UI for newcomers.
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth.
- Share podcasts as videos with Recast.
- In-depth detailed analytics.
Cons
- Advanced features only available on higher plans
- Monthly downloads are capped
- Audio quality restricted
Spreaker
Spreaker is a web and mobile platform that allows audio creators to upload, share, and record. Everything you need to create, distribute, and monetize your podcast you’ll find in Spreaker.
With the Spreaker Studio app you can record your podcast on the go and have the advantage of using the more advanced editor on your computer. Spreaker Studio gives you complete control over your podcast voice volume.
A community of audio creators and listeners is available for anyone to participate in and interact within the platform.
The free plan also includes 15 minutes of max live streaming and 5 hours of audio storage.
There are several plans available through Spreaker including one free and four paid plans. Their paid plans start at $5.99 a month for 100 Hours up to $49.99 a month for 1,500 Hours.
Features:
- Unlimited storage space & uploads
- Distribution to all platforms
- Listener analytics and reports
- Themed show website
- Eight additional team members
- Standard, mini, and show playlist player
- Audience insights
- Interactive location map down to cities & metro areas
- Web player insights
Pros
- Unlimited bandwidth including the free version
- Analytics overview
- Easy to use
- Desktop and mobile apps
Cons
- Monthly downloads are capped
- Audio quality restricted
- Statistics are limited by plan
- Embed player is limited by plan
Fusebox
Fusebox builds a toolbox of powerful software to empower podcasters with dynamic ways of energizing their audiences to drive engagement and results. It is one of the top Podcasts plugin for WordPress.
With their Transcript plugin, you can seriously boost the engagement and SEO potential of your show notes like never before. You’ll still need a podcast host, such as Buzzsprout or Libsyn.
There is no need to use any third-party tool to capture leads because FuseBox comes with an in-built email capture form. You can also easily integrate it with the top email marketing tools like Convertkit.
Fusebox has both free and pro pricing plans. FuseBox also has a free plan with limited features. Their paid plans start at $8 a month billed annually and they offer 60 Day Money Back Guarantee.
Features:
- Full player, single-track player, and site-wide sticky player
- Email Capture
- Transcript plugin
- Downloadable PDFs
- Accessible design
Pros
- Simple and easy to use plugin
- Download & Social Sharing
- Responsive & Mobile Friendly
- Fast Loading Speed
- Professional Customer Support
- List Building Tool
Cons
- No Live chat Support system
- Only for WordPress users
Blubrry
Blubrry is a modern solution for communications, announcements, training, speakers, interviews, educators, exclusive or bonus content. Offering Simple, Standard and Enterprise plans, with mobile and desktop app options, Blubrry can assure your private podcasting needs are met.
Blubrry stands out mainly thanks to its nifty WordPress plugin called Powerpress. PowerPress is the No. 1 podcasting plugin available on WordPress.org. Their free plugin has key podcasting features such as iTunes compliant RSS feeds, subscribe tools including a subscribe sidebar widget and subscribe page template, in-page media players, podcast SEO tools and more!
Podcast Hosting by Blubrry is highly optimized for those using WordPress with the PowerPress plugin
Blubrry has no free option available. Their paid plans start at $12 a month up to $80 a month.
Features:
- Includes a free WordPress site on all plans
- Offers Subscribe by email option
- Optimized for iTunes, Google Play and podcasting
- Audio, video, audiobook, ePub, PDF
Pros
- Professional Statistics
- Integrates with WordPress
- World-class CDN
- Phone support in the US
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Great customer support
- In-depth IAB-certified analytics
Cons
- Interface may be complex for beginners
- No free plan available
- Pricing options on the expensive end
Audioboom
Audioboom is the the leading platform for hosting, distributing and monetizing podcasts for podcasters, advertisers and brands by combining technical support, production savvy and ad sales know-how into one user-friendly, economical experience.
They partnered with Apple Podcasts, CastBox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, iHeart, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and TuneIn.
You can get detailed insights on your podcast’s performance and learn about your listeners. Invite others to collaborate on your show and manage permissions.
If your podcast is getting more than 10k plays per episode they can help you monetize your content with dynamic ads and sponsorship.
Their paid plans start at $10 a month with unlimited episodes per month up to 10,000 plays per month.
Features:
- Publish up to 5 episodes per month
- Up to 10,000 plays per month
- Distribution via Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, GooglePlay and Stitcher
- Advanced analytics
- Embeddable Players for your website and social media integration
Pros
- Affordable pricing.
- Easy importing and uploading of episodes.
- Media sharing
- Embedded player
- Advanced analytics
- Great advertising & monetizing opportunities
Cons
- Limited plays per month
- Base price limits users to 5 episodes per month
Castos
Castos is a podcast hosting, editing, and publishing service. Promote with custom audiograms, automatically publish episodes to YouTube, and use advanced analytics to reach new ears with Castos.
Pay a low, flat fee per audio minute to transcribe your podcast from the dashboard.
Make it easy for your audience to subscribe, search episodes, and connect with you on social media using the Castos’s feature that lets you create a responsive landing page for every podcast.
Castos has a 14-day free trial. Their paid plans start at $19 a month up to $99 a month.
Features:
- Manage multiple podcasts
- Supports audio and video podcasting
- Customizable media player
- Shortcodes and widgets to add episodes, playlists, and archives on your WordPress site
- YouTube republishing
Pros
- Auto-publish each episode to your YouTube channel
- Transcription service
- Facebook support group
- Advanced analytics
- Limitless bandwidth and storage
- Premium podcasting.
Cons
- Requires WordPress website
Not all podcast hostings offer in their basic, or starter plans, the option of monetizing your podcast.
You’ll find those podcast hosts are different than each other besides the main features like pricing, storage space with helpful features like easy-to-build podcast websites, social media integration, post scheduling and in-depth statistics.
For more great apps and tools that can save you money, and optimize your business and finances check some of our other posts in the Resources section.