9 Best Podcast Platforms (2023)
To aid you in your search We've prepared a concise introduction to the platform, highlighted its key characteristics, and provided the pricing options for nine of the most popular podcast platforms. We've evaluated the platforms according to cost, upload and bandwidth limits, monetization tools and many more. Let's get started!
This is our list of the 9 best podcast hosting platforms:
PodBean
Over 10 years of expertise, PodBean boasts an impressive 650,000 registered podcasters on its platform. PodBean gives users access to simple-to-read statistics like downloads by date and time, trends and top 10 podcasts audience demographics, listener numbers, and retention of users. This platform also lets you live stream your content to your viewers as well as allow guests and listeners to join in for a take part or listen to your broadcast.
Important attributes
- Free plan available
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Embeddable and customizable podcast player to your website
- Native tools for easy Podcast monetization
- Auto-sharing is enabled on social media accounts
- Live streaming with the ability for users to make calls and listen
Price price range:
PodBean is among the very few platforms offering a free plan. Their plan for free supports mp3 file formats and includes 5 hours of space (500MB) as well as 100GB of monthly bandwidth.
In addition to the free plan, PodBean has three plans for paid customers including Unlimited Audio ($9), Unlimited Plus ($29) as well as Network ($79). The unlimited Audio and Unlimited Plus plans feature unlimited storage space and bandwidth, while the Network plan limits bandwidth to 3TB, with the option of purchasing additional bandwidth.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the hosting platform that is used by more than 100,000 podcasters. This platform offers advanced analytics that let you track how many people download your episodes, where they're coming from, as well as the number of users access your podcast. They also give you access to a range of tools like an embeddable episode player for websites, transcripts of your episodes that are optional, and "Dynamic Content" which lets you change posts and pre-roll segments after publishing.
By uploading via Buzzsprout it will allow you to showcase your podcast on all of the top directories including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and many more. Additionally, the platform can automatically optimize uploaded files, making your podcast the most effective possible.
Important Features
- Free plan available
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Podcast player that can be embedded on your site
- Ability to create chapter markers to mark episodes
- Advanced statistics that track your progression
- Dynamic content allows you to alter pre and post-roll segments following the time of publishing.
Price band:
Buzzsprout is also among the very few platforms that provide a no-cost plan. For their paid plans, they offer 3 plans: $12, $18, and $24 monthly. There is no annual pricing at this time therefore you'll need to stick with the month-to-month pricing. There is only one difference between the paid plans is how many upload time each plan provides.
RSS.com
RSS.com has a user interface that's popular for its ease of access and use. It gives its users access to features like complete analytics, schedulers for episodes as well as an embeddable player for episodes, social media sharing, and an included podcasting website.
In addition to being different from other podcast hosting platforms, RSS.com offers a donation button that you can turn on or off. It allows you to access funds outside of the typical advertising and sponsorship methods. However, if ads and sponsorships prefer your taste there are other options. Podcasters can find sponsors with RSS.com's Podcorn marketplace.
Important Features
- Unlimited audio and episodes for every plan
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Native episode scheduler
- Donation button with donation option
- Ability to build episode chapters, soundbites, as well as transcripts, within the platform.
Price band:
While it looks like RSS.com officially offers 3 plans, most users will only be able to avail one plan, which is the All in One Podcasting plan with a price of $12.99 monthly. Non-governmental organizations, students and students may benefit from a separate plan that is just for them for $4.99 per month. The Student plan has the same features as that of the All in One plan, but you'll have to be certified. Anyone with over 10,000 downloads per day will be qualified for The Podcast Networks plan, but you'll also have to contact the platform prior to signing up.
Captivate
Captivate is a great alternative for those who are just starting out as podcasters. The hosting dashboard of Captivate is well-known within the field for its straightforward interface. This platform will help users to distribute their podcast episodes across all of the top podcast directories, sell your podcasts using built-in tools for marketing, and monetize with private podcasting.
Key Features
- Podcast website that can be customized for all plans
- Unlimited podcasts, uploads and storage for all plans.
- Embeddable customizable podcast player on your site
- Additional Captivate Sync(tm) WordPress Plugin for flexible hosting control
- Podcasting Premium/Private on all plans
- Unlimited team members with customizable roles
Price band:
Captivate provides three plans: Personal ($19) and Professional ($49), and Professional ($99). Although there's no free plan available however, there is a free 7-day trial on each plan. The main difference between paid plans lies related to the quantity of networks-connected podcasts, private podcasts, as well as subscribers to private podcasts you can have. Outside of these variable attributes, both plans are identical.
Transistor
Transistor is a premium podcast hosting platform that includes famous podcasts such as Cards Against Humanity. Transistor provides complete analytics, private podcasts with 1-click distribution to each of the popular directories. They also offer 1-click delivery to Listen Notes and The Podcast Index Two popular search engines dedicated just for podcasts.
Transistor is an ideal choice for podcasts with multiple episodes. The platform offers unlimited shows on any plan. The platform doesn't limit podcasters on bandwidth or storage, only by monthly downloads. This makes understanding limits much easier.
Important features
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Unlimited podcasts with every hosting plan
- Dynamic Ad Tool for intuitive and automatic ad insertion
- Automatically upload every episode to YouTube
- Exclusive RSS feeds for every show you have
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
Price price range:
Transistor provides three pricing plans including Starter ($19), Professional $49) as well as Professional ($99). Three features are the only ones that vary from plan to plan. The three are: the number of people you can join your team, the number of podcast listeners who are private you are able to have, as well as the monthly download limit. The good news is that the Starter program allows you to download unlimited monthly downloads of 10,000, which is more than enough for most podcasters new to the field.
Audioboom
Audioboom is a reasonably standard platform that is suitable for the majority of users. offering distribution to popular directories as well as unlimited episodes. the capacity to download 15,000 files monthly on their entry-level plan. Its approach to monetization is what sets it apart from other platforms. Podcasters are able to access the marketplace for monetization once they reach 10,000 monthly downloads. For those with a substantial fan base, this shouldn't effect the quality of your show. But if you're a smaller show, it may mean not having the chance to make money once you've reached the crucial milestone.
The key features
- Unlimited episodes per month
- 15,000 downloads per month on entry-level plan
- Distribution to all popular directories
- IAB compliant analytics dashboard
- You will be able to join the world's largest advertising marketplace when you have reached 10,000 downloads per month
Price price range:
The pricing plans of Audioboom are easy to understand! There are two monthly plans available that include which are the Standard Plan ($9.99) and the Plus Plan ($19.99). The Standard plan allows for the possibility of up to 15,000 monthly downloads. If you're looking for more, The Plus Plan allows up to 50k. And if that still isn't enough, get in touch with them to request a customized Podcast Pros Account.
Resonate
Resonate is a great podcasting platform that is ideal for people looking for a complete solution. While their hosting plans offer some of the most popular features, they're noticeably missing an adjustable website, premium or private podcasting, as well as customer service on their lower-priced plans. But where Resonate is lacking in standard hosting features, it may make up for with add-on services.
Resonate has a broad range of podcasting services. These include producer, launch, production videos, marketing, and enterprise services. These services enable podcasters to create a high-quality highly produced and well-produced show on the same platform.
The key Features
- Automatically created podcast microsite
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Comprehensive analytics and statistics from embedded player
- Built-in Dynamic Ad insertion with time-sensitive announcements and timed campaigns
Price range:
Resonate provides two pre-installed monthly plans: Standard ($25) and Premium ($49). Both of these include unlimited episodes, downloads, and show users. Unfortunately, the microsite can only be found with the Premium plan and separates Resonate from platforms that include websites in their most basic plans. If neither the Basic nor the Premium plan fits your needs, consider the Professional plan which gives you more microsites and help capabilities.
Castos
As opposed to other podcasting platforms, Castos is a WordPress plugin. It's built to integrate to Seriously Simple Podcasting and allows podcasters to manage their podcasts directly on their WordPress website. Castos can also allow users to develop custom websites for podcasts with detailed analytics.
Comparatively with Buzzsprout for audio transcription, their services are significantly less costly, at just $0.10 per minute. If you're looking to start an audio podcast with YouTube, Castos will also immediately upload the episodes to YouTube in certain plans. It is focusing in improving its services and implementing innovative features that can provide analytics reports that are tailored for potential sponsors as well as playback duration metrics that will let you know how long listeners are listening to your podcast.
Important features
- Customizable podcast website on all plans
- Unlimited podcasts episode uploads
- Private podcasting feature for premium content
- Templates for web pages that are pre-built
- Automatic podcast transcriptions (optional)
- YouTube is republishing
Price band:
Castos has four pricing options including Starter ($19), Growth ($49) and Pro ($99), Plus ($499) monthly. Paying annually can save around 17% over the course of your contract. The starter plan does include the basic features, only the Growth plan and above come with YouTube publishing.
Libsyn
Going all the way back to the year 2004, Libsyn is an established player in the world of podcasts. It's a great platform for those who are just starting out, hosts with short episodes with a small number of episodes or podcasts with monetization. Important to know that this platform is limited to uploads and bandwidth. This can cause problems with podcasts that have a massive collection of content or lots of listeners. If you want to expand storage or bandwidth, you'll have to opt for larger plans, which is why this platform is best suited for shows with small audiences, or those producing revenue.
Important Features
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Inbuilt monetization using ads and private podcasting
- Integrated visual-builder that integrates with Canva
- Create a custom iOS as well as Android application for your show
- Distribution to the most popular podcast directories
Price band:
Libsyn has a wide range of six plans. 3 are for audio podcasts and 3 for video podcasts.
Audio Podcasts
Pricing for audio starts with $5, and then go up to $15 or $20 each month. However, Libsyn limits the number of audio hours that you can upload per month and total storage space, which is different from other options on this list. Selecting a pricey plan will get you more of both.
Videos Podcasts
The video podcast plan starts at $40, then increase to $150 and $75 each month. At this level, the metrics remain the same and only the upload and bandwidth limitations change with each month, increasing once you pay more.
Final thoughts
There you go! Nine of the top podcasting platforms. Selecting the right platform is just one of the most important decisions you'll have to make as a podcaster. While you're researching the best platform, make sure you consider your unique podcasting needs. Start by looking at the basic demands such as uploading, bandwidth downloading, and your budget. Consider things such as your monetization strategy as well as social media integration once you've narrowed the list down to your top choices.
Want more resources on starting an audio podcast? Check out our other podcasting articles: