10 Best Podcast Hosting Platforms & Services for 2024

Last Updated on September 7, 2024 by Kundan Sharma

Best Podcast Hosting Platforms & Services

There are a lot of podcast hosting platforms in the market that make it difficult which one to choose? A better podcast hosting site helps you to host and distribute podcast episodes without any hassle.

If you don’t know what is podcast hosting?

Then, it’s much similar to web hosting in that you buy storage to store your website contents so that is easily accessible for anyone.

When it comes to podcasting you store MP3 audio files on the server to provide a better user experience to listeners. In this article, we have listed some of the best podcast hosting platforms. 

But, before knowing about them. You may have a question, why I should take a podcast host if I already have the web hosting.

Here’s the answer.

Why Do You Need A Podcast Hosting Platform?

As I earlier mentioned, podcast hosting is a place where you host your audio files.

I know some of you are thinking, Why not host podcasts on my website hosting. Yes, it’s possible but there are some downsides of doing this.

When you store podcasts on web hosting require a lot of storage and bandwidth and most of the budget hosting providers are not capable of handling this.

If your podcast gets popular thousands of listeners and downloads that affect website bandwidth. You will need a high performing web hosting service with more storage so, in the end, you will have to pay even more.

 

There’s one more issue you can’t distribute your podcast if you host on a website.

Podcast hosting platforms are professionally designed to host and distribute podcast episodes on popular podcast directories like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many more. It helps to get more potential listeners.

So, it’s always good to host podcast on a podcast hosting site, offer everything that needs to build and monetize podcasts.

Here is The List of Best Podcast Hosting Services for 2024

 

1. Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout podcast hosting platform

Buzzsprout is #1 best podcast hosting platform and a very easy to use for beginners.

It has been operating since 2009. Currently, It’s one of the most popular podcast hosting platforms out there. Some of the top podcast used Buzzsprout for hosting their podcasts.

More than 100,000 people have already started their own podcasts. You can easily host, promote and track your podcast episodes.

Buzzsprout makes sure to distribute your podcast on top directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and many more others which help you to get more listeners.

You only need to upload your audio file and schedule your podcast on a particular time and day and rest will be taken care of by them.

 

Buzzsprout gives podcast statistics to see the total no of podcast downloaded and the platforms where people have listened to the podcast.

You can use Buzzsprout for free up to 90 days that allow you to host 2 hours of episodes each month. If you need more podcast hours and features then have to upgrade their paid plan costs between $12 – $24 a month.

The paid plan comes with advanced stats, unlimited storage, unlimited team members, and import podcasts for free.

You can add a beautiful podcast player on your site though using a snippet code. Here’s how it will look.

Buzzsprout podcast player

Buzzsprout automatically transcribes your podcast episodes to make it easy to accessible for readers, search engines, and hearing impaired.

The best thing is it allow you to create unlimited podcasts in a single account and also allow you to add unlimited members who’re going to manage your podcasts.

 

Key features of Buzzsprout:

Easy to use podcast hosting platform

Transcribe option

 Free for 90 days

Stunning podcast player

Easy podcast migration from an existing platform

Affordable pricing

 

Pricing:Buzzsprout Pricing

Buzzsprout has simple price plans. There’s a free plan that lets you try it 90 days without spending a single penny and except this, they have 3 price options that cost you between $12 to $24 per month.

No doubt, Buzzsprout is a great platform for beginners. Start your podcast for free by sign up 90 days free plan. Get Buzzsprout a 50% Discount.

Try Buzzsprout

 

2. Podbean

Podbean home

Podbean is one of the easiest and powerful places to start a podcast. It has been working for more than 10 years and helped over 460,000 podcasts around the globe.

As of now, Podbean hosted more than 71,000,000+ episodes and 7.2 billion+ downloads. It is all in one platform that allows you to host, promote, and monetize your podcasts.

There’s no limit of podcast downloads and recording time. You can build a professional free podcast website on a branded domain, choose a theme, and customize it according to your needs.

 

Monetize podcats using podcats monetization tools, dynamic advertising system, patron program, and premium podcast.

Podcasts are nothing without listeners, so Podbean let you podcast episodes to platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many more to get potential listeners.

If you have a blog and website then you can also get listeners by embedding your podcast on site.

 

Podbean allows users to host live streaming to interact with the listener in real-time. They can send messages and call in live streaming shows.

The best thing is Podbean has a podcast mobile application that helps to record, edit, and publish podcasts from your phone.

Key Features of Podbean:

 The basic plan is free

Own free podcast site on a custom domain

 iPhone and Android app

Easy to use platform

Social media auto-sharing

 Email integration

 Live streaming

 

Pricing:

Podbean basic plan always free gives storage up to 5 hours total with 100GB monthly bandwidth. If you want to upgrade then there are the 3 plans are available to choose from.

Podbean Pricing

 

Unlimited Audio: This plan cost is $9/Mo with unlimited storage & bandwidth, embed player, own podcast site, ads market place, premium sales, and more.

Unlimited Plus: $25/Mo including all features of Unlimited Audio plan with video podcast, patron program, and pod ads.

Business: This is the most expensive plan at Podbean, cost is $99/Mo that comes with all available features including multiple podcast channels, multiple admins, remove Podbean branding, live chat support, and more.

Try Podbean

 

3. Transistor

Transistor podcast hosting service

Transistor is another popular podcast hosting platform for professionals. It’s a little expensive than some other popular platforms such as Buzzsprout, Blubrry, and Podbean.

Like other podcast hosting tools you can host your podcast and publish it everywhere on different platforms to get potential listeners.

It’s very easy to create a podcast on transistor all you need to do is, record your podcast using any free tool like Garage band or Audacity and then upload the recorded MP3 file then finally publish your podcast.

Transistor allows users to view podcast stats that help you to find average downloads, estimated subscribers, listener trends and etc.

It’s suitable for bloggers, businesses, professional podcasters. If you are one of them then definitely you would love transistor.

If you want to try their platform before investing it then don’t worry, you can sign up for 14 days free trial of transistor. Which helps you to find is it the podcasting platform you are looking for?

Key Features of Transistor:

Distribution podcat up to potential customers

Host unlimited podcast episodes

Embed podcast player for website

Detailed podcast analytics

Suitable for bloggers, marketers, businesses, and professionals.

Live customer support

14 days of a free trial

 

Pricing:

Transistor offers 3 pricing plans. Here is a list of all plans with features you will get.

Transistor Pricing

Starter ($19/Mo): In this plan, you will get unlimited podcasts, 2 podcat account, and 10,000 monthly downloads.

Professional ($49/Mo): All features of starter plan with 50,000 monthly downloads including advanced features like enhanced private podcasting and 500 private subscriptions.

Business ($99/Mo): This is the most expensive plan of transistor with all features of starter and professional plan. You will get 10 users and 150,000 monthly downloads including 3 private podcasts and 1000 private subscribers.

You can start 14 days free trial of transistor, paid annually to get 2 months of plan for free.

Try Transistor

 

4. Blubrry

Blubrry Home

It’s very easy to use podcast hosting platform offer flexible pricing options that suitable for everyone newbie and professional.

If your site has powered by WordPress then they have a powerful plugin known as PowerPress that allows you to manage podcasts right from a WordPress site.

You can easily upload your podcasts on Blubrry platform using the PowerPress plugin and enable to distribute your podcasts episodes on various platforms such as Apple podcast, Google podcasts, Spotify, and more.

 

Blubrry let free podcast migration from the existing platform. All you need to do is provide your podcast feed on media URL and the rest will be taken care by them.

You can easily import podcasts from some popular podcast platforms like Libsyn, Anchor, Podbean, SoundCloud, and more.

It gives in-depth podcast analytics including No of episode downloads/play, client report, day to day trading, and more.

Blubrry Podcast player

It has come with a new modern podcast player that enables listeners to play, download, share, and subscribe podcasts.

If you are wondering about do they provide enough customer support? Then don’t worry Blubrry gives 24/7 support on email, phone, and video conference.

You will also get access to some helpful documentation that helps you to know how to use this platform.

Key Features of Blubrry:

Storage with no-fault overage

 Professional podcast stats

FTP or Web upload option

 CDN support

 Free podcast transfer

 It allows to Host audio, video, PDF, and EPUB

 24/7 customer support

All in one powerful podcast player

PowerPress WordPress plugin

 Free podcast website

 

Pricing:

Blubrry podcast hosting offers 4 different plans depending on storage that means you can start with the lower plan and upgrade when you needed more storage.

Blubrry Pricing

Here is the list of 4 different plans.

Small ($12/Mo): comes with 100MB storage without no-fault it overage, unlimited bandwidth and web upload audio

Medium ($20/Mo): gives 250MB storage including unlimited bandwidth, audio, video, and web upload.

Large ($40/Mo): all features of media plan with 500MB storage monthly..

Extra ($80/Mo): most expensive plan of Blubrry with 1000MB storage monthly with all necessary features.

 

If you want unlimited monthly storage and FTP file upload support then they have a professional plan to know about pricing. You will have to contact Blubrry support. Here the Blubrry coupon code to get a month free trial.

Try Blubrry

 

5. Spreaker

Spreaker Home

Spreaker is a simple podcast platform where you can start podcasting for free on a starter plan. The plan is very limited, sooner or later you have to upgrade yourself in one of their 3 paid plans those come with more storage and features.

Spreaker enables podcaster to host live streams and distribute podcasts on various platforms.

The cool thing is they have applications for both desktop and mobile devices, so you can record and publish podcasts anywhere.

Spreaker has a CMS feature that lets you upload, schedule, and manage podcast episodes in just from one dashboard.

 

It also has a one-click distribution feature to distribute podcasts across popular podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Media, and Spotify.

They help podcaster to earn more by hosting podcast through their monetization platform that let you complete control on podcast ads.

Key Features of Spreaker:

Mobile  podcast hosting

Desktop and mobile application support

 Allow to go live streaming

The unique podcast monetization platform

Advanced analytics

Start a podcast for free

RSS feeds and player color

 

Pricing:

Spreaker has 3 paid plans On-Air Talent ($6/Mo), Broadcaster ($18/Mo), and Anchorman ($45/Mo)

You can start with On-air talent plan that costs you $6 per month and comes with multiple podcast hosting, Customizable RSS feeds, and programmatic monetization.

Plans and Pricing of Spreaker

If you want more storage and features then the Broadcaster plan is right for costs you $18 per month. It’s also the most popular plan at Spreaker.

Wants to start podcasting for free then sign up with their speech plan that costs you nothing to get started.

Try Spreaker

 

6. Simplecast

Simplecast Home

Simplecast is one of the industry-leading podcast hosting and distribution platforms. It has been working for 7 years now and powering the world’s some of the best and top brands like Facebook, McAfee, Nike, Twitter, Shopify, Tech Crunch, Medium, and many more others.

It makes it very easy to publish and distribute podcasts with one click and your podcasts are automatically published in the places where your potential listeners are spending their time.

It’s always a big headache for a podcaster to move from one platform to another but with Simplecast. You can easily migrate your shows.

To do this, you only need to choose the podcasts you want to migrate at Simplecast then confirm the ownership, and then the rest will be done automatically.

 

If you kind of person who doesn’t like to maintain a separate website for podcast then don’t worry Simplecast got covered for you. Enable you to create a beautiful site using an all-new site builder.

Key Features of SimpleCast:

Unlimited storage and upload

Distribution of episodes on various platforms

 Manage multiple shows and members from one account

Embed podcast player

Https site and RSS feed

Custom domain podcast website

 Detailed analytics

 

Pricing:

SimpleCast plans are customizable to meet your requirement. Plans are a little expensive when we have compared with some other platforms mentioned on this list.Simplecast Pricing

They have 3 pricing options. Here are the complete details of Simplecast plans.

Basic ($15/mo): It is the lowest plan and enough for starting podcast and grows audience base. In this plan, you will get 2 team members seats, unlimited storage, and 20,000 downloads per month.

Essential ($35/Mo): It’s a mid-range plan suitable for professionals and businesses. On this plan, you will get access to 4 member seats, additional web player, unique listener report, 50,000 downloads per month, etc.

Growth ($85/Mo): This plan is suitable for pro podcaster and businesses. The plan comes with team member seats, compare metrics, location analytics, 120,000 downloads per month and etc.

Well, all plans have come with a 14 days free trial, no credit card required.

Try Simplecast

 

7. Captivate

Captivate Home

Captivate is a new growth-oriented podcast hosting platform build by Rebel base media who also behind the podcast websites.

They have worked with some popular brands such as MeetEdgar, Entrepreneur, Santander, and more. Captivate interface is very easy to use you can easily upload and manage your podcast episodes without any hassle.

They have offered a simple powerful podcast player that you can easily embed and share on social platforms.  It also allows listeners to share episodes on podcast directories to get more exposure.

You can also build an email list to stay connected with your listeners.

If you run your own WordPress site or another website, captivate sync feature enables you to manage podcasts from your website as well as your captivate account.

Key Features of Captivate:

Unlimited team member addition

A fully customizable website with all plans

Work in all devices

Built-in call to action

Powerful podcast player

Free podcast migration from other platforms

 

Pricing:

You can try captivate 7 days for free and it offers 3 paid plans based on monthly downloads.

Captivate Pricing

Podcaster: $19/Mo support up to 12,000 monthly downloads

Audio Influence: $49/Mo support up to 60,000 monthly downloads

Podcast Brand: $99/Mo with 150,000 monthly downloads

If you want to grow quickly with podcasting then captivate is the right podcast platform for you.

It offers a lot of growth-oriented tools and features. Starts at the lowest $19 per month that has everything to grow as a better podcaster.

Try Captivate

 

8. Audioboom

Audioboom HomeAudioboom is a popular website that is primarily known for podcast monetization options. If your podcast cross 10k listener per episode then they provide you some dynamic ads and sponsorships for your podcasts.

They have an embed player tool that can easily add to a site or blog suitable for all-size screens.

You can build a simple podcast page on Audioboom that let your audience listen to podcasts and navigate to subscribe for upcoming episodes.

Wants to track the performance of each podcast episode, Audioboom never lets you down shows detailed advanced analytics to track each performance and know more about audience insights.

Key Features of Audioboom:

Simple and easy to use

Monetize ads with dynamic ads and sponsorships

Distribution episodes across podcast directories

 Easy to use embed podcast player

Advanced analytics

Podcast page for building email list

 

Pricing:

Audioboom has 2 simple price plans.Audioboom Pricing

Podcasters ($9.99/Mo): This plan gives you unlimited podcast support per month, up to 10,000 plays month, advanced analytics, and embed players for website and social media.

Podcast Pros: If you cross 10k plays per episode this plan is for you. In this plan, you will get the opportunity to earn money by monetizing your podcast from dynamic ads and sponsorships.

You will have to get in touch with the Audioboom team to monetize your podcast shows.

Try Audioboom

 

9. Libsyn

Libsyn Podcast Hosting Home

It’s a podcast hosting platform working since 2004. You can host, distribute, and manage your podcast. Libsyn allows users to distribute podcasts anywhere on their favorite mobile apps and platforms.

You can also monetize your podcast with premium content subscriptions and advertising.

It’s one of the best podcast hosting platforms and the closest competitor of blubrry. Libsyn is optimized for mobile users and comes with a mobile-compatible player and mini-site customization.

It is 100% compatible with some most popular third-party platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, Shopify, YouTube, and more.

Key Features of Libsyn:

 It allows to host, distribute and monetize a podcast

Mobile compatible payer

Downloadable stats

Compliant RSS feed

Customize domain

Podcast schedule

 

Pricing:

Libsyn has offered 4 different plans depending on monthly storage.

Libsyn Plans Pricing

The basic plan cost is $5/Mo which gives 50MB storage every month including features such as Apple podcast complaint, Libsyn directories listing, Custom HTML media player, WordPress, Advanced episode scheduling, FTP upload support, and more. 

Other plans cost between $15 to $40 per month.

Try Libsyn

 

10. Fusebox

Fusebox Home

Fusebox is a wonderful Podcast platform created by Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income. It’s one of the best podcast players that has a feature to capture the emails of listeners.

There are lot more options you will see in this podcast player; match player with website color, listeners can share the podcast, speed control, download podcast in one click, and player optimized for mobile.

This is a kind of podcast platform that has a podcast transcript plugin that automatically adds podcast transcript to your site for the people who don’t like to listen or are hearing impaired.

Here’s an example of how a transcript looks.

 

You can see on the top right corner a downloadable icon to save it in PDF file.

If you thinking about how to add a Fusebox player to the WordPress site then they have offered a plugin you need to install and activate the license.

Next, customize the color of the podcast player and then place the player on the posts and pages.

 

Well, you will need to host your files on the podcast network, and then you will be able to display podcast episodes on the WordPress site using Fusebox.

Keep in mind that Fusebox is only available for WordPress users. It won’t work outside WordPress on other platforms like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and more.

Key Features of Fusebox:

Podcast Player for WordPress

Automatically podcast transcripts

Download the transcript in PDF

Capture listener emails

 

Pricing:

Fusebox Plans

Fusebox pro plan costs you $8/mo. You can also try it for free.

Try Fusebox

 

Final Thoughts: Which One Is The Right Podcast Hosting Platform For You?

Well, it has never been easier to choose a podcast hosting platform due to the many platforms available out there.

In this article, we have covered some top and popular podcast hosting providers that do too many things for you from hosting to distribution and monetization.

Now we have come to the most important thing. Which podcast platform should you pick?

Well, that depends on many things such as storage, number of monthly downloads, pricing, and features. You can compare each of the listed platforms.

But, if you want to know our take on the best podcast hosts. Here’s the list:

Buzzsprout

 Podbean

Blubrry

Transistor

I highly recommend you to go with Buzzsprout. It’s best for beginners and as well as professionals. Plans are very affordable compared to some other platforms. You can try it for 90 days for free, you don’t need to pay a single cent.

I hope this article helped you to pick the right podcast hosting platform. If you have any questions comment down below.

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