10 Best Podcast Hosting Sites Compared (Free & Paid)

Top 10 Podcast

If you’re getting ready to start your own podcast, using a podcast service that suits your needs is really important. Instead of jumping from one service to another, finding one that most benefits you and your content will save time and avoid the hassle.

To make it easy for you to choose, here are 10 of the best podcast hosting services with the features and exclusive benefits mentioned along with each service’s plan prices. This article will help you make the right decision.

1. Cincopa

Cincopa is a great option if you are looking for a podcast hosting service that offers cool features and is easy to use. The platform enables you to host the podcasts using a choice of free templates, offers full compatibility, API for developers and pseudo streaming for fast downloads and zero buffering, all of which makes it a worthwhile experience whether you host it on your own platform or external libraries like Spotify and iTunes. With premium upgrades, it takes the experience to the next level.

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Cincopa has been widely known for its video hosting service, so podcast hosting is another amazing product that you can easily trust because of the experience the team holds in this sphere. The podcast galleries allow you to showcase the podcasts in the episode format and create multiple seasons, a feature that your audience will really love. Although it offers ample storage space, you need to purchase a paid plan once you exhaust the space offered in the free plan. The ‘personal plan’ is priced at $25 and the premium enterprise plan is for $350.

2. Podbean

Podbean is arguably the best podcast hosting service on the market right now. It’s great both for podcast beginners and experienced podcasters looking to change to a better hosting service. The seamless interface makes publishing podcasts super easy.

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You can also create your domain with customizable themes to design a website that carries the essence of your podcasts. To test the service before you commit, you can use their free pack, which comes with customizable options and limited storage.

If you like Podbean, you can purchase their premium package of $9/month, which gives you unlimited storage. If you are committed to making podcasts, opting for unlimited storage is sensible as you wouldn’t ever have to worry about removing old podcasts for new ones.

3. BuzzSprout

Buzzsprout is the runner-up on this list, with an easy-to-use UI that’s perfect for podcast beginners. Instead of giving you a complex system to deal with, Buzzsprout makes it possible for podcasters to upload their podcasts on time with only a few clicks.buzzsprout

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You can even schedule them beforehand to have a set of podcasts ready. Buzzsprout also has a team feature, where you and your fellow podcasters can manage content together. You also get advanced stat info that you can use to analyze your podcast’s growth over time.

Buzzsprout provides a variety of packages. The first package is completely free, where you get all the benefits mentioned above, but you are limited to a 2-hour upload every month and you have ads on your website. Other plans have the same benefits but allow you to publish more content. The lowest package ($12/month) has a 3-hour limit, while the highest package ($24/month) has a 12-hour limit.

4. Spreaker

Spreaker is yet another free podcast hosting service worthy of being on this list. What sets it apart is its reliability in the ease of managing multiple podcast websites. If you have ideas for more than one podcast, Spreaker will make it possible for you to manage both from one single space. This feature is also available for those using the free plan. Once you upgrade to paid plans, you can enjoy more benefits.

Speaker Podcast Hosting

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The lowest-priced package is $6/month which allows you to monetize your content and customize your RSS feeds. The next package is for $18/month, which comes with benefits like exclusive podcast groups and analytics.

The highest-priced package stands at 45/month with more refined benefits and detailed analytics. So if you enjoy their free package enough, you can consider shifting to one of their premium packages for greater customization.

5. Simplecast

Simplecast prides itself in its audio quality management, creating a hosting service for podcasters that ensure high-quality audio so that your listeners get rich, crisp audio. Used by brands like Medium, Nike, and Harvard University, Simplecast is more than just a high audio quality podcast hosting service.

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As a user, you also get to use their analytics system, which gives you a ton of listener data. Average listening time, the segment of your podcast where listeners exit, where your users are listening from (a train, bus, or car), and so much more! By using Simplecast, you can analyze your podcast reach, find ways to improve your content and increase your following.

This service doesn’t include a free package and its plans range between $15-$85. All packages provide unlimited storage but differ in terms of other benefits such as location analytics and download limits.

6. Captivate

Captivate.fm was co-founded by a podcaster who was tired of finding complicated podcast hosting services and decided to make one that is as easy to use. And that’s true, with the service having one of the easiest services to navigate your way around. They believe podcasting should be easy for everyone to use. So if you’re just a beginner looking to try your podcast idea out, you should consider using captivate.

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As a paid member, you get advanced analytics that is extremely easy to understand, an awesome payer and website design, no team member limits, and private podcasting plans. The lowest-priced plan comes for $17/month, while the highest-paid plan comes for $90/month. There are a lot more benefits, so make sure you check out their website.

7. Transistor

Transistor is for the ones who are serious about podcasting. As you’d expect, it has an informative UI that gives you a ton of data to improve your podcast and reach more people. The analytics is great and its team member feature lets multiple people work on the same podcast at once.

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You also get to control multiple podcast websites from one place, together as a team, without any extra charge. Once you upload your podcast, Transistor will ensure it gets published on all the podcast services you choose.

You can start off with a 14-day free trial of the best package, after which you can choose between the three packages priced at $19, $49, and $99 per month. All packages allow you to publish an unlimited amount of content but differ in team member sizes and monthly downloads.

8. Resonate Hosting

Resonate hosting is your all-in-one podcast destination. It was only a podcast recording and editing service until a few years ago. Now, you can edit and use their premium hosting services to publish and grow your podcast. While their podcast editing service is highly recommended, you can opt only for the hosting service if you wish to.

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You get easy-to-understand analytics that tells you about the reach and reach of every podcast you upload, how many people are tuning in, and much more. Plus, you get unlimited storage and an awesome embed player.

Once you visit their website, you’ll find a variety of plans to choose from, with add-ons that cost more. The editing service starts at $59/month, while the hosting service starts at $25/month. For people looking to create and publish podcasts from one place, Resonate Hosting is the one.

9. Audioboom

Audioboom is designed specifically for radio stations and broadcaster podcasts, with features that also make it a viable option for personal podcast hosting as well. Like almost all services mentioned in this list, you get analytics to track progress, team collaboration, distribution over a variety of podcast platforms, and monetization of content. What’s not so common is its import feature, where you can shift from another hosting service to Audioboom in a few clicks.

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Audioboom provides two different plans to choose from. If you’re just starting out, the podcaster pack will be of use to you. It starts at $9.99/month and includes all the above-mentioned features. The podcaster pro plan is for those who have content over 10,000 plays per episode, with added features to monetize your content with sponsorships and other methods.

10. Libsyn

Libsyn is perhaps the oldest podcast hosting service on this list, and while it’s great to use, it’s outdated and needs some changes for it to compete with other hosting services in the market. But if you’re looking for a cheap plan to start with, Libsyn might be useful.

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The lowest-priced plan is the $5/month ‘Classic 50’ plan that comes with a 50 MB storage limit, analytics (added $2/month), and monetization options. The highest-priced plan is the $40/month ‘Advanced 800’ plan that has a lot more benefits, including analytics and an 800 MB storage limit.

50 MB may seem really less while considering the size of high-quality audio file sizes today. But it can be useful for those who will upload small podcasts during the entire month. While it’s a great service, we’d recommend looking at the other services mentioned in the list before you commit to Libsyn.

Conclusion

There you have it, the ten best podcast hosting services on the market right now. Each differs by one or two exclusive features. Based on what your needs are, this article may have made it clear which service is best for you. If you’re just getting started, you can opt for a free hosting service (any of the first three) and then choose a paid package that fits your needs.

 

Originally published on May 1st, 2021, updated on May 18th, 2021
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10 Best Podcast Hosting Sites Compared (Free & Paid)

by Simi time to read: 6 min
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