9 Top Podcast Platforms (2023)
For your convenience in researching We've prepared a concise introduction to the platform, highlighted its key features, and covered pricing plans for 9 of the best podcast platforms. We've evaluated the platforms based on price, upload speed and limitations, tools for monetization, and much more. Let's get started!
This is our list of the 9 top podcast hosting platforms:
PodBean
Over 10 years of expertise, PodBean boasts an impressive 650,000 users on their platform. PodBean offers users easy-to-read analytics like downloads by date and time, trends and top 10 podcasts as well as demographics of listeners and user retention. It also allows you to live stream live to your audience as well as allow guests and listeners to connect to your stream to take part or listen to your broadcast.
Key Features
- Available free plan
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Podcast embeddable and customisable player to your website
- Native tools that make it simple to podcast monetization
- Auto-sharing on connected social media accounts
- Live streaming, with the capability for viewers to dial in and listen
Price range:
PodBean is one of the few platforms to offer a free plan. Their plan for free supports MP3 formats, and comes with 5 hours of space (500MB) as well as 100GB of monthly bandwidth.
In addition to the no-cost plan PodBean offers 3 paid plans: Unlimited Audio ($9), Unlimited Plus ($29), and Network ($79). Unlimited Audio and Unlimited Plus plans offer unlimited storage space and bandwidth. The Network plans limit bandwidth to 3TB and offers the option of purchasing additional bandwidth.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the podcast hosting platform of choice for more than 100,000 podcasters. This platform offers advanced analytics to help you monitor the amount of downloads you receive for your shows, the countries they're from, and how they access your show. They also give you access to a range of tools like an embeddable episode player for websites, optional episode transcription, and "Dynamic Content" which lets you change the pre- and post-rolls of your show after you've published.
By uploading your podcast to Buzzsprout, you'll be able to list your podcast on most of the leading directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and much more. Additionally, the platform can automatically improve uploaded files to make your podcast the most effective possible.
The key features
- Free plan available
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Embeddable customizable podcast player on your site
- Capability to design chapter markers to mark episodes
- Advanced statistics that track your progression
- Dynamic content allows you to change posts and pre-rolls following the time of publishing.
Price band:
Buzzsprout is also among the few podcast platforms that offer a free plan. For their paid plans there are three options available that include $12, $18 and $24 for a month. They don't offer an any annual prices at the moment, so you'll have keep to their monthly prices. 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 known for its ease of use. This platform gives users access to features including extensive analytics, scheduling of episodes and embeddable episodes and social media sharing and an included podcasting website.
Different from other podcast hosting platforms, RSS.com offers a donation button that you can turn on or off. The donation button lets you get funding beyond the usual sponsorship and ad methods. If ads and sponsors prefer your taste, they have that too. Podcasters can find sponsors with RSS.com's Podcorn marketplace.
Key attributes
- Unlimited audio and episodes for all plans
- Podcast website that can be customized for all plans
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Native episode scheduler
- Optional button for donations
- The ability to make chapter chapters, soundbites and even transcripts in the platform.
Price range:
It appears RSS.com provides three plans however, the majority of users will be able to avail the All in One Podcasting plan priced at $12.99 each month. Non-governmental organizations, students and students may avail a special plan for them, at $4.99 a month. The Student plan includes the same features as those in the All in One plan, however, you'll need to be approved. Any person who has more than 10,000 downloads per day will be qualified for The Podcast Networks plan, but you'll also have to contact the platform first.
Captivate
Captivate is a good option for new podcasters. The hosting dashboard of Captivate is well-known by the podcast industry due to its simple interface. It will allow you distribute your podcast episodes across all of the top podcast directories, market with integrated marketing tools and even monetize your podcast with private broadcasting.
Key features
- Customizable podcast website on all plans
- Unlimited uploads and podcasts, and storage space on all plans
- Podcast embeddable, customizable player for your website
- Optional Captivate Sync(tm) WordPress Plugin for flexibility in hosting control
- Podcasting Premium/Private for all plans
- Unlimitable team members and customizable roles
Price band:
Captivate offers 3 plans that include Personal ($19), Professional ($49), and business ($99). Although there's no trial plan for free however, there is the free trial period of 7 days on each plan. The main distinction between the paid plans is in the amount of networked podcasts as well as private and private podcast subscribers they allow. Apart from these features, the plans are the same.
Transistor
Transistor is a premium podcast hosting platform , which includes major-name shows like Cards Against Humanity. Transistor provides extensive analytics, private shows as well as 1-click distribution for every one of the top directories. They also provide 1-click delivery to Listen Notes and The Podcast Index, 2 famous search engines that are dedicated to podcasts.
Transistor is an excellent choice for podcasts with multiple episodes. The platform offers unlimited shows on all plans. They don't restrict podcasters on bandwidth or storage, only by monthly downloads. This makes understanding limits much easier.
Important Features
- Podcast website that can be customized for all plans
- Unlimited podcasts in every hosting plan
- Dynamic Ad Tool for easy and efficient insertion of advertisements
- Upload each episode automatically to YouTube
- Exclusive RSS feeds that are unique for each show you own
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
Price price range:
Transistor has three price plans: Starter ($19) as well as Professional $49), and Professional ($99). Three features are the only ones that vary from plan to plan. They are the amount of team members you can add and the amount of private podcast listeners you can have, and the monthly limit for downloads. Luckily, the Starter package allows for unlimited monthly downloads of 10,000 and is enough for podcasters just starting out.
Audioboom
Audioboom is a reasonably standard platform, providing distribution to directories that are well-known as well as unlimited episodes. the capacity to download 15,000 files monthly on their entry-level plan. The platform's approach to monetization is what sets it apart from other platforms. Podcasters can access the monetization marketplace once they reach 10,000 monthly downloads. For users with a large audience, it won't impact your podcast much. However, if you're running a smaller show, it could mean not having the chance to monetize until you reach that pivotal milestone.
Important Features
- Unlimited episodes per month
- 15,000 downloads per month on entry-level plan
- Distribution to the most popular directories
- IAB compliant analytics dashboard
- The ability to access the global marketplace for advertising once you reach 10,000 downloads per month
Price range:
Audioboom's pricing plans are simple! The company offers two plans per month that include which are the Standard Plan ($9.99) and the Plus Plan ($19.99). The Standard plan allows for up to an incredible 15,000 downloads per month. If you're looking for more then The Plus Plan allows up to 50k. And if that still isn't enough, inquire with them about a custom Podcast Pros Account.
Resonate
Resonate is a great podcast hosting platform for those looking for a complete solution. Their hosting plans provide certain standard attributes, they're not offering the ability to customize their website, private/premium podcasting, as well as customer service for their cheaper plans. But where Resonate lacks in common features for hosting, it could compensate with additional services.
Resonate provides a variety of services for podcasts, such as producer, launch, production videos, marketing and enterprise service. These services enable podcasters to make a premium, heavily produced show all in one platform.
Important features
- Automatically produced podcast microsite
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- In-depth analytics of embedded player
- Built-in Dynamic Ad insertion with specific time-sensitive announcements, timed campaigns and even timed announcements.
Price band:
Resonate offers 2 ready-to-go monthly plans: Basic ($25) and Premium ($49). Both of these include Unlimited episodes, unlimited downloads, as well as show viewers. However, the microsite can only be found on the Premium plan and separates Resonate from platforms with websites included in their most basic plans. In the event that either the Standard or the Premium plan meets your needs, consider the Professional plan which provides more of a microsite as well as assistance features.
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 podcast hosting directly from their WordPress website. Castos also allows users to create customized podcast websites as well as detailed statistics.
Compared with Buzzsprout for audio transcription, their services are significantly less costly than Buzzsprout, costing the low of $0.10 per minute. If you're looking to start your own podcast through YouTube, Castos will also automatically upload episodes to YouTube when you subscribe to specific plans. The platform is focused in improving its services and implementing new features to provide analytics reports that are tailored for potential sponsors and playback duration metrics to let you have a better idea of the time that listeners stay listening to your podcast.
Important Features
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Unlimited podcasts episode uploads
- Private podcasting feature for premium content
- Pre-built web page templates
- Automatic podcast transcriptions (optional)
- YouTube republishing
Price band:
Castos provides four price plans starting at Starter ($19) and Growth ($49), Pro ($99) Plus ($499) per month. If you choose to pay annually, it can save around 17% in total. While the starter plan includes your general features, only the Growth plan and above come with YouTube Republishing.
Libsyn
All the way back to 2004 Libsyn has been a long-time participant within the field of podcasts. It's a great platform for new creators, hosts with short episodes and a low episode count as well as podcasts that are monetized. It is important to keep in mind that this platform is limited to uploads and bandwidth. This could cause issues with podcasts that have a massive number of episodes or a lot of listeners. To increase storage and capacity, you'll need select larger plans, that's why this platform is ideal for small audiences or shows generating profit.
The key Features
- Customizable podcast website on every plan
- built-in monetization via ads as well as podcasting in private
- Integrated visual-builder with Canva
- Create a custom iOS and Android apps for your show
- Distribution of all the well-known podcast directories
Price band:
Libsyn offers a grand total 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 and $20 each month. However, Libsyn limits the number of hours of audio you are able to upload per month and total storage space, which is different from other platforms listed on this list. If you choose to go with a higher-priced plan will get you more storage and.
Videos Podcasts
The video podcast plan starts at $45 and increase to $75 and $150 monthly. The metrics remain the same with the exception that only the upload limit and bandwidth limits change with each month, increasing once you pay more.
Final thoughts
There you go! Nine of the best podcasting platforms. Selecting the right platform is just the first of many decisions you'll have to make as a podcaster. While you're researching the best platform, make sure you consider your specific needs for podcasting. Start by looking at the basic demands like uploading, bandwidth, downloads, as well as your budget. Next, think about the strategy to monetize your website and social media connectivity once you've narrowed the list down to your top choices.
Are you looking for more information on how to start a podcast? Take a look at our previous podcasting blog posts: