Are you looking for the best podcast hosting platforms? This article is for you! Do you remember the golden days of the radio revolution?
Each and everyone would love to listen to a specific radio show which broadcasts at a fixed time. This is the first mode of ether broadcast for the audience. The shows could be music, interview, and news. If you missed listening to the shows, you have to wait until the next time.
The radio systems were big and cannot be portable while traveling around. Advanced technology has changed everything. You can carry a small piece of the compact player with you to listen to your podcasts. Also, you don’t need to wait for the right time to listen to any shows. Once you’re subscribed to a podcast, you can enjoy the shows using your headphone at any time.
Each and everyone would love to listen to a specific radio show which broadcasts at a fixed time. This is the first mode of ether broadcast for the audience. The shows could be music, interview, and news. If you missed listening to the shows, you have to wait until the next time.
The radio systems were big and cannot be portable while traveling around. Advanced technology has changed everything. You can carry a small piece of the compact player with you to listen to your podcasts. Also, you don’t need to wait for the right time to listen to any shows. Once you’re subscribed to a podcast, you can enjoy the shows using your headphone at any time.
iPod is the first evolution of consuming podcast shows. Now, you can use Mp3 players and smartphones to listen to podcasts. If you’re an iPhone user, you’re lucky that the iTunes store has n number of podcast collections.
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The one who creates the podcasts is called a podcaster. They could be a singer or anyone who loves to share their views about anything through their voice.
Soundcloud is not only a podcast hosting site but also a social streaming platform. It works in the same way as Instagram and Facebook for interacting with people. If you create a viral podcast, it will get shares, likes, and comments from thousands of people.
If you target a broad set of audiences rather than a small community, you can interact with a huge audience.
At Spreaker, you can record your podcast on their website or mobile app. The other platforms are more suited for standard voice podcasts. At the same time, Spreaker is aiming at music-based talent shows.
Spreaker has professional and enterprise plans to choose from. Under the professional plans, you can also get a free basic plan to use.
Buzzsprout is one of the best podcast hosting platforms. oldest podcast hosting websites. It offers a monthly payment system which is quite interesting. You can change/cancel the plan at any time or even move to another podcast hosting without losing money.
Since it doesn’t have an annual billing cycle, you can use their free plan to give it a try. Later, you can opt for other pricing plans.
Podomatic is a free service provider but they do offer Pro plans to move your podcast to the next level. The Pro features have expanded storage and bandwidth. When you publish your podcast, your post can be shared on Facebook. It will help you to grow your audience if your podcast goes viral. The main aim of PodOmatic is to support independent podcasters.
Podbean is very good for hosting, publishing, and monetizing your podcast shows. It has free and premium plans for independent creators and businesses. The free plan comes with 5 hours of storage which doesn’t have an expiry period. You can choose your best plan as per your needs. If you’re a Pro podcaster, you will love their cheap premium plans.
Castbox allows podcasters to upload their podcast episodes for free. The user interface of this platform is easy to use for beginners. It has a robust podcasting analytics tool that can help you to find what your audience needs. You can also share, like, and comment to increase engagement among the global audience.
Libsyn is a great podcast hosting platform that has a lot of features. You can connect your Libsyn account to a WordPress account to share entire episodes. Sharing your content on a WordPress blog helps you to reach millions of listeners.
Blubrry is a wonderful platform created by podcasters for podcasters. It is the best ground for individual podcasters. Keeping the podcasters in mind, Blubrry is offering a lot of tools to support them. They developed the PowerPress plugin to connect your WordPress site. It helps you to upload, host, and publish your podcast from the WordPress website. You can syndicate your RSS to the iTunes store using this plugin for free.
Audioboom has the biggest name in the podcasting industry. They are popular for hosting, distributing, and monetizing podcasts using advanced technology. The analytics feature can report who is listening to your podcast, why, and how long they are listening. This will help the podcasters to find new revenue-flowing opportunities.
The Anchor is completely a free podcast hosting platform. You can host unlimited podcasts with no more storage and expiry limits. It has a simple layout to start your first podcast. Since it is a free hosting site, you may not have full control over your content. It works like YouTube for hosting your content. The Anchor is running by funds from brands, Advertisements, and sponsorships.
Read this too: Top 3 Ways to Convert Audio for free
The one who creates the podcasts is called a podcaster. They could be a singer or anyone who loves to share their views about anything through their voice.
10+ Best Podcast Hosting Platforms
Several best podcast hosting platforms are there which provide free and premium membership. I have collected a list of popular podcast hosting sites on our site. If you’re a podcaster or have an idea to become a podcaster, you can use the following websites to make use of it.
SoundCloud
Soundcloud is not only a podcast hosting site but also a social streaming platform. It works in the same way as Instagram and Facebook for interacting with people. If you create a viral podcast, it will get shares, likes, and comments from thousands of people.
If you target a broad set of audiences rather than a small community, you can interact with a huge audience.
Pros
- It’s a social audio platform.
- It has RSS capabilities to host your podcasts.
- Easy to share on a blog and platforms like Apple and stitcher.
- It has a dedicated Soundcloud app.
- A free version is available.
Cons
- The free version comes with a limited upload time.
- Uploads are by time rather than the size of the file.
Spreaker
Spreaker has professional and enterprise plans to choose from. Under the professional plans, you can also get a free basic plan to use.
Pros
- It distributes the podcasts to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
- You can start your podcast for free.
- You can join Spreaker’s AD revenue-sharing program.
- Inboard live to broadcast.
- A dedicated app is available.
Cons
- The free plan comes with advertisements.
- Lack of tools to monetize your podcasts in the free plan.
Buzzsprout
Since it doesn’t have an annual billing cycle, you can use their free plan to give it a try. Later, you can opt for other pricing plans.
Pros
- Easy and simple to set up.
- It has a free plan.
- You can monetize your content via Amazon affiliates, donations, online courses, and sponsors.
Cons
- The free plan has a limitation of 90 days.
Podomatic
Pros
- Easy to get listed in the iTunes store podcast directory via RSS.
- The free plan has a lot of features.
- There is no end date for your podcasts.
Cons
- So far no cons to mention.
Podbean
Pros
- Dedicated Android/iPhone apps are available.
- Embedded players' functionality.
- More money-making methods are allowed in premium plans.
Cons
- Not possible to monetize in the basic plan.
- Live chat support is available only for the business plan.
Castbox
Pros
- It has a free package plan.
- Simple UI for easy navigation.
- It has got the best analytics tool to track downloads, streams, and engagement.
Cons
- The free plan has limited features.
- A lot of advertisements may interrupt your listeners.
Libsyn
Pros
- RSS feed to submit your podcasts to the iTunes store.
- It supports HTML5 video and audio player.
- Custom mobile app for advanced hosting plans.
- You can monetize your content with the strongest advertising platform.
- No contract-based plans.
Cons
- Libsyn doesn’t offer a free plan.
- Low monthly storage for your podcasts. You need to pay extra to gain more space.
Blubrry
Pros
- It provides accurate analytics to keep track of podcast engagements.
- The first month is free for podcasters.
- It has a strong community for podcasters.
- RSS, iTunes, and WordPress integration are simple using the PowerPress plugin.
Cons
- Price is high to get storage space.
- It is not flexible for non-WordPress users.
Audioboom
Pros
- Easy to connect podcasts to the audience.
- Enriched analytics feature.
- Distribution of your podcasts via Apple iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
- It supports embeddable players for the website and social media integration.
Cons
- No free plan.
- Pricing is high.
Anchor
Pros
- One-click distribution of podcasts to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
- Free to host abundant podcasts.
- Podcasters can earn money from sponsors.
Cons
- It has basic stats to keep track of your podcasts.
- Branding your podcasts is not easy. Here, Anchor will take the credits.
- They can change your podcast file format if they want.
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Transistor
As a newcomer, if you're looking for a premium podcast hosting platform, you can try Transistor.fm. It has tutorials to help the newbies to start publishing their podcasts. The manual submission of your podcast to different platforms can be time-consuming.
To get rid of this, Transistor helps you to distribute your podcast to Apple podcast, Spotify, and other popular podcasting platforms. All you need is to work on your podcast and just upload it to Transistor.
Pros
- Distribution to major podcasting platforms.
- Help guides for newbies answering important queries.
- The dedicated chat support team for troubleshooting.
- Global CDN for your podcast files.
Cons
- Lack of free basic account for uploading podcasts.
- You have to rely on third-party services for monetizing your podcasts.
Conclusion
From these top 10+ podcast hosting websites, you can choose the one which suits you. I would recommend you test the free plan of any platform to test whether it works for you. If you don’t like one platform, you can switch to another one. Before moving, contact your current hosting platform to simplify the process of migration.
