9 Best Podcast Platforms (2023)
For your convenience in researching, we've created a brief introduction to the platform, highlighted its key aspects, and outlined the cost plans of 9 of the most popular podcast platforms. We've evaluated the platforms in order of cost, upload and bandwidth limits, monetization tools, and more. Let's get started!
This is our list of the 9 most popular podcasting platforms:
PodBean
With more than ten years of experience, PodBean boasts an impressive 650,000 podcasters on its platform. PodBean provides users with easily-to-read data like downloads according to the day and hour, trend, top 10 episodes audience demographics, listener numbers, and retention of users. It also allows you to live stream live to your audience as well as allow guests and listeners to connect to your stream to listen or participate.
The key Features
- Plan available for free
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Podcast embeddable and customisable player on your site
- Native tools for easy Podcast monetization
- Auto-sharing of connected accounts on social media
- Live streaming that allows for listeners to call in and listen
Price band:
PodBean is one of the few platforms to offer a free plan. Their free plan supports MP3 formats, and comes with 5 hours of space (500MB) and 100GB of bandwidth per month.
Alongside the basic plan, PodBean has three plans for paid customers that include Unlimited Audio ($9), Unlimited Plus ($29) as well as Network ($79). Unlimited Audio and Unlimited Plus plans include unlimited storage space as well as bandwidth, while the Network plan restricts bandwidth to 3TB and offers the option to pay for additional bandwidth.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the hosting platform of choice for more than 100,000 podcasters. It offers sophisticated analytics which allow you to track the number of people who download your episodes, where they're coming from, as well as the number of users access your podcast. It also gives you access to several tools like an embeddable episode player for websites, the option of a transcript for your episode, as well as "Dynamic Content" which allows you to alter the pre- and post-rolls of your show after you've published.
When you upload your podcast your podcast to Buzzsprout the platform, you'll be able to showcase your podcast on every major directories including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and more. It will also enhance uploaded audio files, making your podcast as good as possible.
The key features
- Available free plan
- Customizable podcast website on every plan
- A customizable embeddable podcast player for your website
- Ability to create chapter markers for the episodes
- Advanced statistics for tracking your development
- Dynamic content lets you change posts and pre-rolls following the time of publishing.
Price price range:
Buzzsprout is one of the very few platforms that offer a trial plan for free. As for their paid options They offer three plans including $12, $18, and $24 monthly. There is no the option of annual pricing as of yet therefore you'll need to stick with their monthly prices. The only difference between their paid plans is how many upload times that each plan offers.
RSS.com
RSS.com features a user interface that's well-known for its simplicity of access and use. The platform provides users with access to features such as complete analytics, schedulers for episodes, an embeddable episode player, social media sharing, and a podcasting website that's included.
Setting itself apart from other platforms for podcast hosting, RSS.com offers a donation button that you can turn on or off. The donation button lets you get funding outside of the typical ads and sponsorship options. But if sponsors and ads prefer your taste, they have that too. Podcasters will find sponsors using RSS.com's Podcorn marketplace.
Key Features
- Unlimited episodes and music for every plan
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Native episode scheduler
- Optional button for donations
- Ability to create episodes, chapters, soundbites and transcripts within the platform
Price band:
Although it appears that RSS.com has three plans available, most users will only get one plan, which is the All in One Podcasting plan at $12.99 monthly. Students and Non-government Organizations can benefit from a separate plan that is just for them, at $4.99 a month. The Student plan includes the same features as that of the All in One plan, however, you'll need to be accepted. If you have more than 10,000 daily downloads is eligible for this Podcast Networks plan, but you'll also have to contact the platform prior to signing up.
Captivate
Captivate is a great option for new podcasters. Its hosting dashboard is well-known in the industry for its straightforward interface. This platform will help you distribute your episodes on all major podcasting directories, promote your show using built-in tools for marketing, and even monetize your podcast with private broadcasting.
Important features
- Podcast website that can be customized for every plan
- Unlimited Podcasts, Uploads and storage on all plans
- Podcast embeddable, customizable player on your site
- Additional Captivate Sync(tm) WordPress Plugin for flexible hosting control
- Podcasting Premium/Private for all plans
- Unlimited team members , with different roles
Price price range:
Captivate offers 3 plans which include: Personal ($19), Professional ($49) and business ($99). Although there's no cost-free plan however, there is seven days of trial free with any plan. The main difference between paid plans lies related to the quantity of networks-connected podcasts, private podcasts, and private podcast subscribers that you are able to have. Apart from these features, the plans are identical.
Transistor
Transistor is a top-quality podcast hosting platform that includes major-name shows like Cards Against Humanity. They offer complete analytics, private podcasts with 1-click distribution to each of the popular directories. They also offer 1-click distribution for Listen Notes and The Podcast Index two famous search engines that are dedicated to podcasts.
Transistor is an ideal choice when you've got multiple podcasts. The platform offers unlimited shows for every plan. And they don't limit podcasters by storage or bandwidth, only by monthly downloads, which helps to understand limits more easily.
Important Features
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Unlimited podcasts in all hosting plans
- Dynamic Ad tool to allow intuitive and automatic ad insertion
- Upload each episode automatically to YouTube
- Exclusive RSS feeds that are unique for every show you have
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
Price band:
Transistor offers 3 pricing plans including Starter ($19) as well as Professional $49) and Professional ($99). There are only three features which change between plans plan. These are the number of people you can join your team and the amount 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 up to 10,000 monthly downloads, which is more than enough for podcasters new to the field.
Audioboom
Audioboom is a fairly standard platform for most users, 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 way they approach the monetization process is what sets it apart from others. Podcasters have access to the market for monetization when they've reached the 15,000 monthly downloads. For users with a large audience, it won't impact your podcast much. If you're a small podcast, you could be missing out on the potential to monetize until you reach the crucial milestone.
Important Features
- Unlimited episodes per month
- 15,000 downloads per month on entry-level plan
- Distribution to most well-known directories
- IAB compliant analytics dashboard
- The ability to access the global marketplace for advertising after you've reached 10,000 downloads per month
Price range:
The pricing plans of Audioboom are easy to understand! They offer 2 monthly plans which include that is the Standard Plan ($9.99) and the Plus Plan ($19.99). The Standard plan is able to allow as much as 15,000 downloads per month. If you need more than that, the Plus Plan allows up to 50k. And if that still isn't enough, then you'll need to contact them for a custom Podcast Professionals account.
Resonate
Resonate is an excellent podcast hosting service for those needing a one-stop shop. While their hosting plans offer a few of the standard options, they're missing an adjustable website, premium or private podcasting, as well as customer service on their lower-priced plans. However, where Resonate lacks in common hosting capabilities, they could be able to make up the difference with extra features.
Resonate has a broad range of services for podcasts, such as launch, producer and video production, as well as podcast marketing and enterprise service. These services enable podcasters to create a high-quality production, highly-produced shows all in one platform.
Key Features
- Automatically created podcast microsite
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- In-depth analytics of embedded player
- Built-in Dynamic Ad Insertion with timing-sensitive announcements as well as timed campaigns
Price price range:
Resonate offers 2 ready-to-go monthly subscriptions: Standard ($25) as well as Premium ($49). Both of these include unlimited episodes, downloads and users of the show. However, the microsite is only available for Premium subscribers, separating Resonate from platforms that offer websites as part of their lowest plans. In the event that either the Standard or the Premium plan fits your needs, consider the Professional plan that gives you more microsites and assistance options.
Castos
As opposed to other podcasting platforms, Castos is a WordPress plugin. It's built to integrate with Seriously Simple Podcasting and allows podcasters to control their podcasts directly on a WordPress website. Castos can also allow users to create customized podcast websites with detailed analytics.
Compared with Buzzsprout, their audio transcription service is much less expensive and cost just $0.10 per minute. If you're looking to start your own podcast through YouTube, Castos will also instantly upload your podcast episodes to YouTube when you subscribe to certain plans. Castos is focused on improving and creating new features to provide analytics reports that are tailored for potential sponsors and playback duration metrics that will let you have a better idea of the time that listeners stay tuned in.
Important Features
- Podcast website that can be customized for all plans
- Unlimited podcasts episode uploads
- Private podcasting feature for premium content
- Pre-built web page templates
- Automatic podcast transcriptions (optional)
- YouTube republishing
Price range:
Castos offers 4 pricing plans starting at Starter ($19) and Growth ($49) and Pro ($99), and Premium ($499) monthly. If you choose to pay annually, it will save you around 17% over the course of your contract. Although the basic plan offers all the features you would expect, the Growth plan and above include YouTube republishing.
Libsyn
Going all the way back to 2004 Libsyn has been a long-time participant in the podcast industry. It's a fantastic platform for new creators, hosts with short episodes with a small number of episodes as well as podcasts that are monetized. Important to know that this platform limits uploads and bandwidth. This can cause problems for podcasts with a large library of content or a lot of listeners. If you want to expand storage or bandwidth, you'll need to select larger plans, and that's the reason this is the best platform for shows with small audiences, or those that earn a profit.
Key attributes
- Customizable podcast website on all plans
- Inbuilt monetization using ads as well as private podcasting
- Visual-builder integrated with Canva
- Custom iOS and Android app to show your event
- Distribution to the most well-known podcast directories
Price price range:
Libsyn has a wide range of six plans. 3 are for audio podcasts and three for video podcasts.
Audio Podcasts
Pricing for audio starts with $5, and then go up to $15 and $20 for a month. However, Libsyn limits the number of audio hours that you can upload per month and total storage capacity, in contrast to other platforms on this list. Opting for a more expensive package will give you more of both.
Video podcasts
Video podcast plans start at $45 and increase to $75 and $150 monthly. At this level, the statistics remain the same and only the upload and bandwidth limitations change, again increasing as the cost increases.
Final Thoughts
Here you are! Nine of the top podcasting platforms. The choice of a platform is only the first of many decisions that you'll face as a producer. When you're attempting to find the most suitable platform, be sure to take into consideration your specific needs for podcasting. Consider your primary requirements such as uploading, bandwidth downloads, and your budget. Consider things such as the strategy for monetizing your site and social media connectivity after narrowing the choices down to your top choices.
Are you looking for more information on how to start your own podcast? Take a look at our previous podcasting blog posts: