Before anyone thinks about starting a podcast, they will first have to consider the podcast hosting site to use.

Let’s face it, that can be time-consuming and frustrating considering the fact that they are tons of podcast hosting providers out there, all claiming to be the best.

Yeah, it’s a crucial decision.

Using a poor podcast host can hinder your success in the long haul. It is why a highly-rated podcast host is a must if you truly want to reach out to a large audience, manage your files as well as promoting your episodes.

That’s precisely why we came up with this article – to point you to the best podcast hosting providers in the industry.

We will start with the question “What is podcast hosting” and then review the best podcast hosting providers worth considering.

Sounds good? Alright, let’s begin.

What is a Podcast Host?

A podcast hosting platform helps you store all your podcast media files and deliver them to your audience. The basic features provided by hosting podcast providers are normally podcast analytics, web hosting, and embeddable media players.

Think of it as a home base or store for all your podcast.

Now a lot of people ask – “can’t I just host my podcast files directly on my website without a podcast hosting platform?” Yeah, you can do that – but it is better not to.

The reason is that podcast episodes are all in large files. So, if you keyed into the idea of hosting them on your website, you’ll be making your website very slow for users, which is never a good thing.

A second reason is that it could lead to a lot of downtimes on your site, meaning your website will crash if they are many listeners downloading and streaming at the same time. Not cool, right?

That is why a podcast hosting provider is a must if you’ll be making podcasts.

The best podcast hosting platforms are, without a doubt, specialists when it comes to managing large podcast files. These hosting podcast providers also offer unique tools that podcasters need to succeed.

Here comes the big question – what platforms are the best for podcast hosting?

1. PodBean

PodBean is one of the best free all-around podcast hosting providers that podcasters can use because it offers a free plan.

It’s a podcast platform that makes it easy for podcasters to deliver their podcast episodes to various directories such as Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, and Spotify.

With Podbean, making money from your podcast episodes becomes easy. For example, it allows you to use its marketplace to connect with various advertisers to promote your episode.

Another unique feature of Podbean is its sales model, which allows podcasters to sell subscriptions or bonus episodes,

As earlier mentioned, Podbean allows you to unload your podcasts for free. Its free plan offers up to 500 MB of storage space, which sums up about 5 hours of audio files.

If you can explore its full features, it also provides Premium and Enterprise paid plans. The Premium plan costs $14 per month, where you get unlimited storage and bandwidth.

Its higher-tier plan, which is the Enterprise plan, costs $129 per month, which provides a more robust set of features.

2. BuzzSprout

BuzzSprout is the perfect podcast hosting platform for beginners because it makes it effortless and straightforward to manage and access your podcast files.

It’s a provider eager to help podcasters make reasonable success in their field, providing a clean and intuitive dashboard that improves your marketing strategy.

With BuzzSprout analytics, you can see your audiences’ location and the apps their users to listen to your podcast episodes.

The episode chapter marker is without a doubt a stand-out feature offered by BuzzSprout. It gives your audience a quick preview of your episodes.

Aside from that, this podcast hosting platform makes it easy for you to publish your podcast to various channels like Alexa, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.

BuzzSprout is worth considering, especially for beginners, because it offers a free plan that gives you two hours of content upload per month. It will host your podcast files for 90 days before there are deleted.

Nevertheless, one con about free play is that you’ll have to get used to Ads on your website as well as the podcast player.

If you don’t want to see any Ads and want to explore its premium features, you’ll have to subscribe to its paid plan.

The good thing about BuzzSprout paid plan is that it’s more affordable when compared to other competitors that even provide fewer features.

Its paid plan costs $12, where you’ll get unlimited space, a library with various episodes, and other distinct features.

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3. Captivate

If you are in search of a podcast hosting platform that will help you grow your audience, Captivate will be the ideal choice.

When you sign up with Captivate, you get a website that you can customize to suit your brand style.

You will also have call-to-action links available on the website and your podcast audio player. The feature encourages your audience to sign up to your mailing list or even subscribe to your podcast.

Another cut edge feature of Captivate is that it helps podcasters automatically generate links to various streaming podcast players like Pocket Casts and Overcast, promoting your podcast.

That’s not all. Captivate works hand-in-hand with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), helping you monetize your episodes through ads.

Across all its plans, you’ll get unlimited storage, analytics, a podcast player, and additional team members.

Captivate places its pricing based on the number of downloads made per month. Its basic plan, which goes for $19, gets you 12,000 downloads, while its higher-tier plan costs $49 for 60,000 downloads.

If this all sounds good, you can sign up for its 7-days free trial to check out what the podcasting hosting platform has to offer.

4. Blubrry

Blubrry is the perfect podcast hosting platform for you if you’re a WordPress user and a big fan of analytics.

Blubrry is a highly-rated podcast hosting platform that makes it easy for you to promote and share your podcast with different podcast distributors like Apple Podcast and Google Podcast.

It places a core focus on three core offers– PowerPress plug-in, podcast hosting, and podcast statistics.

The exclusive feature of the PowerPress plug-in is that you’re allowed to manage your podcast directly from your WordPress site. These distinct features make Blubrry stand out from the sea of competitors on the market.

What’s more? You also get social media features that you can use to promote your episodes to new listeners.

Blubrry provides podcast statistics and unlimited bandwidth across all its plans. The statistics offered are insightful and easy to understand without any hassle.

The platform fixes its paid plans based on the amount of storage needed by podcasters. For 100MB storage space, you’ll have to pay $12 per month. 250MB cost $20 per month, 500MB cost $40 and 1000MB goes for $80.

If you’re a commercial podcaster in need of more storage space, you can contact Blubrry directly regarding their Professional plan.

5. Transistor

Transistor is another highly-vetted podcast hosting platform that is renowned for its built-in podcast analytics.

The platform offers a handful of tools that podcasters can use to grow their audience. Some of its features include podcasters’ ability to distribute their episodes with other platforms like Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

Transistor also provides you with a branded website with a custom domain name. It integrates with other marketing services like Drip, ConvertKit, and MailChimp.

With this podcast platform, you can improve your strategy using its advanced analytics. It offers an intuitive dashboard that displays the average downloads per episode, stats, number of downloads over time, and subscribers.

Furthermore, you can use this podcast hosting provider to manage multiple users and unlimited shows with a single account.

Transistor offers unlimited uploads across all its plan. Its price plans depending on the number of downloads and users per month.

Pricing starts at $19 for two users per month, which offers 10,000 downloads. The higher tier plan goes for $49 per month, which provides 50,000 downloads for five users.

6. Castos

Castos is among the best podcast hosting providers for individuals that use WordPress website, which it provides through a plug-in.

With allows you to automatically upload your podcast episodes on various prominent podcast distribution channels like Over Casts, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.

Castos is a platform that you can use for video podcasts, allowing you to republish your podcast to Youtube. Asides from that, it offers another stand-out feature called automatic transcription.

It will automatically create a transcription anytime you upload a podcast episode. The dashboard is straightforward and comprehensive.

If you like, you can as well copy and paste the PDF version to your website. Religious organizations and nonprofits organizations are offered discounts if they should make use of Castor.

Castor provides unlimited uploads, podcasts, and downloads across all its plans. Its price plan’s cost starts at $19 per month, while the higher tier price, which features Youtube republishing, costs $49 per month.

Its Pro plan costs $99 per month, which gives exclusive features like advanced analytics and video file hosting.

7. Libsyn

Libsyn is a top-rated podcast hosting platform ideal for branding and monetization. With this podcast hosting provider, you can easily monetize your podcast episodes with its premium paywalls and double opt-in advertising features.

Libsyn places a core focus on helping podcasters promoting their brand because it offers integration with top-rated distribution apps and platforms.

That’s not all. With this podcast hosting platform, you can be sure of dedicated and comprehensive customer support to get the most out of its hosting packages.

We also like that Libsyn allows podcasters to create customized podcast apps for Android and iOS devices.

The platform offers unlimited bandwidth for all its package plans. The price depends on the features and amount of storage you need for podcasting.

50MB of storage space costs $5 per month, which is the basic plan. If you ever require more storage space, you’ll have to opt-in for its higher-tier plans.

8. Simplecast

When you mention the best podcast hosting platforms, you can’t leave out a name like Simplecast.

Big brands such as Facebook, Nike, Shopify, and Kickstarter use Simplecast for their podcast hosting.

As a premium company in the industry, it exceptionally provides all the basic and unique features you’ll from a leading host.

One of its unique features is called Recast™, which allows podcasters to create, schedule, and share previews or snippets of your podcast episodes on various social media channels.

Simplecast makes collaboration easier, following the fact that it allows you to add multiple users or team members on a single account.

The hosting provider offers unlimited storage across all its plans. The price plan starts at $15 per month, which provides 20,000 download.

Now, for 50,000 downloads, you have to pay $35, and 120,000 downloads cost $85 per month.

When you think about the distinct features and price plan offered by Simplecast, it’s clear that this podcast hosting provider offers more for less.

9. AudioBoom

Are you looking for quality podcast hosting but at a very affordable budget? Then, AudioBoom is an excellent choice for your podcast hosting needs.

AudioBoom allows you to distribute your podcast to other top platforms like Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.

You’ll also be offered players for your social media channels and website. Another cut edge advantage of AudioBoom is that it provides easy collaboration tools tailored to help promote your episodes.

It offers decent analytics that helps you keep track of your audience, like the devices or apps used to listen to your episodes.

AudioBoom price plan starts at $9.99 per month, a plan that offers 10,000 plays and unlimited uploads per month.

Conclusion

We are positive that this review will help you make a more informed decision about the best podcasting hosting for your needs.

Each of the podcast hosts reviewed offers unique features at a relatively affordable price when compared to most competitors offering less at the highest price.

If you’re an organization or firm with vast podcast hosting needs, we recommend that you consider using Simplecast because it offers unique features at a reasonable price.

But if you’re on a slim budget and you want decent podcast hosting, you can consider a platform like AudioBoom.

Nevertheless, it’s essential that the podcast hosting platform you decide to use meets up your needs.

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