9 Best Podcast Platforms (2023)
For your convenience in researching We've prepared a concise intro, highlighted key aspects, and outlined pricing plans for 9 of the top podcasting platforms. We've evaluated the platforms according to price, upload speed and limits, monetization tools and more. Let's get started!
Our list of the 9 best podcasting platforms:
PodBean
With more than 10 years of expertise, PodBean boasts an impressive 650,000 podcasters on its platform. PodBean gives users access to easily-to-read data like downloads according to the day and hour, trend, top 10 episodes as well as demographics of listeners and retention of users. The platform lets you live stream live to your audience and allows listeners and guests to connect to your stream to listen or participate.
The key attributes
- Free plan available
- A podcast site that you can customize on all plans
- Embeddable and customizable podcast player for your website
- Native tools to make it easy Podcast revenue
- Auto-sharing is enabled on accounts on social media
- Live streaming that allows for listeners to call in and listen
Price range:
PodBean is one of the very few platforms offering the option of a no-cost plan. The free plan is compatible with mp3 file formats and includes 5 hours of space (500MB) and 100GB of bandwidth per month.
In addition to the basic plan, PodBean has three plans for paid customers that include Unlimited Audio ($9) Unlimited Plus ($29) and Network ($79). Unlimited Audio and Unlimited Plus plans feature unlimited storage space and bandwidth, while the Network plan restricts bandwidth to 3TB with the option of purchasing greater bandwidth.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is the podcast hosting platform of choice for more than 100,000 podcasters. It offers sophisticated analytics to help you monitor the amount of downloads you receive for your podcasts, from where they're from, and how they access your show. You also have access to a range of tools , including an embeddable player for websites, transcripts of your episodes that are optional, and "Dynamic Content," which lets you change posts and pre-roll segments after you've published.
After uploading your audio to Buzzsprout it will allow you to promote your podcast in most of the leading directories including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and much more. It will also enhance uploaded audio files, making your podcast as good as it can be.
Key Features
- Free plan available
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Podcast player that can be embedded to your site
- Capability to design chapter markers to mark episodes
- Advanced statistics to track your development
- Dynamic content allows you to alter pre and post-roll segments following the time of publishing.
Price price range:
Buzzsprout is also one of the very few platforms that offer a trial plan for free. In terms of their paid subscriptions They offer three plans including $12, $18, and $24 for a month. They don't offer an annual pricing at this time which means you'll have keep to the month-to-month pricing. There is only one difference between the paid plans is the available upload time each plan provides.
RSS.com
RSS.com features a user interface well-known for its simplicity to usage. The platform provides users with access to features including extensive analytics, scheduling of episodes, an embeddable episode player and social media sharing as well as a podcasting site that is included.
In addition to being different from other podcast hosting platforms, RSS.com offers a donation button you can enable/disable. It allows you to access funds in addition to the traditional advertising and sponsorship methods. However, if ads and sponsorships are your thing there are other options. Podcasters will find sponsors using RSS.com's Podcorn marketplace.
The key Features
- Unlimited episodes and music on every plan
- Podcast website that can be customized for every plan
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- Native episode scheduler
- Optional donation button
- Ability to build chapter chapters, soundbites as well as transcripts, within the platform.
Price band:
Although it appears that RSS.com has three plans available but the vast majority of customers will be able to avail plans that are the All in One Podcasting plan at $12.99 per month. Non-governmental organizations, students and students may avail a special plan for them, at $4.99 a month. The Student plan comes with similar features to the All in One plan, but you'll have to be accepted. If you have more than 10,000 daily downloads is eligible for the Podcast Networks plan, but you'll also have to contact the platform before you can sign up.
Captivate
Captivate is a great choice for beginning podcasters. Its hosting dashboard is well-known in the industry for its simple user interface. It will allow you to easily distribute your podcast episodes across all of the top podcasting directories, promote your show using integrated marketing tools and monetize with private podcasting.
Key Features
- Customizable podcast website on all plans
- Unlimited podcasts, uploads and storage on all plans
- Embeddable customizable podcast player to your website
- optional Captivate Sync(tm) WordPress Plugin for flexible hosting control
- Premium or private podcasting available with all plans
- Unlimited team members with customizable roles
Price price range:
Captivate has three plans available which include: Personal ($19), Professional ($49) and Business ($99). While there is no trial plan for free, you can enjoy a free 7-day trial on each plan. The main distinction between the paid plans is in the amount of networked podcasts as well as private, and subscribers for private podcasts that you are able to have. Outside of these variable attributes, both plans are identical.
Transistor
Transistor is a premium podcast hosting platform , which includes famous podcasts such as Cards Against Humanity. They provide comprehensive analytics, private podcasts, and 1-click distribution to all of the most popular directories. They also offer 1-click broadcasting via Listen Notes and The Podcast Index Two popular search engines dedicated just to podcasts.
Transistor is an excellent choice when you've got multiple podcasts. It allows unlimited show on all plans. And they don't limit podcasters on bandwidth or storage, only by monthly downloads, which makes understanding limits much easier.
Important attributes
- A podcast site that you can customize on every plan
- Unlimited podcasts in every hosting plan
- Dynamic Ad tool to allow intuitive and automatic ad insertion
- Upload each episode automatically to YouTube
- Exclusive RSS feeds to every show that you can watch
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
Price range:
Transistor offers 3 pricing plans including Starter ($19), Professional $49) and Professional ($99). The only features that change from plan to plan. The three are: the team members you are able to add, the number of podcast listeners who are private you have the option of having, and the limit on monthly downloads. Fortunately, the Starter plan allows the possibility of up to 10,000 downloads per month, which is more than enough for podcasters who are just beginning their journey.
Audioboom
Audioboom is a reasonably standard platform that is suitable for the majority of users. offering distribution to popular directories with unlimited episodes and the capacity to download 15,000 files per month for their basic plan. The platform's approach to revenue generation is what makes this platform apart from the other platforms. Podcasters can access the marketplace for monetization once they've reached the 10000 monthly downloaded. For those with a substantial following, this won't affect your podcast much. However, if you're running a smaller podcast, you could be not having the chance to make money once you've reached the crucial milestone.
Key Features
- Unlimited episodes per month
- 15,000 downloads per month on entry-level plan
- Distribution to all popular directories
- IAB compliant analytics dashboard
- Access to global advertising marketplace once you reach 10,000 downloads per month
Price price range:
The pricing plans of Audioboom are easy to understand! They offer 2 monthly plans, which are the Standard Plan ($9.99) and the Plus Plan ($19.99). The Standard plan is able to allow the possibility of up to 15,000 downloads each month. If you need more then the Plus Plan allows up to 10,000. If that's not enough, get in touch with them to request a customized Podcast Pros Account.
Resonate
Resonate is a great podcasting platform that is ideal for people needing a one-stop shop. Although their plans for hosting offer some of the most popular features, they're noticeably missing a customizable website, private/premium podcasting, and customer support on their lower-priced plans. But where Resonate is lacking in standard features for hosting, it could compensate with additional services.
Resonate offers a wide range of podcasting services. These include producer, launch, production and video production, as well as podcast marketing, as well as enterprise services. The additional features allow podcasters to produce a top-quality, heavily produced show all in one platform.
Key attributes
- Automatically generated podcast microsite
- Embeddable podcast player for your website
- In-depth analytics taken from an 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 The Standard ($25) and Premium ($49). Both of these include the ability to download unlimited episodes, as well as show viewers. Unfortunately, the microsite can only be found for Premium subscribers and separates Resonate from platforms that offer websites as part of their lowest plans. If neither the Basic nor the Premium plans meet your needs, consider the Professional plan that gives you more microsites and assistance features.
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 manage their podcast hosting directly from a WordPress website. Castos lets users create customized podcast websites and detailed analytics.
Compared with Buzzsprout and Buzzsprout, their transcription services are much cheaper and cost only $0.10 for each minute. If you're planning to launch a podcast on YouTube, Castos will also instantly upload your podcast episodes to YouTube in certain 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 tuned in.
The key 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 is republishing
Price range:
Castos provides four price plans starting at Starter ($19), Growth ($49) and Pro ($99), and Premium ($499) per month. If you choose to pay annually, it could save you about 17% in total. The starter plan does include the basic features, only the growth plan and higher include YouTube republishing.
Libsyn
From 2004 to 2004 Libsyn is an established player in the podcast industry. It's a great platform for those who are just starting out, hosts with short episodes with a small number of episodes as well as podcasts that are monetized. It's important to note that this platform is limited to uploads and bandwidth. This may lead to issues when podcasts have a huge collection of content or lots of listeners. In order to increase the storage capacity and capacity, you'll need select larger plans, and that's the reason this is the best platform to small audiences or for shows that earn a profit.
Key attributes
- Podcast website that can be customized for every plan
- Inbuilt monetization using ads and podcasting in private
- Integrated visual-builder with Canva
- Create a custom iOS and Android app to show your event
- Distribution to the most well-known podcast directories
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 or $20 each month. Unfortunately, Libsyn limits the number of hours of audio you are able to upload per month and total storage, unlike other platforms on this list. Opting for a more expensive package will give you more of both.
Videos Podcasts
The video podcast plan starts at $40, then increase to $75 to $150 monthly. The statistics remain the same but only upload and bandwidth limitations change and increase as the cost increases.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it! Nine of the best podcasting platforms. Selecting the right platform is just the first of many decisions that you'll need to make when you're a professional podcaster. As you continue to research the most suitable platform, be sure to take into consideration your particular needs in the field of podcasting. Look first at your basic demands like uploading, bandwidth, downloads, and your budget. Then consider things like the strategy to monetize your website and the social media connection when you've narrowed your list down to your top choices.
Need more help in starting an audio podcast? Look through our other podcasting articles: