Kick-start your Podcast Journey with 15 Best Podcast Hosting Sites
Podcasts are a great way to share your voice out in the world. People from various grounds are using podcasts to entertain or educate their users or market their services.
And it has become a boon in the realm of marketing. A majority of people want to get started with their own podcast but lack of knowledge on WordPress podcast guide is what’s postponing their journey.
So, whether you’re looking to kickstart your podcast journey or you want to re-establish the existing one, let us tell you that a podcast hosting site is a prerequisite. Because your podcast is just an audio file that you have to host to make it live for your audience.
A podcast host site is different from web hosting because this hosting site is focused on specific tools that help you to optimize your user’s experience.
In this article, we’ll talk about 15 best podcast hosting sites that will help you to professionally kick-start your podcast journey. But before that, let’s understand what is podcast hosting and how it helps you.
What is Podcast Hosting & How it Helps You?
The podcast hosting site provides RSS feed and hosting for your podcast. It’s the same as your website hosting service which allows you to store your website data, files, images on the hosting server.
You might be wondering why couldn’t I use the website hosting server to host my podcast, right?
It’s because a podcast is basically a series of audio files that require a significant amount of bandwidth and space to operate optimally. Usually, a website hosting server doesn’t have that amount of storage needed for your podcast.
It’s not like you can’t do it at all. You can but it will only harm your existing website and degrade the user experience. For example, if several users try to download your files, your server will just block the process instantly. This is the precise reason why you need to have a podcast hosting site.
This will help you in,
The podcast hosting site server is specifically built for podcast hosting.
It allows your users to download files in .mp3 format, RSS feed to describe your files and social sharing option.
Other than that, the best site for podcast hosting will offer your analytics reports, marketing tools, 24*7 support, unlimited bandwidth, file storage, streaming compliance, and more.
What Are the Best Sites For Podcast Hosting?
The best podcast hosting sites go the extra mile when it comes to podcast hosting. It has exciting features and software that you’ll need to get started with your podcast journey. We’ll be covering the list of best podcast hosting sites here one after another. So, let’s get started without any further ado,
PodBean
Podbean comes with unlimited hosting features, promotion on iTunes, Spotify, google play, Amazon Alexa, and other major directories. It has over 10years long history that is touted as the simplest podcast hosting site on our list. Podbean comes with both a free plan and a paid plan as well.
But the free plan only allows 5 hours of content every month with a bandwidth of 100GB. However, in order to fetch the detailed analytics and reports, you’ve to upgrade your plan to the premium one which starts at $9 per month. If you want a professional podcast hosting then Podbean has a monthly plant of $29 which provides all the necessary features for your podcast.
You’ll get unlimited audio and video storage which means you can upload both your audio and video files through this plan. You can monetize your podcast much faster with these features. Also, this allows users to participate in a Patreon program which provides recurring revenue from listeners.
The best part of Podbean is that it allows you to create a free YouTube version of the podcast and this will automatically upload to your YouTube channel if you have optimized the setting for publishing. Undoubtedly it’s one of the best podcast hosting sites.
Buzzsprout
Trusted by 100,000 podcasters so far, Buzzsprout is one of the reliable podcast hosting sites in the realm of podcasters. The company started their hosting services in the year 2009 and since then they have been booming in the market with their quality features. It offers a free plan where you can upload two hours of long content for 90 days.
However, you can upgrade the plan anytime when you feel there is a need to upload content over two hours long. The paid plant starts at $12 per month where you can host indefinite files with unlimited storage and 250GB bandwidth in a month. It’s enough for over 35,000+ downloads.
One of the features of Buzzsprout is that it allows you to embed a podcast player on your site. So, your users can directly listen to the podcasts right from your website.
The audio quality offers you a stereo optimization of 128K which provides superior sound quality. Also, it has an add-on feature that provides transcription services. You can easily upload the files, change the description and title, and submit it to all the major directories without facing a glitch.
Considering all these features Buzzsprout stands stoutly on our list of best WordPress podcast hosting sites in 2020.
Blubrry
We have already talked about the Blubrry WordPress podcast plugin which provides you the best tools to get your podcast site started. Blubrry also provides the best podcast hosting services that allow you to manage your site with PowerPress, a WordPress plugin. They have currently 75,000+ active installs so far and you’ll only see a rapid hike in this number.
The hosting site is simple and offers SEO options as well to make your site SEO optimized. The best thing about Blubrry which we liked the most is their manual podcasting guide. Here you can learn every detail of getting started with your podcast journey along with the best tips and tricks.
The paid plan costs you $12 in a month with storage of 100MB and if you want unlimited services then they have a professional plan for you. Mostly all their plans range from #12-$80 with storage of 100mb to 1000mb per month.
With their top-rated services, Blubrry is becoming a #1 choice for the podcasters with additional features like monetization options, social sharing features, and podcast statistics.
Transistor
Have you heard the popular podcasts like honeybadger or Drift? These are all hosted on Transistor with its high-quality and professional hosting platform. Transistor provides you all the necessary tools that you need to kickstart your podcast journey starting from unlimited hosting, managing multiple users, measuring your podcast’s performance, distributing the podcasts in different directories, etc.
The best part that we liked about Transistor is its analytic tool which shows everything including average downloads, the total number of subscribers, total downloads to date, everything. Also, you can easily migrate to Transistor if you have been using Libsyn or Anchor previously.
It has three dedicated plans starting at $19, which allows unlimited podcasts with 10,000 downloads. They also have a professional plan of $49 per month which allows you 50,000 downloads per month. And the business plan which starts at $99 per month which allows 150,000 downloads per month.
Undoubtedly, Transistor is one of the best podcast hosting sites in our list.
LibSyn
Libsyn is the popular choice among the list of best podcast hosting sites helping podcasters to monetize their site quickly. Irrespective of your experience level, you can easily launch your podcast site with this Libsyn. Libsyn is also a great WordPress plugin that provides the necessary tools to get started with the podcast site.
Launched in 2004, the platform has already garnered popularity over a brief time. They have over 35,000+ podcasts hosted on the site, 62 million+ members, and over 4.6 billion downloads on the platform.
The features it allows are RSS ling generation, analytics reports, premium content along with monthly storage of 50MB to 1500MB. The plans start at $5 but within this range, Libsyn provides invaluable services.
SoundCloud
Soundcloud is one of the popular and world’s largest audio hosting sites established in 2015. The platform has garnered its popularity within a span of 5 years with over 175 million monthly visitors and 12 hours of content upload on their site. They have all the necessary features including embedded players, timed comments, Twitter cards, basic analytics, 3hours of content publishing feature, etc.
All the above-mentioned features come under the free plan. And if you want more features like unlimited upload time, embed controls, schedule releases, feature your best podcasts, then they have designed an advanced SoundCloud Pro plan.
Simplecast
As the name suggests, Simplecast is offering simple industry-leading features to get started with Podcasting that too under an affordable shed. The brand has already set its mark within a short span of time by providing the most powerful tools to start your journey.
Established back in 2014, the company is now powering podcasting to some of the renowned brands like Nike, Facebook, Kickstarter, HBO, etc. Therefore, it’s pretty clear that they provide the most powerful tools to start your podcasting. This includes a one-click publishing feature, full-stack website, multiple players, advanced tools to monitor your performance, etc.
The best part that we mostly liked is its Recast tool that schedules your podcast publishes and shares clips on social media. Also, you can start a collaboration with multiple managers in this podcasting domain within a single account.
Under an affordable shed of $15, you can get unlimited storage, uploads, customizable website, embeddable player, email support, two-member account, and whatnot. Also, they have an essential plan of $35 which includes additional web players, country location, analytics, 50K downloads, and email and chat support. Another plan which Simplecast offers is its growth plan which starts at $85 which covers everything from basic and growth plan with an addition of ISP analytics, 120k downloads per month. You can easily get started with the basic plan and upgrade it as per your performance.
Captivate
Captivate is one of the best podcasting sites for hosting. It solely focuses on people who are just starting out their venture. Therefore, you’ll get all the features and support from their team. The site was created by Rebel Base Media which has popularity in the realm of podcasting. Captivate is their new addition and so far it has been their best product. You know why?
Because Rebel Base Media put their years of experience and knowledge of podcasting into building this site. Therefore it solves every trivial to the intricate issue of a podcast host. Their features include automatic podcast website, CTA button, customization, responsiveness, email list building, etc. Also, they are upgrading their features constantly with a motive to provide the utmost support to the podcasters.
Captivate has the most powerful analytics tool which shows the accurate performance of the podcast show. If you have previously been using any other podcast sites, you can simply import your shows to Captivate and start your journey here.
The podcaster plan starts at $19 per month which provides 12,000 downloads a month. The next is an audio influencer plan which starts at $49 that provides 150,000downloads a month, and podcast brand plan which starts at $99 per month which provides 150,000 downloads a month. So, it’s pretty cost-effective and the features you’ll get are totally invaluable.
Spreaker
Spreaker is basically a mobile-focused podcast hosting site with its features like a Spreaker studio tool that is available for both mobile and desktop. The paid plans of Spreaker allows user to embed widgets on the site. So, you can easily embed your audio player anywhere on the website to grab the user’s attention. And people don’t need to leave the website as they can play it directly on the site.
The features like podcast sharing, monetization, unlimited storage, unlimited streaming are all available under their plan. However, Spreaker is basically known for its unlimited storage capacity. The popular plan starts at $18 a month. You can upload 500hours of audio files along with 3 hours of live streaming. Isn’t it great?
Undoubtedly, this is the reason why Spreaker has made its name under our list of best-hosting sites.
Podcast Websites
The podcast website is a popular hosting service for podcasting with its simple features, top-notch security, daily backups, 24*7 support, and built-in statistic feature. Pretty clearly it has all the necessary services to support your podcasting journey.
When you become a member of podcast websites, they also provide you digital marketing support to promote your podcast. Even you’ll get some useful tips and tricks from the best-experienced podcasters in your domain. Apart from that, the resources include necessary video tutorials, media, a community forum where you can discuss your issues and get an instant solution.
Other than that you can use drag and drop builder with your podcast themes to make a unique website much faster. So, kick start your podcasting journey with a podcast website now.
Audio Boom
Audioboom is one of the best podcast hosting sites so far. With its simple hosting and distribution features, you can start your journey even if you’re naive. They are best known for providing fast monetization. Once each of your podcast episodes hit 10k plays, Audioboom will provide you with the necessary tools to create ads, sponsorship for the show.
So, you can earn besides doing your favorite show. Some of the other important features include social media integration and analytics tool with modern features. The plan starts at $9.99. You can upload unlimited episodes while paying that much amount only. Their standard plan includes 10k downloads per month downloads whereas the plus plan allows 25,000+ downloads.
Apart from all these, they have embeddable players, social media integration, advanced analytics, and whatnot. So, definitely it’s included in our list of best sites for podcasting.
Podiant
Podiant is solely focused on novice podcast hosts. You can easily get started with Podiant with its simple features. This is basically a cloud-hosting podcast platform featuring usability, power, and flexibility. You’ll get every tool and features needed to create your podcast including advanced analytics, unlimited storage, website, copywriting, apple-compatibility, etc.
The pricing starts at $12.99 which is pretty cheap as considered to other best-hosting sites for podcasts. And you can simply get invaluable features under this range.
Omnystudio
Omnystudio is an audio management solution for radio stations and podcasters. If you are a professional podcaster, this is the perfect platform for you. They provide you all the necessary functionality you need, including unlimited episode hosting, editing, audio processing, publishing, social sharing, advanced analytics, and much more.
The basic plan starts at $99 which covers all your essentials. Also if you have been using any other platform, you can easily migrate the website and import all your episodes to this platform.
Pippa
Pippa makes your podcasting easy. You can have all your essentials under a single platform right from the episode scheduling, embedding audio player, RSS feed URL, social sharing button, etc. Also, Pippa makes monetization easy. It will provide all the necessary tools to monetize your site and earn from the sponsorship. The pricing is also quite affordable. It starts at $12.
Blogtalkradio
BlogTalkRadio is one of the leaders in the podcast hosting sites realm. If we talk about the feature, it comes with perfectly simplified monetization, along with other important features to kickstart your podcasting journey. You can utilize their resources which include all the necessary tips and tricks about podcasting. The basic storage starts at 30 hours a month. However, you can upgrade your plan anytime you want.
Conclusion
We have provided here the 15 best podcast hosting sites but even though people still get confused a lot when it comes to buying the best one. After considering each of these best podcast hosting sites, we have broken it down for you. You need to consider the amount of storage you need, the amount of audio storage you’ll be uploading, the CMS you’ll consider, whether you’ll put audio files only, and lastly your budget.
If you have cleared your answer to all these above-mentioned points then we’re pretty sure you’ll land on the best podcast hosting site. However, as per our expert, if you’re just a beginner, Buzzsprout offers all the necessary tools under their free plans. So, this could be the best for your site at the beginning. You can upgrade your plan later on when you’ll be ready to invest money in its paid plans.
If you’re looking for paid plans and ready to invest for a premium hosting site then we would recommend Blubrry. It has pretty much reliable features that you can take in use to make your podcast journey.
If you’ve been using any of these plugins or if you would like to suggest any other plugin let us know in the comment section.