Podcast hosting is a service that's meant to store and deliver all media files associated with your podcast. In the most basic of terms, it functions much in the same way website hosting does.
If you don't know anything about podcasts, you might think to just use your website, but this would be a mistake. Podcast episodes are long, high-quality audio files which means they're also quite large.
Uploading that to your website without any rhyme or reason would, in the best-case scenario, make your website really slow, and in the worst-case scenario, it would make it crash all of the time. That's why you need a dedicated podcast hosting service.
Since there are so many out there, it's really hard to research all of them and find the one that suits you best, so we've done the hard work and handpicked the best ones.
1. Podbean
If you've googled podcast hosting at least once in your life, chances are you've come across Podbean already. Podbean is one of the most famous podcasting services on the market, and for a variety of reasons, but one of the top ones we'd have to list is that it's just so comprehensive. They offer plans with unlimited storage and bandwidth. They also provide some great design tools that enable you to embed your podcast right on your WordPress website.
Podbean comes with quite a few promotional tools that submit your episodes to the top directories automatically. If you're unsure what this actually does, it makes it possible for your audience to enjoy your podcast on their preferred devices and tools. They also have some great marketing and monetization features that are worth looking into.
Price: Podbean offers quite a generous free plan, so you can try out pretty much all of the most important features before deciding to pay. If you do like it, the plans start at $9 per month and go up to $99 per month, but the latter is something you'll only need for a major business.
2. Transistor
The reason why we're putting this tool in second place is that it's just so incredibly easy to use, and ease-of-use is essential if you're a beginner that's just starting to test the waters. Transistor offers in-depth podcast analytics, so you'll be able to see exactly how well each episode is doing, which once again comes in handy for beginners. It makes it a lot easier to practice and get better when you can see what you've done wrong.
All of the episodes can be embedded with a code, but on the off chance that you don't have a website up already, they can create one for you. A great thing about Transistor is that they offer unlimited hosting plans, meaning you won't get charged by the number of hours of content you upload. However, one thing to keep an eye on is that their plans come with a limited number of downloads, so make sure you look that up before purchasing a plan.
Price: The Basic plan costs $19 per month and comes with 15,000 downloads.
3. Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is an absolutely fantastic podcast hosting service and is in almost every way just as great as Transistor or Podbean. One of its greatest selling points is that pretty much all you have to do is upload your media files. Everything else is as simple as a few mouse clicks. Just like Podbean, Buzzsprout comes with the automatic directory upload feature that enables your listeners to access the podcast from their favorite devices or apps.
To embed a podcast, they offer their own WP plugin, making the task really simple. Once again, if you don't happen to own a site, Buzzsprout can create one for you, and all you have to do is the fun part – customize the site to your heart's desire and choose a custom domain name.
Price: The pricing plans are the only reason we didn't place this tool higher, as they come with bandwidth and upload limitations. There is a free plan, but it only allows 2hrs of uploads each month. The rest of the plans range from $12 per month to $24 per month. Plus, each of them has the option to add mastering to your podcast for an additional monthly fee.
4. Blubrry
Blubrry is a quality podcast hosting platform that can be used by professionals and beginners. It provides everything you need to start a successful podcast. Their plans include the most popular WordPress podcast plugin called PowerPress that makes managing a podcast directly from your site super simple.
All of the podcasts you create while using Blubrry will be optimized for Spotify, Apple, Google, etc. Blubrry also comes with a podcast RSS feed and an optional pro-production service if you're not great with the technical aspect of podcasting. Plus, if you want to track an episode's performance to the last detail, you can also get advanced analytics for $5 per month.
Price: This one is a bit more pricey, and every plan comes with a limited amount of monthly storage. The Small plan costs around $12 per month and offers 100MB of storage. The rest of the plans range from $20 per month to $80 per month and come with more storage space.
5. Libsyn
Libsyn was founded all the way back in 2004, making it one of the oldest podcast hosting providers out there. So, if you're really in the market for a service that's been tried and tested, give it a look. They offer plenty of different distribution channels, as well as a whole heap of monetization options to choose from.
If you opt for one of the advanced plans, you can also get detailed insight into your audience stats, so you'd be able to find out what works best and what your audience doesn't want to hear that much about. This feature can also help hone in on your target audience with all of the data it provides. Another neat feature available to users of Libsyn is custom smartphone apps unique to your show and brand.
Price: Libsyn doesn't offer a free plan. However, the cheapest costs only $5 per month. More expensive plans come with more storage and options for additional paid upgrades. One thing to keep in mind is that advanced features such as statistics or using your own domain can require additional fees depending on the plan you choose.
Ready to Start a Podcast?
Now that you've learned about your best podcast hosting options, it's time to finally start a podcast and share your passion with the world. No matter which of the services mentioned above you choose, we're sure it'll serve you well. It all depends on your specific requirements. Best of luck!
