12 Hosting Services
John Kane and Rebecca Mushtare
If you wish to make your podcast widely distributed, you will need:
- a podcast hosting service that will distribute your podcast to listeners and upload information about your episodes to podcast listening applications (such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)
- a website containing information about your podcast (this can be provided by the same platform as the hosting service or may be a separate site)
Podcast hosting
There are many podcasts hosts available. Many plans offer a 30-day free trial. Some of the most popular sites are:
- a free podcast hosting service provided by Spotify
- basic audio editing tools are provided
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- unlimited downloads
- limited analytics available (and blocks access to Apple analytics (since Spotify handles the distribution)
- easy monetization options
- free to $29.99 a month (with annual billing
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- free plan includes unlimited downloads, more expensive plans provide website and option for automatic transcription
- $10-$17 per month
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- WordPress site provided (more expensive option provides more theme and customization options and more advanced statistics on downloads
- free to $24 per month (price varies by hours of content uploaded each month – free plan limited to 2 hours per month with 90 days of hosting
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- $5 – $40 per month ($5 plan allows 3 hours of uploaded content each month, $20 and up plans include advanced statistics
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- free to $79 per month billed annually. We use the $9 per month “Unlimited Audio” plan which allows unlimited uploads and downloads, more expensive plans host video podcasts and allow for hosting multiple podcasts)
- free transcription option
- automatic sharing to podcast distribution sites (such as Apple podcasts and Google podcasts)
- free
- does not allow podcasts to be transferred from other sites
- does not support current Apple standards for podcast feeds
- does not stream to Spotify
- does not support standard download statistics
Podcast website hosting
If you choose to setup your own podcast, you can setup a website on a wide variety of webhosting services. Some examples are:
- A shared hosting service. There are many options for this. Typically these services will allow you to purchase a domain name and easily install a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress or Drupal. Most content management systems have templates (both free and for purchase) that would be appropriate for a podcast. Tea for Teaching is a custom WordPress site hosted by Reclaim hosting. Another popular affordable option is Bluehost (but there are many possibilities out there).
- Web Building platform. These services provide templates that use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface similar to Microsoft Word to edit the site. These options are great for teams with little or no web development experience. If you are a Google campus, you may already have access to Google Sites at no cost. Other popular platforms include SquareSpace, WordPress.com, Wix and Weebly.
