Best Podcast Hosting in 2026

Buzzsprout is a podcast host aimed at independent creators, and its site states that more than 111,000 podcasters use it.

Paid plans are priced by upload hours. The Audio plan costs US$15 a month billed annually for up to 72 upload hours a year; Audio + Video costs US$25 a month billed annually and publishes 1080p video to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube; a Multi-Podcast plan costs US$30 a month billed annually for up to five or ten podcasts and 180 upload hours a year. Additional upload time on annual plans is billed monthly at the plan's hourly rate.

The free plan includes two hours of uploads a month, with episodes hosted for 90 days, and excludes paid add-ons and video distribution. An Archive plan at US$5 a month keeps a podcast live without new uploads. Buzzsprout's upload-hour model is easy to understand; multiple shows require the higher-priced plan, and free-plan episodes expire.

Transistor is a podcast host built around unlimited shows per account, team members and private podcasts, priced by monthly downloads.

Starter costs US$19 a month for 20,000 monthly audio downloads and 50 private podcast subscribers; Professional costs US$49 for 100,000 downloads and adds video podcasts; Business costs US$99 for 250,000 downloads and allows Transistor branding to be removed. Yearly billing saves 17%, and a 14-day free trial is offered; enterprise plans are available.

All plans include unlimited team members, live customer support, advanced analytics, API and MCP access and a built-in podcast and network website. Transistor suits companies running several shows; it has no free plan, and video publishing requires the Professional tier.

Captivate is a podcast host that markets itself as a "one-stop-shop" for managing and growing a podcast. All plans include unlimited podcasts, uploads and storage and an extensive distribution list; the only difference between plans is the number of monthly downloads.

Personal costs US$17 a month paid yearly for up to 30,000 downloads a month; Professional US$44 a month paid yearly for up to 150,000; and Business US$90 a month paid yearly for up to 300,000. On monthly billing, plans start at US$19 a month, and a 30-day free trial is included.

Captivate suits podcasters who want growth and marketing tools without restrictions on the number of shows. It has no free plan, and the pricing is driven by audience size, so successful shows pay more.

Podbean is a podcast hosting platform offering a free account and paid plans for individuals, networks and businesses.

Unlimited Audio costs US$12 a month billed annually or US$17 monthly, with 1 GB of uploads a month (about 16 hours of audio). Unlimited Plus, for audio and video, costs US$29 annually or US$39 monthly with two podcasts and 10 GB a month. Network costs US$79 or US$99 for unlimited podcasts and 50 team members, and Business costs US$99 or US$129 with private podcasts, SSO and SOC 2 protection.

Podbean runs an Ads Marketplace and offers dynamic ad insertion at US$1 CPM on most plans (free on one tier), plus AI credits for content tools. It suits creators who want monetisation built in; the "unlimited" plans have monthly upload caps.

Libsyn is a long-running podcast host that says it has paid out more than US$112 million to podcast creators since 2017.

All plans include audio and video hosting, multi-user access, IAB-verified analytics, a customisable website and monetisation options, plus video uploads of up to 100 GB a month (about 50 hours). A US$8 plan covers the bare essentials; Basic costs US$12 a month for 3 hours of audio uploads a month with YouTube video distribution; Advanced costs US$25 for 10 hours with YouTube and Spotify video distribution; and Max costs US$150 for 55 hours. The first 30 days are free on every plan, then billing is monthly. Professional and Enterprise plans are available.

Libsyn's IAB-verified statistics are relevant to shows selling advertising. Audio upload limits are set per month, and the top Max tier is expensive relative to rivals' download-based plans.

RSS.com offers a free plan with unlimited episodes, audio and downloads, with no trial period or expiry, and publication to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other directories, a free website, listener donations and download tracking.

Paid plans add monetisation and team features. Plus costs US$19.99 a month or US$15 a month billed annually (US$180 a year) and adds automatic ads and paid subscriptions; Pro costs US$34.99 or US$26 billed annually for up to ten podcasts and team management; Max costs US$49.99 or US$37 billed annually for unlimited audio and video podcasts, with video on Apple Podcasts at a 70% share of ad revenue and the same upload publishing to YouTube. Annual billing saves 25%, and paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

RSS.com's free tier is unusually generous. Video and multi-show features require the top plans.

Acast is a podcast company that combines hosting with an advertising marketplace and sponsorship tools. Its free Starter plan includes one show and five episodes, with unlimited episodes when the show is made available in Acast's advertising marketplace.

Essential costs US$25 a month on monthly billing or US$14.99 a month on annual billing, adding multiple shows, unlimited episodes and monetisation with ads and sponsorships. Pro costs US$40 or US$29.99 and adds team management, prioritised support and a publishing API. Video costs US$50 or US$39.99 and publishes video episodes to Apple Podcasts, with automatic video-to-audio conversion and up to 10,000 video views a month. The Acast Creator Network is available by application.

Acast suits shows aiming for advertising income. The pricing page does not state revenue-share terms, and the free plan is limited unless the show joins the ad marketplace.

Spotify for Creators is Spotify's platform for podcasters. It lets creators upload video, track analytics, engage listeners and distribute a show, and Spotify says the tools work "no matter where you're hosted".

The Spotify Partner Program is presented as unlocking additional income streams across audio and video. The platform's main advantage is direct integration with Spotify's app, where video podcasts are prominent.

Spotify's public pages read for this review did not state pricing, hosting limits, distribution to other directories or Partner Program eligibility thresholds, so those terms should be checked with Spotify before choosing it as a primary host. Shows heavily dependent on Apple Podcasts or YouTube may prefer an independent host that publishes to all platforms.

Simplecast provides podcast hosting with analytics, websites and monetisation for independent podcasters, networks and shows.

The Basic plan costs US$15 a month, or US$13.50 a month if prepaid annually, and includes two team seats, unlimited uploads, a podcast website with custom domain, management of multiple shows in one account, an embeddable player, HTTPS site and feed, 20,000 downloads a month and email support. Essential costs US$35 a month, or US$31.50 prepaid annually, adding tools for growing podcasts.

Simplecast suits shows that value analytics and multi-show management. Downloads are capped per plan, and the pricing page lists separate monetisation-oriented plans for networks and shows.

Castos is a podcast host that says it is trusted by more than 42,000 podcasts. Plans include unlimited podcasts, downloads and episodes, with private podcasting for subscribers or employees.

Essentials costs US$19 a month or US$190 a year, with ten transcripts a month and up to 100 private subscribers. Growth costs US$49 a month or US$490 a year with 25 transcripts and 250 private subscribers; Pro costs US$99 a month or US$990 a year, adding video file hosting, 100 transcripts and 500 private subscribers. Castos Premium starts at US$499 a month. Extra private subscribers cost US$50 a month per batch of 500. A free trial is offered.

Castos is well suited to companies using podcasts for internal communications. Video requires the Pro plan.

Blubrry is a podcast host whose plans include a managed WordPress website. Its plans are priced by monthly publishing time and include unlimited downloads, audio and video publishing, submission to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, and a free managed WordPress website.

Standard 1.5 costs US$7 a month for 1.5 hours a month; Standard 3 costs US$15 for 3 hours; Advanced 6 costs US$25 for 6 hours with advanced statistics and monetisation features; and Advanced 12 costs US$50 for 12 hours. Existing customers keep their previous plans unless they switch to the new time-based plans.

Blubrry's unlimited downloads favour shows with large audiences and modest output. Publishing time caps are monthly.

Fireside is a podcast host with plans priced by bandwidth and number of podcasts, offering monthly or yearly billing and a hiatus option.

Starter costs US$9 a month or US$99 a year for one podcast, 500 GB monthly bandwidth, two collaborators and a custom domain. Standard costs US$19 a month or US$209 a year with 1 TB and five collaborators; Professional costs US$49 a month or US$539 a year with two podcasts, team permissions and removal of Fireside branding. Additional podcasts cost US$8 a month each on Standard and Professional, and a paused show stays online for US$5 a month per podcast.

Fireside's pricing suits steady independent shows; shareable metrics and branding removal require higher plans.