How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Rankite is independent; if a vendor ever pays for a featured spot, that listing is clearly labeled Partner.
Key takeaways
- Buzzsprout is the easiest first step: a 90-day free trial, simple upload-hour pricing, and a clean path from recording to distribution for $19 per month.
- Spotify for Creators is the only host that is free forever with unlimited uploads, which makes it the right pick if you have zero budget and want video from day one.
- Podbean gives you the most for the least money among paid hosts: $12 per month on annual billing for unlimited storage, plus a genuinely useful free plan for testing.
- Captivate and Transistor meter downloads instead of upload hours, which suits multi-show creators and teams but can surprise a beginner whose episode goes viral.
- Blubrry is the natural pick for WordPress users because of its PowerPress plugin and long track record with self-hosted sites.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Buzzsprout | first-time podcasters who want a simple setup | $19/month | Free trial (90 days) |
 Podbean | budget paid hosting with unlimited storage | $12/month (billed annually) | Yes |
 Spotify for Creators | zero-budget launches with video | Free | Yes |
 RSS.com | cheap plans with transcripts built in | $15/month (billed annually) | Yes |
 Captivate | growth-minded shows and small networks | $19/month | Free trial (30 days) |
 Transistor | teams and creators running multiple shows | $19/month | Free trial (14 days) |
 Simplecast | data-driven beginners who want strong analytics | $15/month | Free trial (14 days) |
 Spreaker | live-style shows and radio-format podcasts | $20/month | Yes |
 Libsyn | infrequent publishers on a tight budget | $5/month | No |
 Blubrry | WordPress users and video publishers | $7/month | Free trial (30 days) |
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Starting price$19/month
Free planFree trial (90 days)
Buzzsprout is where most beginners should start, and it is not close. The dashboard walks you from upload to distribution, and pricing is based on upload hours per month, the easiest unit to plan around. One 30-minute episode a week uses two hours a month, so the $19 plan covers a typical weekly show with room to spare.
The standout is how little can go wrong: directory submission, a free podcast website, and IAB-certified analytics that matter if you ever pitch a sponsor. The honest catch is the free plan. It is really a 90-day trial, and episodes on it disappear unless you upgrade, while Magic Mastering costs extra on every plan.
What we like- 90-day free trial with no credit card
- Upload-hour pricing that is easy to plan around
- Free podcast website and Magic Mastering add-on
Watch out for- Free episodes are deleted after 90 days
- Audio-only hosting
- Add-ons raise the bill
Starting price$12/month (billed annually)
Free planYes
Podbean wins on value if you are willing to pay annually. At $12 per month billed yearly, Unlimited Audio removes storage anxiety and includes advanced stats, a customizable player, and monetization tools like patron programs and an ad marketplace. Few hosts give you this much at this price.
The free plan is honest about its limits: five hours of total storage and 100GB of monthly bandwidth, enough to publish and test but not to run a real show. Podbean has hosted podcasts since 2006, so the platform is stable. Watch the AI credits: transcripts and noise reduction draw from a monthly allowance that heavy users can burn through fast.
What we like- Cheapest real paid plan among major hosts
- Unlimited storage on paid plans
- Free plan covers 5 hours of audio
Watch out for- Monthly billing is notably more than annual
- Free plan bandwidth is capped at 100GB per month
- AI features run on monthly credits
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Spotify for Creators, the service that used to be called Anchor and then Spotify for Podcasters, is the only host here with no paid tier at all. Hosting, storage, bandwidth, distribution, and even video uploads cost nothing, which makes it the obvious pick if you are not ready to spend a dollar on your show.
There is a real trade-off behind the free price: Spotify keeps half of the ad revenue its Partner Program sells against your show, and the program has eligibility thresholds for episodes and listening hours. If your show stays a hobby, none of this matters. If it grows into income, you will likely migrate to a paid host.
What we like- Completely free with unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Native video podcast support
- One-click publishing to Spotify
Watch out for- Analytics are thinner than paid hosts
- Spotify keeps 50 percent of Partner Program ad revenue
- Manual RSS setup for Apple Podcasts
Starting price$19/month
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Captivate flips the usual pricing model. Instead of charging for upload hours or storage, it charges for monthly downloads, and every plan includes the full feature set: unlimited shows, unlimited uploads, dynamic ad insertion, and IAB-certified analytics. The Personal plan at $19 per month covers 30,000 downloads a month, which is plenty for a new show.
This is a growth platform more than a starter platform: Growth Labs courses teach promotion, and the built-in ad marketplace is stronger than most hosts offer. The catch is the download meter, which counts every stream across your whole account, including old episodes. If an episode takes off, you can hit the ceiling fast and need the $49 Professional tier.
What we like- Every feature on every plan
- Unlimited podcasts on one account
- IAB-certified analytics
Watch out for- Plans meter total monthly downloads
- No free plan, only a trial
- A viral back catalog can force an upgrade
Starting price$19/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Transistor is built for people who run more than one show. Every plan, starting at $19 per month for the Starter tier, includes unlimited podcasts, unlimited episodes, and unlimited team members. A small business with a customer show, an internal show, and a founder interview series pays one price.
The interface is the cleanest in this roundup, and setup takes minutes. Private podcasting is included on every plan, handy for courses or member-only feeds. Like Captivate, Transistor meters monthly downloads, so the Starter plan's 20,000 monthly downloads is the number to watch. Monetization tooling is thinner than Captivate's.
What we like- Unlimited podcasts and episodes on every plan
- Private podcasting included
- Clean modern interface
Watch out for- No free plan
- Download caps per plan
- Fewer built-in monetization tools than Captivate
Starting price$15/month
Free planFree trial (14 days)
Simplecast, owned by SiriusXM, is the analytics-first host. The Basic plan at $15 per month includes unlimited uploads and storage, a customizable website, and solid basic stats. The analytics are the reason to be here: episode comparisons, listener technology data, and location breakdowns that go deeper than what most budget hosts offer.
Understand the metering before signing up: Basic includes 20,000 downloads per month, and growth pushes you to the $35 Essential or $85 Growth tiers. There is no free plan and no built-in transcripts, so budget for a third-party transcription service. This is a host for people who plan to study their numbers and grow deliberately.
What we like- Analytics that are genuinely best in class
- Unlimited uploads and storage
- Customizable show websites
Watch out for- No free plan
- Downloads are capped by plan
- Native monetization needs an expensive upgrade
Starting price$20/month
Free planYes
Spreaker comes from the world of live radio, and it shows. The free Speech plan covers one podcast with unlimited episodes, and the Spreaker Studio app lets you record on desktop or mobile without buying extra software. Distribution includes iHeartRadio, which most hosts do not offer.
The main draw is monetization: Spreaker's ad marketplace connects you to the iHeart advertising network. The catch is that free-tier ad revenue gives a meaningful cut to the platform, and full statistics need the $50 Anchorman plan. There is no video podcasting, a gap when competitors bundle it free. For a talk show with a live feel, Spreaker is still a natural home.
What we like- Free plan with unlimited episodes
- Recording app built in
- Access to the iHeart ad network
Watch out for- Stats history is short on lower plans
- No video podcasting
- Ad revenue share favors the platform
Starting price$5/month
Free planNo
Libsyn has hosted podcasts since 2004, and its pricing still reflects an older model: you pay for megabytes uploaded per month, starting at $5 for 50MB. For a monthly show with short episodes, that is the cheapest paid hosting on this list, and everything you have ever uploaded stays hosted at no extra cost.
The downside is friction: megabyte quotas mean doing math at the end of every month, re-encoding files or waiting for the reset. There is no free plan and no trial, so you pay from day one. The dashboard looks its age next to Buzzsprout or Transistor. Pick Libsyn if you publish rarely and want the lowest bill from a host that will not disappear.
What we like- Lowest starting price of any established host
- Uploaded files stay hosted forever
- IAB-verified stats
Watch out for- Storage measured in megabytes
- No free plan or trial
- Interface feels dated
Starting price$7/month
Free planFree trial (30 days)
Blubrry prices by publishing time, not storage: $7 per month for 1.5 hours of published content, $15 for 3 hours, $25 for 6. For a beginner with a weekly 30-minute show, the math is transparent. Every tier supports audio and video, includes unlimited downloads, and comes with a managed WordPress site.
The real reason to choose Blubrry is PowerPress, its WordPress plugin, which gives you more feed control than any rival integration. If your podcast lives on your own website, nothing else fits as naturally. The catch is scale: a high-output show finds cheaper unlimited options elsewhere, and the professional tier at $100 per month is a jump.
What we like- Time-based pricing that is easy to understand
- PowerPress WordPress plugin
- Audio and video on every tier
Watch out for- No free plan
- Scaling past 25 hours a month gets expensive
- Professional tier starts at $100
How we chose
We read the current pricing pages of every host, along with their published plan limits, trial terms, and feature lists. We checked recent third-party reviews and podcaster discussions on Reddit for recurring complaints, especially around billing surprises and free-plan limits. We weighted the things that matter most to a beginner: a low or zero starting price, a free plan or trial that lets you publish real episodes, clear limits you can plan around, and a setup flow that does not assume you know what an RSS feed is.
What to check before you pick a host
Pricing units are the first thing to decode. Buzzsprout and Blubrry sell upload or publishing time, Captivate and Transistor sell monthly downloads, and Libsyn sells megabytes. Upload-hour plans are easiest to predict, because you control how much you record. Download-metered plans punish success: a viral episode can push you into a higher tier, so check the overage policy before you commit.
Free plans are trials in disguise on some platforms. Buzzsprout deletes free-tier episodes after 90 days, Podbean caps total storage at five hours, and Spreaker limits stats history to six months. Only Spotify for Creators and RSS.com give you a free tier you can genuinely run a small show on. If you start free, confirm what happens to your episodes when the limits kick in.
Think about your publishing schedule, not just your first month. A weekly 45-minute show is about three hours a month, which fits the entry paid plan of almost every host here. If you plan daily episodes or video from the start, the flat unlimited plans from Podbean, RSS.com, or Transistor will cost less within a year.
Finally, check distribution and ownership. Every host here submits to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but confirm you own your RSS feed and can redirect it if you leave. All of these let you migrate, but the process is smoothest when you set up a redirect at the old host before canceling. Keep your domain and your show art under your own accounts, not your host's.
The mistakes that cost beginners the most money
The most expensive mistake is picking a plan for the show you hope to have instead of the show you have. A beginner on a $49 tier with 12 monthly listeners is paying for capacity they will not touch for a year. Start on the cheapest paid plan or a real free tier, and upgrade when the numbers say so.
The second mistake is ignoring the annual discount math. Podbean drops from $17 to $12 a month on annual billing, and similar gaps exist at Captivate, Transistor, and RSS.com. If you are sure you will podcast for a year, annual billing saves real money. If you are not sure, pay monthly for two or three months first; the savings are not worth a year of commitment to a platform you might leave.
The third mistake is paying for add-ons before you need them. Mastering tools, advanced stats upgrades, and custom domains are easy upsells at checkout. Publish five episodes first, look at your actual listener data, and then decide whether a $5 to $10 monthly add-on earns its place.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start a podcast completely for free?
Yes. Spotify for Creators is free with unlimited uploads, and RSS.com, Podbean, and Spreaker offer free tiers. Podbean and Spreaker cap storage and stats history, so their free tiers suit testing or light publishing. If your show grows, budget $7 to $19 a month for a paid plan.
What is the difference between upload hours and monthly downloads?
Upload hours measure how much audio you publish each month, which Buzzsprout and Blubrry meter. Monthly downloads measure audience listening, which Captivate, Transistor, and Simplecast meter. Upload-hour plans are predictable because you control the input; download-metered plans can jump in price if an episode goes viral.
Do I need a podcast host if I only publish on Spotify?
Yes, if you want your show everywhere. Spotify for Creators hosts your files and generates the RSS feed that Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and other apps read. Without a host, you have no feed to submit. Even Spotify-only distribution is still hosting; it is just free hosting from Spotify itself.
How long does it take to get listed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify?
Most hosts submit your feed for you, and approval usually takes a few hours to a few days. Apple Podcasts is the slowest, often 24 to 72 hours. Get your trailer or first episode approved before you announce your launch.
Can I switch podcast hosts later without losing listeners?
Yes. Every host on this list supports migration: you import your existing feed into the new host, then set a redirect at the old host so directories follow it. Your subscribers, reviews, and rankings carry over as long as you keep the redirect in place for a few weeks. Do not cancel the old host until the directories have updated.
Which host is best if I want to make money from my podcast?
It depends on audience size. Spotify for Creators and Spreaker offer ad programs with low entry thresholds but take a revenue share. Podbean, Captivate, and Buzzsprout offer patron programs, premium subscriptions, and ad marketplaces where you keep more. For a new show, listener support earns sooner than ads, which need thousands of downloads per episode.
Sources we checked (10)
- https://www.buzzsprout.com/pricing
- https://podbean.com/podcast-hosting-pricing
- https://creators.spotify.com/switch
- https://rss.com/pricing
- https://www.captivate.fm/pricing
- https://transistor.fm/pricing
- https://www.simplecast.com/pricing
- https://www.spreaker.com/plans
- https://libsyn.com/plans-and-pricing
- https://blubrry.com/services/plans-pricing
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has spent more than a decade helping SaaS and e-commerce brands grow through search. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.
