Our ways of experiencing and engaging with the media are always shifting when it comes to broadcasting and entertainment. Over the years, podcasts have gained prominence in audience radars.
This is proven by statistics showing more than 464 million people tuning in to listen to podcasts in 2 to 3 years. This number will only grow, with predictions to cross 500 million people in 2024. This tells us that podcast hosting platforms have become a primary means of seeking content for people.
Podcast hosting sites make multitasking easy for listeners and are an inclusive way of disseminating information. As a result, there has been a steady rise in podcasters covering a diverse bouquet of topics and subjects trying to build an audience across the globe.
This article covers some of the best podcast upload sites for listeners to find some of the most engaging and enriching ones in the scene.
5 Best Podcast Hosting Platforms
1. GUDSHO
Best For: This is undoubtedly one of the best and most creative podcasting hosting platforms for all-rounder-performance that offers a plethora of options to listeners and podcasters alike.
Reasons to buy: Gudshow offers some of the most robust avenues and opportunities for monetizing your podcasts.
Features
- It follows a free-to-fix creator model: This means creators are free to choose their prices for their content and exercise full autonomy over their craft.
- It has a highly accurate analytical dashboard that shows you the performance of your podcast episodes, demographics, etc.
- It provides ample resources to new creators to customize, enhance, and polish their content.
- It has a strong Content Management System that allows diversified content portfolios, including audiovisual podcasts.
Highlights
- Its subscriptions are customizable, which makes it accessible to a large number of people.
- It uses a highly efficient bitrate technology that makes streaming podcasts smooth.
- Its 360-degree marketing and promotions toolkit is auto-generated. It removes the added burden of figuring out how to get your podcast to reach more people and lets creators focus on their craft.
- It offers unlimited video hosting.
Pricing
- The Stream Plan: This plan starts at $120 per month with unlimited viewers, curable catalogs, 360-degree video and promotion toolkits and 24/7 customer service.
- The Stream Plus Plan: This costs $799 per month, which is billed yearly, and offers 4k streams, more than 5 monetization options, API tools and a dedicated customer support team.
2. Buzzsprout
Best For: Hobbyists and beginners
Reasons to buy: Buzzsprout, launched in 2009, is one of the most popular podcast platforms for folks who are not too tech-savvy but have a lot of valuable insights, ideas and stories to share.
That’s why it boasts highly competent customer service that guides podcasters and listeners alike. Buzzsprout makes podcasting accessible to people through its flexible interface, which does not require a steep learning curve.
Features
- Magic mastering: This tool helps enhance and improve the audio quality of your podcast before you publish it.
- It has some of the biggest directories for podcasts.
- You can easily monetize your podcasts through ads.
- Efficient analytics that shows close to accurate demographic charts and listening statistics.
Highlights
- Its user friendly with efficient customer services
- Provides unlimited storage for your podcasts
- It does not have any yearly contracts, which means no long-term commitment
- Easy options to monetize your podcasts
Pricing
It has a free plan that offers some of the best free podcast hosting; however, paid plans that offer additional access and services start from $12.
Their free plan works great for beginners; however, professionals can upgrade to automatic episode uploads, transcriptions, optimizing episodes, etc, for $18 and $24 per month.
3. Blubrry
Best For: This is arguably the most suited for podcasters who want an analytical focus on their content.
Reasons to buy: This ranks high on the best podcast hosting platforms for those who are looking for detailed and advanced stats and analytics for their show. It focuses on its customer base and provides PowerPress plugins. Its data is some of the most accurate and certified by the IAB analytics.
Features
- Its plugins include PowerPress from WordPress, which makes it a diversified platform
- It has efficient customer support over mobile devices
- It is highly shareable and optimized for social media platforms
- Its statistical data analysis is IAB-certified.
Highlights
- It has no contracts, which means creators can be as flexible as they want with their uploads
- It automatically creates a WordPress website for your podcast
- It has some of the most engaging podcast directories
Pricing
- The pieces for Blubrry range from $10 to $17 a month.
4. Podbean
Best For: This is one of the best podcast hosting services for people looking for an all-rounder.
Reasons to buy: Podbeans is one of the staples when it comes to podcast sites, with over 10 years under its belt. It comes with beautiful and customizable design options that let podcasters curate the look and feel of their page. It also automatically submits your podcast episodes to some of the largest podcast distribution platforms, like Apple and Spotify.
Features
- It has applications available to download on iOS and Android devices
- It has amazing promotional tools for podcasts, which disseminate your episodes across other platforms
- It offers various ways to monetize your episodes: Ads, subscriptions and memberships.
Highlights
- It offers limitless audiovisual hosting options.
- Users can easily schedule their podcast upload timings.
- It distributes your ideas across major platforms with ease.
- It offers instant messages, live streaming and live calling options.
Pricing
- It offers a free plan; however, paid plans start from $9 a month, which makes it one of the more affordable options that get you your money’s worth.
- Upgrades are priced at $29 and $99 per month.
5. Simplecast
Best For: This is one of the best podcast platform for monetization and networking through your content.
Reasons to buy: Simplecast provides a straightforward and hassle-free way of publishing and making your podcast available to people. They have an organized and easily readable RSS feed that allows podcasters to know about updates on the website. It also has a robust promotional strategy for pushing your podcast episodes and making them visible to more people.
Features
- It can host multiple users on one account: this makes sharing things and maintaining individual feeds easier
- It offers accurate and advanced statistical data for the performance of your episodes
- There is no limit set on the number of uploads you can make
- It has easily accessible features to customize and curate the presentation of your page
Highlights
- It allows you to upload at any time, for an unlimited number of times, without having to pay any extra fees
- Its analytics are IBA-certified
- It makes distribution centralized and easy
- Its offerings start from 20,000 monthly downloads
Pricing
- The basic tier for Simplecast starts from $15 a month. The Essential tier comes at $35, and the Growth tier, with the most features and specifications, comes at $85 monthly.
Conclusion
This article listed some of the premier podcast hosting sites for individual creators as well as businesses who wish to expand and diversify their portfolios through podcasts.
Listers of podcasts are some of the most dedicated and invested audiences who spend up to 7 hours a week on average on their preferred podcast apps. This makes them highly potent for earning revenues and growing a dedicated audience base.
That’s why it’s necessary to pick the podcast streaming platforms to publish and broadcast your content to reach the right people and make the right difference in your niche.
Whether it’s your hobbies you want to talk about, opinion pieces, politics or your experiences in the world, podcasts make space for all voices, as there will always be someone to lend a listening ear. The right platforms will value their creators and make them discoverable.
GUDSHO is dedicated to bringing its creators the best hosting experience so that you can focus on your craft while we take care of the logistics. Find your voice with us today!