Starting a podcast takes work—research your niche, prep topics, set up audio gear, and refine your speaking skills to engage your audience effectively.
But don't worry—we've done all the hard work for you by putting together this list of the top 9 podcast platforms for 2023. We've taken the time to research each one so that you can find the best fit for your needs.
Podbean is a popular podcast hosting platform that offers a wide range of features for both podcast creators and listeners. The platform provides a user-friendly interface, making it easy for anyone to start their own podcast.
Podbean offers a variety of hosting plans that cater to different needs. It also provides a built-in audio editor, allowing creators to easily edit and enhance their audio files.
Additionally, Podbean offers a variety of features that make it easy to find and listen to podcasts. The platform has a built-in search function, allowing users to easily search for specific podcasts or episodes. Users can also subscribe to their favorite podcasts, and receive notifications when new episodes are released.
In terms of marketing and monetization, PodBean offers a variety of features, including native advertising, premium podcasts, and patron features. These options allow creators to offer paid access to additional content or connect with the right sponsors. The platform is a great choice for both new and experienced podcasters, providing a wide range of tools to help them grow their audience and monetize their content.
It also offers a variety of listening options, including streaming and downloading, allowing users to listen to podcasts on the go.
Pricing Options
All plans include support for multiple languages and the ability to distribute your podcast to popular platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
Buzzsprout is a podcast hosting and promotion platform that allows anyone to start their own podcast and reach a wide audience. It offers advanced analytics to track your listenership and ensure you're getting the most out of your show.
The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and easy-to-use features, making it a great option for both new and experienced podcasters.
By using Buzzsprout, podcasters can easily distribute their podcast to all of the major directories, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Alexa, Castro, Podchaser, and more. Additionally, the platform automatically optimizes audio files upon upload, ensuring that the audio quality is at its best. This makes it easy for creators to reach a wider audience and ensure that their content is of the highest quality.
Pricing Options
All plans include support for multiple languages and the ability to distribute your podcast to popular platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Moreover, all paid plans include advanced analytics, the ability to add chapters to your episodes, the ability to add a website to your podcast, and more.
RSS.com is a podcast hosting and distribution platform that's known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. The platform offers a variety of features for podcasters, including comprehensive analytics, episode scheduling, an embeddable player for episodes, social media sharing, and an included website for their podcast. These features make it easy for creators to manage their podcasts and reach a wide audience.
Another great feature of RSS.com is its analytics. Podcasters can view detailed statistics on their listeners, including demographics, location, and listening habits. This allows creators to better understand their audience and tailor their content accordingly.
RSS.com provides a range of monetization options for podcasters, including a donation button that can be enabled or disabled. This feature allows creators to access funding through means other than traditional sponsorship and advertising. However, if sponsorships and ads are preferred, the platform also offers access to potential sponsors through its Podcorn marketplace. This gives creators the flexibility to choose the monetization method that best suits their needs.
Pricing Options
RSS.com appears to offer three plans, however, most users will only have access to the All-in-One Podcasting plan, which is priced at $12.99 per month. There are special plans available for students and non-government organizations, priced at $4.99 per month. The student plan includes all the same features as the All-in-One plan but requires approval to access. Users with more than 10,000 daily downloads may be eligible for the Podcast Networks plan, but they would need to contact the platform first.
Captivate is one of the best podcast-hosting platforms for beginners. It's easy to use, even if you've never hosted a podcast before, and it comes with all the features you need to get started.
Captivate has a simple dashboard that makes it easy to create an account, add your first episode, and upload your files. There are also lots of helpful tools like social media integration and analytics so you can see how many people are listening to your podcast.
They have a built-in tool for creating a website for your podcast and also offer a feature called "Smart Episode Pages" which allows podcasters to add a landing page to each episode to increase visibility and engagement.
It's free to start with Captivate, but if you want more advanced tools like video hosting or custom domain names, then you'll need to pay for a premium membership.
Pricing Options
If you're looking for a podcast hosting platform that will allow you to publish your episodes on a professional-looking website and get the most out of your marketing efforts, Transistor might be the perfect fit.
The site provides all the tools you need to make your podcast look great and grow the audience that loves it. You'll have access to analytics reports, social media integration, and more—all with no extra fees or subscriptions.
And while they don't have quite as many big-name podcasts like Cards Against Humanity as some other platforms do, they do have a few heavy hitters: Freakonomics Radio, The Nerdist Writers Panel with Chris Hardwick, and The Longest Shortest Time are just a few examples of some of the shows hosted on Transistor.
Pricing Options:
Audioboom is a reliable podcast hosting and distribution platform that provides a standard set of features for most users. The platform allows users to distribute their podcasts to popular directories, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, as well as offering unlimited episodes and a high download limit of 15,000 per month on their entry-level plan.
Audioboom's distribution options are based on popularity rather than quality. The service offers the ability to distribute your podcast to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, and more. Audioboom also allows you to create an RSS feed for your podcast that you can use for any other directory you want to submit it to.
Creating and uploading an episode is easy; simply click "Upload" when you're logged in and follow the instructions provided by the interface. You can also edit or delete existing episodes as well as manage your show's settings in the same place.
The only drawback of using Audioboom is that they don't offer any analytics tools or monetization options.
Pricing Options:
Resonate is a podcasting platform that offers a variety of hosting plans to suit your podcast’s needs.
Their lowest-priced plan includes unlimited episodes and listeners, which is great for those looking for a one-stop shop. While Resonate’s hosting plans offer a few of the standard features, they’re noticeably missing a customizable website, private/premium podcasting, and customer support on their lower-priced plans.
Resonate provides a comprehensive set of services for podcasters, including production, launch, podcast marketing, video production, and enterprise services. These additional services allow creators to produce a high-quality, well-produced podcast within a single platform, making it a convenient and efficient option for podcasters.
Pricing Options:
Resonate provides two standard monthly plans, Basic and Premium, for its users. The Basic plan costs $25 and the Premium plan costs $49. Both plans include unlimited episodes, downloads, and show users.
However, the microsite feature is only available with the Premium plan, which sets it apart from other platforms that typically offer website features in their basic plans. If the Basic or Premium plan does not suit your needs, you can consider the Professional plan, which comes with an additional microsite and support features.
Castos is a podcast hosting platform that makes it easy to manage your podcast from a WordPress website. It's designed to sync with Seriously Simple Podcasting, which is also a WordPress plugin.
The Castos plugin makes it easy to create an RSS feed and post-show notes on your WordPress site. You can also manage episodes and track downloads using the plugin. The platform provides all of the necessary tools for you to start recording and publishing your podcasts without having to do any technical work.
In comparison to Buzzsprout, Castos offers more affordable audio transcription services, at only $0.10 per minute. The platform also has the capability to automatically upload episodes to YouTube in certain plans, making it a great option for podcasters looking to start a podcast on the platform.
Furthermore, Castos is focused on continuously improving and developing new features such as analytic reports tailored for potential sponsors and metrics on playback duration, giving creators insight into how long listeners are engaged with their content.
Price Options
If you’re a new podcaster or just getting started with the podcasting game, Libsyn is a great place to start.
With its focus on simplicity, affordability, and reliability, it’s easy to see why so many people use Libsyn as their platform of choice for their podcasts.
If you want to get going quickly and don’t want to spend hours setting up your account, then Libsyn is definitely worth checking out.
It offers everything that most other platforms do and more. For example, it has built-in social media integration which makes it easy for listeners to share your content without having to leave the app itself. It also offers a web version of its service so that listeners can access your episodes anywhere they go – even if they don’t have an iOS device or Android phone!
The downside? If you have a long-running show with lots of episodes (particularly if you monetize) then this might not be the platform for you, but if you have a shorter show with fewer episodes then Libsyn could be perfect.
Pricing Options:
In summary, there are many podcast hosting and distribution platforms available, each with its own set of features and pricing options. It's important to consider your own unique podcasting needs when choosing a platform, such as uploading, bandwidth, downloads, and budget.
Moreover, it's also important to consider other factors such as monetization strategy and social media connectivity once you've narrowed down your options. With the right platform, you'll be well on your way to creating and distributing your own podcast.
Get free expert insights and tips to grow your course business sent right to your inbox.
Ready to turn your knowledge into a thriving online course? Join the countless creators who trust Course Co., the top-rated course creation service for aspiring entrepreneurs like you.
When it comes to course creation, there’s no better partner than Course Co. With our trusted resources and expert guidance, you’ll be on the fast track to success.
Let’s build your course together—because your success is our mission! 🚀 You'll be able to:
Save Time: Streamline your course creation process with expert training and ready-to-use templates.
Boost Confidence: Gain step-by-step guidance and support to launch with clarity and ease.
Grow Revenue: Leverage proven strategies to create a course that engages your audience and drives sales.
Won 2 Awards, 152,383+ Leads — "It truly represented the passion Teachable has for the creators that are saying yes to their passions, big ideas and sharing it with the world."
$5M+ Lifetime Sales — "Seamlessly came into my team and helped with messaging and thinking through the story and pain points that my audience have."
"We’re converting a 67% close rate! We're clearing $30k in just a few hours of launch!"
"First mini course sale today!!!!!!!!! Thank you both for all your hard work on this project. Looking forward to many more sales!"
"Sales are good! We should hit $200K by the end of month, so as soon as we launch this evergreen webinar and start ads I think this thing is really gonna take off!"
There are 3 ways you can launch your online course with Course Co.
Launch your online course in just one day with on-demand training, templates, and tools. Perfect for fast, stress-free course creation.
Access advanced training, coaching, templates, and a supportive community to confidently launch and grow your online course.
Comprehensive done-for-you services to plan, create, and launch your course. Ideal for scaling brands ready to boost course revenue.
Need to talk with our team first to know which plan is best for you? 🚀
Launch your first or next online course, digital product and big idea with our course creation solutions from free to paid.
Trusted by over 10.000 students
