Explore the well-compiled list of the eight best podcast hosting platforms for 2024 in this AWZware article. Find the perfect platform to make your voice louder and fascinate your audience with advanced analytics, seamless distribution, and other great features.
8 Best Podcast Hosting Platforms
Look at the comprehensive list of 8 best Podcast platforms with pros and cons.
1. Acast
Acast is one of the best podcast hosting platforms. It helps you publish, manage, and monetize your podcast. It has three pricing plans, including unlimited hosting and uploads. Acast enables you to host and manage your private paywall content in the exact location as your other (regular) content. Acast is compatible with most podcast players, such as Apple Podcasts, Google, and more. This podcast hosting platform is an all-rounder offering unlimited storage space and uploads and a host of other powerful features.
Pros:
- Distributes your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Spotify
- Share your podcasting content on your social media platforms
- Unlimited storage and uploads of podcast content
- Monetize your podcast with branded content, memberships, ads, subscriptions, and sponsorships
- Provides a transcription tool to create podcast transcriptions effortlessly
Cons:
- Incompatible with video podcasting
- Not compatible with MP3 and M4A files
- Offers an internal limit of only 150 MB per upload
2. Podbean
Podbean is one of the top podcast platforms and sites. It is also a monetization platform that provides users great tools like ad insertion, ads marketplace, and patron subscriptions to create, promote, publish, and monetize podcast content. This platform provides users with a podcast streaming service with more features for editing, recording, and distributing podcasts. Podbean offers website hosting, templates, and podcast statistics. The basic Podbean plan is free; the unlimited audio plan starts at $9 monthly.
Pros:
- Easy podcast publishing and running with all the tools you need for managing your podcast
- Unlimited audio & video hosting facility for downloading episodes or recording time
- Flat-rate, affordable plans for tension-free podcasting
- Offers a vast range of professional themes to customize and fit your needs
- Allows convenient publishing on your timetable to upload your podcast and schedule episodes to post at designated times
Cons:
- Requires a premium account to publish to Spotify
- A max of only three uploads/day on the free trial
3. Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is a popular and one of the best free podcast platforms for beginners and professionals. Its Magic Mastering feature makes it the best platform for podcasts, allowing you to spend more time on writing and recording and less time on editing in post-production.
Pros:
- Easy migration of existing podcast
- Easy distribution of your podcast to top podcast directories
- Provides advanced analytics and monetization to grow your podcast
Cons:
- Unused upload time at the end of the month is lapsed
- Unlimited upload plans are unavailable
- Only limited website customization features are available
4. Simplecast
Simplecast is one of the best podcast distribution and publishing platforms. It offers high-power analytics at an affordable price, unlimited storage on all plans, a customizable media player, and one-click publishing to wherever your audience listens. These fantastic features make Simplecast one of the best podcast platforms for listeners.
Pros:
- Allows multiple shows associated with your account
- Publish your podcast in a single click to all the major listening platforms
- Supports an Intelligent and customizable web player to get access to an embeddable web player
- Enables easy migration of your podcast to Simplecast
Cons:
- It does not support video podcasting
- You can't create, record, edit, or monetize directly
5. Blubrry
Blubrry is one of the best platforms to start a podcast. It offers easy distribution, unlimited downloads, and standard analytics without long-term commitments. All Blubrry hosting plans include the option to produce private podcasts for an additional cost, as well as supporting video podcasts. It is one of the best free podcast hosting platforms that allows the Powerpress plugin, WordPress integration, and Headliner integration for social sharing.
Pros:
- Supports video podcasts to create audio/visual content
- All subscriptions include a WordPress website and PowerPress plugin
- The PowerPress plugin offers an embeddable media player
Cons:
- It doesn't have any integrated monetization features
- Requires to pay a monthly subscription for unlimited storage
6. Castos
Castos podcast player is one of the best podcast streaming platforms embeddable online. It offers Automated YouTube Republishing and podcast transcription to help you make your content accessible to a broader audience. You can add social sharing CTA buttons to maximize the social promotion your sow receives. All these fabulous features make Castos one of the best platforms for podcasts.
Pros:
- Instantly migrates your podcast to Castos with just one click
- Unlimited episodes and podcasts with no storage cap
- Each Castos subscription comes with a free podcast website with a responsive design
- Integrated podcast transcription capabilities for more accessible, repurposable and SEO-friendly content
Cons:
- Limited monetization capabilities of their content
- Lack of creation features and functionality
7. Podcastle
Podcastle is one of the best platforms to upload podcasts, offering a suite of tools. It helps users transcribe, enhance, and edit AI-powered video and audio content. Acast helps you convert text into podcasts, unlimited audio editing, and silence removal and Auto-Leveling. All these features make Podcastle one of the most helpful podcast platforms.
Pros:
- Free to use for unlimited hours of audio recording and editing
- Offers AI-powered tools to enhance audio quality automatically
- Provides a range of features such as multi-track recording, audio transcription, text-to-speech, magic dust, revoice, and more
- Create audiobooks using AI tools in a matter of clicks
Cons:
- It does not support video podcast recording professional
- Requires an active/stable internet connection to access the web platform
8. Wistia
Wistia is one of the most popular podcast hosting sites. It provides the best video hosting service for businesses that prioritize lead automation follow-up and accessibility for viewers. This podcast platform lets you choose colors, add your logo, and feature your episode's artwork. Wistia also allows you to create a podcast homepage quickly, automatically transcribe, and do video podcasts.
Pros:
- Straightforward analytics to see the performance of videos and where people are most engaged throughout
- Make videos more accessible for viewers with captions, chapters, and color branding to meet web standards codes
- Host webinars and live streams all on a single platform
Cons:
- The analytics for videos make it challenging to analyze several videos simultaneously
- Allows scheduling live events one at a time
What Are the Best Podcast Platforms?
We have discussed the top podcast platforms available to distribute your creation to a massive audience. If picking one still seems challenging, this comparison table can help you ward off any confusion. Take a look to choose the best podcast platform.
|
Podcast Platform |
Ease of Use |
Free Trial/Version |
Starting Price |
|
Acast |
O |
O |
$14.99 /month |
|
Podbean |
O |
O |
$9/month |
|
Buzzsprout |
O |
O |
$12 /month |
|
Simplecast |
O |
O |
$15 /month |
|
Blubrry |
O |
O |
$10/month |
|
Castos |
O |
O |
$19/month |
|
Podcastle |
O |
O |
$3/month |
|
Wistia |
O |
O |
$19 / month |
Best Platform to Record Podcast: AWZ Screen Recorder
After discovering the top podcast platforms, you may look for the best podcast recording platforms to record your content. When we talk of the best, nothing beats the convenience and seamlessness of AWZ Screen Recorder.
AWZ Screen Recorder is undoubtedly the best podcast recording software for recording streaming podcasts to videos in the original quality. It allows users to capture screenshots and schedule recording at their convenience. You can capture a full screen or customized region and output it in MP3, WAV, AAC, or OGG formats.
Here's how to record a podcast using AWZ Screen Recorder.
Step 1: Open AWZ Screen Recorder and choose a suitable recording mode.
Step 2: Click to record the entire screen or any selected area on your screen and set up advanced capture options. Hit the 'REC' button to capture your screen.
Step 3: Edit and save your recordings
Other Highlights of AWZ Screen Recorder
- Trims and compresses a video
- Full-screen or customized recording
- Custom and scheduled recording
- Real-time drawing tools and basic video editing tools
- Records webcam and microphone simultaneously
- Records gameplay highlights and streaming video and capture screenshot
Final Words
Choosing the right podcast platform can be tricky until you understand its critical factors, such as price, number of downloads, storage, hosting and downloading hours, etc. You must try different platforms through their free trials or packages to know which one meets your needs. However, as your podcast develops, you may explore switching platforms as you become aware of what's important to you. Also, AWZ Screen Recorder lets you record your podcast on your computer screen and upload it anywhere.
AWZ Screen Recorder