Best Podcast Hosting: How to Choose the Right Platform for Your Podcast
Choosing where to host your podcast sounds like it should be one of the easy decisions you make when starting a show.
Then you start researching podcast hosting sites and suddenly you're comparing dozens of platforms, pricing plans, analytics dashboards, monetization tools and features you aren't even sure you'll ever use.
I've worked behind the scenes of podcasts hosted on Buzzsprout, Captivate, Libsyn, Spotify for Creators, Podbean, Acast and others. And after launching and managing podcasts for clients, I've developed some pretty strong opinions about what actually matters in a podcast host.
Because here's what I've learned:
The best podcast hosting platform isn't the one with the longest list of features. It's the one that gives you the features you actually need without making publishing and managing your podcast harder than it needs to be.
And some of the features that seem insignificant when you're launching become incredibly important once you've published 50 or 100 episodes.
So rather than giving you a list of 15 podcast hosting platforms and pretending I recommend all of them, I'm going to show you what I actually look for when choosing a host, the two platforms I recommend most often, and why Buzzsprout is my first choice for most of the podcasts I work on.
What should you look for in a podcast hosting platform?
Your podcast hosting platform is where your podcast lives behind the scenes. It's where you'll upload and schedule episodes, manage your RSS feed, review analytics and control much of the information that gets distributed to podcast listening apps.
So don't choose one based solely on which option is cheapest when you launch.
Here are the things I pay attention to instead.
1. How easy is it to actually use?
A good hosting platform should be intuitive enough for a beginner while still offering the functionality you'll need as your podcast grows.
This is one of the biggest reasons I recommend Buzzsprout so often. The backend is clean and straightforward, and I've found it easy for clients to understand even when they're brand new to podcasting.
But ease of use isn't just a beginner's concern.
When you're publishing every week, little inefficiencies add up. A host that makes simple tasks unnecessarily complicated creates more work every single time you publish.
2. Does it give you analytics you can actually use?
Downloads aren't the only thing I want to know when I'm evaluating how a podcast is performing.
I want to be able to look at individual episode performance, listener apps and devices, geographic data, trends over time and other information that helps us understand what's happening with the show.
This is another area where Buzzsprout stands out for me. Its analytics are detailed without making the dashboard unnecessarily difficult to understand.
Captivate also offers detailed, IAB-certified analytics, including listener behavior, episode comparisons, devices and listening apps, location data and network-level analytics.
Whatever host you choose, make sure the analytics will give you information you can actually use and not simply a running total of downloads.
3. Can you easily change promotions across your back catalog?
If you're using your podcast to support your business, this is a big one.
The thing you're promoting today probably won't be the thing you're promoting six months from now.
Maybe you're currently sending listeners to a free resource. Next month you're launching an offer. Later you're promoting an event or a new service.
That's why I care so much about dynamic content.
Buzzsprout allows you to add and remove pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll content without editing and re-uploading the original episode. You can swap that content across past episodes as your promotions change.
For a business owner, that's incredibly valuable.
Your older episodes can continue working for your business without being permanently stuck promoting something that stopped being relevant two years ago.
4. Can you update recurring show-note information globally?
This is one of those features you probably won't think about when you're choosing a podcast host. But once you've built up a library of episodes, it can save you a ridiculous amount of time.
I know because I currently manage a podcast that's hosted on Libsyn, which doesn't give me the kind of global show-notes footer I have in Buzzsprout.
Every time we need to change a recurring link in that podcast's show notes, I have two choices: leave an outdated link sitting in past episodes or manually go back and update the show notes episode by episode.
And I cannot overstate how much this makes me want to throw my computer through the wall.
Because it's not difficult work. It's unnecessary work.
With Buzzsprout, I can create an episode footer that automatically appears across the episode descriptions. If a free resource changes, a URL changes, or we want to change what we're sending listeners to, I update it once.
Once.
I don't have to open 50 or 100 episodes and make the exact same change over and over again.
It's a tiny feature when you're launching episode one.
It's a very big feature when you're managing episode 100.
And this is exactly why I don't choose podcast hosting platforms based on who has the longest feature list. I care about the features that make a podcast easier to run six months, a year, or five years from now.
5. Does the host support the way you plan to use your podcast?
This is where the answer to "What's the best podcast hosting platform?" becomes a little less straightforward.
The best choice depends on what you're building.
Are you starting one ongoing podcast?
Do you eventually want several podcasts?
Are you creating limited series?
Will multiple people need access?
Are you using your podcast to regularly promote different offers or resources?
You don't necessarily need the platform with the most features. You need the one whose features match what you're actually planning to do.
Why Buzzsprout is the podcast host I recommend most often
For most entrepreneurs I work with, Buzzsprout is my first recommendation.
It's easy enough for a brand-new podcaster to use without sacrificing the functionality I want when I'm managing a podcast strategically.
Its current plans include advanced statistics and dynamic content, and Buzzsprout now also offers options for hosting multiple podcasts.
But the reason I recommend it isn't one flashy feature.
It's the combination.
I get detailed analytics. I can use dynamic content for changing promotions. I can globally manage recurring information in episode descriptions. And the backend doesn't make routine podcast management more complicated than it needs to be.
What about Buzzsprout's tags?
Buzzsprout also allows tags to be used at the show and episode level.
I use those fields strategically with keywords relevant to the show or episode. However, there's an important distinction here: I don't treat those tags as a guaranteed podcast SEO ranking factor.
Buzzsprout has indicated that its tags are used for functionality such as its embedded players rather than increasing a podcast's reach. Based on guidance I've received while working closely with an SEO expert, I still use those fields strategically rather than leaving them empty.
In other words, I'm intentional with them, but I wouldn't tell you that adding a keyword to a Buzzsprout tag is magically going to make your podcast rank.
Buzzsprout vs. Captivate: When would I choose Captivate?
Captivate is the other podcast hosting platform I'm comfortable recommending.
And there's one situation in particular where I think it deserves serious consideration:
You're planning to have multiple podcasts.
Captivate allows unlimited podcasts and uploads under one account. Its pricing tiers are based on the combined monthly downloads across those shows rather than requiring you to purchase a separate hosting account for each podcast.
Its entry-level allowance currently covers up to 30,000 monthly downloads, which gives many independent podcasters considerable room before needing the next tier.
Captivate also includes dynamic content tools and advanced analytics across its plans.
That can make its model particularly appealing if you're building several shows, creating multiple limited series, or developing a podcast network.
Buzzsprout now offers multi-podcast plans as well, so this isn't as simple as saying "Buzzsprout is for one podcast and Captivate is for multiple podcasts." Buzzsprout's current multi-podcast plans support either five or ten podcasts.
Instead, I'd compare how many shows you expect to operate, their expected publishing schedules and downloads, and which pricing structure makes more sense for what you're building.
For someone launching one primary podcast, I still tend to recommend Buzzsprout.
What about other podcast hosting sites?
There are plenty.
That doesn't mean I think you need to seriously consider every one of them.
Libsyn
I've worked inside Libsyn with existing clients, but it's not a podcast host I recommend when I'm helping someone launch a new show.
I've found its backend less intuitive than Buzzsprout, and its analytics don't give me the experience I want when I'm evaluating a client's podcast.
I've also run into workflow limitations that become increasingly frustrating as a podcast grows, particularly around globally managing recurring information in show notes and the dynamic-content functionality I want for the business podcasts I manage.
Could you host a podcast there? Absolutely.
Would I choose it over Buzzsprout or Captivate for the entrepreneurs I work with? No.
Spotify for Creators
The biggest appeal of Spotify for Creators is obvious: it's free.
It also gives podcasters useful Spotify-specific listener information.
But free isn't automatically my primary criterion when I'm choosing infrastructure for a podcast that's intended to become a long-term business asset.
I'd rather choose the host based on the workflow, analytics and management functionality I'm going to want as the show grows.
Podbean and Acast
I've worked inside both, but I don't currently work in either platform frequently enough to give you the kind of detailed comparison I can give you for Buzzsprout.
And that's actually why I'm not going to pretend otherwise just so I can make this a longer list.
There are plenty of podcast hosting sites that can successfully distribute a podcast.
I'm interested in which ones I would actually choose after having to work in the backend week after week.
For me, that shortlist is much smaller.
So, what is the best podcast hosting platform?
If you're starting one podcast and want a hosting platform that's easy to learn without being too basic for your podcast as it grows, Buzzsprout is the platform I recommend most often.
If you're planning multiple podcasts, I'd compare Buzzsprout and Captivate more closely because their approaches to multi-show hosting and pricing differ.
But whichever platform you choose, don't make the decision based on a giant checklist of features you'll never use.
Think about the podcast you're building.
Think about what you'll need to manage every week.
Think about the information you'll want six months from now when you're trying to figure out whether the show is actually working.
And think about whether today's seemingly tiny inconvenience becomes a giant pain when there are 100 episodes sitting in your back catalog.
The best podcast hosting platform is the one that makes it easier to run the podcast you actually want to build.
Ready to launch your podcast?
Choosing your podcast hosting platform is only one piece of building a podcast that actually supports your business.
My Podcast Launch Roadmap walks you through the bigger decisions that need to happen before you hit publish, from your strategy and positioning to planning the show itself.
Download the free Podcast Launch Roadmap
And if you'd rather have someone help you build and launch the podcast with you, you can learn more about my Podcast Launch services here.
Have we met?
I’m Liz, a podcast strategist and manager helping entrepreneurs build podcasts that do more than publish great episodes.
I share what I’m learning and seeing behind the scenes about podcast strategy, launching, SEO, listener growth, and building a show that supports your business.
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Still figuring out your next podcast move? Explore my free resources for help with launching and growing your show.
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Recommended Reading
After working behind the scenes in multiple podcast hosting platforms, I’ve learned that the longest feature list doesn’t make a host the best choice. Here’s what actually matters and why Buzzsprout is the platform I recommend most often.