Marketing trends & tactics

The very best podcast hosting sites in 2021!

It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? It’s halfway through 2021 and the COVID pandemic is raging on. That means remote work is still the mainstay, and quarantine hobbies are still taking the place of indoor gyms and other activities. Maybe — just maybe — your pandemic-born podcast is starting to shape up – and that’s why we’re talking the best podcast hosting sites this time round. If you’ve been keeping up with our blog throughout the pandemic, you’ll be familiar with our popular podcasting series so far:

Give these posts a read if you haven’t and you’re interested in podcasting. They’ll put you in the picture.

This time, we’re talking about podcast hosts – as in hosting sites, not presenters. Wherever you are in your podcasting journey, it’s important to keep podcast hosting sites in mind. It’s a matter of convenience, cost, tools, and preference!

→ Find the right Voice Over for your Podcast now!

Without further ado, here are our top 4 podcast hosts, in no particular order.

1. Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout tends to generate a good buzz around podcast hosts, and for good reason. The design of the user interface is simple and intuitive, making it easy to use, and easy to understand the podcasting metrics.

Along with a large directory base, podcasting website hosting, promotional tools, and a custom embed player, Buzzsprout features a built-in transcription service, which costs $0.25/minute. The transcription feature is integrated with Buzzsprout itself, which is useful. This can be handy when it comes to editing your podcast, or repurposing it for text.

Another feature is its Magic Mastering. It optimizes sound files so they sound great, but it’s only available in the paid plans, and as an add-on cost. If you’re taking audio engineering into your own hands, this might not be of interest to you.

There’s a free plan, but episodes are deleted after 90 days. You’re also limited to 2 hours of upload a month, and there’ll be ads on the podcasting website you’re given. Paid plans start at $12/month, with the option to add Magic Mastering for $6/month.

2. Transistor

Transistor is a podcast host that offers unlimited podcast uploads, and a download limit of 15,000 — instead of having an upload limit. That allows ample room for you to grow your podcast while sticking to the basic plan starting at $19/month.

If you upgrade your plan, starting at $49/month, you gain access to Transistor’s Private Podcasting benefits.

Private podcasting is a great way to make exclusive content for podcast subscribers, and can serve as an incentive to subscribe. It’s a good way to monetize your podcast without having to pay for another podcast hosting service.

Transistor can be an interesting option for a podcast with existing traction. The private podcasting tools and analytics like average downloads per podcast, estimated subscribers, and most popular episodes.

3. Captivate

“Every tool you need to start, manage and monetize your podcast.” Captivate markets itself around growing your podcast, which is a refreshing and inspiring take. It does so with advanced analytics, and an easy-to-use, simple dashboard.

A quick look at their website will show you how their dashboard is full of metrics, but it’s not overwhelming. It also features Captivate Growth Labs, which focuses on learning podcast marketing, SEO, how to get sponsors, and more. It’s included in all plans, which is nice.

As with other podcast hosts, Captivate offers access to leading directories, a podcasting website, and custom players.

Plans start by offering 12,000 downloads per month at $17/month. You’re not limited by hours, or the number of podcasts you upload. There’s a 7-day free trial if you’d like to try this growth-oriented podcast host.

4. Podbean

You can’t really go wrong with Podbean as a podcast host. Podbean has a lot to offer, and calls itself “your all-in-one podcasting solution.” It focuses on making the podcasting experience easy, from uploading, publishing, promo & monetization tools, templates and more.

Podbean’s monetization features are certainly interesting. They include: Podbean Premium, Patron, and Ads Marketplace.

Podbean Premium is a way to create unlimited custom content in premium channels. Patron acts like Patreon where subscribers pledge funds to gain access to exclusive content. Ads marketplace is a good place to find a sponsor.

The free plan gives you 5 hours of total upload time available, and 100GBs of bandwidth. The cheapest paid option offers unlimited upload time and bandwidth for just $9/month.

It seems like Podbean is a great place to get started, giving you the tools you need to get your podcast off the ground, and to start monetizing.

Final thoughts

There we have it, our top 4 choices in a big pool of podcast hosts. A lot of these podcast hosts have trial options, so don’t be afraid to give them a try. After all, a favorite host comes down to personal preference.

Also, be sure to consider using a professional voice over for your podcast intros, outros, and everything in between! There’s nothing like a professional voice over’s ability to connect listeners to your podcast’s message.

A voice over can add that interesting element, that edge you need to be noticed in the busy podcasting marketplace. With that said, and our top 4 podcast hosting site recommendations, we hope you find the best podcasting host for you!