Podcast Hosting Made Simple: The #1 Platform and the One to Avoid

As usual, my intention is to cut the crap and get to the point. I know from speaking with Podcasters in the early stage they don’t care too much about the ins and outs of a hosting platform. They just want to know “What’s the best one?”.

Let me point out first that all podcast hosting platforms do the same job. No choice will make your Podcast better or increase your downloads. It's a case of who makes it most straightforward and provides features to speed up your process. This choice is based on 3 things; My personal use of various platforms, what my Podcast clients find important and my research of Podcasters opinions via Reddit.

Overall best podcast hosting platform, the one I always recommend:

I've used many hosting platforms, and Captivate is the all-around best. It's simple to use, the interface is friendly, and the owners are Podcast lovers. They continue to improve the platform regularly. There is no other platform I would recommend above it.

Here are some of the reasons why I and many of my clients prefer it:

1. Price 

$19 / 17 EUR per month will get you everything you need to launch and maintain a Podcast. Almost all Podcast hosting platforms are in the same ballpark for price. So there's not much saving to be had by shopping around.

2. One-click submission to (almost) every Podcast player.

This is so important because it's always a bugbear of new podcasters, "How do I get my Podcast listed on players". Captivate makes it easier than any platform I have seen.

With one click, your Podcast will be published on every player apart from Apple and Google. These two always require manual submission, no matter what platform you use. Captivate makes it very easy with direct link setups to both.

Within no time of publishing your first episode, Captivate will submit your Podcast to Spotify, Google, Apple, Deezer, Amazon, Stitcher and more.

3. Show notes templates

If your show notes follow a specific format, there is no need to waste time copying and pasting on every episode. Captivate allows you to have templates that make it easier and faster to get the show notes done and dusted.

4. Add producers and team members without password sharing

As a podcast producer, this is another reason I love when clients choose Captivate. They add me to the account so I can use my login. There's no need to share passwords. You can also limit the access a team member gets so that they only have features relevant to their job.

5. The easiest dynamic ad/insert feature I have seen

Dynamic ads mean that you can easily play pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll into podcast episodes and just as easily swap them out. So let's say you have a sponsor. It can place a mention wherever you want in a podcast. What if that sponsor changes or wants something else mentioned? Rather than editing every episode again, you can easily change the audio through Captivate, and all mentions will update immediately. 

6. No time or filesize limits

Many other platforms restrict your time and filesize. This means Podcasters have to sacrifice audio quality to make files smaller or try and create shorter Podcasts so they don't exceed the limit. I think the freedom to release as much content as you want is extremely important in Podcasting, as is the audio or video quality.

7. Sync with Wordpress

Most Podcasters I work with update a Podcast page on their website. This often means uploading everything to the Podcast host service and then doing the whole thing again on Wordpress. Captivate has a plugin that means you can sync your Podcast with your Wordpress site, making it easy to update each time you release a Podcast episode.

8. Captivate are ahead of the game and there are more features to come

As mentioned above, the guys at Captivate are audio and Podcast obsessed. They seem to have a great understanding of precisely what Podcasters want. I fully trust that they will continue to add some useful features. I expect AI will start playing a huge role in podcast publishing, and Captivate will have you covered for the best AI tools that will make publishing your episodes even easier.

Is there a free Podcast hosting platform?

Yes, Spotify offers a free Podcast hosting service. So why not just use this?

Well, like all free platforms, it comes with a catch. Spotify will technically own your content, and you will permit them to use ads you cannot control.

Let's say you do a Podcast about climate change; nothing stops Anchor from placing an ad for a car with a massive petrol engine in your Podcast.

If you are a complete hobbyist, Anchor is a good option. However, if you have any ambitions for your Podcast, you should host it on a paid platform like Captivate.

Don't think you can your host down the line if the Podcast becomes big; that is a complicated headache you don't want.

The popular Podcast hosting service you should avoid

Libsyn is extremely popular but, for me, the least user-friendly platform on the market. It's one of the platforms that a LOT of my clients have already chosen and signed up for before they come to me. I would never suggest changing it, but I would never recommend it to anyone asking me which platform they should use when starting a Podcast.

I think Libsyn's popularity is purely a legacy thing. They were the first big hosting platform on the scene, and it has carried them for many years. However, it's become highly outdated. I hate using it. The design is clunky, there are options that are confusing, and the settings are hard to navigate. It’s just not easy to use.

It also remains one of the highest-priced on the market. There are storage and time limits on every plan. I have had multiple clients running out of space quickly. This left them needing to degrade the audio quality, so files were smaller or upgrade to a more expensive plan.

Honourable mentions

While Captivate is my choice for the best Podcast hosting platform, I have used others that I would consider very good: Transistor, Simplecast, Buzzsprout.