So, I helped you test the most popular podcast hosts on the market. After months of research, I found a lot of disappointing providers whose plans either lacked basic features or were ridiculously expensive .
I’ve only included hosts that are affordable, reliable, and have simple interfaces that anyone can learn to use to host a podcast . These podcast hosts are bulk mail masters trustworthy and won’t suddenly suspend your podcast if your traffic suddenly spikes, nor will they immediately raise prices once users get a taste of the benefits.
What is podcast hosting and how is it different from website hosting?
Web hosting, especially shared hosting, is used to store files related to website operation, such as website data, plain text files, media files such as pictures and videos.
Podcast audio files are generally very large, and many web hosts simply do not have enough storage space or bandwidth to handle so much serialized content.
If you are using a shared hosting plan, the huge bandwidth consumption will affect the performance of other websites on the same host. If many people are listening to or downloading your podcast at the same time, it will take up a lot of bandwidth resources, so your hosting service provider may limit your website’s bandwidth or shut down your website directly .
Even plans that claim to offer “unlimited” resources customer service via telegram often have limits of their own. You’ll need to check each merchant’s terms of service to see what those terms actually are, but make no mistake: they’re there.
What are the best podcast hosts?
I researched and tested dozens of podcast hosts to find reliable hosting services. Here are my main criteria:
- Generous plans. Most hosts allow you to upload unlimited episodes, but they limit the number of downloads you can make each month. The ones I found offer a generous number of downloads even on their entry-level plans, so unless your traffic skyrockets, you probably won’t need to upgrade.
- Stable performance. This is unquestionable. If the podcasts you listen to are often buffered and download slowly, it will definitely be very frustrating. So I only recommend hosts that can guarantee smooth podcast listening.
Which is better, Podbean or Buzzsprout?
Personally, I prefer Podbean . Buzzsprout is simple to use, but it converts all uploads to a standard format, and you can’t guarantee higher bitrates if you have high-quality audio. The entry-level plan limits you to three hours of uploaded audio per month, and there’s no built-in private podcasting.
Podbean is also easy to use, with no upload, storage or bandwidth limits even on its cheapest plan. It doesn’t tamper with your audio files, and has a great fan tipping system.
Can I host my podcast on my website?
This is not a good idea. Podcast files are usually japan data very large, and if you insist on uploading them to a website, your hosting provider may suspend or disable your account. When listeners download your content, it will take up a lot of bandwidth and cause your website to crash.