Demystifying Podcast Platforms: Making the Best Choice for Your Business

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You make a lot of choices when starting a podcast for your business: what it will be called, what it will be about, how often it will be released, whether you’ll have ads… Some of these decisions will require a lot of thought.

Where to host your podcast isn’t one of them.

What’s a podcast host platform?

The host platform is where the audio file for your podcast actually lives. Apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify don’t store your podcast on their own servers; they pull a copy of the file from your host platform and deliver it to your listeners.

A good host platform is more than file storage; it also keeps track of your podcast’s metrics: how many people are subscribed, how many people downloaded each episode, how much of the episode people have been listening to, etc. It does this regardless of what app your listeners use. Apple Podcasts doesn’t track your Spotify listeners and vice versa, but a good host platform will track them all.

Where should I host my podcast?

There are a number of different hosting platforms out there, and the right one for you will depend on your goals. Here’s what I recommend:

If you don’t have a website, use Substack

Substack is a newsletter platform that recently added the ability to host podcasts. People can listen to your show on their podcast players, the Substack app, your Substack page, and even their emails.

I use Substack for my own show, Unsolicited Podcast Opinions, because it serves as a blog and a newsletter as well as a podcast host. It’s also completely free, without any monthly fees or even ads. It lets you monetize your podcast through membership options (similar to Patreon), and it earns its money through taking a small percentage of those membership fees.

If your business doesn’t have its own website and you’re interested in offering memberships, Substack is a great choice.

My one issue with Substack is its metrics. Because it began as a newsletter platform, it only measures the success of your emails. You don’t get metrics from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other podcast apps.

If you want to experiment with podcasting, use Podbean

Podbean is an excellent option if you already have a business website but aren’t certain that you want to commit to making a podcast. Its Basic plan is free and offers much better analytics than Substack.

Their paid plans offer unlimited storage space, further customization options, and a host of tools to help monetize your podcast. My favorite thing about Podbean, though, is the number of educational workshops they offer to help podcasters improve their shows.

Unless you pay for their most expensive Network plan, you’re stuck with Podbean branding on the built-in podcast website – which is a pretty petty complaint, all things considered. But I will say that I don’t think their Unlimited Plus plan is really the best value. The main feature it adds is the ability to offer paid memberships. If you actually get money through those memberships, it’s fine, but if you don’t earn enough money through that program, I don’t think it’s worth the extra cost. I would say their Unlimited Audio plan is the real best value.

If you want to look like a polished pro, use Libsyn

When I worked for a podcast production company, we used Libsyn as the host for the vast majority of our clients. Libsyn doesn’t have a free plan, but their paid plans are extremely good value. All of their plans offer the ability to monetize through ads and subscriptions and a built-in audio recording program so you don’t need to get any special software to record your show.

The pricing page can be a little confusing, since they list the number of hours of new uploads per month and megabytes of storage.

The number you care about is the megabytes of storage monthly. In addition to storing your podcast episodes, Libsyn can store images, PDFs, or other materials you want to incorporate into the built-in podcast website. These files also count against your monthly storage limit.

The hours is an estimate based on their recommended tech specs. If your file sizes are different or you include a lot of additional material on your website, you might find you can’t upload as many new hours a month as you thought.

Their most popular plan offers the best value, with the ability to schedule social media promotion for your show and Libsyn Connect, a built-in alternative to Zoom for recording remote podcast interviews.