Podcast Host Lab

Independent reviews of podcast hosts. Real accounts, real screenshots, real prices. No sponsored rankings. New guides most days.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Podcast hosting prices change quietly. Six of the 12 hosts we track changed a price or plan in the last year.

We re-check every host's pricing page on the 1st of each month and log what moved. No affiliate links.

Before you pick a host:
https://t.co/wDDRYKTQBZ

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Acast's new Analytics dashboard replaces Insights on all plans. With video, it counts unique listeners and unique viewers separately, plus a combined figure with the overlap removed. Pitching sponsors? One fan, one count. https://t.co/8sH6bOUBju

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Apple video: Captivate adds $12 a month per show plus a plan from $17 billed yearly, with 1,000 video downloads included, then bandwidth fees. @buzzsprout Audio + Video is $25 a month billed yearly. $29 vs $25, before any hit episode. https://t.co/FvXTwBlZxm

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Two hosts following IAB rules can count the same fan differently. Podbean dedupes downloads per calendar day. Flightcast uses a rolling 24 hours that resets with each request. Two plays an hour apart across the day's cutoff: two downloads at Podbean, one at Flightcast.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Fifth signer on Podnews' import code: @captivateaudio, after Spreaker, https://t.co/PpAATA13kQ, Transistor and RedCircle. Signers won't import a locked feed or send a copy to Apple or Spotify until a redirect is confirmed. Copycats just lost five hosts. https://t.co/sdyASQz9nD

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Buzzsprout's $15 Audio plan, billed yearly, hosts one show. A second show means the $30 Multi-Podcast plan, up to five shows sharing 180 upload hours a year. On Transistor's $19 Starter, show two costs nothing extra. https://t.co/z9ck8gntOp

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Leaving Captivate? Its help page says the 301 redirect is set inside the close-show screen, where you paste your new feed. Once closed, your dashboard is gone, so download your analytics first. And closing the show doesn't stop billing. You cancel that separately.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Spreaker, @rss, Transistor and RedCircle signed Podnews' import code on November 9. No importing a locked feed, the owner gets an email, and no ads or Apple and Spotify submission until a redirect is confirmed. Copies can't earn there. https://t.co/sdyASQz9nD

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Choosing a host for Apple video? On Apple's directory, read the top label. On Nov. 7, five cards marked Video Coming Soon still listed Video as a feature, Spotify for Creators included. Its video still plays only on Spotify. https://t.co/EsM0ZBe8bv

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Moving off Libsyn? If you let Libsyn submit your show to Apple, its help page says your listing uses Libsyn's Apple ID. Ask Apple Podcasts Support to transfer it to your own. Whatever you do, don't resubmit: Libsyn says that creates a duplicate show on Apple.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Buzzsprout's global stats: web browsers went from 8.8% of downloads in September to 18.2% in October, more than double. Apple Podcasts slid from 34.8% to 30%. If your October numbers jumped, check the app breakdown before you quote them to a sponsor. https://t.co/fFfIdSkTfm

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Video on a budget: @libsyn includes up to 100 GB of video uploads a month, about 50 hours, on every plan from $12. Podbean's video starts at $29 a month billed yearly, about 10 hours. Want Spotify video too? That's Libsyn's $25 plan, still cheaper. https://t.co/w7YwqeMaIf

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Publishing from WordPress? Castos takes files up to 4 GB in its dashboard. Through its Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin, its help page says 200 MB, about three hours of audio. At 320 kbps, a 90-minute episode is 216 MB, so it has to go through the dashboard.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

New from @Flightcast_, announced November 3: connect YouTube, pick videos, playlists or the whole catalog, and it publishes them to Spotify, new uploads included. It costs $100 a month. That's $1,200 a year to earn back on Spotify. https://t.co/YymTNNXBjO

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Selling your own sponsor reads? @captivateaudio includes ad insertion on every plan, from $17 a month billed yearly. Podbean bills $1 per 1,000 delivered ads below its Network plan. Two ads on 20,000 monthly downloads: $40 a month extra. https://t.co/1wQjRKX6jl

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

On an old Buzzsprout plan from before August 2025? Its pricing page says you keep that Legacy price only while you stay put. Downgrade, cancel or move your podcast and it's gone. The old entry plan was $12 a month. Today's Audio plan is $15 a month, billed yearly.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

New @soundsprofnews data, November 4: 51% of monthly podcast consumers use a video service as their main podcast platform, up from 45% in 2025. And 74% of them find their next show on YouTube. Not on YouTube? You miss where they look. https://t.co/lOvVJz782K

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Transistor's $19 Starter meters downloads: 20,000 a month, unlimited shows. @buzzsprout Audio, $15 a month billed yearly, meters upload time: 72 hours a year, and a weekly hour-long show uses 52. One show? Buzzsprout. Three? One Transistor bill. https://t.co/rZNQsBOfsm

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Leaving: Spotify says a redirect can take up to 7 days, so wait at least a week before deleting. Apple says keep a redirect live at least four weeks. Go by Apple. Full guide: https://t.co/rySEezkPdi

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Spotify for Creators hosts podcasts for free. Before you move a show there, here is what its own help pages say you trade for it, checked today.

[Podcast Host Lab @PodcastHostLab]

Reach: Spotify says it doesn't distribute your show automatically. To get on Apple you switch on RSS Distribution under Settings, Availability, and your email address becomes public to anyone with the feed link.