If you’re thinking of starting a podcast, one of the first big decisions you’ll have to make is where to host your show.
There are plenty of options, some completely free and some not – so what’s the difference?
Completely free hosting options like Spotify for creators have limits and restrictions that many podcasters quickly outgrow.
If you’re planning on using your podcast for a business, want to monetize it at some point and don’t want limits on your episode length, paying for hosting can give you the flexibility and control you’ll want and need.
Why Pay for Podcast Hosting?
When you pay a monthly or annual fee for podcast hosting, you’ll typically get:
- Detailed, cross-platform analytics to learn more about your audience
- An RSS feed you can share with podcast directories for maximum visibility
- A public website for your show
- Plenty of audio time and storage
- Monetization options to make money
- Excellent customer support
The good news is that there are affordable hosting options that can fully meet the needs of any podcaster.
RSS.com for example, offers the most features for the absolute lowest price, plus, you can get a full free month using the coupon code RSSFREEMONTH
Whether you’re just getting started podcasting, or are getting thousands of downloads a month, below are the top features that make RSS.com the best hosting platform for the price.
Unlimited Episodes
Where some hosting platforms limit you to three hours worth of uploads for $12/month, RSS.com allows unlimited episodes for just $11.99/month on our annual plan.
We believe that podcasters should focus on content quality and not have to worry about how long their episodes are or stress about loading too many in a month’s time.
With RSS.com you have the freedom to create without limits.
Detailed, Cross-Platform Analytics
Did you know that some podcast hosts actually charge more per month if you want access to advanced analytics?
RSS.com wants to empower podcasters with the information they need to track their progress and negotiate with sponsors.
For no additional monthly fee, you can view:
- Your five most downloaded episodes of all time
- Download trends by month for your episodes for the last year
- Trends in number of followers by month for the last year
- The devices and applications that your listeners are tuning in on, and so much more
- Export and view all of this data into a CSV / Excel format so you can continue tracking your progress year over year!
Why Do You Need Cross-Platform Analytics for Your Podcast?
In podcasting, your analytics hold the key to understanding your audience and measuring your success.
Without analytics, it would be difficult to determine how many people are listening to your podcast, where they are located, and what devices they are using.
Analytics can also help you understand which episodes are being downloaded the most, and which topics are most popular with your audience.
This information can be used not only to plan future episodes and ensure that you are providing content that your listeners want to hear, but the numbers tell potential advertisers why they should sponsor your show. (i.e. how far their advertising dollars can go).
Your analytics can help you get paid!
Many brands want to know how many people will hear their ad on your show, and your analytics data paints a picture of the type of people that are tuning in and where they are listening from.
Overall, analytics are important in podcasting because they provide insights that can be used to improve the content of your show and make sure that you are reaching your target audience.
Multiple Monetization Options
Most podcasters want to make money podcasting.
RSS.com offers podcasters three monetization options for podcasts on the All in One Podcasting plan that include:
Additionally, high-traffic shows on the Podcast Networks plans qualify for DAI or dynamic ad insertion.
Better Pricing for High-Traffic Podcasts
Where some of our competitors limit your show to 20,000 downloads per month, RSS.com allows up to 30,000 downloads per month under our Fair Usage Policy.
This makes RSS.com a significantly better option for Podcast Networks with high volumes of downloads each month. You stand to save as much as $100 per year or more by choosing RSS.com for your network!
Best of all, RSS.com has great customer support. If you ever have any questions or need help with anything, the customer support team is always quick to respond and happy to help.
Learn more about our pricing tiers for Podcast Networks here.
Student and Non-Profit Podcast Hosting Plans That Can’t Be Beat!
If you’re a student, educator, or work with an NGO, you can contact us about our Student & NGO plans that start at just $4.99/month.
This price includes everything you need to launch a podcast including:
- Unlimited episodes and audio
- AI-powered podcast transcripts
- Audio-to-video conversion for YouTube Podcasts
- Cross-platform analytics
- RSS feed for your podcast
- Beautiful podcasting website for your show
- Custom embedded player for your episodes
- Episode scheduling
- Auto submission to the major podcast directories like Spotify and Apple Podcasts
- Social media sharing
- Amazing, world-class customer support
Then, when you’re ready to upgrade to our All in One Podcasting plan (pricing starts at just $11.99/month on the annual plan) you can also enjoy monetization via sponsors and 24/7 customer support.
Here’s a video walkthrough of how to get started with RSS.com:
