Writer: Lynn Cadet
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Christina Lewis
Podcasts have doubled in number over the last decade. This stat may not come as a surprise to the many who use podcasts to listen in on favorite subjects, follow businesses, and immerse in murder mysteries. Podcasts are easy to integrate into daily activities and have a variety of niches to choose from, helping us consume topics in a fun and engaging way.
Podcasts have proven to be a great business opportunity or even a fun pastime. Wherever you land within the podcast realm, you will need to know how to host one. Many podcast creators choose to distribute their shows on personalized websites catered to their brand. Displaying their podcast on a website allows them to showcase who they are to their listeners in a customized environment.
If you’re looking to do the same, you have come to the right place. Below, we’ll share with you how to find the best podcast hosting platform, ranging from cheap to premium hosting plans. We also discuss an alternative type of podcast platform that offers excellent distribution options and perks.
Best Podcast Hosting
Podcasts are a great way to consume content, whether for entertainment or educational purposes. Its rise in popularity has captured many people’s attention for both listening and content creation. For those who want to jump-start their podcast journey, websites can be a crucial piece to their long-term success. Websites allow podcast creators to market themselves, distribute multiple shows via an RSS feed, and display additional features, including merchandise and donation support.
Choosing the best podcast host will come down to your needs and overall future goals. If you plan on growing your podcast, you will need a stable web hosting provider that can provide scalability. Beginners who don’t want too much commitment can go for a lower plan to get started. And there are many more options available between these two endpoints. Thinking of your budget and end goals will be your best bet when deciding on the perfect podcast hosting service.
Cheap Podcast Website Hosting
If you’re just getting started with podcasting, a cheap podcast hosting service is a fantastic option. Shared plans are usually lower on costs but also offer valuable features and performance to maintain a podcast hosting site. These podcast hosting services are ideal for users who want less commitment or have smaller budgets. Podcasting can be a huge undertaking that requires a lot of time, so having an affordable hosting service can allow you some leeway if you decide against it.
Shared hosting includes multiple features, including unlimited bandwidth and web-building tools with podcast integrations for big names such as an Apple podcast or a Google podcast. With the perfect mix of features, users can build a reliable podcast hosting site that is presentable and successful. Shared hosting is also easier to use than other hosting forms, making it perfect for beginners. Podcasters should look for plans with an intuitive control panel, domain registration, SSD storage for high speeds, SSL certificates for web security, and 24/7 technical support for quick responses to your website questions.
Take a look at our top-rated shared hosting plans offering features that could help you build and boost your podcast web presence.
1. Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- Known for high-performance, low-cost hosting
- FREE website builder with 1,000s of templates
- Endorsed by the WordPress.org team as a top host
- FREE SSL certificate and CDN acceleration
- Usually $7.99/mo, but our visitors pay $2.95/mo
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Bluehost pricing is about as competitive as the industry offers. Sign up for a shared hosting plan for as little as $1.99 per month, and WordPress hosting packages are consistently priced; a VPS plan starts at around $31.99 per month; and the dedicated hosting rates are as little as $91.98 per month. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 100 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
2. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.24
- Officially endorsed by WordPress.org
- FREE website builder or managed WordPress
- Unlimited bandwidth and free SSL certificates
- Malware scanner and CloudFlare DDoS protection
- Upgrade for staging and caching tools
- Get started on Hostinger now.
As the shared hosting market becomes increasingly saturated, unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts have become surprisingly average. Hostinger, however, extends the routine, expected metrics to greater lengths — the number of websites, databases, FTP users, subdomains, and parked domains are all unrestricted for most customers. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 100 GB SSD – 200 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
3. HostGator.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.29
- Get 77% off monthly pricing
- A perfect blend of price and performance
- Intuitive control panel with 1-click CMS installs
- Unlimited everything — from domains to databases
- Around-the-clock expert support
- Get started on HostGator now.
HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
4. iPage.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.95
- An industry-leading host with competitive pricing
- Attract visitors with FREE marketing credits
- Lots of extras like SiteLock security
- Start selling with FREE ecommerce tools
- Get more than 63% off today! (usually $7.99/mo)
- Get started on iPage now.
Whether you’re a first-time website owner or a web veteran, iPage’s excellent hosting services and a fantastic list of extras make the brand one of the best values in web hosting. Unlimited disk space, scalable bandwidth, and emails are just a part of what makes iPage’s shared hosting plan a great deal. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
5. GoDaddy.com
Monthly Starting Price $6.99
- Manage your domain and hosting under one roof
- Choice of cPanel or Plesk control panels
- Up to unlimited bandwidth and storage
- Microsoft 365 inboxes included FREE for first year
- Get 62% OFF by signing up today
- Get started on GoDaddy now.
A major pull factor for GoDaddy’s hosting services is certainly the cost. It’s hard to beat web hosting for just a few dollars per month, especially when the company includes a free domain name, control panel, impressively fast load times, and unlimited websites with most plans. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB – 100 GB | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Premium Podcast Website Hosting
Now that we talked about shared hosting providers, we can go up the hosting spectrum to cloud and VPS hosting plans. These plans exist in the middle because they are both similar in pricing and performance capabilities. VPS and cloud hosting plans give users more resources and also flexibility and scalability with those resources. These two server types can make for a fantastic podcast hosting service if you plan on growing your website while accommodating to demand shifts.
Podcasters can choose between managed and unmanaged cloud and VPS plans. The unmanaged plans will cost less but require more technical expertise. VPS and cloud plans can help users easily build a stable podcast hosting platform because they offer more security and better uptime guarantees than shared hosting. Podcasters will get dedicated resources that no one else can use, securing server performance and reliability.
VPS and cloud plans also offer extra storage and unlimited bandwidth meters. Users can expect optimal SSD storage, root-level access, higher RAM, and hosting staples, including SSL encryption and easy-to-use control panels. For users with multiple podcasts, you can also get a plan that supports more than one website to keep all your podcast websites under one roof.
Check out the web hosts below to see where your needs best fit. With these plans, you will definitely find the power you need to get one or even multiple podcasts off the ground and running for the long haul.
6. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- Turbo server & cache options for faster page loads
- Well-built plans starting with 4GB RAM
- FREE CDN plus auto-installs with Softaculous
- Multilingual support and up to unlimited databases
- Enhanced security with and daily kernel updates
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
While A2 Hosting’s turbocharged shared hosting platform gives site owners ample room to grow, the company’s tech prowess is on full display with its portfolio of VPS options. Ranging from unmanaged, bare-metal environments to stress-free, fully managed space, A2 Hosting is sure to have the perfect option for your expanding online presence. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 20 GB SSD – 450 GB SSD | 1 – 10 cores | 1 GB – 32 GB |
7. Hostwinds.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.99
- Managed or unmanaged, in Windows or Linux
- Cloud hosting with hourly or monthly billing
- Instant upgrades without downtime
- FREE around-the-clock monitoring
- Automatic nightly backups available
- Get started on Hostwinds now.
Does any hosting provider have more virtual private server packages than Hostwinds. The company offers 10 configurations — and that’s just for managed Linux server partitions. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 750 GB SSD | 1 – 16 cores | 1 – 96 GB |
8. Hostwinds.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.99
- Choose your OS or application configuration
- Hourly or monthly billing for convenience
- Optional upgrades for cPanel, backups, and more
- Managed services, SSDs, and HDDs available
- Block and object storage, plus enterprise firewall
- Get started on Hostwinds now.
Hostwinds provides supremely scalable and customizable options for the savvy developer or site owner. Customers can customize their cloud environment or choose pre-built configurations optimized to run apps like WordPress, Drupal, and others. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 750 GB SSD | 1 – 16 cores | 1 – 96 GB |
9. Cloudways.com
Monthly Starting Price $8.25
- Managed cloud hosting with 24/7/365 monitoring
- Choose from 5 popular cloud providers
- Auto-healing cloud servers with FREE backups
- 3-day free trial with no credit card required
- Host unlimited apps with no contract lock-in
- Get started on Cloudways now.
If you can’t beat the cloud provider behemoths, offer their infrastructure as a service. Cloudways gives customers their choice of cloud platform: AWS, Google, Linode, Digital Ocean, or Vultr. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | 1 – 96 cores | 1 GB – 384 GB |
10. InMotionHosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.99
- HostingAdvice readers get 89% off the first term
- FREE site migrations and 2 hours of Launch Assist
- 2 – 3 dedicated IP address options
- FREE cPanel/WHM licenses included
- Highly available servers with real-time redundancy
- Get started on InMotion now.
Boasting market-leading VPS hardware, slick management software, and free SSD drives and backups, InMotion Hosting competes to win when it comes to managed VPS hosting packages. The host initiates its VPS customer relationship with free website migrations and up to two hours of launch assistance from an experienced sysadmin. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 90 GB SSD – 360 GB SSD | 4 – 16 cores | 4 GB – 16 GB |
11. LiquidWeb.com
Monthly Starting Price $5.00
- High-speed hosting that’s faster than AWS, Rackspace, and Digital Ocean
- FREE backups, CDN, and DDoS protection
- Up to 16 processors with all-SSD storage
- Choice between cPanel, Plesk, or InterWorx
- Real-time monitoring and 100% uptime guarantee
- Get started on Liquid Web now.
It’s no secret by now that Liquid Web is known for best-in-class technology and reliability that exceeds expectations. The company’s cloud VPS environments embody that reputation to its fullest — including managed WordPress and WooCommerce products. Go to full review »
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 150 GB SSD | 1 – 8 cores | 1 GB – 8 GB |
Podcast Website Hosting with Free Trials
If you don’t want to settle with a web host too soon, you can use a free trial. The beauty of a free trial is that you can test your hosting provider and if a podcast website fits your plans, no strings attached. Leveraging a free plan can help you determine what you’re looking for in podcasting and what resources will best suit your needs. Web hosts are a fantastic option for novice podcasters and website owners who need more experience with hosting before going all in.
Below, we list some of the top web hosts in the shared and cloud hosting spaces offering free trials. Whether it’s 30 days or 14 days, you will definitely get the free podcast hosting experience you need to make a choice.
12. Kamatera.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Customize your cloud environment for FREE
- Work with a dedicated account manager
- Dozens of Windows & Linux OS choices
- Complimentary live chat support open 24/7
- Launch in less than 60 seconds
- Get started on Kamatera now.
That’s right, Kamatera gives new customers FREE access to high-quality VPS hosting for 30 days. Upgrade your bargain-basement shared hosting to a cloud server configured to your exact specifications for no cost. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 3 minutes |
13. Cloudways.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Try managed cloud hosting for FREE for 3 days
- Optimize costs with custom server configurations
- Scale server resources up and down as needed
- FREE SSL certificates, site migrations, and CDN
- Use code HOSTINGADVICE for 25% OFF
- Get started on Cloudways now.
Cloudways doesn’t offer a dollars-per-month shared hosting plan. But the company still brings a significant bargain to the table, thanks to a (short) free trial. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 8 minutes |
14. Wix.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Start designing for FREE
- FREE domain with most plans
- Drag-and-drop templates, specific to industry
- Exhaustive knowledgebase of articles
- Huge app market available
- Get started on Wix now.
Wix is known as a web-leading site builder service that’s one of the most affordable — because getting started is absolutely free and about as easy as processes get. You can log in via Facebook or your Gmail account and be editing your new web property within minutes. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-day FREE trial | 2 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Podcast Hosting Platforms for Distribution
Being a successful podcast host requires a good podcast hosting platform. Thankfully, there are tons of platforms out there for podcast distribution, from the likes of Apple Podcasts to smaller niche platforms. A podcast hosting platform is where podcasters upload their audio file for distribution. Each hosting platform has its own benefits. Niche podcast hosts can be a great starting point for beginners to launch their podcast shows.
Below, you can find some of the top names in the niche category for podcast production and distribution:
These podcast hosts can offer you a comprehensive platform with all the tools you need to get started on your podcasting journey. With them, podcasters can publish their episodes on almost any podcast directory, produce unlimited podcasts, and receive analytics for their episodes, such as viewers per month. Some things to consider, however, are that not all of these hosts offer support for podcast websites and may have the customization you need. A more robust podcast hosting solution may fit better into your plans if you seek to grow with a website.
What is Podcast Hosting?
To understand podcast hosting, let’s first start with the definition of a podcast. A podcast is a series of audio files that can be distributed over the internet using RSS feeds. An RSS feed helps maintain subscriptions on the internet, whether an email list or a podcast catalog.
Podcast hosting has more to do with the production and distribution of a podcast. If you want to make your podcast discoverable to a listener, you must find a podcast platform to host it. Podcast platforms, including Libsyn, help you distribute your podcast to a podcast directory, such as Apple Podcasts or Podcast Addict. A directory is where users can search for and listen to a podcast episode.
Podcasters also have the choice to host their own podcast website. This type of hosting is when a user purchases a web hosting plan to create a website with the intention of marketing their podcast. A podcast website gives users more control and customization over their brand and allows them to feature financial support, plugins for social media, and merchandise options. Having a website can drive more traffic to your podcast and build a larger web presence beyond the bounds of a podcast distribution channel.
Can I Host My Own Podcast on My Website?
Launching a podcast show is an excellent business opportunity in this day and age. It’s an affordable and user-friendly way to reach an audience and market yourself. But how you distribute your podcast episodes can affect your success. Although podcast websites can boost your podcast trajectory, it is not the best idea to use them for hosting your audio files.
Podcasts shows can feature an unlimited amount of episodes. If you host those unlimited podcasts on your website, they can start to weigh down your performance. Those massive audio files will take up too much storage space and bog down your podcast website’s speed.
If you want to display your podcast on a website, you can choose a web host with podcast integrations for popular podcast directories. You can also leverage the services of a podcast host with website support. The podcast host will use an RSS feed to maintain your podcast subscriptions, and all you need to do is link your podcast host to your website. Podcasters can upload a new episode to their hosting platform and watch the RSS feed handle the rest. Each time a new episode appears, that change will be reflected on the podcaster’s website.
Which Podcast Hosting Provider is Best?
Choosing the best podcast hosting platform can be tricky, but knowing what you want can help you narrow down your decision. Podcast platforms come in all shapes and sizes, varying in price, features, and functionality. When choosing, you should consider storage capabilities, website integrations, podcast analytics, and monetization support.
Prioritizing your goals and your long-term outlook is your best bet. If you have plans for expansive growth, you may want a podcast host that can support a budding website presence and has a large storage capacity for unlimited podcasts. Beginners can try out smaller distributors with more affordable plans and simpler interfaces. Podcast analytics is also an excellent feature for all podcasters, as you can track your reach and monitor success for long-term goals. But be cautious of free podcast hosting services. Paying a little extra can help you get a stable platform while avoiding performance issues or advertisement overflow of a free plan.
Once you prioritize your needs, choosing the best podcast hosting service will be that much easier. This advice can also be used for selecting a web hosting provider for your podcast website. Try to aim for a web host that fits your budget and provides top-notch performance for all your podcast and marketing needs.
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