Podcast Hosting Prices 2026: Every Plan, Tracked Monthly
Last updated: November 2026
No affiliate links on this page. Every price below was read off the host’s own pricing page on September 24, 2026, with the monthly and annual billing switch checked both ways. The page is re-checked on the first of every month, and every check is logged at the bottom.
The cheapest paid podcast hosting plan right now is Blubrry Standard 1.5 at $7 a month. On annual billing, Podbean Unlimited Audio works out to $12 a month. For a weekly one-hour show, RSS.com, Spreaker, and Spotify for Creators cost nothing, and the cheapest paid plan that fits is Simplecast at $15 a month billed monthly. The most recent price or plan change we logged: Buzzsprout let annual plans go past their upload hours, billing the extra each month instead of requiring an upgrade, first seen October 2026. Six of the 12 hosts we track changed a price or plan in the last 12 months.
Hosts change prices quietly. The old number keeps circulating in reviews and forum answers for a year or more, and the host’s own FAQ is sometimes the last page to catch up. This page keeps one dated record: what each host charges today, what it charged before, and when it changed.
Podcast hosting prices today
| Host | Cheapest paid plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually (per month) | What the plan caps | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzzsprout | Audio | $18 | $15 | 6 hrs/month (72 hrs/yr on annual) | Yes |
| Captivate | Personal | $19 | $17 | unlimited uploads, 30,000 downloads/month | No |
| Transistor | Starter | $19 | $15.83 | unlimited uploads, 20,000 downloads/month | No |
| Libsyn | Bare Essentials | $8 | No annual option | 162 MB/month (about 3 hrs) | No |
| Podbean | Unlimited Audio | $17 | $12 | 1 GB/month (16 hrs audio) | Yes |
| RSS.com | Plus | $19.99 | $15 | unlimited audio | Yes |
| Castos | Essentials | $19 | $15.83 | unlimited episodes and downloads | No |
| Simplecast | Basic | $15 | $13.50 | unlimited uploads, 20,000 downloads/month | No |
| Spreaker | Broadcaster | $20 | No annual option | unlimited episodes | Yes |
| Blubrry | Standard 1.5 | $7 | No annual option | 1.5 hrs/month | No |
| Acast | Essential | $25 | $14.99 | unlimited episodes | Yes |
| Riverside | Pro | $35 | $24 | 15 hrs separate-track downloads/month, recording unlimited | No |
| Spotify for Creators | Free only | Free | Free | unlimited | Yes |
Annual prices are the monthly equivalent of the yearly charge. Where the host bills a yearly total, like Transistor’s $190, we divide by 12 and round to the cent.
Watch the billing switch. Most of these pages open on annual pricing. The widest gap on an entry plan is Acast: $25 a month billed monthly against $14.99 a month billed annually, so the price you see first can be 40% below what a month-to-month customer pays.
What a weekly podcast actually pays
A price per month does not compare across hosts, because they cap different things. Some cap upload hours, some cap downloads, some cap nothing. So we priced the same show everywhere: one one-hour episode a week, about 4.3 hours of audio a month. Each cell is the cheapest plan on that host whose published limits fit the show: an hours cap at or above the show’s hours, or no cap on uploads or episodes at all.
| Host | Weekly show, billed monthly | Weekly show, billed annually | Twice-weekly show, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buzzsprout | $18 (Audio) | $15 (Audio) | $36 (Multi-Podcast) |
| Captivate | $19 (Personal) | $17 (Personal) | $19 (Personal) |
| Transistor | $19 (Starter) | $15.83 (Starter) | $19 (Starter) |
| Libsyn | $25 (Advanced) | No annual option | $25 (Advanced) |
| Podbean | $17 (Unlimited Audio) | $12 (Unlimited Audio) | $17 (Unlimited Audio) |
| RSS.com | Free | Free | Free |
| Castos | $19 (Essentials) | $15.83 (Essentials) | $19 (Essentials) |
| Simplecast | $15 (Basic) | $13.50 (Basic) | $15 (Basic) |
| Spreaker | Free | No annual option | Free |
| Blubrry | $25 (Advanced 6) | $21.67 (Advanced 6) | $50 (Advanced 12) |
| Acast | $25 (Essential) | $14.99 (Essential) | $25 (Essential) |
| Riverside | Not priced by upload hours | ||
| Spotify for Creators | Free | Free | Free |
Hosts that cap downloads rather than hours (Captivate, Transistor, Simplecast) fit either show on their entry plan until the show outgrows the download cap. Riverside prices by recording and download hours, not uploads, so it has no fair number here. To price your own show instead, put your number of shows, episodes a week, episode length, and downloads into our podcast hosting cost calculator. It finds the cheapest plan that fits on each host and what that costs for a year.
Every plan we track
| Host | Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually (per month) | Limits | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buzzsprout | Audio | $18 | $15 | 6 hrs/month (72 hrs/yr on annual) | No |
| Buzzsprout | Audio + Video | $30 | $25 | 6 hrs/month (72 hrs/yr on annual) | Yes |
| Buzzsprout | Multi-Podcast | $36 | $30 | 15 hrs/month (180 hrs/yr on annual) | No |
| Buzzsprout | Free | Free | Free | 2 hrs/month, episodes hosted 90 days | No |
| Captivate | Personal | $19 | $17 | unlimited uploads, 30,000 downloads/month | |
| Captivate | Professional | $49 | $44 | unlimited uploads, 150,000 downloads/month | |
| Captivate | Business | $99 | $90 | unlimited uploads, 300,000 downloads/month | |
| Transistor | Starter | $19 | $15.83 | unlimited uploads, 20,000 downloads/month | No |
| Transistor | Professional | $49 | $40.83 | 500 GB storage, 100,000 downloads/month | Yes |
| Transistor | Business | $99 | $82.50 | 1 TB storage, 250,000 downloads/month | Yes |
| Libsyn | Bare Essentials | $8 | No annual option | 162 MB/month (about 3 hrs) | Yes |
| Libsyn | Basic | $12 | No annual option | 3 hrs audio/month | Yes |
| Libsyn | Advanced | $25 | No annual option | 10 hrs audio/month | Yes |
| Libsyn | Max | $150 | No annual option | 55 hrs audio/month | Yes |
| Podbean | Unlimited Audio | $17 | $12 | 1 GB/month (16 hrs audio) | No |
| Podbean | Unlimited Plus | $39 | $29 | 10 GB/month (160 hrs audio or 10 hrs video) | Yes |
| Podbean | Network | $99 | $79 | 40 GB/month (660 hrs audio or 40 hrs video) | Yes |
| Podbean | Business | $129 | $99 | 40 GB/month (660 hrs audio or 40 hrs video) | Yes |
| Podbean | Free | Free | Free | 5 hrs (500 MB) of storage in total, never resets, 100 MB per file | No |
| RSS.com | Free | Free | Free | unlimited audio | No |
| RSS.com | Plus | $19.99 | $15 | unlimited audio | No |
| RSS.com | Pro | $34.99 | $26 | unlimited audio | No |
| RSS.com | Max (Video Podcasting) | $49.99 | $37 | unlimited audio and video | Yes |
| Castos | Essentials | $19 | $15.83 | unlimited episodes and downloads | No |
| Castos | Growth | $49 | $40.83 | unlimited episodes and downloads | No |
| Castos | Pro | $99 | $82.50 | unlimited episodes and downloads | Yes |
| Simplecast | Basic | $15 | $13.50 | unlimited uploads, 20,000 downloads/month | |
| Simplecast | Essential | $35 | $31.50 | unlimited uploads, 50,000 downloads/month | |
| Spreaker | Free Speech | Free | No annual option | unlimited episodes | |
| Spreaker | Broadcaster | $20 | No annual option | unlimited episodes | |
| Spreaker | Anchorman | $50 | No annual option | unlimited episodes | |
| Spreaker | Publisher | $250 | No annual option | unlimited episodes | |
| Blubrry | Standard 1.5 | $7 | No annual option | 1.5 hrs/month | Yes |
| Blubrry | Standard 3 | $15 | $12.92 | 3 hrs/month | Yes |
| Blubrry | Advanced 6 | $25 | $21.67 | 6 hrs/month | Yes |
| Blubrry | Advanced 12 | $50 | $45 | 12 hrs/month | Yes |
| Blubrry | Advanced 25 | $90 | $80.83 | 25 hrs/month | Yes |
| Acast | Starter | Free | Free | 5 episodes | No |
| Acast | Essential | $25 | $14.99 | unlimited episodes | No |
| Acast | Pro | $40 | $29.99 | unlimited episodes | No |
| Acast | Video | $50 | $39.99 | unlimited episodes, 10,000 video views/month | Yes |
| Riverside | Pro | $35 | $24 | 15 hrs separate-track downloads/month, recording unlimited | Yes |
| Riverside | Grow | $45 | $34 | 20 hrs separate-track downloads/month, recording unlimited | Yes |
| Spotify for Creators | Free | Free | Free | unlimited | Yes |
Enterprise and quote-only plans are left out. Each host name links to the pricing page we read.
Podcast hosting price changes since 2023
Newest first. “First seen” is the first archived copy of the host’s pricing page that shows the new price, or for changes since this tracker launched in September 2026, the first of our own checks that caught it, so the real change date is on or shortly before it. We read the Internet Archive’s copies of each pricing page going back to January 2023.
| First seen | Host | What changed | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout let annual plans go past their upload hours, billing the extra each month instead of requiring an upgrade | A fixed pool of upload hours for the year, with no extra hours: when it runs out, upgrade to a bigger annual plan | Keep publishing past the pool, with extra time billed monthly at the plan’s hourly rate ($2 an hour on annual plans) |
| August 2026 | RSS.com | RSS.com replaced its single paid plan with Plus, Pro and Max, and the entry price rose from $11.99 to $15 billed annually | All in One $11.99 a month billed annually | Plus $15, Pro $26, Max $37 a month billed annually ($19.99 / $34.99 / $49.99 month to month in Sep 2026) |
| August 2026 | Blubrry | Blubrry switched from storage-based plans to plans based on hours published a month, adding a $7 entry plan | Standard $15 (125 MB, about 2 hrs), Advanced $25 (400 MB, about 7 hrs) | Standard 1.5 $7, Standard 3 $15, Advanced 6 $25, Advanced 12 $50, Advanced 25 $90 a month |
| August 2026 | Riverside | Riverside raised month-to-month billing on Pro from $29 to $35 and on Grow from $39 to $45, with annual prices unchanged | Pro $29, Grow $39 a month (annual $24 / $34) | Pro $35, Grow $45 a month (annual $24 / $34) |
| May 2026 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout put its free plan back on its pricing page | No free plan on the pricing page since August 2025 | Free plan, 2 upload hours a month, episodes hosted for 90 days |
| May 2026 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout renamed its plans Audio, Audio + Video and Multi-Podcast and now shows annual prices first | $19 / $39 / $79 a month | Audio $15, Audio + Video $25, Multi-Podcast $30 a month billed annually ($18 / $30 / $36 month to month in Sep 2026) |
| April 2026 | Libsyn | Libsyn brought back its no-stats plan at $8, up from $5 | $5 a month (listed until November 2025) | $8 a month |
| March 2026 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout raised its $19 plan from 4 to 6 upload hours a month at the same price | $19 a month for 4 hours | $19 a month for 6 hours |
| December 2025 | Podbean | Podbean raised Unlimited Audio by $3 a month and cut its upload allowance from 100 hours to 16 | $9 a month billed annually or $14 monthly, 10 GB (100 hrs) of uploads a month | $12 a month billed annually or $17 monthly, 1 GB (16 hrs) of uploads a month |
| December 2025 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout added annual billing | Monthly billing only | $199 / $399 / $799 a year alongside $19 / $39 / $79 a month |
| December 2025 | Libsyn | Libsyn raised its 3-hour plan with stats from $7 to $12 and Advanced from $20 to $25, cut the lineup to three plans, and dropped its $5 no-stats plan | Basic $7 (3 hrs), Plus $15 (6 hrs), Advanced $20 (10 hrs), $40 / $75 / $150 tiers, and a $5 no-stats plan | Basic $12 (3 hrs), Advanced $25 (10 hrs), Max $150 (55 hrs) |
| October 2025 | Blubrry | Blubrry raised Standard from $12 to $15 and Advanced from $20 to $25 a month | Standard $12 a month ($120 a year), Advanced $20 ($204 a year) | Standard $15 a month ($155 a year), Advanced $25 ($260 a year) |
| August 2025 | Buzzsprout | Buzzsprout replaced its $12 / $18 / $24 plans with $19 / $39 / $79 plans and took the free plan off its pricing page | $12 / $18 / $24 a month for 3 / 6 / 12 upload hours, free plan listed | $19 / $39 / $79 a month for 4 / 15 / 35 upload hours |
| November 2024 | RSS.com | RSS.com raised its main plan from $14.99 to $15.99 billed monthly | $14.99 a month, or $11.99 billed annually | $15.99 a month, or $11.99 billed annually |
| November 2024 | Acast | Acast capped its free Starter plan at one show and 5 episodes, unless the show joins its ad marketplace | Free, unlimited hosting and episodes | Free, one show with up to 5 episodes (unlimited if the show is in Acast’s ad marketplace) |
| April 2024 | Castos | Castos reversed its price increase and kept unlimited downloads | $29 / $69 / $149 a month | $19 / $49 / $99 a month, unlimited downloads |
| November 2023 | Castos | Castos raised every plan by about 50% and dropped monthly download caps | $19 / $49 / $99 a month, capped at 20,000 / 75,000 / 200,000 downloads | $29 / $69 / $149 a month, unlimited downloads |
| July 2023 | Simplecast | Simplecast dropped its $85 Growth plan, leaving Basic and Essential | Basic $15, Essential $35, Growth $85 a month | Basic $15, Essential $35 a month |
| February 2023 | Spreaker | Spreaker more than doubled its top plan, Publisher, from $120 to $250 a month | $120 a month | $250 a month |
How we track this
Want the numbers themselves? The current prices and every verified change are free to download as CSV files on our podcast hosting data page, free to reuse with credit.
- The first of every month, a script reads the pricing page of all 12 hosts and flags any page whose prices or plan wording changed since the month before.
- Every flagged change is then opened in a browser, with the monthly and annual switch checked both ways. The plan cards on the live page win. Hosts’ FAQs and help articles sometimes still show old prices, so we never take a price from them.
- History comes from the Internet Archive’s copies of each pricing page. A change counts only when the archived page shows it plainly, and each one is bracketed by the last copy with the old price and the first copy with the new one.
- Prices are in US dollars, before tax, without promo codes or first-month discounts.
Free to cite. If you use these numbers, please link back to this page so readers get the current version.
Key numbers to quote
Each line stands on its own, so it can be quoted as written.
- Of the 12 podcast hosts in Podcast Host Lab’s price tracker, the cheapest paid plan is Blubrry Standard 1.5 at $7 a month (October 2026).
- The median entry-level paid plan across 12 podcast hosts costs $19 a month billed monthly, and 7 of the 12 start between $17 and $20 (October 2026).
- Annual billing cuts the monthly cost of an entry plan by anywhere from 10% at Simplecast to 40% at Acast, across the 9 podcast hosts that offer it (October 2026).
- For a weekly one-hour podcast, the cheapest paid hosting plan that fits is Simplecast Basic at $15 a month, and RSS.com, Spreaker, and Spotify for Creators host it free (October 2026).
- Six of the 12 podcast hosts in the tracker changed a price or plan between November 2025 and October 2026.
- Podcast Host Lab has logged 19 verified price and plan changes across the 12 podcast hosts it tracks since January 2023 (October 2026).
- Libsyn raised its 3-hour plan with stats from $7 to $12 a month in December 2025, a 71% increase.
FAQ
How much does podcast hosting cost per month? Paid plans start at $7 a month (Blubrry Standard 1.5). 7 of the 12 hosts with paid plans start between $17 and $20 billed monthly. Buzzsprout, Podbean, RSS.com, Spreaker, Acast, and Spotify for Creators also have free plans, with limits.
Is annual billing worth it for podcast hosting? If you are sure you will publish for a year, usually yes. On the hosts that offer it, annual billing cuts the entry plan’s monthly equivalent by 10 to 40%. If you are testing whether podcasting sticks, pay monthly for the first few months.
Did my podcast host raise its prices? Check the change table above. It lists every price and plan change we found on the 12 hosts since January 2023. Several hosts keep existing customers on their old plan when prices change, so your bill may not match the price a new customer pays.
Which podcast host is cheapest for a weekly show? For a paid plan, Simplecast at $15 a month billed monthly. The full comparison, including annual billing and a twice-weekly show, is in the table above. For which cheap host we would actually pick, see our cheapest podcast hosting ranking.
Change log
November 1, 2026: Monthly check. No price changes on any of the 12 hosts or Spotify for Creators. Transistor redesigned its pricing page, which now lists video hosting on the Professional and Business plans and file storage of 500 GB on Professional and 1 TB on Business. Starter lists no storage figure. The plan table above now shows both.
October 25, 2026: Correction. Added Podbean’s free plan (5 hours of storage in total that never resets, 100 MB per file, 20 episodes shown in the feed), which Podbean’s pricing page offers in its FAQ and was missed in the first check. The limits come from Podbean’s help center, because the pricing page does not list them.
October 25, 2026: Extra check. Still no price changes on any of the 12 hosts. One billing-rule change: Buzzsprout’s annual plans can now go past their upload hours, with the extra time billed monthly at the plan’s hourly rate ($2 an hour on annual plans, per Buzzsprout’s help center). Before, an annual plan had to move up to a bigger plan. Castos now offers its 14-day free trial on every plan, not just Essentials. RSS.com’s page now also shows each plan’s yearly total ($180, $312 and $444), which matches its existing annual prices.
October 1, 2026: Monthly check. No price changes on any of the 12 hosts or Spotify for Creators.
September 25, 2026: Correction. Added Buzzsprout’s free plan (2 upload hours a month, episodes hosted for 90 days), which is on its pricing page and was missed in the first check, and logged its return to the page in May 2026.
September 24, 2026: First version. All 12 hosts plus Spotify for Creators checked on their live pricing pages, monthly and annual billing both ways. Price history backfilled from Internet Archive copies of each pricing page back to January 2023.
