Free Podcast Hosting Compared: What Free Really Means (2026)
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RSS.com runs the best free podcast hosting plan in 2026. It has no storage cap and no expiry date, and RSS.com says it never deletes your episodes or slips its own ads into them. Buzzsprout’s free plan is the one to avoid for a real show: each episode drops out of your feed 90 days after upload.
Everything else sits somewhere in between, and “free” means something different at every host. One plan caps your storage for life. One stops at five episodes. One charges $10 to let you leave. The table below puts all nine free plans side by side, and every cell comes from the host’s own pricing, help, or terms pages.
Key takeaways
- RSS.com’s free plan has no storage cap and no expiry date, and RSS.com’s help center says free episodes are never deleted and carry no RSS.com ads.
- Buzzsprout’s free plan still exists in September 2026, even though it no longer has a plan card on the pricing page, and each free episode leaves the RSS feed 90 days after upload.
- Podbean’s free Basic plan holds 5 hours (500MB) of audio in total, the storage never resets, and Podbean’s terms let it run ads in free shows without paying the podcaster.
- Acast’s free Starter plan stops at 5 episodes unless the show joins Acast’s advertising marketplace, and Acast asks for a card at sign-up even on the free tier.
- Podomatic charges free accounts a $10 fee to set a 301 feed redirect, while Pinecast and RedCircle both say a redirect set on their free plans stays up after you leave.
Every free podcast hosting plan, compared
Nine hosts offer a free hosting plan that we could confirm on the host’s own site on September 25, 2026. “Not stated” means the host’s pricing, help, and terms pages say nothing either way. We would rather leave a cell honest than guess at it. Prices in the last column are the cheapest paid plan, from our podcast hosting price tracker.
| Free plan | Storage or upload limit | Episode cap | Deletion clock or expiry | Host ads in your show | Can you earn on free? | Analytics | Website | Feed redirect if you leave | Card at sign-up | What forces an upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSS.com Free (Local & Niche) | Unlimited audio, no storage cap | Unlimited episodes, one podcast per account | None. No trial, no expiry, episodes never deleted | None. RSS.com says it does not insert its own ads | Listener donations and Value for Value only | IAB-certified, last 30 days viewable | Yes, plus an embeddable player | Unclear. The free-plan page says 301 redirects are supported, an older redirect article says not on free trial accounts, and the button was grayed out on our new free test account | None to sign up. A card on file to choose Free, never charged | Ad income, a second show, full analytics history, or team seats. Plus is $15 a month billed annually |
| Spotify for Creators | Free uploads and storage, no cap stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Spotify Partner Program after 3 episodes, 2,000 consumption hours, and 1,000 audience in 30 days, in eligible markets | Spotify’s own dashboard | Not stated | Yes. Settings, then Redirect your podcast, on the web only. Up to 7 days to complete | A Spotify account. Card not stated | Nothing. There is no paid tier |
| Acast Starter | 150MB per episode file. Total not stated | 5 episodes, one show. Unlimited if the show joins Acast’s ad marketplace | Not stated | Only if you join the ad marketplace | Yes, ads through the marketplace. Sponsorships and subscriptions are paid features | Advanced analytics | Basic website | Yes, by emailing Acast support | Required, not charged on the free tier | The sixth episode, if you stay out of the marketplace. Essential is $14.99 a month billed yearly |
| Podbean Basic | 5 hours (500MB) total, never resets. 100MB per file, MP3 and M4A only | 3 episodes a day. The feed shows the latest 20 | Not stated | Yes. The terms let Podbean run ads in free shows, and you get none of the revenue | No. Monetization tools are listed on paid plans | Not stated | Not stated | A Redirect to a New Feed setting exists. No plan limit stated | Not stated | The 5-hour lifetime storage. Unlimited Audio is $12 a month billed yearly |
| Spreaker Free Speech | Not stated | Unlimited episodes, one podcast | Not stated | Only if you switch on the Ad Exchange | Yes. Ad Exchange revenue share and a Supporters Club with a 20% fee | Basic, 6 months of history, IAB certified | Not stated | A Redirect Field in RSS settings. No plan limit stated | Not needed | A second podcast, Apple subscriptions, or longer stats history. Broadcaster is $20 a month |
| Buzzsprout Free | 2 upload hours a month | None beyond the hours | 90 days. Episodes then leave the feed, with a further 90-day safety net before permanent removal | Not stated | No. Monetization is a paid feature | Stats included | No, websites are a paid feature | The Redirect tab is documented from a paid plan, which then drops you to free. A never-paid account is not stated | No card required | The 90-day clock. Audio is $15 a month billed annually |
| RedCircle Core | Unlimited storage and bandwidth | Unlimited episodes and downloads, one podcast | Not stated | Not stated | Yes. Subscriptions plus host-read and programmatic ads through RedCircle’s ad platform | Standard, history never expires | Yes, with Related Shows at the bottom | Yes, and it stays up as long as you do not delete the show | Not stated | A second show, an ad-free page, transcripts, or video. Growth is $14.99 a month |
| Pinecast Free | Unlimited uploads, 48MB per file | Only the 10 most recent episodes are available, up to two shows | None. No time limit | Not stated | A tip jar | Basic | Not listed. The paid Starter plan lists one | Yes, and redirects are permanent even on free | No card required | The 10-episode window or the 48MB file limit. Starter is $10 a month |
| Podomatic Basic | 500MB storage, 15GB of bandwidth a month | Storage-bound. The homepage says your first 20 episodes are free | None. No trial, no expiration | Not stated | No. Donations and ad sponsors are listed on Pro plans | Unclear. The homepage says free daily stats, the plans page lists stats on Pro only | Not stated | Only by paying a $10 fee and asking support | Not stated | The 500MB storage or bandwidth. Pro Plus is $9.99 a month |
Checked on September 25, 2026, against each host’s pricing, help, and terms pages. You are welcome to cite this table: credit Podcast Host Lab and link this page. Our price data is free to reuse on the Podcast Host Lab data page.
What is the catch on each free plan?
Every free plan exists to sell you a paid one, so each stops somewhere. Below is where each one stops, plus the detail its pricing page leaves out.
RSS.com Free: generous, with a murky exit
RSS.com’s free-plan page, updated September 7, promises unlimited episodes and audio, IAB-certified analytics, a website, and no ads of its own. It lists three limits: one podcast, 30 days of viewable analytics, and one voicemail. Ad money waits for Plus at $15 a month billed annually, or $19.99 month to month.
The first catch is the card. The pricing page says you can start with no credit card, and that holds for your first episode. Publish a second and you land on the pricing page, where choosing Free means putting a card on file so RSS.com can verify the account. It says you are never charged.
The second catch is leaving. The free-plan page says RSS.com supports standard 301 feed redirects. RSS.com’s older redirect article says the redirect service is not available on free trial accounts. On our new free test account, the redirect button was grayed out. Ask support before you plan a move, and budget for a month of Plus if that is what it takes.
Spotify for Creators: free, on Spotify’s terms
Spotify’s own Switch page calls it completely free podcast hosting, with free episode uploads and storage. There is no paid tier to push you toward, which makes it the only plan here with no upsell at all. The catch is money. Spotify’s Partner Program wants 3 published episodes, 2,000 consumption hours on Spotify, and 1,000 Spotify audience members in the last 30 days, plus an address in an eligible market.
Leaving is documented and simple. The redirect sits in Settings, it only works from a web browser, and Spotify says it can take up to 7 days. Spotify asks you to wait at least a week before deleting the account. We would wait longer, and the reasons are in how to move off Spotify for Creators. For the full paid-versus-free case, see Spotify for Creators vs Buzzsprout.
Acast Starter: five episodes, or join the ad marketplace
Acast’s pricing page gives Starter one show and five episodes, then adds the footnote that matters: unlimited episodes once your show sits in Acast’s advertising marketplace. So the trade is ads for space. Starter still gets a basic website and the advanced analytics row, which is more than most free plans show. Acast also asks for a card at sign-up and says it will not charge it.
Files are the other squeeze. Acast caps each episode at 150MB, against 5GB on Buzzsprout, a gap laid out in podcast file size limits by host. To leave, you email support@acast.com and Acast sets the redirect. The monetization side is weighed in Acast vs Buzzsprout. If the marketplace trade suits you, start on Acast Starter.
Podbean Basic: five hours for life, and ads you do not get paid for
Podbean’s Basic Free Plan page sets 5 hours (500MB) of total storage that does not reset monthly, a 100MB cap per file, 3 episodes a day, and a feed that shows only the latest 20. Five hour-long episodes fill it.
The terms carry two harder catches. Podbean’s podcaster terms say that on a free plan, Podbean may include ads in your show and you receive none of that revenue. And once you pay for any plan, you can never go back to free. Leaving still works: the redirect lives in Advanced Feed Settings, covered in how to move off Podbean. If you like the dashboard, Podbean’s paid plans start at $12 a month billed yearly.
Spreaker Free Speech: unlimited episodes, opt-in ads
Spreaker’s plans page gives Free Speech unlimited episodes, one podcast, 6 months of statistics, and no credit card. It is one of four free plans here with ad revenue on the table. Spreaker’s Ad Exchange is self-activated, so ads only run if you switch it on, and the Supporters Club takes a 20% fee on free against 0% on paid plans.
What Spreaker does not publish is a storage limit or a deletion policy for free accounts. Its plans page says unlimited episodes and stops there, so we left those cells as not stated. The redirect sits in the show’s RSS settings, and nothing on Spreaker’s help pages ties it to a paid plan.
Buzzsprout Free: a 90-day test drive
Buzzsprout took the free plan card off its pricing page in August 2025, but the plan did not go away. The pricing page FAQ still describes it, and Buzzsprout’s free-plan help page spells it out: two upload hours each cycle, stats, and embed players, with no card required. Websites, transcripts, and every monetization feature are paid.
The 90-day clock decides it. Ninety days after upload, each episode expires from your account and your RSS feed, so listeners can no longer stream or download it. The dashboard warning on our test account says “deleted,” but the help page is gentler: expired episodes sit in a safety net for another 90 days and come back if you upgrade. Buzzsprout’s paid plans start at $15 a month billed annually, covered in Buzzsprout pricing. Use free to try Buzzsprout’s dashboard, not to build a catalog.
RedCircle Core: unlimited, with RedCircle’s branding on your page
RedCircle’s pricing page gives the free Core plan unlimited storage, bandwidth, episodes, and downloads for one podcast, plus subscriptions and ads through RedCircle’s own ad platform. On paper, that makes it the most complete free plan for anyone who wants to earn from day one. The catch is cosmetic: your podcast webpage carries RedCircle’s Related Shows at the bottom, and removing them takes the $14.99 Growth plan.
The exit is well documented. RedCircle’s redirect guide says the redirect stays in place indefinitely as long as you do not delete the show, and suggests waiting about four weeks before you delete. RedCircle does not say whether it deletes inactive free shows, so that cell stays not stated.
Pinecast Free: only your latest ten episodes
Pinecast’s homepage lists the free plan at $0 with no time limit, up to two shows, a ten-episode limit, 48MB files, basic analytics, and a tip jar. Its free-plan help page explains the limit: uploads are unlimited, but only the ten most recent episodes per podcast are available. Older ones are archived and come back if you upgrade to Starter at $10 a month.
Pinecast has the cleanest exit on this list. Its guide to leaving, updated September 4, says redirects are permanent and you do not need a paid membership for one to persist. For a finished show you want to park, that matters more than the episode limit.
Podomatic Basic: free forever, $10 to leave
Podomatic’s plans page gives Basic 500MB of storage and 15GB of bandwidth a month, and the homepage promises no trial and no expiration. By Podomatic’s own math, 500MB holds about ten 50MB episodes and 15GB covers about 300 listens a month. The two pages also disagree on stats: the homepage offers free daily stats, while the plans page lists stats on Pro plans only.
The exit costs money. Podomatic’s redirect page says an engineer sets every redirect by hand, so free accounts pay a $10 fee first and then wait on support. No other free plan here charges you to leave.
Can you leave a free plan without losing your subscribers?
On most of them, yes, but check before you depend on it. A 301 redirect on your old feed is what carries Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every other app to your new host, and Apple’s feed-change guidance asks you to keep it in place for at least four weeks. A redirect you cannot set on your plan is an exit you do not have.
By the hosts’ own pages, Pinecast, RedCircle, and Spotify for Creators document free-plan redirects most clearly. Podbean and Spreaker have the setting with no plan limit stated, and Acast does it by email. RSS.com contradicts itself, Buzzsprout documents the flow from a paid plan, and Podomatic charges $10. The full sequence, and what breaks if you rush it, is in how to switch podcast hosts without losing subscribers.
Which free podcast hosting plan should you pick?
Pick by what you need the show to do.
- A hobby or local show you want to keep for years: RSS.com. It is the only free plan that puts no-deletion, no-host-ads, and no-storage-cap promises in writing, and you get a website with it. Start on RSS.com’s free plan. The downside is the exit, so confirm the redirect with support before you need it.
- Ad money without paying a host: RedCircle Core, for unlimited episodes plus ads and subscriptions. Spreaker is the runner-up if you want opt-in ads and no card at sign-up.
- A show that lives on Spotify: Spotify for Creators. No paid tier exists, and the redirect out is documented if you change your mind.
- Testing a host before you pay it: Buzzsprout Free. Two hours a month is enough to learn the dashboard, and the 90-day clock is fine for a test you never meant to keep.
- Skip for a real catalog: Podbean Basic, where 5 hours is a lifetime cap and Podbean can run unpaid ads, and Podomatic Basic, where leaving costs $10.
When does free podcast hosting stop making sense?
Free stops making sense the week a limit starts costing you listeners or money. On Buzzsprout that is day 90, on Acast it is episode six, and on Podbean it is roughly the fifth hour-long episode. On the unlimited plans the trigger is quieter. You want a second show, sponsor-ready analytics, or ad income the free tier cannot pay out.
The cheapest way out is often cheaper than people expect. Pinecast Starter is $10 a month, Podbean Unlimited Audio is $12 billed yearly, and RSS.com Plus and Buzzsprout Audio are both $15 billed annually. We rank the cheap paid options in the cheapest podcast hosting, and track price changes over time in the price tracker.
FAQ
Does Buzzsprout still have a free plan?
Yes. It no longer appears as a plan card on the pricing page, but the pricing page FAQ and Buzzsprout’s help center both describe it as of September 25, 2026: two upload hours each cycle, no card required, and each episode leaves your feed 90 days after upload.
Do free podcast hosts put ads in your show?
Some can. Podbean’s terms let it run ads in free shows without paying you. Acast and Spreaker only run ads if you join their ad programs, and RSS.com says it does not insert its own ads at all. Spotify, Buzzsprout, RedCircle, Pinecast, and Podomatic do not say either way on their plan pages.
Which free podcast host lets you make money?
RedCircle Core, Spreaker Free Speech, and Acast Starter all allow ad revenue on the free plan, and Spotify for Creators opens its Partner Program once a show clears Spotify’s audience bar. RSS.com Free takes listener donations and Pinecast Free has a tip jar. Podbean, Buzzsprout, and Podomatic keep money tools on paid plans. Once earning is the goal, how to choose a podcast host weighs the paid options too.
