Well, I can’t change your voice, but I can tell you the best hosting options! There are some fantastic services out there; it’s not one-size-fits-all. But here, I’ll give you the pros and cons and help you find the best podcast hosting for your own unique needs.

Below, you’ll find 17 of the best hosting platforms out there, with a full breakdown of features, price and special offers. Plus, further down, you’ll find five free podcast hosting options, just in case you want a no-risk dabble, first…

And remember, if you’re still at the start of the journey, check out our full guide to getting launched:

Learn How to Start a Podcast: Every Single Step

So you know, this article contains some affiliate links, which help support our site at no extra cost to you. Thanks for the help!

Captivate

Huge, Excellent Feature-Set incl. Powerful Website, Network Features, Growth Tools & more

Captivate’s Notable Features

• Calls to action in the podcast player.
• Unlimited team members – share the burden of running your show.
• Run a private podcast on all payment tiers.
• Extensive listen/subscribe link options, incl. Attribution Links & Single Promotional Link.
• Well-designed, highly customisable and mobile-friendly website, built-in
• Transcription feature
• WordPress plugin option for connecting to your own website.
• Tools to connect and grow your email list.
• Custom trackable Attribution Links for your sponsorships, social media, or affiliates.
• Collections feature – hand-pick episodes to create shareable playlists
• Guest booking tool
• Captivate doesn’t make any changes or alterations to your episode files.
• Audio mastering and Dynamic Ad insertion
• Run a podcast network inside your normal account

Captivate is a hosting platform that concentrates on helping you to grow your audience. Their tagline is ‘the only growth-oriented’ podcast host, and they have a feature set built to live up to that.

Captivate’s growth and monetisation tools include their ‘One-Click Sponsor’ kit, ‘Calls to Action’ in their podcast players and an excellent Single Promotional Link that you can link to anywhere. They also enable you to easily connect and grow an email list so you can stay in touch with your audience in various other ways.

You can also run private (or members-only) podcasts with Captivate. You can start one for your team, business, or organisation even if you’re on Captivate’s lowest payment plan of $19 a month.

Captivate Pricing

Captivate’s competitive pricing is based on ‘downloads per month.’ You can host as many shows as you like on one account and pay based on the total downloads accumulated by all of them.

• $19 per month ($204 when paid annually) for up to 30,000 downloads per month
• $49 per month ($528 when paid annually) for up to 150,000 downloads per month
• $99 per month ($1,080 when paid annually) for up to 300,000 downloads per month

See How many downloads do podcasts get? for a rough guide here, but the lowest tier will be more than enough for the vast majority of podcasters.

Sign up below for a 30-day free trial to look around the Captivate dashboard.

Sign up for Captivate

RSS.com Podcast Hosting

RSS.com podcast hosting gives creators everything they need to launch, grow, and monetise their shows. With an intuitive dashboard, built-in programmatic ads for effortless monetisation, and IAB-certified analytics, podcasters at any level can access all the tools they need for one affordable monthly price.

 RSS.com’s Notable Features

• Cheaper than many competitors and no limits on episodes
• Free Local & Niche plan for community-focused or niche podcasters
• AI-generated transcripts you can use to enhance and promote your podcast
• Ability to convert audio-focused episodes into videos and upload directly to YouTube from your dashboard
• IAB-certified analytics to help you grow your podcast
• Monetisation options, including Apple Podcast Subscriptions, Value 4 Value, donation buttons, and more
• Programmatic ads (PAID) for easy revenue generation
• Option to host multiple podcasts from one account on the Podcast Networks plan
• Privacy features like the removal of your email address from your public RSS feed
• Ability to add collaborators (Admins and Analysts) to simplify podcast management

RSS.com Pricing

You can sign up and upload one episode for free. After you’ve tested the waters, you’ll need to sign up for either a free or paid plan.

Free Local & Niche (FLAN) – Free
Unlimited episodes and audio, transcripts, free podcast website, episode scheduling, automatic distribution to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and other major apps.

All-in-One Podcasting – $15.99/month
Includes everything in FLAN, plus programmatic ads (PAID), Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, audio-to-video conversion for YouTube Podcasts, invite up to 3 show collaborators, access to Power-Ups, embeddable podcast player, advanced analytics up to 180 days, and priority customer support.

Podcast Networks – $24.99/month
Includes everything in FLAN and All-in-One, plus unlimited podcasts, unlimited team member seats, analytics data up to 365 days, API access, and AI-generated transcripts.

RSS.com Special Offers

Use promo code THEPODCASTHOST to get two full free months on a paid subscription plan.

Sign up for RSS.com podcast hosting

Transistor.fm

Private Podcasting & Flexible Player Options

Transistor’s Notable Features

• Private podcasting tools built-in to create a members-only podcast for your members or your company team.
• Single episode, latest episode, multi-episode & dark mode players.
• Publish your show to YouTube automatically.
• Invite multiple team members to manage your show.
• In-built website integrates with many email providers (Convertkit, Drip, etc).
• Free podcast website builder tool

Transistor is another host that aims to make things easy and offers all of the normal tools a podcaster might need. One area in which they excel is their private podcast feed feature, and in the range of players they offer.

Private podcasting has long been an effective way to monetise your show or to engage an existing community. Imagine running a public show, with a ‘premium content’ option alongside, which your real fans pay for. Or, create a community-based show, only available for members. Or an internal staff podcast which updates your company’s team on a weekly basis. Transistor makes it really easy to run a private show, in any form. You simply invite your users, and they do the rest.

Transistor recently released their multi-episode player, which is a great way to showcase your back catalogue. You can show off your most recent episode alongside your 25 latest episodes. It’s a great way to entice listeners into your older episodes, encouraging a bingeing session and increased loyalty.

Transistor.fm Pricing

You can host as many shows as you like on one account, and pay based on the total downloads accumulated by all of them.

• $19 per month for up to 20,000 downloads per month
• $49 per month for up to 100,000 downloads per month
• $99 per month for up to 250,000 downloads per month

See How many downloads do podcasts get? for a rough guide here, but the lowest tier will be more than enough for the vast majority of podcasters.

Sign up for Transistor

Alitu

Recording, Editing, Production, Hosting (& More!) All in One Single Place

Alitu’s Notable Features

• One login and one subscription fee for everything you need to podcast
• Call recording for remote conversations
• Solo recording
• Podcast editing – quickly and easily chop out mistakes
• Text-based podcast editing – edit audio directly from transcripts
• Episode builder – add in music, transitions, and other segments
• Merge double-ender recordings from alternative call recording software
• Automatic post-production – Alitu cleans up your audio, fixes the volume levels, and optimises your sound
• Free podcast music library
• Auto-generated podcast transcripts
• Publish to Apple Podcast, Spotify, and all other podcast listening platforms

Looking for the least possible amount of subscription plans and tools to streamline your workflow? Then look no further than Alitu. This podcast maker tool has everything you need to record, produce, and publish your show, with regular new feature releases, too.

Whether you run a solo show, co-host show, or do remote interviews, you can record directly into Alitu. Editing is easier than navigating your average social media app, and audio cleanup (noise reduction, levelling, etc.) happens for you automatically. Once you’re happy with your episode, you just hit publish, and you’re done.

Whilst Alitu has everything you need, it also plays well with other services. If you still want to use one of the other podcast hosting platforms here, then it’ll automatically connect to most of them, so you can still publish from within Alitu’s interface. Or, you can easily download your finished episode and upload it elsewhere manually.

If you prefer to use other remote recording software, it’ll automatically merge double-enders, too, and give them the usual audio cleanup TLC.

Podcast transcription is essential for audience accessibility, and Alitu will auto-generate transcriptions of your episodes. This helps you to deliver written versions of your episodes at no extra cost.

You can also edit your podcast directly from your transcripts with Alitu’s text-based audio editor. This is a perfect on-ramp for folks short on time, or with little experience working with audio.

Alitu is an all-in-one tool that suits busy people, non-techy folks, and people looking to save money on their overall podcast spend.

Alitu Pricing

With Alitu, you get access to ALL of its features for a flat rate of $38 per month. If you pay annually, you get two months free.

On the podcast hosting front, pricing allows for up to 1000 total downloads per month, which is typically more than enough for most podcasters. But if you’re lucky enough to be getting a few thousand per month, then the cost would rise by $10.

Get a 7-day free trial to test out Alitu for yourself.

Sign up for Alitu

Castos

Great for WordPress Integration & Their Podcast Editing Service

Castos’ Notable Features

• Integrate with WordPress via the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin.
• Create unlimited podcasts with no cap on downloads.
• Built-in episode transcriptions.
• Option to create private podcasts.
• Option to outsource your editing to Castos Productions.

Castos are the media host behind the popular Seriously Simple Podcasting WordPress plugin, which you can use to integrate Castos hosting with your own WordPress website.

You simply install the WordPress plugin; from then on, you can upload and publish podcast episodes directly from inside your website. No need to log into your hosting. Read our full guide on how to set up your own podcasting website for more details.

The Complete Guide to Podcast Websites (with Dinosaurs)

Read article called: The Complete Guide to Podcast Websites (with Dinosaurs)

Another thing Castos specialises in is tools for private or “membership” podcasts and premium content. This can be run inside your Castos Dashboard and integrates with Seriously Simple Podcasting to run a private or members-only show directly from your WordPress site.

Castos has a handy tool in the form of their transcription service. This helps you create a more accessible podcast and offers a text version of every show for listener revision or skimming.

Castos even offer a podcast editing and production service, which you can add to your hosting.

Regarding your files, Castos doesn’t alter your bitrates or metadata in any way.

Castos Pricing

You can podcast on Castos from $19 a month, giving you unlimited podcasts, downloads, and episodes. There are two higher tiers at $49 a month and $99 a month. With the middle one, you can republish your show to Youtube, whilst the higher one lets you host video podcasts.

Castos Special Offers

Get a free month by using our coupon code TPH22

Sign up for Castos

Other Great Podcast Hosting Services

With our top recommendations done, here’s a roundup of some of the most popular hosting platform alternatives.

Buzzsprout

Buzzsprout offers a few unique features built around automation, all of which can save you, as a podcaster, a lot of time. If you’re into clipping for social media, for example, Buzzsprout allows you to select parts of your audio to turn into video clips.

Buzzsprout can also automate adverts or cross-promotions, too, through it’s dynamic ad capabilities. This means you can easily add up-to-date and relevant ads to the beginning and end of all of your existing episodes.

They also offer the option to add chapter markers. This gives listeners the ability to quickly navigate through an episode to review the content. Great for learning shows, in particular!

Buzzsprout Pricing

You need one paid account per podcast, and pricing is based on how much you upload, every month. You can upload two hours of content per month for free, but episodes are deleted after 90 days. Their paid plans store your episodes so long as your account is active, priced at $12/month (3hrs), $18/month (6hrs), and $24/month (12hrs).

Visit Buzzsprout

Podbean

Podbean have made huge strides in recent years to provide a range of brilliant tools to help Podcasters grow and monetise their shows. Their hosting is great quality, and can be easily tied in with their sponsorship marketplace, their dynamic ad insertion and their premium content service.

Podbean Pricing

Their flagship plan is the $14 per month (or $9 per month if paid annually) ‘Unlimited Audio Plan’, which would suit most podcasters. From there, you can upgrade for extra design options, their Podads and Patron programmes.

Read our full Podbean Monetisation Guide here for more info.

Podbean Special Offers

Get a month’s free hosting with Podbean when you sign up using the coupon code podcraft

Visit Podbean

RedCircle

RedCircle promises unlimited storage to host your podcast, and supports running multiple shows. Their features include the ability to take donations, subscriptions to premium content, cross-promotion with other RedCircle podcasters, dynamic ads, and YouTube distribution.

RedCircle Pricing

RedCircle has a free tier, which includes unlimited storage, exclusive content, and the ability to take donations. Upgrading to their $20 a month Growth plan though (annual savings are available), will let you host unlimited podcasts (actual shows, not episodes), get advanced statistics, and ad-free webpages.

Visit RedCircle

Spreaker

Spreaker is a podcasting platform that offers a lot more tools than most, with apps for live broadcasting, offline recording and some parts of production. You can see more about them, and other options, in our best podcast-making apps article.

Spreaker have a great distribution platform, which publishes you to all of the main directories without leaving the Spreaker platform. Finally, they have a good monetisation option in the form of dynamic ads insertion, if you’re happy to outsource the ad content.

Spreaker Pricing

Spreaker has a free tie, though opting for the $20 monthly plan gets you advanced stats, enhanced private podcasts, in-app support, and more.

Visit Spreaker

Blubrry

Blubrry have been part of the podcasting world since the early days, providing quality hosting to tens of thousands of users. They’re also well known for their excellent Powerpress plugin which allows anyone to run a podcast from their own website. You can learn how to set up Powerpress or a new podcast website here.

Blubrry were one of the first independent podcast hosting services to be given IAB certification, meaning they comply with official podcast measurement guidelines. That can be a help if you’re looking for sponsorship.

Blubrry doesn’t alter your uploaded files in any way.

Blubrry Pricing

If your show is on the short side, you might get away with their $12/month plan, for 125MB of uploads every month. Otherwise, their $20/month 400MB storage plan should suit longer shows.

Blubrry Special Offers

Get a month’s free hosting with Blubrry when you sign up using the coupon code: podcraft

Visit BluBrry

Libsyn

Libsyn is one of the old-guard of the podcast hosting world – similar to Blubrry, serving tens of thousands of happy customers, with a quality, reliable and extremely knowledgeable service.

Libsyn pride themselves on empowering you to be found anywhere that podcasts are consumed, and with their Destinations you can publish to any day/time in the future to the minute to each directory, independently of each other.

Also, what you upload is what your listener downloads. They don’t change your files at all – though they do provide tools to add metadata to your episodes if you choose to.

Libsyn Pricing

Libsyn starts at $5 a month for 162MB of uploads per month (approx three hours).  Their 324MB plan is more suitable for most weekly podcasters, though, and runs at $15 per month.

Libsyn is also well known for its Enterprise offerings, catering to professional podcasters, podcast networks, celebrities, government agencies, and big media companies. You’ll have to get in touch to get a quote based on what exactly you’re looking to do.

Libsyn Special Offers

Get a month’s free hosting with Libsyn when you sign up using the coupon code podhost

Visit Libsyn

Podcast.co

Podcast.co is a company, like their name, that aims to make things as simple as possible. They offer a platform with lovely design and great ease of use, including all the standard tools you’d expect in your hosting.

One unique feature is that Podcast.co also offers launch, growth and production services. So, if you think you’ll need extra help at any stage, you can add this on to your package.

Finally, they also offer a private podcasting service, but only on the $49 package and upwards. If you’re looking to do a members-only or internal team podcast, though, it could be a nice add-on.

Podcast.co Pricing

Podcast.co follows the ‘monthly downloads’ model and starts at $19 per month and 15,000 downloads. That ramps up to $49 for 75k downloads and $99 for 200k. Podcasts.co now offers unlimited podcast feeds on all tiers.

Visit Podcast.co

Acast

Acast is a well-known podcast hosting platform with some handy monetisation, promotion, and transcription features.

Acast’s interface is clear, clean, and straightforward. They offer embeddable podcast players and snippets which make it easy to promote your show. On top of that, you can add dynamically inserted adverts into your episodes, too!

Acast Pricing

Acast offers a free tier with all the basics. Unlimited uploads, basic analytics and a basic podcast website.

The $25 a month “Influencer” tier offers advanced analytics & website, integration with Patreon, as well as other monetization options.

On Acast’s $ 40-a-month “Ace” tier, you get transcriptions, along with professional workshops, more customer support, and team and network management.

You can save on the $25 and $40 monthly payments by paying annually.

Visit Acast

Podcast Websites

Podcast Websites is a service built on the Captivate podcast hosting platform I mentioned above. It’s the highest-priced product here at $97 per month (or $77 annually), but it sets you up with what amounts to your own self-hosted WordPress website, equipped with a range of really powerful plugins to help you engage your listeners and grow your show. If you want to run a powerful, customisable podcast website, but you’d like someone else to take care of it, Podcast Websites could be well worth the extra cost.

Podcast Websites Pricing

Podcast Websites likes to keep it simple, with just one unlimited premium tier, at a monthly cost of $97. But, you can pay annually, at $77 per month to save $240 over the year.

Podcast Websites Special Offers

Use our coupon code – HOSTME – to get $10 OFF the monthly cost for life.

Visit Podcast Websites

Simplecast

Simplecast markets itself as “the modern independent podcast hosting and analytics platform”. They offer great stats and sharing options for podcasters, giving you the tools to help you grow your show and to track the progress of that growth.

File-wise, Simplecast will re-encode MP3s that are over 128kbps to that bitrate, but they won’t alter anything uploaded at a rate of 128kbps or lower. Stereo/mono encoding is kept as-is at all times. If you’d really like to run your podcast at a higher bitrate though, they’re happy to discuss that with you.

Simplecast Pricing

You can run an account from $15 a month, which puts a soft limit of 20,000 total monthly downloads on your show. You can upgrade to their 50,000 package for $35 a month, or their 120,000 package for $85 a month. Discounts are available when paying annually.

Simplecast Special Offers

Get 50% off your first two months on Simplecast when you subscribe with the promo code ONSIMPLECAST.

Visit Simplecast

Ausha

French podcast hosting platform Ausha has recently expanded to the US and is now IAB Tech Lab Podcast Measurement 2.1 certified. Founded in 2018, they had become the leader in hosting and broadcasting native podcasts in France by the beginning of 2020.

Ausha Pricing

Their “Launch” tier costs $156 a year or $15 when billed monthly. This gives you unlimited storage, episodes, and downloads, along with a newsletter feature of up to 1000 contacts. If you upgrade to their “Boost” tier ($35/month, annual savings available) you can get 5000 newsletter contacts and distribute to YouTube.

Visit Ausha

CoHost – Podcast Hosting for Brands & Agencies

CoHost is built specifically for brands and agencies to better measure the impact of branded podcasts. Their primary focus is on providing valuable, actionable data that helps a brand better understand what is and isn’t working in their audio efforts.

CoHost Pricing

CoHost has launched with a $59 package, but if you’re an agency or network, they’ll create a custom, discounted rate depending on the number of shows you’re looking to onboard. Get in touch with their team for a demo and to discuss pricing! 

Visit CoHost

Free Podcast Hosting: Is it a Good Idea?

The eternal question! Yes, there can be a place for free podcast hosting, as long as you know the downsides and it suits the stage you’re at.

Using a free hosting platform can be a decent way to test the waters when you’re starting out. Podcasting isn’t for everyone, after all, so being able to try out the medium for a month or more, for free, can be nice.

But, you know what they say – if you’re not paying, then you’re the product. The upside is obviously saving some money. But, here are the downsides:

• Often adds advertising to your show, for the hosting co. or others.
• May add advertising to your podcast website, or players
• Options for analytics or customisation tend to be limited
• You may give up a lot of control (eg. Anchor owning your feed on Apple Podcasts.)
• Free podcast hosts may struggle to monetise. Historically we’ve seen them change their approach rapidly or go out of business.
• Support can be limited
• Free hosting has created some podcast piracy issues

The upsides of paying for podcast hosting are huge, such as features to grow your show, full ownership over your feed and content, detailed analytics, reliable support, and all the other things we’ve talked about in the recommendations above.

But, there are four free options, which can be a good starter – as I said, to test the waters – and that’s Podbean, Spreaker, RedCircle and Buzzsprout. Plus, there’s Spotify for Podcasters, which I don’t necessarily recommend, but I’ll let you know why, below.

RSS.com Podcast Hosting’s Free Tier

RSS.com podcast hosting‘s new ‘local & niche’ free tier includes unlimited episodes and audio, transcripts, a podcast website, episode scheduling, and automatic distribution to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and other major apps. They’re one of our favourite hosting providers, and this accessible entry point for new or experimental creators fits perfectly alongside their excellent-value paid plans.

Podbean’s Free Podcast Hosting

Podbean‘s free package has the following limits:

• 5 hours of audio, maximum, forever
• 100GB monthly bandwidth

And that’s it! This is interesting because it means that you could run short episodes for a few months, inside that limit. Let’s say 15 episodes of 20 minutes each.

If you decide, at that point, that you don’t like it, you just stop. But, because of the limits here, your show is still available, forever.

RedCircle’s Free Podcast Hosting

RedCircle have a great free tier which lets you host one podcast with unlimited storage and distribution. Instead of charging a fee upfront, they provide tools for podcasters to earn revenue and then take a cut if/when they do. You can learn more about this in our dedicated RedCircle review.

Buzzsprout’s Free Podcast Hosting

Buzzsprout offers a free package, with the following conditions:

• You can upload up to 2hrs of audio each month
  (enough for a weekly 30min show).
• But episodes go offline after three months of publishing

The 3-month episode shutdown means it’s not a viable option for running a long-term podcast. You’ll want your back catalogue available permanently.

But this works as a great free trial for Buzzsprout, and can help you decide if you want to keep going with them and sign up to their $12-per-month plan.

Spotify for Podcasters’ Free Podcast Hosting

Spotify for Podcasters (Anchor) is the big dog of free podcast hosting. Their platform has made it easy and accessible for ‘toe-dippers’ trying podcasting out to see if it’s for them or not.

The downside of this is that it has created a lot of ‘one-episode then gone’ clutter in the podcasting realm. That said, almost half of the podcasters we surveyed said they didn’t care about this (though a third of them did). The Podcast Index also re-evaluated what they considered to be a valid podcast, too, as their total number was grossly inflated by a lot of 20-second “hey, is this thing on?” shows.

Of course, if you’re simply curious about podcasting then none of this will matter much to you. But if you want to test the water with free podcast hosting on a platform that can grow with you, then opt for RedCircle, Spreaker, or Podbean.

Spreaker’s Free Podcast Hosting

Spreaker have a decent free plan if you only want to run a single podcast. You’ll get up to 6 months’ worth of basic stats. Upgrading to their paid tier will give you access to features like enhanced private podcasting, Apple Podcasts subscriptions, advanced statistics, and in-app support.

Podcast Hosting FAQs

If you’re still deciding, here are a few questions you might have about finding the best podcast hosting.

What is Podcast Hosting?

Podcast hosting does two things. First, it’s the place on the web where you upload your podcast episodes. Second, it generates the RSS feed which you submit to listening platforms – eg. Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc – and which allows people to subscribe to your show.

Podcast hosting is generally a subscription service. You sign up for a monthly fee, and you can upload your new episode files every week. There are a bunch of extra features that come with hosting, such as stats, marketing tools, podcast websites and more, but the basic principle is that it’s a place to put your audio files.

Go Deeper: What is a podcast host, and why do I need one?

How Do I Choose the Best Podcast Host?

Good question! There isn’t a one-size-fits-all, so it’s worth going through the strengths and weaknesses of the best in the business.

For this roundup, we’ve run through all of our experiences with every host and drawn thoughts from many others we know and trust. Our top picks are all hosts that we actively use, either with our own shows or with other shows we work on. And, the ‘best of the rest’ are all hosting platforms we’ve at least used in the past.

Can I Host My Podcast on My Website?

The short answer is: no. With caveats. It’s all about bandwidth. Audio files can be pretty big: let’s say 30mb for an average kind of episode. Then, if you do well, you might get a few thousand downloads of your new episodes, every week. 3000 x 30mb is nearly 100,000MB per week, not counting downloads of your back catalogue too.

While most web hosts claim they run unlimited, unmetered bandwidth, they generally have fair use policies that disallow this volume. So, it’s common for self-hosting podcasters to be kicked off their hosting, or forced to upgrade.

Worth knowing, that you can still treat your main website as the home of your podcast (maybe a category within it), but you’ll upload audio files to the podcast host, and then embed the player on your own episode blog posts.

Remember, you do get a basic website as standard with your podcast hosting account (some of them look pretty good, too), and you can even get custom domains to point to them. For some, this is a quick and easy alternative to setting up a WordPress site.

Go Deeper: Can I just host my podcast on my website?

How Does Podcast Hosting Storage and Bandwidth Work?

It depends on who you opt for. But there are two common ways of working.

The first is that a hosting provider will charge you a monthly fee and limit the amount of content you can upload that month. BUT, you could suddenly become the most famous person on the planet and get a billion downloads the next day, and you’d still be golden.

The second is that a hosting provider will charge you a monthly fee and you can upload as much content as you like. BUT, there will be a cap on how many times it can be downloaded.

A caveat on this is that, firstly, the download ‘cap’ number is usually set very high. Far higher than the average new podcaster is going to have to worry about hitting any time soon (and if they do, what a nice worry to have, eh?).

Secondly, no decent podcast hosting platform is likely to cut you off the minute you reached such a limit. Instead, they’ll tend to reach out to you to discuss upgrades to your account. If you’re doing really well, they will want to take good care of you!

Podcast Host Pricing: Is It Better to Be Charged for Uploads or Downloads?

The promise of “unlimited bandwidth” can be confusing, because it might mean uploads, downloads, or both.

But the good news is that few podcasters need to worry about upload or download limits in their podcast hosting account.

Libsyn is a host that charges by uploads. Their lowest tier of $5 a month still allows for around three hours of monthly storage to be added. So if you’re running a weekly show of 30-45mins, you should be totally fine. They don’t put any cap on downloads either.

If we take Captivate, by contrast, you have unlimited storage space. You can host as many podcasts and publish as many episodes as you like for $19 a month. Captivate charges based on downloads, so your limit here is 30,000 per month, spread across all of your shows and episodes.

30,000 monthly downloads is massive. Even if you have a few popular shows with big back catalogues, they might not quite hit that lofty number.

In summary, upload or download limits probably aren’t a reason to choose one particular podcast hosting provider over another.

Does Hosting Handle Podcast Distribution?

Not directly, but most of the good hosts give you a lot of help when it comes to distributing your podcast. For example, both Captivate and Transistor have a podcast distribution page for every show you host with them.

These pages give direct links to the top podcast directories, so you can list easily. And, in some cases, they can submit for you. Captivate and Transistor registers your show on Spotify with one click. They’ll also help you submit to Apple, whilst Google Podcasts just finds you automatically (that’s what they do, after all!).

Once you have your podcast hosting set up, head over here for our complete podcast distribution guide to make sure your podcast gets found by potential listeners.

Go Deeper: Complete Guide to Podcast Distribution

Can I Upload Video Podcasts to My Podcast Host?

Video podcasts can be confusing. The vast majority of podcasters who run a video component to their show will upload their episodes to YouTube, and a YouTube channel technically isn’t a podcast feed.

That said, YouTube has now rolled out a dedicated “podcasts” section to US-based users, so things are changing. But video podcasting in the technical sense (where you can subscribe to shows inside many major listening platforms) is a bit more niche.

Podbean is a podcast host that lets you upload videos and run a video podcast. Whether you should run a video show alongside the audio version is another matter. Some argue that this can split your downloads and subscribers over two different content streams, and this can affect your “searchability” in podcast apps.

As it stands, it’s probably best just to create a YouTube channel and upload your video episodes there. Whether YouTube’s official venture into podcasting comes to anything or not is irrelevant. Tonnes of people are “listening to podcasts” on there, even if that’s often not technically correct.

Do Podcast Hosting Providers Offer Transcriptions?

Some podcast hosts have advanced features where they can auto-generate transcripts of your episodes for you. Alitu and Castos do this.

Many other hosting providers will provide a space to upload or copy in transcriptions, but you’ll need to use another service to create them. Here’s how and where to get your podcast transcribed.

Which Hosting Provider Has the Best Embeddable Podcast Player?

Your podcast hosting provider will offer an embeddable player for your episodes. This means you can add them to your website and blog posts.

Most of these players are pretty customisable in terms of their colours, and the buttons you can add to them. There are a lot of nice attractive options out there these days, too. Check out our full guide to podcast players right here.

Do Hosting Providers Have Podcast Production Tools?

Alitu is one of the few “all-in-one” services that has both podcast hosting and editing and production built-in. It’s important to differentiate between “editing” and “production” because the latter can be used as a term to describe enhancing your audio, but not necessarily chopping out mistakes and unwanted segments.

Captivate and Buzzsprout are two podcast hosts offering mastering tools that fall into the “production” bracket. These can help sharpen up the sound of your uploaded files. But if you’re looking for full editing and production options, opt for Alitu or Spotify for Podcasters.

Can I Have Separate Hosting Accounts for Team Members?

If you have a team of people working on your show then some hosting providers give you the ability to have individual logins and accounts for each one. The most notable options here are Captivate and Transistor.

Are Podcast Hosting Sites the Same as Podcast Networks?

No, in almost all instances, they are different things. Some podcast networks may have criteria that their podcasts are hosted on a particular platform, but your host is your host, and your network (if you are on one) is your network.

Many hosting providers do have special tools and features allowing you to create and run a full podcast network on their platform. Notably, Libsyn and Captivate.

What’s the Best Podcasting Hosting for You & Your Content?

Loads of information there, but hopefully that’s helped you to find a service that looks like a great fit for your show. Or, at the very least, helped you to whittle all the options down to a shortlist! Here, again, are our top choices for podcast hosting solutions right now:

If you’re looking for growth tools, private pods, network features & a great site:

Choose Captivate

If you’d like recording, editing, and hosting all in one place:

Choose Alitu

If you’re a native Italian or Spanish speaker, or, are looking for a lower subscription cost without a reduction in quality:

Choose RSS.com

If you’re looking for simplicity & automation:

Choose Castos

If you’d like private podcasting feeds & a variety of players:

Choose Transistor

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to make a podcast and help it succeed in the quickest, most pain-free way possible.

Here’s the stages we’ll cover. How to start a podcast in 10 simple steps:

1. Develop a Growth-Ready Podcast Plan
2. Define your Show Structure & Format
3. Establish your Podcast’s Brand
4. Set up your Podcasting Equipment
5. Pick your Recording & Editing Tools
6. Present & Record your 1st Episode
7. Edit Your Podcast Episode (Learn how!)
8. Set up your Podcast Hosting
9. Submit to Key Podcast Directories
10. Create a Starter Launch Plan

Click a step to jump straight there. Otherwise… there are no shortcuts to success in life. Except here! Three extra tools to help:

• Want help planning it out? Try our AI-powered assistant
• Want a free email course to guide you through?
• Wondering why you should start a podcast for your business?

1. Your PATH: a Podcast Framework for Success

Right, let’s create this show! First is the idea behind it, and the strategy. What does it look (sound…?) like?

I’ve developed a framework for this: PATH.

This framework leads to a podcast plan that stands a great chance of producing compelling content and consistent growth:

Purpose: why am I doing it?
Audience: who am I talking to?
Topic: what am I talking about?
Hallmark: why should they listen?

So, let’s dig into how to set up a podcast and create a fully-fledged podcast strategy for your show.

Want some extra help with this? Here’s a tool which asks the right questions, and uses AI to help you formulate that plan: The Interactive Podcast Launch Planner.

Purpose: Why Are You Making a Podcast?

So, firstly, why do you want to make a podcast? This gives purpose to everything else, and keeps you motivated long term.

But the thing is, there are actually two layers to your purpose.

Your Functional Purpose

What do you want to achieve? Here are some of the most common:

Marketing: Personal or Business Branding
Grow authority and trust. Be more personal than blogging, more evergreen than social media. Offer great, valuable content to customers. Nurture brand superfans.

Creative Outlet: Make something Cool!
Make a show around your passion, from True Crime, to vegan baking, to audio fiction. Create something you’re proud of!

Build Community: Connect with Like-Minded People
Podcasting is a great way to bring people together around a common passion. Build that audience and attract them into a space where you can turn it into a 2-way conversation.

Education: Teach my expertise
Teach what you know, or educate by example and help your audience to elevate their own skills.

Entertainment: Help people have fun!
Comedy shows, quizzes: some great podcasts have no other aim than to entertain their audience, and grow great fans as a result.

Your Personal Purpose

But there’s something deeper here. What makes YOU need to create this? What’s your drive to share this content?

This is the reason you’ll still be doing this in 5 years, even though it’s hard. When the downloads are slow, when you’re tired, when life gets busy – this is what keeps you going.

Maybe you went through a huge personal challenge, but you found a way through and want to help others avoid that pain. Maybe you’re head over heels in love with a sport, a hobby or a skill and you just have so much to teach. Maybe you have a story that changed your life and you can’t NOT share it.

Your functional purpose is the ideal goal that you’d like to achieve with your show. But your personal purpose is why it’s worthwhile, whether you hit that goal or not.

Your Tasks

Grab a pen and paper, and write this down:

Pick a functional purpose: what do you want to achieve with this show?
Dig into your personal purpose: what makes you NEED to share this? Why will you still be doing this in 5 years when it’s hard?
(Optional) deeper dive into your podcast purpose and “WHY”

Alrighty, our WHY is in place! Let’s get into HOW we’ll do it.

Watch a Full Guide to the PATH Framework:

Audience: Who is your Podcast For?

Unless you know exactly who you’re making your show for, you’ve got no chance of growing an audience.

A lot of smart people talk about creating an “ideal listener” for your show, sometimes called a podcast listener persona or avatar. It’s a great idea. Who exactly is it that’ll love your content?

But here’s where most people stop too early. They describe their listener, figure out what they’re interested in, and move on.

The magic happens when you dig deeper.

From the Surface to Down Deep

Your audience has surface-level interests or problems. But underneath? There’s always something deeper. A pain, a fear, a desire, a need that makes your show impossible to resist.

Some examples:

Surface: “I want to learn about marketing”
Deep: “I’m drowning in contradictory marketing advice. I feel paralyzed. I need someone to just tell me what to focus on RIGHT NOW for my stage of business.”

Surface: “I want entertainment on my commute”
Deep: “I feel disconnected from joy. Everything feels heavy. I need someone to make me laugh and remind me life can be light.”

Surface: “I’m interested in true crime”
Deep: “I feel powerless and confused by evil in the world. I want to understand human psychology and feel part of solving mysteries.”

Surface: “I want to grow my business”
Deep: “I feel like I’m working myself to death and have nothing to show for it. I’m scared I’ve wasted years on the wrong path.”

When you find that deep pain, everything else becomes clearer. Your topic becomes more specific. Your content becomes magnetic. Your show becomes unmissable.

That listener persona is something to keep in mind every time you plan an episode: “Would John, our listener persona, like this? Is this focused on solving his deep problem?”

This all helps to keep your show focused and on track, both of which make for more engaging episode content.

And for growth, that listener persona drives every decision. The name, the description, the messages you put out on social media, the trailers you create. They’re all designed to solve that deep need for that specific listener.

Your Tasks

Describe your ideal listener in a sentence
What’s their surface-level interest or problem?
What’s the deeper pain, fear, desire, or need underneath that? (Dig until you can’t go deeper)
(Optional) Create an in-depth listener avatar

Topic: What am I Talking About?

So, what’s the show about?

Well, your audience above is telling you! Your topic isn’t just what you talk about. It’s the solution to that deep problem you just discovered.

When you truly understand your audience’s deep pain, your topic becomes clear.

It’s not just “a marketing podcast” – it’s “no-BS marketing prioritization for overwhelmed founders.” It’s not just “entertainment” – it’s “your daily dose of joy when everything feels heavy.”

The Transformation

Every podcast – whether it’s educational, entertainment, news, or interview-based – delivers a transformation:

Educational podcasts: Practical transformation
“I don’t know how to X” → “I can confidently do X”

Entertainment podcasts: Emotional transformation
“I feel stressed and isolated” → “I feel lighter and part of something fun”

News podcasts: Knowledge transformation
“I’m overwhelmed by information” → “I understand what matters and why”

Interview podcasts: Perspective transformation
“I’m stuck in my own thinking” → “I see new possibilities and approaches”

The transformation might happen in 20 minutes, or over 20 episodes. But it’s real, and it’s valuable.

Your Tasks

What specific solution does your podcast provide to that deep problem?
What transformation does your listener experience?
Who are you, on this show?

Get specific on the who. This won’t cover everything about who you are. We contain multitudes, after all! But, when it comes to this show, who are you?

Hallmark: Why Should They Listen to YOUR Show?

We now know who you want to reach, what deep problem they have, and what transformation you deliver.

Here’s the beautiful part: when you’ve done the work above, your hallmark often emerges naturally. The depth of the problem forces you to be specific in the solution. And THAT creates uniqueness.

But let’s make it crystal clear. What makes YOUR delivery of this solution unmistakably yours?

Here are some of the most common hallmarks:

• Tight Niche: Solve a specific problem for a specific person.
  The more specific the problem, the more specific your solution becomes.
• Personal Angle: Your unique take on an existing topic.
  Your background, experience, or perspective that nobody else has.
• Podcast Format: Create a unique format for your niche.
  Daily vs weekly, super short vs long-form, specific segment structure, interactive elements.
• Production Quality: Extra time & effort on audio polish.
  Cinematic sound design, expert editing, professional production values.
• Outcome: Create a unique outcome that’s appealing.
  What specific result or feeling do listeners walk away with every time?

This step is all about figuring out why your show is adding something new to the topic.

Then, any time you tell someone about it, it becomes really easy to tell anyone why they need to listen to your show.

And, not only have you given them a reason to listen, but you’ve also given them a reason to come back for more, and tell their friends about it!

Your Tasks

Write down what makes YOUR version of this solution unmistakably yours

Need more help on this, as well as a bunch more examples? Here’s an article: How to Make a Podcast More Unique

Some Podcast Plan Examples

Let’s lay out some examples of a nicely defined PATH, so we can see how it works.

The Health & Fitness Show

Purpose

• Functional: Podcasting for my Business (grow my personal training client base)
• Personal: I wasted years hating my body and believing I was too far gone to change. Nobody should feel that hopeless about their health.

Audience

• Who: People in their 30s-40s who are significantly overweight and have tried and failed multiple diets
• Surface problem: “I want to lose weight and get fit”
• Deep pain: “I feel like I’ve already failed so many times that I’m broken. I’m embarrassed to even try anymore. I need someone who gets it and can show me a path that actually works for people like me.”

Topic

• Solution: Realistic fitness transformation for people who think they’re too far gone
• Transformation: From “I’m broken and it’s hopeless” → “I’m taking small actions that are actually working”

Hallmark

• I’m a personal trainer who used to be 80 pounds overweight. I found CrossFit and transformed my life, but more importantly, I learned how to modify everything for people starting from zero.
• Format: Every episode includes one SHORT HIIT workout (under 10 minutes) that I know overweight people can actually complete, with modifications demonstrated.
• I share my own struggles and failures openly – this isn’t motivational BS, it’s real talk from someone who’s been there.

The Pop Culture Podcast

Purpose

• Functional: Podcasting about my Hobby (creative outlet and connect with fellow fans)
• Personal: I grew up loving these films but always felt like the “old guy” in online communities. I want to create a space where older fans like me feel at home.

Audience

• Who: Zombie fiction fans in their 40s-60s
• Surface problem: “I love zombie films and want to talk about them”
• Deep pain: “All the zombie content online is aimed at 20-somethings who only know The Walking Dead. I want to geek out about the classics with people who remember seeing them in theaters. I want to feel like there’s a community for fans my age.”

Topic

• Solution: Zombie film analysis that honors the classics and connects generations of fans
• Transformation: From “I’m too old for this fandom” → “There’s a whole community of us, and our perspective matters”

Hallmark

• Target: Fans 40+ who remember the genre’s golden age
• Niche: Zombie films specifically (not all post-apocalyptic, not all horror)
• Angle: I bridge classic films (Romero, ’28 Days Later’) with modern takes, showing how they connect
• Each episode: I invite a guest from a different generation to create intergenerational dialogue

Notice how in each example, the deep problem naturally led to a specific solution, which made the hallmark clearer? That’s the PATH framework working as it should.

When you know WHY you’re doing it, WHO you’re serving at the deepest level, and WHAT transformation you’re delivering, the HOW (your hallmark) becomes much more obvious.

FAQ: Do I Need an Audience to Start a Podcast?

Absolutely not!

Everyone starts with zero at some point. So, if this is your first content rodeo, podcasting is a great place to start. It’s actually a great place to experiment, to try new things, to test out topics and find your voice.

Once you’ve found that groove, you can expand into other mediums, too.

If you DO already have an audience, even a small one, what then? This could be anything from a business or brand to a musician, former athlete, or author.

Whatever the medium (social media, YouTube, blog), it’s a great kernel for your show’s fanbase.

During the planning stages, you may opt to survey your audience. Here, you can ask them things like “What’s your biggest pain point?” and “What are you struggling with right now?”. This could help you shape your content, going forward.

You might even choose to find out a bit more about them. This could be anything from demographics and location, to what other podcasts (if any) they enjoy listening to.

FAQ: How Many People Consume Podcasts in 2025?

There’s no point doing all the hard work to create content in a medium nobody pays attention to. Fortunately, podcasting is not that medium.

To give you some perspective, 85% of people in the US are familiar with the concept of podcasting, with 55% consuming one each month, and 40% catching up with their favourite shows weekly. These are all stats from the Infinite Dial Report 2025.

So rest assured, your audience is out there. We just need to lay the groundwork to go out there and hook them with your brilliant content.

2. Define Your Show Structure & Format

Now that we know what kind of show we’re creating, it’s time to figure out how it looks! (or sounds…?). So, when looking at how to start a podcast, what are the most common questions about how it’s delivered?

What Podcast Format Should I Choose?

The format you choose is really personal and depends on who’s involved. It’s totally up to you!

So, what are the common types of podcast show formats?

The Solo Podcast

Also known as the monologue. You record (sing along!) “all-by-my-seeeeelfff!”

Pros

• Don’t rely on anyone else
• No scheduling conflicts
• Building a reputation individually as the authority
• You call the shots on sponsorship and monetization
• No need to split the profits with anyone.

Cons

• Intimidating to record alone for the beginner podcaster
• Takes practice to avoid a monotone sound
• Can be less engaging than a conversation

The Co-Hosted Podcast

Presenting alongside a friend or colleague.

Pros

• Avoids the ‘mic fright’ of recording alone
• Good co-hosts create great chemistry and engaging content
• Builds long-term loyalty with two or more hosts
• Can set up a regular recording time to reduce scheduling admin

Cons

• Needs careful agreement over ownership and responsibility
• Need to split earnings
• Have to manage two people’s schedules

The Interview Podcast

‘Borrowing’ the expertise or entertainment value of others.

Pros

• Talk to your heroes, or other really interesting people
• Bring in different points of view & varied expertise
• Grow your network
• Some growth benefits if they share the episode

Cons

• Interviewing is a real skill: it’s hard to do a great interview
• Need to constantly find and approach potential guests
• Booking logistics, and scheduling interviews
• Builds less loyalty since it’s a new person every week
• And less spotlight on building your brand

Other Formats

Finally, there are a bunch of other formats that aren’t so commonly used but might well suit you.

For example, you’ve got:

• Roundtable – One regular host and several guests discussing one specific topic (e.g. The Game Design Roundtable).
• Documentary – A narrator walks you through a range of interviews, conversations and on-location clips to paint a picture (e.g. Startup)
• Docu-Drama – A mix between drama and documentary. Offering learning and info, but in an entertaining way (e.g. Hostile Worlds).

How Long Should a Podcast Episode Be?

This always depends on your content, but here are some stats on average podcast episode length:

Don’t worry too much about these figures, though. Ultimately, your episode lengths should be decided by two things.

1. Your content
2. Your audience

If you have 50 minutes of valuable, relevant content, why chop it down to 20? Or likewise, if you’ve said everything you have to say in 10 minutes, why pad it out to 30? If you do go super-long on an interview, just cut it down into two episodes!

Finally, length can actually be a ‘unique’ factor, as I mentioned earlier. Short and snappy 4-minute episodes could suit a certain type of listener, or huge 3-hour in-depth interviews might suit another. Think about whether length might be a deliberate, unique choice for you.

How Often Should I Release New Episodes?

So, how often should you podcast? Here’s the answer:

So, if you can only manage once a month, that’s fine. If you can manage every two weeks, even better. If you can manage weekly, that’s great.

You can still have a big impact with a fortnightly or monthly show, but people often plan their lives around what day of the week their favourite shows drop.

That said, sticking to a deadline just for the sake of it is pointless. You’ll have a bigger impact if you put out one excellent episode a month instead of a very average episode every week.

Should I Make a Daily Podcast?

These are hard! They tend to be short, sharp, “one quick tip” style, running Monday through Friday.

Becoming part of your listener’s daily routine can be powerful, but it’s a huge amount of work to create.

With my daily show, Pocket-Sized Podcasting, I batch all of the work. Scripting, recording, editing, production, and publishing an entire week takes about 3 hours. That’s one way to make it sustainable!

Should I Podcast In Seasons?

A “season” is a series of episodes all around one topic or theme.

Our fitness podcaster, for example, might do an entire season on upper body strength, whilst our zombie podcaster could do one on post-apocalyptic video games.

There are a bunch of benefits:

• Addictive to listeners because episodes are related
• Your back catalogue is more organised
• Repurposing is really easy: turn one season into a course
• Work towards a goal (end of season), then take a break!
• Good excuse to text new formats & approaches each season

But do you lose listeners during the break? In my experience, no!

Just communicate well. Tell them when you’ll return.

And in any case, they’re subscribed, so next time you release an episode, it’ll just pop up in their app!

How to Create Great Episode Titles

This is the final thing around formatting, and a really important one to be found in search. Choosing good descriptive episode titles is vital!

Here are two mistakes I see all the time!

Episode numbers or unknown names just get in the way of the ‘hook’. Because the goal of your title is one thing, and one thing only: give them a reason to listen that they just can’t ignore!

• What’s the real meat of the episode?
• If there’s one key takeaway or solution here, what is it?

This is a big clue as to what your episode title should be.

Our WHISPER TITLES Framework won’t only help you come up with killer titles, it’ll give you infinite new content ideas too:

• W – “What” or “Why” Titles (e.g. “Why You’re Always Tired”)
• H – “How to” Titles (e.g. “How to Launch a Business with No Money”)
• I – “Insider” Titles (e.g. “Inside Apple’s Secret Process”)
• S – “Secrets” Titles (e.g. “The Secret to Lasting Happiness”)
• P – “Problem-Solution” Titles (e.g. “Feeling Stuck? Do This”)
• E – “Emotion-Driven” Titles (e.g. “The Truth About Burnout”)
• R – “Results-Oriented” Titles (e.g. “Get Fit in 30 Days”)
• T – Trending & Timely Titles (e.g. “AI Just Changed Everything”)
• I – Intrigue & Mystery Titles (e.g. “This One App Changes Everything”)
• T – “Top List” Titles (e.g. “7 Habits of Successful People”)
• L – “Life-Changing” Titles (e.g. “The Power of Saying No”)
• E – Expert or Contrarian Takes (e.g. “Everything You Know is Wrong About…”)

Video or Audio? Or Both?!

It’s funny; in the early days, it was solely about audio podcasts, but these days, it all kind of blends together.

It’s possible to record a video podcast in great quality, using a lot of the call recording platforms you’ll read about in Step 5. But it does introduce a whole lot of extra factors that can make things more difficult.

Here’s my take:

1. Don’t believe the hype; you don’t NEED to do a video podcast. Audio podcasts are still vastly more popular, and extremely powerful. There’s also more time available in the day for folks to listen than there is to watch.
2. Video (good video, at least) is far harder to create and edit. It can also make people more self-conscious, reducing the quality of the content.

So, normally, I’d recommend starting with audio only and adding video podcasting at a later date if your audience shows a desire for it!

This post contains affiliate links to products and services that we recommend, at no extra cost to you.

3. Establish Your Podcast’s Brand

In the world of podcasting, our brand is in all three realms:

Let’s get that sorted before we get into making the thing!

How Do I Choose a Good Podcast Name?

No “how to start a podcast” guide is complete without answering this most common of questions: What the flip do I call the thing?

 Generate a Podcast Name With the Alitu Showplanner

There are three main camps for choosing a podcast title and naming your show.

Option 1: The Clever Name

You might think of a really clever name for your show. But remember that people need to be able to find it when they’re searching for information about your topic. If you have a clever/catchy name for your show, try incorporating a description into the title. There’s no point putting out great content if nobody can find it.

For example, one of my old shows was called Path of Most Resistance. It probably falls into the ‘clever name’ category, even though I’m not that clever… So, to give a bit of description, I also used the tagline: The Uncommon Leader’s Guide.

Here are a few shows that do this well. They’re creative, but are still reasonably clear. Note, though, you’re probably still not 100% sure what they’re about. That’s the downside of this approach!

Beyond the Bump
Behind the Bastards
Should you Really Eat That?

Option 2: The Descriptive Name

The searchable (but some might say boring) choice is to simply call your podcast what your target audience is searching for. If our personal trainer called her show The Fitness Podcast, then there’s absolutely no doubt as to what it’s about. Look at these great examples:

The Australian Finance Podcast (Topic & audience)
The Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast (Topic & format)

It works really well for search and for recognition, but some people feel it can be a little… well… boring!

But, consider this: is attracting a zillion new listeners boring?! It is NOT. Simplicity and clarity are the best ways to do that!

It’s totally fine to add a few words to the topic name to build some character, but make sure the main keyword is fully mentioned in the final podcast name. Look at these examples; all really clear but still a little bit of personality and wordplay:

Diary of a CEO
The Rest is Politics
How Other Dads Dad

Option 3: Using Your Own Name

This is pretty much a no-no unless you’ve already got an audience. If someone started The Mike Smith Show and it was about rock climbing, people would just think, “Who is Mike Smith?” and move on to the next podcast. Again, you can incorporate this into your show’s name along with something descriptive (‘Rock Climbing, with Mike Smith’). But avoid naming the show after you without any other details.

The Mel Robbins Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The Lise & Sarah Show
Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Parenting

Finding Music for Your Podcast

There’s no rule to say your show must have music, but many podcasters include a theme to add a bit of polish.

You might have seen TV shows with a minute or more of intro music, but don’t copy this in your podcast. I’d say keep it shorter than 10 seconds, and fade into your voice from there.

If you go beyond 10 to 15 seconds, you’re going to train your audience to hit the skip button.

Here are two great options for finding podcast-safe music:

• Subscription music sites: like Shutterstock or AudioHero
  Pay Monthly to use all of their music or FX
• Podcast Production Tools: like Alitu
  Music library included inside the recording & editing tool

If you want to see some more options (including some possible no-cost options if you’re wondering how to start a podcast for free), here’s all the music you can legally use on your podcast.

How to Create Your Podcast Cover Art

Sadly, first impressions are still everything! Attractive cover art is vital to stand out against thousands of others in apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Here are some podcast artwork recommendations:

• 1400px x 1400px minimum size
• jpeg or png in format
• Keep text short & large, so it shows up on small thumbnails
• Keep the artwork simple and bold, to stand out

You can create decent cover art for free on Canva. They even have podcast logo templates on there. Or, you might want to hire a freelancer on a platform like Fiverr if you’d like someone to do it for you.

Cover art (sometimes called a podcast logo) is a bit like choosing a podcast name in many ways. You’re trying to find that balance between descriptiveness, cleverness, and quirkiness, all in one static image. And it all still needs to work well when viewed as a thumbnail on a phone screen.

4. Set Up Your Podcasting Equipment

Once you’ve done the groundwork and planned out your show, it’s time to get to work recording your first episode.

How to Choose Your Audio Equipment

This is where it’s really, really easy to overcomplicate things. Instead, let’s keep it simple, because the bare minimum you need to podcast is a recording device and the internet!

Smartphone recordings can actually be just fine to start out (hold it to your face like you’re doing a call, and hit record!). But, using an external USB microphone is a wise, low-cost upgrade that won’t complicate things.

Top USB Microphones

• Samson Q2U / ATR2100: two near-identical podcast microphones, both sub-$100 and great quality.
• Rode Podcaster: great podcast mic, significant upgrade, around $150

Microphone Stands

The Samson comes with a small mic stand, but a nice upgrade is a boom arm mic stand, to give you a bit more flexibility.

• Rode PSA-1 Mic Stand: rock solid and decent value at $80.
• Neewer Boom Arm: Budget choice. Bit rickety, but does the job!

Portable Setup for In-Person Interviews

If you want to stick with smartphone recording, the kit has come on leaps and bounds these past few years.

The best option out there right now is the Rode Wireless Micro. This gives you two little mics that attach to your clothing, letting you record guests or co-hosts straight into your phone.

• Rode Wireless Micro Review
• BOYA Mini – a great alternative to the Wireless Micro

If you get serious about in-person recordings, consider the:

• Zoom PodTrak P4.

The P4 is a dedicated podcast recorder that lets you record four participants locally, as well as remote guests, both on the phone and online. It’s a fantastic all-rounder piece of podcast equipment.

Other Gear

• Good Headphones: Highly recommended for recording
• The Logitech C920 Webcam
• Podcast Mixers and Interfaces

For a full guide to all the gear options we recommend, go here:

Complete Guide to Podcast Equipment

5. Pick your Recording & Editing Tools

Nice work, you’ve plugged in your USB microphone or your audio interface! But how do you capture a podcast recording? How do you edit the audio file? Including audio recording, removing mistakes and background noise reduction, it’s time to pick your podcast software.

The good news is that there are plenty of great packages that do both recording AND editing. Let’s take a look.

Online Call Recording Software

Whether you have a co-host in another country or regular interviewees from all around the world, it isn’t difficult to create a podcast recording with them.

1. Alitu

Alitu includes both solo and call recording. Calls are recorded as “double enders”, meaning they won’t be disrupted by sketchy WiFi connections, either. Alitu also includes AI audio cleanup (noise reduction, levelling, etc.) and is tied directly to Alitu’s editing tools, making it a complete package.

2. Zoom

I mean, everyone knows Zoom now, right? So, super easy to share and use. Also free for up to 45 minutes. The quality is… fine… but isn’t A+.

3. Riverside

Riverside offers a range of features related to video recording and repurposing, including improving editing features, video clipping and its own streaming platform.

4. Squadcast

Another double-ender recorder, Squadcast captures great-quality audio and video.

For full details, read: Best Call Recording Platforms

Audio Editing Tools (+ Solo Recording!)

These are our picks for podcast editing software, but bear in mind they all offer solo recording, too, for those all-important podcast intros, adverts or solo episodes.

1. Audacity

Audacity is a good quality, free-of-charge audio editing package. It’s a bit old and clunky, but it’s free, and does a good job! It’s a fully featured digital audio workstation, so there’s a bit of a learning curve, but most of the features you need as a podcaster are quick to learn.

It includes everything you’d expect in a digital audio workstation (DAW), including multitrack editing and a range of manual audio cleanup tools, so you can get your audio quality up to par.

2. Alitu

Mentioned in the call recording section, Alitu is also designed to be the easiest audio editing experience on the market, tailored specifically for podcasters. It has everything else you need to run your show, too, like podcast hosting.

This web app automates the audio cleanup, volume levelling, and EQ for optimum audio quality. Its editing tools are simple, and you can even chop out audio by deleting text in Alitu’s auto-generated transcripts!

The episode builder is a simple drag-and-drop interface for adding music, sponsor segments, etc. Then, you can directly publish via Alitu’s own hosting so your show is pushed out to places like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other listening apps.

If you’ve never worked with audio before and find the very thought intimidating, then Alitu was made for you. If you want to see how it works, check out my guide on making a podcast with Alitu.

3. Adobe Audition

Adobe Audition is a great Pro-level production tool, ideally suited to full audio engineers. Great workflow and feature-rich, but a steep learning curve. It’s available through a paid subscription.

Here, you can compare Adobe Audition vs. Audacity.

4. GarageBand

For what it’s worth, if you’re a Mac user, you will probably have GarageBand installed by default on your machine. This is popular audio software with podcasters, too, although recent versions have really cut down the features it offers. These days, I’d recommend that even Mac users get hold of Audacity as a free alternative.

What about the Computer?

The humble laptop fits nicely between the bulky desktop (don’t you ever try to move me, ever!) and the dainty mobile phone (take me everywhere you go, and please, doomscroll me to your heart’s content). So, if you’re looking for a new one:

What’s the best laptop for podcasting?

What’s the best computer for podcasting?

Or, even easier, you can start a Podcast with a mobile phone.

6. Present & Record Your 1st Episode

Time to get this thing down on tape. Or… the 21st-century equivalent, anyway! Let’s cover presentation skills and recording that audio.

How to Script Your Podcast

Finally, we’re ready to hit ‘Record’! But what will you say? That’s where podcast scripting comes in. Here’s two tips:

Word-for-word scripts give you confidence & cover the details, but they’re time-consuming to write & hard to read naturally.
Create a bullet-point outline to guide you, but one that keeps you flexible and conversational when recording.

The intimate nature of podcasting is far more suited to a conversation rather than a sermon. Feel free to use more detailed scripts in the early days, but try to work towards more flexible, natural outlines over time.

Read more on scripting, with examples

How to Talk Into a Mic

This is hard when you start out, no question. Especially if you’re doing a solo show! Here’s some advice:

• Put a photo or teddy (?!) on a chair behind the mic, to have a ‘person’ to talk to.
• Imagine your audience avatar in your head: speak to them.
• Take confidence in the fact that you have a message to share, and there are people who want to hear it!

Once you’ve got the confidence to begin, it’s time for technique! Our mic technique for podcasters guide covers everything you need.

7. Editing Your Podcast

Gear: check!

Software: check!

Irrational hatred of your own recorded voice: check!

But you’ve recorded it anyway. Strong move. Now, how do we polish it up nice, so it can be catapulted out into the world?

This is where you take your podcast recording, edit out mistakes, stitch together audio clips, add music or FX, and make sure it all sounds great with EQ, levelling, compression, and more. Let’s look at how it all works.

How Much Editing Do I Need to Do?

From awkward pauses to uhms and ahs, there are no shortage of things you could edit out in the post-production phase.

If you want a starter guide on what type of editing to do, check out my article on the MEE Podcast Production process. This keeps editing simple, sustainable, and consistent.

Here’s the rundown, though. For your first ten episodes, keep it really, really simple.

Here’s a minimum podcast editing plan:

• Trim the start & end
• Volume Levelling (video guide here)
• Publish!

Here’s a more polished podcast editing workflow:

• Trim the start & End
• Remove mistakes (with a click edit)
• Volume Levelling (video guide here)
• Noise reduction
• Add music
• Publish!

It’s possible to do a lot more, but honestly, the improvement to time ratio just doesn’t provide enough value in many cases.

You could learn EQ and Compression for example to really polish up your voice. But, this is well worth outsourcing, either to software, or to a freelancer (below).

Outsourcing: The Hands-Free Option

For some, if you have the budget, it’s better to hire in help for this!

You’ll find podcast editors for all budgets and requirements over at our Podcast Production Directory.

What File Type Should I Use for Podcasting?

The most common format for uploading a podcast episode is an MP3 file. That’s why so many people ask us how to convert from wav to mp3…!

Not all MP3 files are created equal, though. If you’re exporting yourself, here’s what to go for:

• Bitrate? Choose 96kbps for spoken-word audio
• Constant (CBR) Vs Variable (VBR) bitrate? Choose CBR
• Mono or stereo? Go mono, unless you’ve got loads of music and sound effects
• Sample rate? Opt for 44100Hz

If this seems like the sort of stuff that melts your brain, remember that podcast-maker tool Alitu does this all for you automatically!

8. Set up Your Podcast Hosting

When it comes to getting your podcast out there for everyone to hear, you’ll need a podcast hosting platform, sometimes called a media host.

A podcast host is where you store your audio files, set up your episodes, and publish them to the world. No need to upload anything to the directories, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. They read the episodes right from your podcast host through your RSS feed (more on submitting to directories in the next step!)

I use a few different podcast hosting providers, and you can read what I think of them in that dedicated roundup. But here’s the TLDR;

• Alitu: Hosting tied in with call recording, audio editing & audio cleanup, plus podcast analytics, transcriptions, podcast distribution and more.
• RSS.com: Superb value-for-money service, fully localized in three languages (English, Spanish, and Italian), which includes customer support. Use promo code THEPODCASTHOST to get free months.
• Captivate: Growth-focused podcast hosting, with tools like media kit generation, dynamic ad insertion, multiple podcasts, podcast distribution and excellent podcast analytics
• Castos: a host focused on private podcasting & linked with a strong production service

Your Podcast Website: Publish Your Shownotes & Player

What about a website for your pod? You’ll want one place for people to read more about your show, access the show notes, signup for your newsletter, and a lot more. There are a few options for this:

1. A Podcast Host Website: Most podcast hosts offer a free website to work as a home base. They’re free and easy, and perfect for hobby shows. But, they can be restrictive.
2. Your existing brand website: Add a ‘podcast section’ and start publishing a page for every episode there (Read: how to install podcasting tools on your website)
3. Podpage: This is a dedicated tool to set up a podcast site in minutes, and includes blogging, growth tools, newsletters and more. Great option for a flexible, powerful site.
4. WordPress: Set up a new WordPress site, dedicated to your podcast. Super flexible, as powerful as it gets, but a little more work to build and maintain (read: podcast websites guide)

For 2 to 4, you’ll add your audio content to your shownotes pages by embedding your podcast player in your blog posts, straight from your host. This is really easy, generally just a cut and paste!

9. Submitting to Podcast Directories

Once you’ve created your show inside your podcast host of choice, you can then submit it to a podcast directory. These are the podcast platforms that handle your podcast distribution, and where listeners can discover, subscribe to, and download your show.

Any good host will have a decent set of auto-submission or guided-submission tools, making it easy to get your show into Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other popular spots. It’s also a good idea to publish your show to YouTube, even if you don’t currently record video.

You need to have at least one published episode in order to submit your show to some key directories. It’s a good idea to create a short teaser, podcast trailer, or episode zero early on in your podcasting journey. This way, you can ensure you’re being listed on all popular platforms in time for you dropping your first “proper” episode.

Once your podcast is out there, the way podcast listings work varies from platform to platform. For example, Apple Podcast search will favour shows with high numbers of all-time followers. That means that established shows can have the upper hand when it comes to discovery, so take on board my podcast naming advice from earlier in this guide.

Next Step How to Submit to Podcast Directories

10. Set Your Launch & Growth Plan

Once you’ve set up your podcast launch, that’s when you’ll move on to thinking about podcast promotion, building your listener base, and maybe even earning a crust from your show.

Get Your First 100 Listeners (and Beyond)

When it comes to podcast promotion, growth and visibility, I work with the SCALE Framework:

• S – Syndication
• C – Communities & Collaboration
• A – Advertising (Paid Promotion)
• L – Live & In-Person
• E – Email & Engagement

I break the SCALE Framework down for you in our Ultimate Podcast Marketing & Promotion Guide. And here are a few more options for you to bookmark and check out.

• The Podcast Host Planner (Physical Notebook)
• Podcast Growth Mastery (Video Course)
• Podcast Growth: How to Grow Your Podcast Audience (Book)

Try at least a few of these in the first few months, and you’ve every chance of reaching far more of your target audience.

A Caution on Podcast Download Numbers

Podcast hosting services give you download stats, which help you gauge how your show is doing. You can also get some platform-specific data from the likes of Spotify, Apple Podcasts Connect, and YouTube.

Download stats can become an obsession, especially when comparing yourself to any popular podcast. But there are so many variables when it comes to what are “good” download numbers. You might be surprised to learn that many successful podcasters thrive with “only” a few hundred downloads per episode.

So don’t compare yourself with others. Just try to improve every week.

Podcast Monetization (Earning a shilling!)

If you put the work in, stick at it, and consistently deliver great content for your audience, then you’ll eventually be in a position to think about monetizing your podcast. Here are a couple of resources to get you up and running:

• Our Ultimate Guide on How to Monetize a Podcast
• Affiliate Marketing for New Podcasters

Want to Watch a Full Guide on Making a Pod?

Need More Personal Help in Starting?

The Podcraft Academy is our coaching, support & community space, designed to help you take action and grow this show of yours! Including:

• Live regular Q&As with our team
• Launch & Growth Frameworks to follow
• Time-saving checklists & templates
• In-depth courses on editing, presentation skills, workflow & more
• Community motivation, conversations & support

We’d love to see you there!

Sign up for the Academy here

About the Author

If you’re asking – “Who’s this guy? How does he know what he’s talking about?” – then that’s totally fair

I’m Colin Gray, and I started out in podcasting around 2008. I remember the day I walked into my boss’ office at a Uni in Edinburgh, Scotland, and she said: “What’s this Podcasting thing? Could we use that to teach our students?”

I had no idea! My job at the time was to teach lecturers how to teach better with technology, though, and I’m a bit (a lot…?) of a geek, so I jumped into the world of mics, audio cleanup & speaking… and I never looked back!

In the years following, I left the Uni to go full-time on this. I inhaled everything podcasting, learning anything I could, and turned that knowledge into this website you’re reading right now. In 2015, I started working with Matthew McLean, a veteran audio drama producer, after a chance meeting in Birmingham. Together, we built this site to 2 million+ views a year. We started Podcraft, and grew it to a top 1% podcast. We reach tens of thousands of podcasters through our newsletter every week. I’ve spoken on stages around the world, and we’ve helped start thousands of podcasts over the years.

All this to say: I really love this medium. It changed my life, and I’ve seen it change hundreds of others. We’ve been in this a long time, but we’re still learning. Every day. All of that learning goes into the writing we publish here on The Podcast Host, aimed at helping you do the same.

So, if you’re up for it, read on and let’s get that fantastic voice of yours out into the world

How to Start a Podcast: Raring to Go?

Phew. That’s it. We’re done!

Don’t forget to bookmark my post here, so you can pop back every time you move on a step.

Good luck with the show, and I can’t wait to see your voice out in the world

And with well over two and a half million shows in Apple Podcasts, you have to give people a reason to listen.

So, how do you make YOUR podcast unique?

• What You Think Is Unique Might Not Be
• How-to #1: The Format Unique features, length, frequency and hosts
• How-to #2: The Topic Personal angle, niche, and more
• How-to #3: The Outcome Case studies: Today, Explained and Podcraft
• How-to #4: Production Quality Editing, atmosphere, and raising the bar for quality
• How-to #5: YOU! Personality, psychographics, and the comparison trap

Taking on a new podcast, as a listener, is a commitment. Don’t underestimate that. It’s giving up 20 minutes of your time, at a minimum, to find out: is this any good? Is this going to make my life better?

Dramatic? Yea. But true? Undoubtedly.

They want a problem solved. Anything from the deep three – health, wealth and happiness – to the surface one – fighting boredom. They pick their problem, and they search for a topic based on that. So, when they find your category, the question becomes: “Why should I listen to this particular show, and not one of the other squillion shows on video games?”

That’s where your uniqueness comes in.

It’s what makes you stand out from the crowd. It’s what attracts listeners to you like a moth to the flame.

But do you know what your uniqueness is? Or your unique selling proposition, as some call it? That’s what we’re here for.

How to Make Your Podcast Unique

What follows is a breakdown of all the ways that I’ve seen people find their uniqueness. Some are unique to podcasting, while others apply to the broader aspects of content creation or marketing a business. Either way, if you can find one or two elements here that you can apply to your podcast, you’re well on your way to having a great answer to the question.

Our goal today is that, next time someone asks, “Ooh, why should I listen to your show?” – you’ll be able to say, with confidence, “Now, let me tell you!”

First, What You Think is Unique Might NOT Be Unique!

There’s one trap that a lot of podcasters fall into. They pick a uniqueness that is anything but. Sounds silly, yeah? But you see it all the time on the high street.

• “We’re the bank that gives great customer service.”
• “We’re the window cleaners that make your windows shine!”
• “We’re the restaurant that gives you great value.”

Good aspirations, sure. But not unique. Every competitor out there will claim the same thing.

Name me a bank that will say, “Nah, we don’t bother with good customer service.”

Show me a window cleaner who WON’T claim to give you shiny windows.

Find a restaurant that doesn’t claim to offer good value. Even top-of-range establishments will say their food, the experience, is worth it.

Here’s the test: can you think of a competitor who would say this? “Nope, we don’t do that.”

Your USP can rarely be quality, value, or entertainment. They’re a given in most environments.

You need something else. Something that not everyone wants to do.

For example:

• The bank that offers live chat customer service
• The window cleaner who ALSO makes your car windows shine
• The restaurant that offers the cheapest prices in town on Graham Cracker Mozzarella Sticks.

How to Make Your Podcast Unique #1 – The Format

Podcast format is the most functional way to be unique. Find a format others haven’t tried, and you start generating interest immediately.

What does that mean? It means NOT following everyone else’s example, running a stock-standard interview show where you “chat about life with an expert” for 30 minutes every week.

There are a few ways to do this.

Break it Up With Unique Features

Andrew and Pete’s podcast is a great example of this. They do things differently in so many ways, but one is in the repeating features they run every week, many of which are really unique.

For example, on their last series, they ran a feature called ‘Tool Don’t Drool’. The idea is that the guest has to share one of their favourite tools. Same old, same old, you think. At first… Then you realise that the guest has to do it with a mouthful of water! Kinda crazy, and definitely not for everyone, but it suits Andrew and Pete’s style perfectly. And most importantly, it’s really unique. It teaches the listener something – the tool – while also providing a bit of a laugh, and something really memorable.

So, standard interview, to begin, but a segment format, and unique approaches to each segment to turn that into something different.

Of course, it’s possible to go too far with this and turn yourself into a show of gimmicks, but even simple features can work really well. For example, a listener call-in section can be enough to stand out if you make it a regular feature, or a “weekly tool tip” without the water, but with your own particular take on it. Your listeners will remember you because of the useful, memorable features you run, and they’ll come back for more.

Length

This is a simple one, but it works! Try a different length.

So many shows are 20 to 30 minutes long, and even more hover close to the hour mark. Do you know why? It’s for the same reason meetings are always 30 or 60 minutes long… That’s the way our tech works! Book a calendar slot, and it shows up 30 or 60 minutes by default! It’s not because that’s a good length for a show – it’s just a default.

Many shows are doing really well right now by exploring the ‘short form’. Daily news podcasts, or ‘short, sharp tips’. It stands out because people can get a quick hit of info or entertainment.

Super long shows stand out for the same reason – they’re a bit different.

People listen to Dan Carlin on Hardcore History because he goes in-depth for hours. Tim Ferriss, too – one of his biggest unique hooks is going into the most minute detail on his show, delving into a person’s approach to life – again, for hours.

If most folks in your niche are doing 30-minute interviews, try 10-minute tidbits. You’ll be unique.

Frequency

Episode release frequency is a hard one to stand out on alone. There are only so many different release schedules you can follow, and there are already plenty of daily, bi-weekly, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and on…

But… it has worked in the past, it’ll work again, and it can be a strong combining factor with another USP. For example, do a short-length daily show covering one quick tip on your topic. Or, do a monthly show that goes four hours with a group of experts and comes out with a series of actions you can take over four weeks to make a change in your life.

Frequency might not be as powerful a USP as it once was, but it can be a multiplier when combined with other unique factors.

Hosts

This can make a big difference because so many shows today run with the same host every week, talking to a different guest.

Instead, try two hosts and one guest. It brings in a whole new dynamic. Look at 3 Marketers Walk Into a Bar. Rob and Kennedy bring the banter and feed off each other, while getting the most from the guest.

If you can get both hosts in the same location, recording locally, that can be another unique element. The quality shifts massively when you’re in a room together, rather than an online call.

Finally, go bigger!

Get three or more people on. It requires a lot more management, and it needs a good lead host to facilitate. But a group conversation can bring in so much value and be so much more entertaining.

One of my earliest podcast loves, Movies You Should See, nailed this. They had five or six regular hosts, running three or four of them on any given episode, and all recording in the same room. The chemistry was amazing and entirely different from every other movie show out there featuring a couple of people stuttering their way through a bad Skype call.

How to Make Your Podcast Unique #2 – The Topic

Next, we’ve got your topic. Get the topic right, and it can be enough, on its own, to propel a podcast to success.

The biggest mistake people make is going too broad. I’m afraid that a general ‘health and fitness’ show is going to be a pretty hard sell. Instead, you need to speak to a much smaller audience.

Don’t worry, there’s nothing to stop you from broadening out later – seasons-based podcasting is ideal for that – but you’ll grow your first few thousand listeners much, much easier if you target them specifically, so they know, at first sight, the show speaks directly to them.

There are two aspects to this.

Personal Angle

You can go broad in topic, but narrow your audience by the angle you take on it. An ‘angle’ is a particular viewpoint that you take on a topic, how you think about it or how you relate to it.

It’s important to know exactly who your ideal listener is before thinking this through. It’s their situation, their way of thinking, and their problems that all power the angle you should take. We go deeper into this in our guide to creating your podcast avatar.

So, what kind of angle could we put on Health and Fitness, for example?

Well, say you’re a new parent, and you figured out how to keep going to the gym, and how to stay healthy during that crazy first year. Your angle is your situation: being a new parent. Health and Fitness for new parents. Or even more specific: health and fitness for new mums.

Taking an angle on a topic means that you can still cover the whole subject – you just relate it to a particular situation.

The possibilities to make your podcast unique are endless here:

• Politics for Schoolkids
• Mountain Biking for Retirees
• Comedy for Buddhists

Choose your wide topic, and think about what angle you can put on it. There’s your uniqueness.

Niche

Whereas an angle lets you talk about a whole topic from a particular point of view, a niche instead narrows down what parts of the topic you cover. It just means going deeper and deeper, more and more specific, until you have a really tight niche that a very specific audience group (that ideal listener or avatar I mentioned earlier) strongly identifies with.

It tends to be that the tighter the niche, the smaller the audience, but the easier it is to persuade them to listen because it’s so clear how relevant the topic is to them.

Taking health and fitness again, a niche of that might be CrossFit. It’s a segment of health and fitness, all on its own, and there’s an army of CrossFit fanatics that wouldn’t give two hoots about a general health and fitness show but would run a 500m, 50kg farmer’s carry to listen to your CrossFit podcast.

Again, some examples related to the ones above:

• Welsh Socialist Politics – choosing a country and a segment of politics only
• The Mountain Biking Gear Review Show – talking about just one aspect of biking: equipment
• The Clean Startup Comedy Show – funny stories about startups you can listen to with your kids in the car

“But I Don’t Want to Limit My Audience!”

I know, I know, but don’t worry. I would argue it’s almost impossible to go too niche. With a worldwide audience, you’ll always find a decent group of people who love the same specific subject you do.

Remember, again, that it’s possible to branch out later, once you’ve got that initial audience. Once you have their trust, they’ll follow you to related topics, and you’ll be able to attract a new group of listeners in the process.

Seasons are your friend here. Do season one on “Nintendo Video Games from the 90s”. That’ll attract a really particular audience. But then season two could be “Sega Games in the 90s.” Those original listeners will still be interested, even if it’s not their platform, and you’ll attract a whole new hardcore Sega audience too.

In the end, 200 episodes in, you might be running a show about general video games with a million listeners, but it starts with those hardcore, specific listeners who grow to know you, like you, trust you, and follow you on the journey.

How to Make Your Podcast Unique #3 – The Outcome

For me, the outcome of your show is a great place to stand out and differentiate. And it’s one which is rarely used.

The outcome is what your listeners get from the show. It’s the change in your listener as a result of listening.

In some cases, this falls into the ‘NOT unique’ category we talked about earlier. For example, in a comedy show: the outcome is less boredom, more fun. But you won’t find many comedy shows that DON’T claim that.

A unique outcome, though, is very possible.

Case Study: Today, Explained

Take Today Explained, as an example.

Today Explained is a news show, so it’s in a busy, busy niche. But its USP is the outcome – it’ll help you understand just one thing in today’s news.

For some news shows, the outcome is that you’ll be up to date on the headlines. You’ll know a little bit about a LOT of news.

But, for Today Explained, the outcome is that they’ll explain, to the complete novice, just one thing. They’ll go from first principles, assuming no prior knowledge, and they’ll explain it all. The outcome is that geopolitically challenged people like me can talk about current affairs without looking like a complete idiot.

Notice there’s a niche here, too – a niche audience of news novices. Another show might aim at news experts, going super deep on one topic but starting at a much higher level and covering more detail. That’s how USP elements can combine to create a really unique show.

Case Study: Podcraft

Effective outcome USPs can often include actions.

On Podcraft, I see outcome as one of our USPs. Each season, we cover one topic in-depth, and the outcome is that you’ll understand that topic and be told the exact next steps to take to put it all into action. The ‘next steps’ are the key outcome – you’ll have solid, concrete actions to DO.

For example, Season 2: Podcast Equipment. At the end of episode one, you’ll know exactly what microphone to buy. Episode two, you’ll know whether to get a mixer or not. At the end of the season, the outcome is that you have a shopping list and setup instructions for your podcasting gear.

To create a good outcome USP, paint a really strong picture of how your listener will change as a result of listening and how you’ll get them there. This needs specifics and might well tie into another of the categories here. It can be really powerful if you can pull it off. People are often looking for transformation!

How to Make Your Podcast Unique #4 – Production Quality

This is an area where time spent and skills learned can make a big difference.

The majority of podcasts have always been relatively low-production hobby shows. It makes sense – the medium grew up around the ‘friends in their basement’ conversations, which are great to listen to, entertaining as hell, but low on quality control and high on ramble. Same with the rise of the interview show – 45 minutes to an hour is the standard, a dodgy remote call is the default, and the average approach is to fire out the interview unedited, mainly because… well, who has time to edit!?

So, if you put the time in and raise the quality, you can create something a league above the average.

My favourite example here is How I Built This with Guy Raz. On the face of it, it’s just an interview show, but two of the many ways it stands out fall right into the production quality category.

Take Time to Edit

Firstly, these interviews are edited down to the highlights, and Guy provides a voice-over narrative to bridge those entertaining bits and move things along briskly. There’s no fat, no rambling. It’s all quality because their team selects what makes it into the show. I don’t know the numbers, but I’d wager Guy spends at least twice as long talking to his guests as the eventual show length, and it wouldn’t surprise me to hear it’s even more!

One simple approach is to take an interview, pull out three or four of the strongest sections, and cut them into a highlight reel of five to 10 minutes each. You can add a short intro to link them together if you like, but it is not essential. Often, trimming an interview in half will double its impact, and that can be your USP.

If audio editing feels intimidating or you just want to save time, be sure to check out Alitu. Our Podcast Maker tool makes it simple to record, edit, and publish your show, with features like auto-generated transcripts, text-based editing, automatic cleanup, volume levelling, filler word removal, and direct publishing to Apple, Spotify, and other major apps. You can test it out for free and see for yourself how much it’ll streamline your workflow.

Add Some Atmosphere

While you’re weighing up the production side of things, why not add a little music? Some effects. Just a little atmosphere. It’s not a huge job to select a bit of royalty-free music, drop it into your session, and swell it up underneath a particularly dramatic or thought-provoking part of the interview. It adds drama, highlights a part of the story, and brings a whole bunch of polish to your show, as well as a uniqueness in your niche.

Raise the Quality Bar

A final place How I Built This stands out is in recording quality. Whether they are or not, Guy and his guest sound like they’re in the same great-sounding room, on top-quality recording equipment. This means the audio is flawless in the first place.

It also means that the conversation just flows, like any natural chat. You’ve all heard the stuttering remote call exchange of doom, where a 1-second lag means the chat never quite gets into the groove. They’re talking over each other, stopping, starting; it’s just not great. It’s standard, but still not great.

So, if you can get in a room with someone and bring some decent mics, you’re unique in a significant way. And people will listen and return for that polish.

That said, you don’t need to be in the same room to record great-sounding podcasts these days. Check out our roundup of the best remote recording tools to make you and your guest sound like you’re in the studio together – even if you’re thousands of miles apart.

How to Make Your Podcast Unique #5 – YOU!

I just want to say something quickly about YOU.

Yes, YOU are unique, and your own personality is a big part of the show. But it’s dangerous to think of this as the only USP you have.

There are a lot of people in the world who are funny, quirky, entertaining, educational, inspiring, motivational, and more. For sure, you are the only YOU out there, and you’ll win listeners because of that. But it’s hard to engineer it, and it’s also really hard to put that across in a description or the show concept.

A big part of your USP is convincing someone in just a few sentences why they should listen to your show amongst the thousands of others out there.

Your background and experience might be a factor in that – that’s what makes your angle, above. But it’s hard to do that initial convincing through personality alone. The listener has to… well…. listen, before they get it!

Cement the “YOU” through Psychographics

One way to put some meat on the bones of “personality”, though, is by thinking Psychographics rather than demographics. This is delving into how your audience thinks, rather than what they are. That can tie back into your ‘angle’, above, or it can turn your own personality into a USP in certain cases. For more info, take a look at that article and see if you can nail down your perfect listener’s thought process!

In many cases, though, it’s a good idea to save your personality for retention – bringing people back again and again. If you have an easy-to-describe USP made up from some of the other elements we’ve talked about here, then the personality is all about keeping them around.

But… Joe Rogan is Popular & He Talks About Anything

After all this, I know what you’re thinking – Joe Rogan does unedited interviews with ANYONE about ANYTHING! He basically breaks every rule here.

But, the thing is, there are always breakout shows that don’t fit the mould. Often it’s just the personality, or the following they had before they started podcasting. And the trouble is, that’s horribly hard to replicate. Try releasing your own show of the type Rogan does, and let me know how that goes for you.

Instead, if you put the work into figuring out a USP, combining a few of the elements above, then you’ll have such a strong pitch for your show. Whenever someone asks, “What’s your podcast about?” you’ll know exactly what to say. And afterwards, they’ll know exactly why they should listen. That then goes into your title, your description and your promotions all around the web.

With that behind you, you stand a much better chance of growing your audience. From there, you can move on to the next step in ‘selling’ your show: your podcast value proposition.

Ready to Test Your Podcast USP?

Now that you’ve got a decent idea of how to make your podcast unique, let’s put it to the test.

The Alitu Showplanner is a free tool that’ll generate your podcast launch kit in minutes. Just answer some questions on what you’d like to podcast about, and it’ll fire out suggestions for descriptions, episode titles, formats, audience profiles, and it’ll even generate a draft podcast trailer script for you, too.

Then, once you’re ready to start creating, Alitu has everything you need to record, edit, and publish your show – all under one roof. Try it out free for 7 days and see for yourself!

Nothing can turn folks off your content quicker than poor audio quality! You could offer up life-changing tips in a beautifully filmed setting, but if it sounds like you’re recording on a potato, your content is destined to struggle.

In 2025, computers and smartphones do a fantastic job at helping us record pristine audio, especially when paired with gadgets like USB audio interfaces, XLR mics, or wireless lavalier clip-on setups. But if you’re looking for the most robust, reliable, and dedicated way to capture the spoken word in all its high-fidelity glory, then you need a digital voice recorder.

Best Digital Recorders For Podcasters, YouTubers, & Content Creators

In this guide, I’ll help you choose the best digital recorder for your needs and budget. These picks come from over 15 years of testing and real-world use. You’ll notice a lot of Zoom models because they’ve made many great ones (and we’ve owned most of them in our studio), but they are not the only brand worth considering. You’ll also find excellent options from Tascam, Rode, and others.

Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links. We only recommend products we’d use ourselves, and buying through these links helps support our free content at no extra cost to you.

Alright, let’s get into it…

Zoom H1essential

Cost: $110

It feels like the Zoom H1 has been around forever, and the H1essential is the latest update to Zoom’s classic pocket recorder. It packs a lot of quality into a small and affordable package, now offering 32-bit float recording, which means you are far less likely to ruin takes with clipping or distortion. It is light, portable, and simple to use, making it perfect for beginners or anyone who wants something small enough to keep handy for spontaneous interviews or ideas on the go. You won’t get XLR inputs at this price, but as a starter recorder, it’s a brilliant way to step into the world of podcast audio.

Check out the Zoom H1essential on Amazon

Tascam DR-05XP

Cost: $110

Tascam’s DR-05XP brings their well-respected audio pedigree to the entry-level range, with the bonus of 32-bit float capture and a USB-C connection. The next evolution of the old Tascam DR-05, the DR-05XP is a handheld recorder with built-in stereo mics that perform well for voices and general ambience. Its straightforward layout means you can get up and running quickly without lots of fiddling in menus. Like the H1essential, it doesn’t have XLR inputs, but for its low price, it offers excellent recording quality and reliability.

Check out the Tascam DR-05XP on Amazon

Micro-Speak Plus

Cost: $75

The Micro-Speak Plus was designed for blind and low-vision users, which also makes it accessible for beginners, kids, or anyone who wants a simple setup. Matthew recently tested it with the help of his four-year-old daughter and was impressed by its design, features, and sound quality. It doesn’t support external microphones and records in a compressed format, so it won’t satisfy audio purists. But the sound holds up well, and it’s an accessible, budget-friendly option for many podcasters.

Check out the Micro-Speak Plus on Amazon

Zoom H1 XLR Handy Recorder

Cost: $150

If you liked how Zoom upgraded the H1 to the H1essential, look what they’ve done this time round. With “XLR” in the name, this will come as no huge surprise, but it comes with two proper XLR/TRS inputs. The H1 XLR also has phantom power, so you can plug in studio mics and capture high-quality sound wherever you are. It records in 32-bit float, which means you no longer need to stress over gain settings or clipping, and accessibility has also been a big focus, with voice guidance and tactile buttons making it easy for anyone to operate!

Check out the Zoom H1 XLR on Amazon

Zoom H2n

Cost: $150

Matthew’s first-ever Zoom recorder was the venerable Zoom H2. That was so long ago that even its successor, the H2n, was released almost 15 years ago. The H2 and H2n have been long-time favourites among podcasters, conference attendees, and field recordists. Both models are incredibly flexible for capturing all sorts of content, from panel discussions to sound effects.

The H2n doesn’t have XLR inputs, so you’re limited to the onboard mics, but they are excellent for the price, and it remains one of the most versatile grab-and-go recorders available today.

Check out the Zoom H2n on Amazon

Zoom PodTrak P4

Cost: $170

Another one of Matthew’s picks, the PodTrak P4 is purpose-built for podcasters, and it really shows. It offers four XLR inputs, four headphone outputs with individual volume control, and handy sound pads for music or effects. It even has mix-minus built in, so you can record remote guests or phone calls without worrying about echoes or feedback.

Despite all these features, it’s still very affordable and portable, running on batteries or USB power. The trade-off is that it doesn’t have any built-in mics, but if you already have or plan to buy external microphones, the P4 is one of the easiest ways to record a multi-person podcast on the move.

Check out the Zoom PodTrak P4 on Amazon

Zoom H4essential

Cost: $220

My Zoom H4n served me well for many years, and the range is still going strong today. Like the H1, it has had a few iterations since 2007. The latest model, the H4essential, continues to deliver reliable, good-sounding recordings at up to 32-bit float. This recorder combines a pair of high-quality onboard mics with two XLR inputs that provide phantom power for external microphones.

I would take this on the go with me to events and conferences, but it also doubled up as a USB audio interface when I was recording back in the studio.

Check out the Zoom H4essential on Amazon

Zoom H5

Cost: $250

We both upgraded to the Zoom H5 around 2015 and loved its interchangeable capsules, which let us swap between mic types (like the SSH-6 shotgun). It also has two XLR inputs with phantom power for plugging in studio mics. Like the H4n, it’s a superb all-rounder, equally at home in a portable kit or a studio setup, and the fact it’s still widely recommended years later speaks volumes. One small downside is that after about a decade, the rubber coating can start to break down and perish, though this can apparently be fixed with alcohol. That’s probably not a sentence you expected to read in this roundup, is it?

Check out the Zoom H5 on Amazon

Zoom H6essential

Cost: $330

There was a funny period in podcasting between around 2013 and 2018 when creators became obsessed with multi-mic setups. The more mics, the better. And if you could record them all on separate channels, then that truly was the Holy Grail. We added an H6 to our studio setup somewhere along the way and marvelled over just how many people we could potentially record.

Last year, the new H6essential added 32-bit float recording and some other modernised features like USB-C connection. The H6 is bigger and heavier than the H5, but the ability to record six individual tracks at once makes it invaluable for podcasters working with larger teams or casts.

Check out the Zoom H6essential on Amazon

Tascam Portacapture X8

Cost: $400

There’s more to the digital voice recorder world than Zoom’s various offerings. Tascam’s Portacapture X8 is a high-end handheld recorder that combines pristine sound with a modern touchscreen interface. It can record up to eight tracks simultaneously at 32-bit float and 192 kHz, delivering extremely detailed and distortion-free audio.

The X8 is as comfortable in the field as it is in the studio, and its versatility makes it appealing to podcasters, filmmakers, and sound designers alike. It is not the cheapest option by any means, but if you want to invest in a recorder that captures professional-grade audio in almost any setting, the X8 is hard to beat.

Check out the Tascam Portacapture X8 on Amazon

Rode Rodecaster Pro II

Cost: $595

The Rodecaster Pro II is where the digital recorder meets the more traditional mixer or soundboard. This has been the hub of my podcasting setup for many years now, and it’s often described as the ultimate podcast studio in a box.

The Rodecaster offers four high-quality XLR inputs, multi-track recording, sound pads, Bluetooth connectivity, and seamless integration for remote calls. The big colour touchscreen makes setup and operation straightforward, while its processing tools and effects mean you can polish your sound without any extra gear. It’s not exactly pocket-sized, but for podcasters who want a dedicated hub that can handle everything from recording to live streaming, the Rodecaster Pro II is a powerful and well-designed solution.

You can also pick up the Rodecaster Duo (designed for recording two people, would you believe?) for under $500.

Check out the Rode Rodecaster II on Amazon

Mackie DLZ Creator

Cost: $800

Mackie’s DLZ Creator is another all-in-one podcasting studio, with a larger footprint and an emphasis on ease of use. Its sizable touchscreen and “AutoMix” features guide beginners through the process of recording professional-sounding audio, while still offering plenty of control for experienced users.

The DLZ offers multiple mic inputs, headphone outputs, and advanced routing options, making it suitable for everything from solo episodes to full panel shows. It is more expensive than the Rodecaster and takes up more desk space, but for podcasters who want a feature-rich, intuitive workstation, it is an impressive piece of kit.

You can also opt for the Mackie DLZ XS, a more compact version, for around $500.

Check out the Mackie DLZ Creator on Amazon

Summary: Best Digital Recorder For Podcasting

Alright, let’s quickly summarise with a few takeaway recommendations.

When it comes to choosing the best digital recorder, there’s no getting around it that budget will be a huge factor for most.

The Micro-Speak Plus is the cheapest in the roundup, and although it’s perfect for folks seeking pure simplicity and maximum accessibility, the audio limitations might put many off. If you want minimal spend but studio-quality audio, opt for the Tascam DR-05XP.

If you’re looking for an all-rounder workhorse, while still keeping an eye on spend, then you can’t go wrong with the Zoom H4essential.

If you’re looking for a real top-tier recorder, then the Tascam Portacapture X8 or Zoom H6essential are hard to see past.

And, if you’re venturing into the realm of all-in-one podcast recorders, the Zoom PodTrak P4 is the affordable option. After that, choose how many hundreds you’d like to spend on one of the various Rodecaster or DLZ Creator models!

Ready to Record Your Podcast?

A digital voice recorder is only one of many ways to record brilliant audio for podcast or content creation.

If you’re looking for software rather than hardware, then check out our Best Podcast Recording Software roundup. Or, take a look at our How to Record a Podcast guide if you’d like to start with the very basics.

Many of the digital recorders mentioned in this roundup can run external XLR mics, too. Here’s our Best Podcast Microphones roundup, where we list our top recs, along with pricing, sound samples, and our musings on each.

Finally, if you’re looking for the perfect place to make your podcast, then check out Alitu. An all-in-one podcast maker software, Alitu records solo or calls, automatically cleans, levels, and optimises your audio, provides filler word removal and text-based editing tools, and you can publish directly to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and beyond. Try it out free and see what you think!

But, if you’re creating video, then you’re also editing it. And that’s where it can start to feel complicated! Video editing goes deep, and a glance at the best video editing software? Well, let’s say they tend to be less “go-kart” and more “airplane cockpit.”

So, let’s get simple. Here, I want to dig into what you really need to get those videos polished up and out into the world. That includes:

• What is the best video editing software out there right now?
• What’s the difference between full software and a web editing experience?
• What’s the best package for each context?
• Can AI help?

End of the day, you just want to turn that magical idea of yours into a message you can put out into the world. So, how do we do that in the best way possible? Let’s take a look: video editing tools, we’re going in!

Just a quick heads up that we use some affiliate links to products we think you’ll find useful. We’d earn a commission should you choose to buy through them, never at any extra cost to yourself. Affiliates help support all the free content we put out there

Standalone Video Editing Software vs Online Video Editing

Remember when you used to download a big bunch of bits and bytes to your computer, and then you ran it there?!

None of this ‘running in your browser’ caper. Instead, it’s there, ready to go, no need for an internet connection, or even a subscription (although even most desktop software is going subscription-based now… )

But, there are some strong online video editing apps emerging now. So I often get the question: do they do the job?

As always, there are pros and cons to both.

Video editing software on your computer tends to offer more power and speed. But, only if you have to have a good enough computer to run it. These packages can be more expensive up front, but actually, many are subscription-based now, too (hello Adobe…). Equally, working on your computer means no massive upload times for huuuge video files.

Whereas, if you edit video online, then once you’ve dealt with the upload, it handles the files for you. No more “Warning: your hard drive is full of GIGANTIC files!”. Processing is all done in the cloud, too, so potentially less wait time for renders and previews. And, for whatever reason, online video editing apps tend to have more assistance built-in. That includes AI features for clipping or transcriptions, and templates for repurposing to a range of platforms.

So, swings and roundabouts.

Here’s my take:

• For full-length video creators > downloaded standalone software wins. The speed, power and control are worth the downsides.
• For shorts creators or low-edit podcast convertors > stay online. They’ll often be more ‘assisted’, saving you time, and much easier to use. Give up some power and control for speed and simplicity.

The only trouble is, there are a range of online video editing apps emerging right now, but many of them simply don’t stack up in terms of performance and reliability. So, you’ll notice that most of the options below are standalone packages. I do have one online recommendation on the list, right now, and I’ll be sure to keep an eye on this over time. So, keep your eyes peeled for updates!

In the meantime, let’s get into it!

Here are five of the best video editing software packages on the market right now.

1. Adobe Premiere

Top choice for long-form video editing on a PC

A long-standing fixture in the video editing world, Adobe Premiere is constantly vying with Final Cut for the title of industry GOAT. “Are you a PC or a Mac?” is generally what it comes down to, and if you’re a PC, then you’re Premiere. Used by professional filmmakers and amateur producers alike, you know it has the chops to hit your video editing needs, whatever they are.

The downside of that is that with great power comes great… well… confusion, frankly! This package can do anything, and as a result, it can feel pretty intimidating at first. Bells and whistles doesn’t quite cut it, and even some relatively standard functions can feel hidden behind a wall of buttons and settings.

What I’d say is, being industry standard, there is a hoard of great courses out there for Premiere. And once you’ve gotten your head around the first layer of functionality (bring in some files, chop them up a bit, apply a few simple effects) it can start to feel more like home.

From there, you can go as deep as you like, or you can stay top layer, and still create some amazing videos.

Final thought: because Premiere is so set up for power and control, there’s very little in terms of ‘assistance’ here. You’re doing it nearly all yourself, unlike some of the emerging ‘assistant’ tools, which help with a LOT. For example, the pre-made titles are pretty basic. The automated or pre-set colour or grading filters are limited. There’s no in-built video stock, or music stock library, to quickly find and insert clips (although Adobe do have add-ons for this. At quite an extra cost, of course!). Transcription and subtitling aren’t built-in or trivial. These are all things that emerging tools are just ‘taking care of’ for us. Sure, you give up a bit of creative control when they do, but it’s so easy… it’s probably worth it!

Price

• $28 per month (or $48 per month as part of Creative Cloud)

Adobe offers Premiere as a standalone subscription or as a part of the Creative Cloud package. If you already have Creative Cloud (Audition? Photoshop?), then you have Premiere. But, if Premiere’s going alone, then you’ll be paying $28 per month for the privilege.

Pros

• Pinnacle of video editing functionality: you want to do it, you can do it.
• Fast, powerful, and you have full control over everything
• Lots of creator support: huge variety of tutorials, courses & case studies

Cons

• The learning curve is steep
• Very little assistance or automation

Try Adobe Premiere

2. Filmora

A great, low-budget video editor if you value quick polish over editing power

Filmora is a modern take on video editing. Half way between the old-school, super-power editing packages and the new-school heavily assisted browser-based editors. It’s downloadable, standalone and runs fast on a range of systems. It has a lot of the functionality of Premiere and Final Cut, but it stands out in what it helps and automates.

First, I love the fact that there’s a music library and video stock library built right in. It saves so much time in doing quick, first cuts of a video. Search for some b-roll, preview, drop it in, skim through the music, listen to a few, drop that beat on top. I know this exists elsewhere, and it’s possible to add it to Premiere, or Final Cut, but it’s just implemented seamlessly here in Filmora.

Next, getting the polish right. Skim through those colour filters, and test them out. Pick that lovely “sunset” one. Hit the transcription button and have the whole thing transcribed, fast. Then, browse through the templates and pick a caption format you love. Finally, let’s get some text effects in. Point out things on the screen, ask for a subscribe and pop up links in a really stylish way. There are a bunch of options. And there are good, stylish, modern ones here too, not just the ‘Arial’ text or the 90s News channel titles of Premiere.

I’ve worked a lot in both platforms now, and Filmore definitely lacks some of the speed and polish of Premiere. But, what it lacks in those areas, it makes up for in efficiency and assistance, as described above. Plus, of course, it’s a whole lot less expensive.

Price

Filmora comes in either annual or one-off purchase prices. Here’s how they break down:

• $99 ‘perpetual’ plan – one-off purchase of the current version of Filmora
• $69 annual plan – subscribe annually for every future update

Pros

• Great selection of music and film stock to rapidly polish up your video
• Wide range of colour filters and effects
• Good selection of in-built callouts, templates and transitions

Cons

• Lacking in some of the power features and pure speed of Premiere or Final Cut

Try Filmora

3. Final Cut Pro

Top of the heap, best-in-class video editor for the Mac

Frankly, I could just copy and paste the paragraph from Premiere above and pop it in here… Shall I?

Okay, better not; probably a bit lazy. Suffice to say, Final Cut is the other industry standard, and can do everything Premiere can do. At least all the things that matter to us as normal content creators.

Similar cons, too: with great power… yea, spiderman gag again. This one’s complex, too, but worth it if you dig in.

So, if you’re a Mac, and you’re happy to get into the weeds, then you’re Final Cut.

Price

FCP is a one-off purchase price of $299. Buy it once, use it forever. Remember that concept?

Pros

Literally the same, on all fronts, as Premiere, with one little extra

• Pinnacle of video editing functionality: you want to do it, you can do it.
• Fast, powerful, and you have full control over everything
• Lots of creator support: huge variety of tutorials, courses & case studies
• One-off purchase price, so no commitment to an ongoing subscription.

Cons

• The learning curve is steep
• Very little assistance or automation
• Expensive one-off cost, but cheaper than a permanent subscription, long-term

Try Final Cut Pro

4. Camtasia

Best choice for educators using screen recordings and webcam capture

Camtasia is worth a mention for anyone whose videos are mostly in the screen capture or slideshow area. It’s a package designed for recording your screen and popping your face on as an overlay. Commonly used for tutorials, courses or demos and really popular with teachers, it offers a range of ways to highlight parts of the screen or demonstrate how to do things. The callouts are also really useful, being able to point out features, buttons or functionality in the final edit.

Camtasia also makes it nice and easy to record a set of slides, either with a voiceover alone, or your webcam overlaid.

If you’re making a more traditional video, the editing experience probably isn’t best suited. Stick to Filmora for the easy version of this, or Premiere/Final Cut for the full experience. But, if most of your footage is teaching on your computer, or doing slide-based tutorials, then Camtasia is a great option.

Price

$299 for a perpetual license, which gets you the current version and one free upgrade.

Pros

• Excellent at screen recording and webcam capture
• Easily edit screen captures to highlight parts of the screen through zooms & callouts
• Record slideshows with PowerPoint and Keynote

Cons

• Not at it’s strongest with traditional video editing with a range of clips, layers, etc.

Try Camtasia

5. Veed

Fully-featured online video editing package with excellent shorts and clipping features

Veed is the most fully featured online video editor that I’ve found so far. It’s quite similar to Filmora in both strengths and functionality. Feasibly, you could create a full-scale video production in Veed, fully in your browser.

It includes all of the standard video editing requirements, stock footage, stock music, title templates and effects.

It also includes transcription generation and subtitling for your videos, which can be a real boon for accessibility.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s definitely a bit slower and more clunky to work on video in your browser, so I wouldn’t recommend spending hours in here, polishing up your latest long-form video podcast or YouTube video.

But, where Veed does excel is quick hits: clipping up an existing video and repurposing it into shorts for social. It even comes with a whole range of effects that can add dynamism and fun to your video.

And if you’re just repurposing a full-length podcast recording, cleaning it up a little and perhaps adding a few effects, it can do the job quite nicely.

Price

• Free: 1GB Upload limit and export with a Veed watermark
• $18 / month: Remove watermark and export up to 25 minutes
• $30 / month: AI-powered editing and stock audio
• $59 / month: AI Avatars, custom templates, video analytics and calls to action.

Pros

• Online platform means you don’t have to manage files or worry about computer capabilities
• Lots of templates for social media and shorts
• Great for fast clipping and creating shorts

Cons

• Not the place to spend hours on a detailed edit for long-form video

Try Veed

6. FlexClip

FlexClip is a web-based editing platform built for creators who want to polish up their videos fast, with no film degree required. Its drag-and-drop editor feels familiar if you’ve used Canva or Descript, and it includes templates, audio waveforms, and a solid media library to help you turn around slick video clips in less time than it takes to untangle your headphone cord.

FlexClip’s standout features include AI-powered tools for generating scripts, matching clips to text, and even editing images (like removing backgrounds or adjusting contrast to make that dark wool yarn actually visible). Its transcription and captioning are accurate and customizable, though be warned: if your timeline isn’t locked before you generate subtitles, you might burn through credits needlessly.

I especially liked the option to feed in a blog post URL and have FlexClip spit out a short, image-matched video – ideal for repurposing written content. While the AI-generated clips aren’t perfect out of the box, they’re a solid starting point, and you can tweak scenes, media, and narration as needed.

Pricing is flexible: the free tier works for basic clips (up to 10 minutes, 720p), while paid plans unlock longer exports, higher resolution, more stock assets, and way more AI credits.

Price

• Free tier: 720p exports, 10-minute limit, limited stock/media use
• Plus ($11.99/mo billed annually): 1080p exports, 5 stock clips per project, 3,600 AI credits/year, no watermark
• Business ($19.99/mo billed annually): 4K exports, unlimited stock use, 9,600 AI credits/year, 1TB hosting, reseller rights

Pros

• Online platform means you don’t have to manage files or worry about computer capabilities
• Beginner-friendly interface with drag-and-drop editing
• Handy AI features for script generation and video matching
• Great for repurposing blog posts into video content
• Good value at lower tiers

Cons

• Subtitle generation can waste credits if timeline isn’t finalised
• AI-generated clips may need manual tweaking
• Stock library lacks some specific visuals

Try FlexClip

7. Movavi Video Editor

Movavi is a recent addition to our best video editing software roundup, suggested by Matthew. He has used it for almost a year and says it helps him create polished videos, even though he admits he does not know much about video production.

Movavi Video Editor is one of those programs that manages to feel both approachable and surprisingly capable. Think of it as that rare
middle ground: you don’t need weeks of training just to cut a clip or
apply an effect, but you still get plenty of features for creative
content creation.

The interface is clean and drag-and-drop friendly… and it gets even
better under the hood. What really makes Movavi shine is the way it
bakes in helpful automation without taking control away from you:
AI helps with background and noise removal, motion tracking, and
even automatic subtitle generation in multiple languages.

You also get a solid collection of effects and audio assets, including
titles, stickers, filters, transitions, music, and sounds. If you’re looking
to move quickly from idea to polished video, I think it’s more than up
to the task.

Price

• Free trial: 60-second video export limit, some advanced features unavailable, watermark on the output videos.
• $19.95 / month: No watermark, all features, free updates
• $69.95 / year: Includes major and minor updates + 3 effects packs
• $94.95 lifetime license: One-off payment, free updates within the current version + 3 effects packs

Pros

• Easy to get started, drag-and-drop editing
• AI tools that save time
• Built-in collection of effects and music
• Cross-platform: runs smoothly on Windows and Mac

Cons

• Advanced editors like Premiere Pro easily outgrow its simplicity
• Gets laggy on complex projects with high-resolution clips

Try Movavi

What’s Your Choice?

That’s the list! What’s going to be your video editing software of choice?

Is it Premiere or Final Cut for the full-powered experience?

Filmora for a decent middle ground and a bit of assistance?

Or Veed to get your video editing into the cloud and take advantage of as much assistance and repurposing as you can get your hands on?

Whatever video editing app you choose, I hope it gets your creator juices flowing! Have fun

And, once you’re up and running with your video editing software, here’s how to put your podcast on YouTube!

With the right approach, you can remove pretty much all of the tech stress from the process.

AI or ML-based tools can automate so much of the techie work now, so it’s almost crazy to spend time on it yourself. Things like normalisation and noise reduction, or adding music and transitions, or editing out every um and ah…. They’re all engineering tasks that take you away from what matters: your content!

So, let’s look at a tool to do all of those things and more, so you can keep your mind right where it should be – delighting your listeners

The tool in question is Alitu – a podcast creator app which started in 2017, and has served many thousands of podcasters since. Let’s get into it – welcome to Alitu, your new podcasting assistant

What is Alitu?

It’s a podcast creating tool which does all of this:

• Audio & Video Call Recording & Solo Recording
• Automated AI Audio Cleanup (noise reduction, EQ, etc)
• Automatic removal of ums, ahs, silence, breaths & filler sounds
• Automated Production tasks (theme music, transitions)
• Generated Transcriptions
• Exporting short marketing clips from your full show
• Audio Editing by Text (rapid edit like a word doc)
• Audio Editing by Waveform (polish the detail)
• AI Generated Episode Titles & Descriptions
• Podcast Hosting & distribution
• Chapter markers, support links & location search

Alitu is a web-based app which aims to make it as easy as humanly possible for you to create a podcast, from recording, to editing, to publishing.

You start by uploading your audio from anywhere, or recording a call right into the app with up to 10 guests.

Then, Alitu cleans up your audio. It does noise reduction, volume levelling and EQ to make you sound crisp. And it can remove all of your filler sounds – ums, ahs and the rest – giving you really easy review of what it’s taken out. It can even remove dynamic noise, like dog barks or an ambulance going by. Listen to it below

Next, once the audio’s all cleaned up, you get to production. Alitu can set up your theme music so it’s added automatically. Fades and transitions are added for your theme music automatically, and you can add more between any sections you like. Using the drag and drop episode builder, you can bring in regular clips anywhere in the episode, such as adverts or segment intros. You can edit clips here, too, to remove any mistakes.

That editing is as fast as it comes – both text-based and waveform-based, so you can skim through the broad strokes in text, and refine the detail on the waveform (only if you want to!).

When you click ‘Preview My Episode’, Alitu creates your final file, perfectly optimised in the right format for podcasting, and you can publish it directly from inside your Alitu account and push it out for the world to hear.

Alitu also gives you the option to download your shiny new episode and then publish it to your hosting platform of choice, or publish directly with one click to seven of the most popular hosting platforms. You don’t need to use Alitu’s own hosting if you don’t want to .

What Makes Alitu Unique?

Alitu is unique because it simplifies the process, but also offers you as much control as possible over the content and the distribution. It combines ease of use with creative control like no other app.

As an example: filler sound cleanup, Alitu’s magic filters can highlight every um, every ah, and every other filler. You can blanket remove them all, in one click. OR you can take creative control: scroll through, review each one, make fine adjustments as needed, and THEN remove them.

Alitu’s biggest strength is its intuitive, powerful and time-saving audio editing tool. It integrates both waveform editing and text-based audio editing, and offers magic filters to help automate a lot of your work. It’s a really powerful approach, simplified and podcast-specific, compared to normal audio editors.

You can rapid-edit the broad strokes of your episode using the transcript, just like you would with a Word doc. And then you can polish up the detail using the waveform editor.

Alitu speeds up editing by offering a 1-click preview, so you can listen to a cut instantly without all the normal skipping and clicking. And it has a playback speed control, so you can edit at 1.5 or 2x speed.

Alitu also saves a whole lot of tech stress and time by combining call recording with cleanup and editing, so you avoid dealing with file downloads and uploads, or worrying about formats. Simply record a call right inside Alitu, and it’ll be cleaned up immediately, and popped into your file library.

Finally for publishing, it has its own hosting built-in, or it also links directly to all of the most popular podcast hosting platforms. Even if your favourite host isn’t listed, it’s super simple to download your finished episode from Alitu, and then upload it directly to any host.

One final feature, loved by many Alitu users, is the ‘video export’ option, where you can create a video version of your episode, right inside the app. An image, a title and a moving waveform are laid over your audio, so you can use it on YouTube, or any other social platform.

What’s New With Alitu?

New features for podcasters are being added to Alitu all the time. It’s in a constant state of enhancement and improvement.

Just a few of the improvements through the past few years:

• Chapter markers (Mid 2025)
• Video call recording (Early 2025)
• Podcast 2.0 – Podping, funding support & more (Spring 2025)
• Magic Filters – remove ums, ahs, silences (Late 2024)
• text-based audio editing (Summer 2023)
• AI-assisted copywriting (Spring 2023)
• Podcast hosting (Autumn 2022)
• Transcriptions (Summer 2022)

Reportedly coming soon, later in 2025:

• Full video workflow – video recording, cleanup & editing

How to Make a Podcast Episode in Alitu

Let’s take a look at the process, to show you how Alitu works. Nothing like a proper case study to give you the full rundown!

Here’s my episode plan, for today:

1. Episode intro – just me, recording solo
2. Main content – guest interview via online call
3. Sponsor slot
4. News segment – me and a co-host, recording in person

You might not need to do all of these, but it’ll help me show you all the different ways there are to get audio into Alitu. Let’s get making!

Step 1: Recording My Interview

So, I start by scheduling a call with my guest and sending them an Alitu call recording link.

At the right time, I pop onto the link, as do they, and I see the call recording screen.

Here, I can record my call, with all the normal features you’d expect. I can mute my mic if I need to. I can get the invite link again, to invite more people. I can lock the room, so no one else can enter. And I can type things into the call chat if I need to share some written info with my guest.

Once the call’s done, I hit ‘End Call’ and the recording is finished up. At this point, Alitu will clean up the recording – applying noise reduction, volume levelling, hum reduction – and pop it into my library for use in any episode in future.

Step 2: Creating the Episode

Now, I’m ready to put the episode together. So, I click ‘Add an Episode’ on the Alitu dashboard. This takes me to the episode details screen. This sets the ID3 tags for the episode, and the info carries over onto your Podcast hosting platform, once you publish.

If you don’t have this all ready right away, though, you can add it or change it later, so let’s move along!

Next, we add our recordings to the upload screen. This is where we put clips into the app, in various different ways. The first option is to upload directly, as you’ll see below.

But clicking ‘Add Your Audio’ shows the other methods, including recording into the app and adding from your library.

So, I can start by adding my call recording, from above, into the episode first. I click ‘add’ above, on the latest call recording. In the library, you can rename these files, so you can make them a bit easier to find and keep track of, too.

Next, I want to record my episode intro right into the app. I’ve got a bullet point script I made for this, based on the call we recorded, so I pull out the script and hit record.

Final one, I upload a pre-recorded news segment, made using my Tascam DR05, in person, with a friend. To do that, I just click on the upload box, and select the file from my computer, or drag it right from my desktop into the Alitu window.

You can do this with any externally recorded clip, from a Zoom call to a conference presentation, and Alitu will clean it up and add it to your episode, just like the rest.

At this point, you can even merge clips, if you happen to have a recording which is split for each participant. You often get these from double-ender type tools, which record each speaker separately. As long as the clips are synchronised (meaning each is the same length and the speakers are in sync) Alitu can clean them up separately, and join them together for you.

Now, I click upload, and the files are all on their way into Alitu, to be cleaned up!

Step 3: Episode Builder for Music & Extra Clips

The episode builder is where you add theme music, rearrange your clips and add any regular clips from your library (such as adverts, segment intros, music transitions, etc). You can also access editing, here, but I’ll show you that next.

For the episode builder, you can see that my theme music has been added automatically and a fade is added from music to voice, both for the intro and outro music. You can edit the music length and fade length (how the two clips overlap, and fade in and out) using the little round fade icons. And, you can add new clips to the timeline using the + icon.

So, I’ll start by adding my sponsor slot for the week. I recorded that weeks ago since it’s running on my show for two months. I just add it in from my library, then, I can drag it into the right position. I can also add our musical transition for the new segment in the same way, so I end up with seven clips on the timeline.

And that’s the episode constructed. Music is added, fades are in, and all clips are included. Almost ready to publish!

But, first, there were a couple of things I need to edit out…

Bonus: Free Music Library

Quick Aside: It’s worth noting that Alitu includes a big free music library which all Alitu members can use within their podcast, with no limit. Each theme ‘pack’ has a number of variations, including full-length theme music tracks and short two to ten-second transition clips, stings or bumpers. There’s even a loop, for each track, so you can create voiceovers with a music bed behind it of any length.

Step 4: Editing out Silence & Mistakes

When I was recording my call, I know we had a bit of a chat at the start, to introduce each other, and then again at the end, when I thanked the guest for coming on. I want to edit these out.

So, I find the call recording on the episode builder and click edit. This is what I see.

I can easily click around on the clip and play any part, to find the sections I need to edit. I can zoom in for the detail, and then I click and drag to select sections to edit out.

This is commonly used to edit out the silence at the start and end of each clip, as well as any big mistakes within a recording, or noises, silence, etc.

At this point, I might also run the magic filters, to get rid of any of my ums and ahs or other filler sounds. It can also cut out all the longer silences that I might have in my recording. Each of these edits is shown on the timeline, so I have full control over them. I can remove them, if I think the filler sound is better to keep in, or I can adjust the edges to make the cut better if I like.

OR, I can just leave them be, trust the magic of the feature, and never have to worry about an UM again!

I can also use the text-based editing feature if I want to speed up editing the ‘broad strokes’. I use this a lot for skimming through and trimming out the fat of an interview. I can see the parts where we went right off track really quickly, this way.

It’s also useful for finding mistakes, since I can use ‘code words’ to mark edit points. I still use click editing for this sometimes, but now I can also use code words, like “Edit this part” or “Highlight here”, to really easily find sections I want to do something with.

Once I’ve done my broad editing in the text, I’ll go through each edit and click the preview button.

The end result, after you’ve made a few edits, might look like this. The red lines on the waveform show ‘finished’ edits, and the currently open one is the active edit. You can see the same on the transcription. But you can always go back and change any edit at any point.

To finish up, click ‘Done’ in the top right, and you’re taken back to the episode builder. Now that we’re finished editing, we can export the episode!

Remember, too, that you can listen back through any audio file in Alitu at 1.25x, 1.5x, or even 2x speed. This means you can edit your show in half the time it would take with most other audio production packages!

You can take some final steps during editing if you want to, but these ones are more optional.

Alitu’s constantly evolving toolbar lets you do the following:

• Mute: Silence any word, sound or part of your recording without changing the cadence and flow of the conversation.
• Bleep: Bleep out curse words, or anything else you need to hide during a chat. Sometimes used purely for the funnies!
• Add Silence: This lets you space things out, to give them room to breathe. Add silence and space wherever you like.
• Clip: Pick out a clip from the larger episode and export it as a separate file. Great for marketing and social media.
• Split a clip at any point: so you could chop one big interview in half and then insert ads, extra segments, transitions, etc.
• Background Music: Add a layer of background music anywhere in the recording. Adjust volume, length and fade in/out as you need to.

Step 5: Publishing Your Episode

You have a few options when it comes to publishing.

Alitu has its own podcast hosting built in, which includes everything you need, from full download stats to a hosted podcast website.

Or, you can also connect to a bunch of the most popular hosting sites, as shown in the screenshot below.

Once you’re connected up, then a ‘Publish to XYZHost’ button appears below the preview player, and you can publish with just a few clicks using that.

If you’re wondering about hosting, you can check out our favourite podcast hosting platforms here.

Alitu now has AI-Generated titles and descriptions built in. Simply click the ‘Write Using AI’ button, as shown below, and Alitu will suggest a set of titles to you. Select one, and then have a read through the description that’s been written for you too.

Worth giving it the human touch, but this feature saves dozens of minutes compared to starting with a blank page!

So, now, I’ll just click ‘Publish with Alitu’ and send the episode right over. Done!

Alternatively, I can download my finished episode, and upload it anywhere else I like. This is useful if you use a hosting platform that Alitu hasn’t integrated with yet, or you want to publish elsewhere, like Soundcloud.

Finally, there’s the option to publish a video version of the episode, using the ‘Create Video’ button. This produces a visual version of your episode by adding a background image, your title and a moving soundwave. You can publish this to YouTube or even make a video podcast.

Alitu Will Transcribe Your Podcast Episodes

Providing written episode transcriptions is an essential part of your show’s accessibility and growth. Podcast transcription can be expensive, though, and you can easily end up paying upwards of $20 per episode.

The good news? Alitu will now automatically generate transcripts for you, at no extra cost. This is yet another feature we’ve been excited to add to Alitu’s many offerings, and the feedback has been great so far.

Podcasting 2.0

One important trend in podcasting is the open podcasting 2.0 movement. It’s encouraging standards which keep podcasting as a free, open medium and which improve the way RSS feeds work for us. This helps both podcasters and listeners long-term.

For example, Alitu now incorporates:

• Funding Tag: allows podcasters to set a funding method (Patreon, Paypal, etc) which listeners can easily access from their listening app
• Location Tag: If you do local or location-based podcasting, this makes you much easier to find.

These are just two recent additions, joining the more functional tags like custom text and license, as well as other Podcast Standards initiatives like Podping.

Summary: How to Make a Podcast in Alitu

And there you have it! How to make a podcast episode in as little time and with as little stress as possible, using Alitu.

Get a 7 Day Free trial of Alitu now

Here’s a summary of what Alitu does to help you make your podcast:

• Audio cleanup, including noise reduction, hum reduction, levelling and voice EQ.
• Upload external recordings, including double-ender clips
• Audio or Video Record yourself or a call, right inside the app
• Automatically add theme music and fades
• Free music library, with full-length tracks, stings & loops
• Add a teaser clip before your theme music
• Edit podcasts in half the time by changing the playback speed
• Use Magic filters to automatically cut out my ums, my ahs, my silences and breath sounds.
• Add silence & bleeps when needed, or mute parts that aren’t
• Create pro-sounding music-backed clips using the Music Clip maker
• Access your library of regularly used clips, such as ads or segment intros
• Podcast-specific audio waveform editor to remove silence & mistakes
• Text or transcription-based editing to speed up your production
• Split clips to insert another in between
• Add ID3 tags/metadata and send that to your host
• Creates the final file – correct format, bitrate and standard loudness
• Transcription – auto-generates a written transcription of your episode
• AI-Generated Episode Titles & Descriptions to help you with your copywriting
• Publish direct to your hosting provider (including Buzzsprout, Captivate, Transistor, & more)
• OR, host your podcast via Alitu’s dedicated podcast hosting
• Create a video version of your podcast for YouTube and elsewhere

And remember, if you’re still at the stage of launching your show, then be sure to check out our full How to Start a Podcast guide. That’ll take you through everything else you need to know, from planning, to equipment, to promotion.

Related Article

How to Start a Podcast: Your Lightning Fast, No-Sweat Guide, from Launch to your 1st 100 Listeners

Terrified of making your own podcast? Confused about how everything works? Fear not, we’ll be with you every step of the way.  Find out more »

• Podcasting is long-form content. Don’t compare podcast download numbers with YouTube plays, social media “likes”, or follower counts.
• Potential audience sizes are totally dependent on show topics. There’s no single podcast download numbers gauge here.
• However, statistically, if you get over 27 downloads for a new episode in the first week of its release, you’re in the top 50% of all podcasters.
• Read on to find out more…

Download numbers are one of the most obvious metrics for measuring the success of your podcast.

Download stats are immediately accessible from the minute you launch your first episode. Watching the numbers climb can be rewarding—some might even say addictive.

But after the initial novelty has worn off, it’s natural for podcasters to begin asking the question, “Are my average podcast downloads good?”.

So, are your podcast download numbers “good”? Let’s take a look.

How Many Podcast Downloads Should I Be Getting?

In a world of YouTube views and Twitter/X followers, we’ve become accustomed to figures in the hundreds of thousands (and even millions!).

It’s important to realise, though, that these numbers are completely irrelevant to podcasting. The time and effort it takes to click ‘Follow’ on social or watch a few seconds of a YouTube video should never be compared to listening to podcast episodes.

Podcast listening is a commitment and an investment. It’s long-form content that isn’t immediately accessible via shiny sidebars and viral social media clickbait.

So, comparing your average podcast downloads to someone else’s Instagram followers is like comparing the number of rooms in your house to the number of trees in the Amazon. It’s completely irrelevant and utterly pointless.

Does it (as Usual) Depend on Your Content?

Of course it does.

Could a show about breeding Russian white dwarf hamsters realistically expect to see the same average podcast downloads as a show about Game of Thrones? Absolutely not.

Does this mean that the podcast with more downloads is the more successful one? Again, absolutely not.

If you run a podcast about a topic that was only interesting to literally ten people in the world, and you were getting seven downloads an episode, statistically, you’d be running the most popular show in history.

The big factor is the size of your potential audience. Here are a couple of things to consider.

Firstly, how many folks out there are interested enough in your topic to actually want to consume content about it?

Secondly, how many of those people are current podcast listeners?

Case Study – Board Game Design Lab

Gabe, who runs the Board Game Design Lab Podcast, shared some great words of wisdom on a recent episode of Podcraft.

“The ceiling for board game design is pretty low. It’s not like Joe Rogan; it’s not like Tim Ferriss, where the whole world is kind of potential, right? And so, you have to be more intentional about not overspending. It’s like, how many people are there? How many people are in your industry and listen to podcasts and care about what you’re doing?”

Thinking along these lines will help bring you closer to seeing what those cold hard download stats tell you. They can help you set realistic goals that don’t involve drawing comparisons with viral videos, celebrity social media accounts, and behemoth podcasts like the JRE.

Audience Quality & Engagement

An audience might seem “small” in a numerical sense. But with long-form content like podcasting, shows with smaller but more niche, hyper-targeted audiences are often considered more successful.

I’ve given this example before. If you ran a podcast about the technology needed to fly people to Mars, and your only listener was Elon Musk, would you consider this a successful show?

Granted, it’s a far-fetched example. But it’s always more about exactly who is listening rather than how many of them there are.

And, it’s about the engagement. This isn’t something that can be achieved overnight. But, if you’re creating good content, over time, you’ll begin to hear from your listeners.

This could be because you’ve asked them a question or recommended they check something out. Or it could be because you’ve talked about a subject that resonated with them so much that they felt compelled to reach out.

Measuring engagement requires a little more digging than simply staring at your download stats dashboard. But often, they can tell you a lot more about the impact your show is having.

If your podcast host provides this data, take a look at the geography of your podcast downloads. Are you suddenly getting a burst of downloads in a particular region or country? If so, you might want to check the news and find out what’s happening there. It’s all about measuring podcast engagement.

I Still Want a Gauge on Average Podcast Downloads per Episode

Buzzsprout is one of the biggest podcast-hosting platforms in the world, with well over 120,000 active shows publishing content there.

Hosting this many podcasts means Buzzsprout has plenty of useful data to analyse. This gives them an accurate picture of podcast downloads on an industry-wide level. The good news is that Buzzsprout makes their global data available to everyone on their Platform Stats page.

Here’s one of the key sections that’ll interest any podcaster.

How Many Podcast Downloads Is Good?

If your new episode gets, within seven days of its release:

• more than 27 downloads, you’re in the top 50% of podcasts.
• more than 109 downloads, you’re in the top 25% of podcasts.
• more than 454 downloads, you’re in the top 10% of podcasts.
• more than 1,048 downloads, you’re in the top 5% of podcasts.
• more than 4,269 downloads, you’re in the top 1% of podcasts.

[Updated July, 2025]

And here are some other interesting stats from this page, at the time of writing.

Podcast Downloads on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & Google Podcasts

34.2% of listening takes place on Spotify, with 35.1% on Apple Podcasts.

Buzzsprout

Podcast Download Locations

45.5% of downloads come from the USA, with 6.1% from the UK, and 4.7% from Canada, and 4.4% from Australia. The Netherlands are in fifth place with 3.4% of the share.

Buzzsprout

Podcast Download Devices

Mobile accounts for 85.7% of all podcast downloads, with 61.2% of those coming via the Apple iPhone.

Buzzsprout

Want More Podcast Statistics?

If you’re a fan of podcast stats, then be sure to check out our podcast industry trends post. We regularly update this article with all the latest data to help you keep your finger on the pulse. You’ll find everything, from podcast listenership stats (like the most popular podcast genre) to the latest Edison research.

What About Monthly Podcast Listeners & Downloads?

Some creators might say, “Oh, I get 10,000 downloads a month, ” but that doesn’t tell you anything about their average podcast download numbers. Instead, it suggests that they’ve published a lot of episodes to date.

For example, we run a daily show called Pocket-Sized Podcasting, which has hundreds of published episodes. Subscribers get one quick ‘how-to podcast’ tip each day, from Monday through to Friday. When new listeners find the show, they tend to binge through the back catalogue. This means our total monthly downloads can get pretty high, even if the new episode downloads are in the “modest” range.

Podcast Download Stats Don’t Tell the Full Story

Just because someone (or several hundred!) people downloaded your episode, doesn’t guarantee they hit play.

Of course, you can safely assume most of them probably did. But even then, how long did they actually listen?

Download stats are one of the best podcast performance metrics that we have in our arsenal. But they’re not the best. That title goes to “listen lime”…

Unfortunately, you can’t get a complete listening time number across all the apps and places your show is consumed. There are just too many, and most of them don’t share data.

But, Apple Podcasts and Spotify do. And they make up about 70% of the overall podcast consumption pie. That gives us scope to gather up a pretty decent sample size.

In this video, you’ll learn how to quickly and easily grab your listen time data from both platforms, as well as ideas on what to do with it, and how to present it.

Combine this with your podcast download stats, and you’ll really start to build a robust picture of your show’s performance!

Podcasting Numbers: Downloads & Listens FAQ

We are often asked about podcast download numbers in our IndiePod Community. Here are a few of the most frequent questions.

Do I Need to Share My Download Numbers With Anyone?

Nope, not at all. Though you might be asked for them if you’re talking to potential sponsors about podcast ads, or, if you’re in discussions with any podcast networks. Some potential guests might even want a gauge of your numbers before agreeing to come on. If this is the case, it’s best to create a media kit where you can optimally present this data. Also, be sure to explain that audience engagement is just as (if not more) important than hard numbers. As we’ve said so many times in this guide, download numbers never tell the whole story.

Can I See How Many Downloads Other Podcasts Are Getting?

Not unless the podcast host makes their stats publically available.

That said, it might be possible to find an approximate guide using a third-party analytics tool like Podtrac. You can search for the podcast in question and see if it’s listed in their directory. If it is, you may see some basic metrics, such as the number of downloads, subscribers, and podcast audience demographics. It’s worth taking any numbers you find with a pinch of salt, though, as they may not be wholly accurate.

Do More Podcast Reviews Equate to More Downloads?

Having lots of ratings and reviews on podcast apps can make a show seem like it has a big audience. Often, this is the case, and the show has reached a critical mass of listeners leaving reviews. It isn’t a rule without exception, though. Some shows have numerically small but super engaged audiences, whilst other podcasters may actively seek out reviews using various methods. Again, this approach can give you a hint, but it’ll never tell the whole story.

Do All Successful Podcasts Have “Big” Download Numbers?

Definitely not. Some of the most successful podcasts out there have numerically small audiences because the topic is extremely niche. Niche audiences are some of the most engaged and fanatical, though. There’s nothing to say that a podcaster in a certain niche might not work full-time on their show with an audience of “only” 100 people.

Can My Hosting Provider Get Me More Downloads?

Podcast hosting platforms are not responsible for your show’s growth or download numbers. In our article on changing podcast host, we talk about how these services set you up with podcast feeds, give you the tools and report the facts, but the rest is up to you.

Podcast Downloads vs Listens: What’s the Difference?

The end result is typically the same: the audience hears your content. However, there are some subtle differences between podcast listens and podcast downloads.

A download is when the episode is—funnily enough—downloaded onto a device such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone. From a listener’s point of view, this makes it more flexible to consume because you’re no longer reliant on an internet connection.

But from a podcaster, network, or advertiser’s point of view, it makes it harder to “prove” that a listen has happened. After all, someone might download an episode but never actually hear it.

A “listen” can be playing a previously downloaded episode, or it can be someone streaming an episode via the web or a podcast listening app. This can make it easier to see that listening has actually happened. That said, it’s a mistake to try and force your audience to stream rather than download. Let folks make up their own minds about how they prefer to consume your content.

If you need to demonstrate to sponsors, advertisers, etc, that your download numbers accurately reflect your listener numbers, you can show engagement via factors and strategies such as audience surveys, and your Calls to Action.  

Summary: Average Podcast Downloads Guide

Ultimately, asking, “What’s a good number of downloads for a podcast?” is similar to asking, “How long is a piece of string?” Every case is unique, and no two podcasts are the same.

By all means, keep track of your download stats. But this isn’t going to help grow your show.

Instead, spend your time on the things that do move the needle. Here’s our pillar guide to growing an audience, which can help form the basis of a solid and effective podcast promotion plan:

Podcast Promotion: From 100 Listeners to Your Next 100K – Let’s SCALE

Read article called: Podcast Promotion: From 100 Listeners to Your Next 100K – Let’s SCALE

And finally, a few questions for you:

Based on your topic, what do you feel your podcast’s potential audience is, and how does that stack up against your existing audience numbers? How much growth do you have left on the table? And what are your next steps for reaching those new listeners?

Hop into the IndiePod Community and let us know!

I’ll keep this article up to date as new reports come out. Therefore, below, you should find the latest numbers, according to the podcast industry.

Listen, follow, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice!

So, let’s get into it. Here are the questions we’ll cover. Take your pick!

Podcast Industry Statistics

How Many Podcasts Are There, Right Now?

In total, how many podcasts are there in the world right now?

There are 4,509,765 total podcasts registered, around the world.

podcastindex.org – April 2025

But what counts as a “registered podcast?”. We reached out to The Podcast Index to enquire.

Unsurprisingly, there are many “Hey, is this thing on!?” 20-second 1-episode “podcasts” on the free hosting platforms. The Podcast Index criteria require shows to have at least three episodes (one is often a trailer) and at least one of those episodes to be three minutes long.

So now that we know the total number of podcasts, let’s look at one of the most in-demand podcast statistics: how many are registered on one of the biggest listening platforms, Apple?

Apple Podcasts hosts 2,800,138 podcasts as of April 2025

Podcast Industry Insights courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis

This is up from 2,332,900 (+20%) in September 2021. To show growth over the past few years, here’s what Apple announced at WWDC in 2018:

In 2018 there were 550,000 active podcasts on iTunes

Apple, WWDC 2018

How Many Podcast Episodes Are There?

There are currently over 106,796,827 episodes published in Apple Podcasts, as of April 2025

Podcast Industry Insights courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis

This is up from 52,990,000 in June 2021. Again, to compare, these stats came from Apple at WWDC in 2018:

In 2018 there were 18.5 millions episodes published, total

Apple, WWDC 2018

How Many Active Podcasts Are There?

The stats show that just over 15% of the podcasts on Apple Podcasts are currently active. That means they’ve released a new episode in the past 90 days.

There are currently 436,240 active podcasts on Apple Podcasts, as of January 2025

Podcast Industry Insights courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis

The percentage of active podcasts has dropped slightly to 15% since June 2024

There was a big drop after the COVID boom year (2020 to 2021), but since the start of 2022, we’ve been relatively steady between 21% and 15%, and a bit of a rebound in mid-2023.

Here are the recent stats, on a percentage basis.

There was certainly a huge increase in new podcasts during the early stages of the pandemic. 2020 was a bumper year for growth as potential podcasters found more time and space to create, and therefore, turned into active podcasters.

Combine that with companies turning more to digital to either market themselves, or to communicate with staff, and you have a podcasting growth spiral the likes of which we’ve never seen.

But, now – with everyone back to “normal” work and life – many of those podcasters have lost enthusiasm, and internal podcasting projects have been abandoned. So, the 2020 boom raised our numbers, and now many of those shows have turned inactive. This isn’t a bleak sign of the state of the industry; it’s just that things were so different in 2020 (and most of 2021) that it’s hard to make any reasonable comparison.

And, though the percentage of people making podcasts (and sticking at it) has been pretty stable the past couple of years, the percentage of people knowing about them and, most important of all, consuming them, has risen.

How Many People Know What a Podcast Is?

There continues to be growth in the simple act of knowing what a podcast is, year on year:

85% of people in the US are familiar with the concept of podcasting

Up 10% from 2020

Infinite Dial 2025

What Does This Mean?

“Familiarity” doesn’t necessarily mean that the respondent has listened to a podcast, or even really knows how podcasts work, but that they have been exposed to the term.

As podcasts grow in their references in more traditional media and enter general conversations, so too will we see growth in familiarity; it’s a good benchmark for analysing entry into the mainstream consciousness and out of the podcaster bubble. Indeed, this year, familiarity continues to rise at a rapid pace, with well more than 4 in 5 Americans now aware of the term “podcast”.

How Many People Listen to Podcasts?

Familiarity is one thing, but how many people have actually gone ahead and listened to a podcast?

Well, in mid-2023, data from Edison Research revealed that, for the first time ever, on-demand audio (like podcasts and streaming music) has leapfrogged linear audio (like radio) when it comes to ear-time in America.

On top of this, here are the latest Infinite Dial stats, released early 2025.

70% of people in the US have listened to a podcast, at least once

Up from 55% in 2020

Infinite Dial 2025

What Does This Mean?

Infinite Dial analyses listenership in steps:

• Have ever listened to a podcast
• Monthly Podcast Listeners
• Weekly Podcast Listeners

The gap between listenership and familiarity has often seemed insurmountable. How do we get the people familiar with the term to become interested in trying a podcast, or invested enough to learn how to listen? What kind of tools can we use to get them there?

Listenership continues to grow, with a 15% climb over the past five years!

On top of this data, the Share of Ear study by Edison Research indicates that podcasts now occupy 9% of Americans’ total audio consumption time, with an all-time high 31% of all spoken word audio listening going to podcasts.

Podcast Consumption Stats 2025

In 2025, the Infinite Dial reported on a new metric for the very first time – podcast consumption.

73% of people in the US have listened to or watched a podcast, at least once

Infinite Dial 2025

This takes into account the rise in popularity of video podcasts, and acknowledges the fact that not all podcast fans are “listeners” – some listen and watch, and a select few only watch.

How Many People Consume Podcasts on a Monthly Basis?

Both monthly and weekly listenership fell slightly in 2022 (a correction from the pandemic era), but came back stronger in 2023 and have continued to grow into 2025, especially now that watching has been added to the equation.

How Many People Listen to Podcasts on a Daily Basis?

In November 2022, Edison Weekly Insights revealed that daily podcast listening among Americans continues to grow.

In 2014, the first year of the Share of Ear survey, podcasts reached 5% of those in the U.S. age 13+. As of our most recent data, Q3 2022, podcasts now reach 18% of those age 13+ in the U.S. — a 20% increase in the past year (Q3 2021), and over three times the reach of 2014. 

When Do People Listen to Podcasts?

A YouGov survey ‘What situations do Americans listen to podcasts?’ asked listeners when they’re most likely to listen to shows.

The most popular podcast-listening situations respondents gave were the following:

• 49% said they listen to podcasts while doing chores (the gender split was 43% male vs 55% female)
• 42% said they listen to podcasts on their work commute
• 29% said they listen to podcasts while working out.

Car & Commute-Based Podcast Listening

According to Edison Research, individuals with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their vehicles tend to engage with podcasts for nearly twice the duration compared to those without these features.

Data on Podcast Trust, Engagement, & Authority

Podcasts are gaining trust and engagement as a source of news and information. A study by The Pew Research Center shows that two-thirds of listeners hear news discussions on podcasts, expecting accuracy.

Research by the University of California suggests that headphone listening is twice as effective for message reception, with 93% of podcast consumption happening on headphones.

According to data presented in Audacy’s Spring 2023 State of Audio guide, advertisers benefit from podcast host reads, which outperform social media.

In November 2024, new data from Veritonic’s 2024 Podcast Study showed a significant portion of listeners took action after hearing a podcast ad. Visiting a brand’s website (57%) and making a purchase (28%) were two common outcomes.

And a Spanish listener survey by Acast reveals that 97% of listeners have a positive perception of brands advertised on podcasts.

Overall, this data helps build a picture that podcasts have become a trusted medium for content and advertising.

Demographic Stats: The Women’s Podcast Report

The Women’s Podcast Report surveyed 1,500 Americans who self-identify as women, aged 18+ in August of 2022 and listen to podcasts monthly.

Over 1 in 3 U.S. Women 18+ (35%) have listened to a podcast in the past month. This is up 67% over the past 5 years, and now represents an estimated 47 million women.

And

Women listen to a variety of podcast content – on average, they listen to 5.7 different genres or topics. Some groups are even more voracious, with women aged 25-34 listening to 6.9 topics, Hispanic women listening to 6.8 topics, and moms listening to 6.5 topics.

Read the Women’s Podcast Report

Popularity of Spoken Word Audio

Podcasting doesn’t have a monopoly on audio content. The medium must still compete with audiobooks, radio and streaming music platforms.

• Spoken word’s share of audio listening has risen 45% over the last eight years
• There’s been a 25% increase in spoken word audio listeners in the US from 2014 to 2022 (105 million to 131 million)
• Gen Z (aged 13-24) spends 22% of their listening time on spoken word, compared to just 9% of the same age group back in 2014. That’s a whopping 214% growth.

Source: The Spoken Word Audio Report

How Popular Are Audiobooks?

• Audiobook listening in the US fell slightly for the first time since 2022
• However, the percentage of audiobook listening is still higher than 2023 and all years prior
• Daily reach of audiobook consumption has grown 94% since 2017
• 44% of UK adults said they listened to audiobooks in their spare time in 2021 (27% said they listened at least once per week)
• The number of audiobook titles published in the US increased 66% between 2018 and 2022.
• The global audiobook market was worth $4.2 million in 2021 and is set to grow annually at a rate of 26% between 2022-2030
• 41% of audiobook listeners say they subscribe to at least one audiobook service.

U.S. Radio Stats

Statista reported that radio had a weekly reach of around 82.5% among adults in the US, as of April 2022. There are over 15,445 radio stations competing for a share of this market.

What About Streaming Music?

• Music streaming revenues have multiplied more than 28 times since 2012
• The number of music streaming service subscribers worldwide grew 72% between 2019 and 2021 (305 million to 524 million).

Source: Statista

UK Podcast Audience Statistics

How Many People Listen to Podcasts in the UK?

2024 was a record-breaking year for podcast listening in the UK, according to Edison’s latest UK Podcast Consumer Report.

They found that:

• 69% of the UK population has listened to a podcast
• 42% of the UK 18+ population has listened in the last month
• 30% of the UK 18+ population has listened in the last week

2024 Ofcom data shows a lower number (50%) in the “has listened” bracket and 25% in the “regular listener” category.

Meanwhile, RAJAR’s most recent audio measurement report suggested that 34% of Brits listen to podcasts at least once a month and that 77% of podcast listeners in the UK enjoy between one and three episodes per week.

What Age Group Consumes Podcasts Most?

Men aged 25-34 make up the core audience of podcasting, according to data from Edison Research. They spend 16% of all of their audio time with podcasts.

Here are more age and demographic stats from Edison Research’s Infinite Dial Report 2025:

What do these Podcast Statistics Mean?

66% of 12 to 34 years olds consume podcasts on a monthly basis, while 38% of 55+ watch or listen at the same frequency.

Infinite Dial 2025

It looks like podcasting is a young person’s game! Proportionally, people in the 12 to 34-year-old age group enjoy podcasts more frequently than their older counterparts. Well more than half of all 12 to 34-year-olds consumed a show within the last month, which has even exceeded the 2021 pandemic boom.

The segmentation still shows a steep drop-off in the overall number of regular listeners once it hits the 55+ range (38% in 2025), but that number has also exceeded its 2021 high, so there are encouraging signs.

The 35-54 range has shown consistent growth for the past four years, too, climbing 16% since 2022.

Podcast Listening in Ages 55+

A study released in April 2023 by Edison Research and NPR found that podcasting has a largely untapped audience in the age 55+ demographic.

The new data reveals that while podcast listening has grown dramatically over the last five years overall, listening among “Baby Boomers” has not grown and is at a far lower level than younger demographics. According to the report from Edison Research and NPR, Boomers have the tools and the interest to listen, but increased education and targeting are required.

Hit Play, Boomer!

Men aged 55-64 spend only 4% of their total audio time with podcasts according to another report by Edison Research.

Kids Podcast Listening

A 2022 survey from Kids Listen reported that nearly half of all kids who listen to podcasts do so daily. Kids podcasts also show a high level of trust amongst parents compared to other mediums like TV and social media influencers.

Meanwhile, data in the Kids Podcast Listener Report from Edison Research suggests that 29% 6-12 year olds in the US are monthly podcast listeners, and that 87% of them have shared a takeaway or lesson with others.

Gen Z Podcast Listening

SXM Media’s Gen Z Podcast Listener Report examined the podcast listening habits of individuals aged 13 to 24 in the United States. The report, based on research conducted by Edison, reveals that 47% of Gen Z listeners have engaged with podcasts within the past month. Notably, this group demonstrates greater diversity compared to the overall monthly podcast listener base in the US. When it comes to discovering new shows, Gen Z podcast listeners primarily rely on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

According to a recent report from Spotify in the UK, Gen Z represents the music and podcast streaming platform’s most rapidly expanding demographic. In the first half of 2023, this generation has witnessed a remarkable 58% increase in year-on-year podcast plays. Additionally, 39% of these Gen Z listeners opt to listen at an accelerated playback speed.

Weekly Podcast Listener Stats

Just under 100 million Americans age 12 and older now listen to podcasts every week.

Infinite Dial 2024

With an estimated 34% of the US population listening to podcasts on a weekly basis, here’s a further breakdown of weekly podcast consumption.

Average number of podcast episodes listened to in a week:

• 8.3 – total weekly podcast listeners
• 9.5 – female weekly podcast listeners
• 7.2 – male weekly podcast listeners

Podcast fans consume over 8 episodes per week, on average, whilst female podcast fans consume between 9 and 10 episodes per week.

Infinite Dial 2024

What Day of the Week Do Podcasts Publish Episodes?

Wednesdays and Thursdays seem to be the most popular day for publishing podcasts, according to this 2022 report by Podchaser. The weekend sees a big dip in new uploads, with Saturday being the least popular day.

How Many Listeners Do Podcasts Get on Average?

This is the number everyone cares about: how do you compare to other podcasters? Here are stats from Buzzsprout, one of the biggest podcast hosting providers in the world, on how many listeners podcasts tend to get.

Here is your position, based on downloads per episode within the first seven days, as of April 2025:

• Top 1% of Podcasts > 4,615
• Top 5% of Podcasts > 1,106
• Top 10% of Podcasts > 472
• Top 25% of Podcasts > 115
• Top 50% of Podcasts > 30

So, if you get 30 listens per episode or more, you’re about the same as the middle-of-the-road average Buzzsprout podcast user, right at the 50% mark!

These stats give you a gauge of how your show stacks up against ultra-popular podcasts. But remember, podcast downloads are never the full story.

Here are the previous stats:

What are the Top Podcast Listening Apps? (What do People Use to Listen to Podcasts?)

Everyone has to listen somehow! But what listening app do people use to listen, whether mobile or computer-based? Apple Podcasts recently regained their lead on Spotify:

Apple Podcasts is the most popular podcast listening app (37.5%) (Via Buzzsprout).
Spotify is in 2nd place (33.2%)

Updated April 2025.

Here are the top 10, according to Buzzsprout’s podcast statistics:

Google Podcasts was killed off (rather slowly and painfully) by Google in 2024 and has finally stopped collecting listener data. This is a shame, as around 2% was still a respectable percentage of share, and it would’ve been an easy on-ramp for brand-new podcast listeners.

How Many People Listen to Spotify?

Spotify is a behemoth in the realm of online audio. Podcast listening has grown steadily on the platform these past few years, but streaming music is still what it’s best known for. 35% of people in the US (12+) have listened to Spotify in the last month.

• Up from 20% in 2018
• Up from 25% in 2020
• Up from 29% in 2021
• Stable at 35% from 2022 onwards

35% of people in the US (12+) have listened to Spotify in the last month

Unchanged since 2022

Infinite Dial 2025

What Devices Are People Using to Listen to Podcasts?

Long gone are the days of downloading podcasts on your computer and sticking them on your iPod. In this “internet of things” era, you could probably download an episode on your teapot.

The top 10 podcast listening devices as of April 2025, according to Buzzsprout.

1. Apple iPhone – 64.9% (down from 68.6% in Jan 23)
2. Android Phone – 22.8% (up from 18.1% in Jan 23)
3. Windows Computer – 5.5%
4. Unknown Device – 2.7%
5. Apple Computer – 1.6%
6. Apple iPad – 0.9%
7. Amazon Smart Speaker – 0.5%
8. Unknown Smart TV – 0.5%
9. Unknown Computer – 0.4%
10. Android Tablet – 0.1%

So, no teapots, then.

Yet.

What Is the Most Popular Podcast Genre in the U.S?

Edison Research announced the Top Podcast Genres in the U.S. for Q2 2022. The list ranks the most popular podcast genres based on audience size from Edison Podcast Metrics.

1. Comedy
2. News
3. Society and Culture
4. True Crime
5. Sports
6. Business (up from #7 in Q1 2022)
7. Arts (up from #8 in Q1 2022)
8. TV and Film (down from #6 in Q1 2022)
9. Education (up from #10 in Q1 2022)
10. Religion and Spirituality (down from #9 in Q1 2022)

In April 2023, Edison also published data suggesting that True Crime is the genre “most likely to place a show in the top 200”. Sounds Profitable’s Tom Webster expressed some legitimate concerns about how this data might be interpreted.

Podcast Ads & Advertising Stats

Podcasting is a big money industry these days, and it’s not all food hampers, mattresses, and socks.

Here are some statistics and data from the IAB’s U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study.

• For the first time ever, the podcast advertising market surpassed one billion dollars in 2021
• Revenues increased 72% YoY to $1.4B and are forecasted to exceed $2B in 2022 and almost triple by 2024 to over $4B.
• Revenues continue to grow faster than the total internet advertising revenue market – up 72% YoY vs. 35%. (IAB 2021 Internet Advertising Revenue Report)
• Podcast advertising categories are diversifying: the “Other” category—which contains an increasing number of ad categories with lower spend—more than tripled share in just two years.
• As advertisers demand surged, pre-roll advertising increased its share of revenue to 32% from 22% in 2020.

• Investments in ad tech made podcast advertising more digitally-enabled, expanding its capabilities and value for advertisers
• Dynamic ad insertion expanded to 84% of ad revenue, almost doubling in 2 years. Both host-read and announcer-read ads are largely being served via DAI (84% and 85%, respectively), creating greater scale, flexibility, and targetability for advertisers.
• Announcer-read ads continued to grow its share of ad revenue to 40% from 35% in 2020 as it enables efficient ad creation and deployment.

And these stats are from the IAB and PwC Digital Adspend report:

• Podcasting ad spend in the UK is up 23%, year on year.
• £58m in 2021
• £68m in 2022
• £83m in 2023

Which Podcast Formats Will Be the Most Popular for New Creators in 2025?

There are various podcast formats you can use for your show. Running podcast interviews was almost considered the default choice for many years. These podcast statistics suggest that the future may look a little different, however.

Data from our free Podcast Planner Tool suggests that 43% of new podcasters plan to release solo episodes. Is this a sign of post-pandemic remote call fatigue? Or are podcasters starting to realise that going solo is an optimal way to become the authority on their shows? Only time will tell.

What Audio Equipment Do Podcasters Most Commonly Use?

Finding the right podcast equipment is always exciting but can be daunting. So, what’s the most popular gear out there? In July 2024, we published our latest findings on podcast equipment statistics: The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024. Here are some of the top-line numbers based on responses to this survey.

The Blue Yeti is the most popular mic (16.6%) with the Samson Q2U in 2nd place (8.1%)

The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024

USB mics are the most popular (36.1%), followed by XLR (32.5%), and Combo (19.7%)

The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024

42% of people use a dynamic mic, 28% use a condenser mic, whilst 30% were unsure

The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024

More than 70% of podcasters record with headphones on

The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024

Do Podcasters Record Video Too?

In most cases, no! These stats are from the IndiePod Census 2023, where we asked about video podcasting:

Only 11% of respondents record video & publish the full episode

IndiePod Census 2023

32% of respondents don’t record video & have no plans to

IndiePod Census 2023

What Software Do Podcasters Use?

There’s definitely a big range of podcast software in use by podcasters, but one option commands the bulk of podcast editing and recording usage:

Audacity is the most popular podcast recording software (17%) AND the most popular podcast editing software (24%)

The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024

How Long are Podcasts, on Average?

If you’re trying to decide on how long your podcast should be, then it might help to get an answer to the question: how long is the average podcast?

The most common podcast length is between 20 and 40 minutes (30%)

Across all Buzzsprout Podcasts

Here are the stats from Buzzsprout, as of January 2025, drawing from 120,338 active podcasts:

• Less than 10 minutes > 20%
• 10 – 20 minutes > 16%
• 20 – 40 minutes > 30%
• 40 – 60 minutes > 19%
• Over 60 minutes > 15%

For comparison, here are the same stats going back to 2021. You can see that these numbers remain fairly consistent throughout, though the number of sub-10-minute episodes is slowly climbing.

Episode Length & Time Data From Over 1500 Aspiring Podcasters

Data from our free Podcast Planner Tool suggests that 53% of new podcasters plan to publish episodes that are between 20 and 40 minutes long.

How Often Does the Average Podcast Publish an Episode?

Similarly, if you’re asking, how often should I release my podcast, here’s what Buzzsprout’s Podcast statistics show about the average.

The most common podcast publishing frequency is every 8 to 14 days (39%)

Across all Buzzsprout podcasts

Percentage of podcasts and the frequency by which they release episodes:

• 0 – 2 days > 7%
• 3 – 7 days > 34%
• 8 – 14 days > 39%
• 15 – 29 days > 18%
• Over 30 days > 1%

Updated January 2025.

Release Frequency Data From Over 1,500 Aspiring Podcasters

Data from our free Podcast Planner Tool suggests that 55% of new podcasters plan to publish on a weekly basis.

How Do People Find New Podcasts to Listen To?

Let’s find out how listeners are actually finding new shows. These are the results of a discoverability survey we ran in 2024. According to our respondents, here is how they find new shows:

• 50% said they would open up their preferred podcasting app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, etc)
• 13% said they would listen out for recommendations on the podcasts they already enjoy
• 12% said they would directly ask someone they know who likes the same stuff
• 11% said they would use a search engine like Google or Bing
• And 10% said they would ask on social media or in an online community

This was one result from The Podcast Host Discoverability Survey. The report is essential reading for anyone who wants to grow an audience. It highlights the most effective areas to concentrate on when it comes to promotion and marketing.

We’re always looking to run interesting new surveys too, so if there are any specific podcast data you’d like to see here in future be sure to give us a shout!

Where in the World is Podcasting Growing Fastest? Podcast Population Stats

Voxnext released a set of podcast stats in 2019, which showed the countries in which podcasting is growing fastest. It makes for an interesting read:

Chile (83.9% growth)
Argentina (55.28%)
Peru (49.1%)
Mexico (47.84%)
China (43.62%)

Voxnest, March 2019

Reuters Digital News Report 2018 also reported that, in South Korea, 58% of people said that they listened to a podcast at least once a month.

Room For Growth

There are still massive growth opportunities for podcasting in certain countries.

India

In May 2024, Podnews shared data from The Podcast Pulse, the first-of-its-kind comprehensive report on podcast consumption in India.

Key findings from the report include:

• 82% of respondents were initially unaware of podcasts, highlighting a significant opportunity for awareness-building efforts.
• 78% of consumers discovered podcasts less than a year ago, indicating a recent surge in interest.

Japan

Japan is a country with lots of room for podcast growth. Though listening increased in 2022, overall uptake remains low at 15.7%.

With that said, one in three Japanese individuals aged 15-19 listens to podcasts monthly, making podcast listening as popular as TikTok consumption in the country. This 2024 data was published by Otonal in collaboration with The Asahi Shimbun Company.

Writing for Podnews in 2023, Guang Jin YEO takes an insightful deep dive into slow podcast growth in Japan, and what can be done about it.

Which Country Has the Highest Percentage of Podcast Listeners?

According to the Edison Research Infinite Dial 2023 Australian Audio Report, it’s Australia. The study highlights that 43% of Australians tune in to podcasts monthly, surpassing the US’s 42% figure. Additionally, a significant one-third of Australians engage with podcasts every week, outpacing the US’s 31% statistic.

And 2024 YouGov study examined the percentage of populations who listened to podcasts for more than one hour per week.

• Saudi Arabia 59%
• Mexico 48%
• Romania 47%
• Vietnam 47%
• Morocco 45%

Why Do People Start Podcasts?

People start new podcasts every single day. But why? Data in our recent Podcaster Cares Survey shows that the majority our respondents (38.4%) launch shows “as a hobby”.

Is the term “hobby” slightly patronising, though? Many “hobbyist” podcasters prefer to describe their endeavours as a “creative outlet”.

Other common reasons for starting are to build a personal brand (21%) and to grow a business (19.7%).

What Do Podcasters Struggle With Most?

Our Podcaster Problems Survey showed that the vast majority (47.7%) of our respondents get stuck on podcast promotion.

Ideas, scripting, and episode planning caused problems for 17.9%, whilst editing was the issue for 13.4% of respondents.

How Do Podcasters Measure Success?

The term “success” means different things to different people. Our Podcaster Cares survey revealed that the most common way responding podcasters measure it is through spikes in their download numbers.

Feedback from listeners, either via email or podcast reviews, was also shown to be something podcasters put a lot of onus on. The amount of ‘likes’ an episode gets on social was the thing that had the least impact.

Are Podcasters Concerned With Censorship & Content Moderation?

There are an increasing number of conversations about censorship and content moderation in podcasting. We asked about this in our Podcaster Cares Survey.

49.2% said that they were “concerned about harmful, dangerous, and misleading content in podcasting”, but felt that censorship was a “slippery slope”.

19.3% felt it was the responsibility of hosting platforms to “weed out harmful, dangerous, and misleading content”, whilst 17.4% believe this should be the job of the listening apps themselves.

14.2% don’t want to see any content moderation whatsoever, stating that “it’s nobody’s right to try and police podcasting for everyone else.”

What Organisations Are Collating Podcast Statistics?

The Infinite Dial report, a survey conducted by Edison Research and Triton Digital, is probably the most popular databank and survey on the state of Podcast industry statistics in the United States, especially audio. The Rajar Midas survey is the equivalent in the UK.

Infinite Dial has conducted phone-based surveys since 1998, including podcasts since 2006–that means since nearly the inception of podcasting, making this incredibly valuable data. The respondent pool of 1500 is composed of people aged twelve and over, weighted against the US census data for population, and split proportionally between landlines and cell phones.

Podcast Industry Statistics: References

I’ve drawn from a range of great sources of Podcast Industry stats in this article, including:

• Edison Research Infinite Dial 2025
• Rajar Midas Audio Survey Summer 2022
• The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2024
• The Podcast Host Discoverability Survey 2020
• The Podcaster Problems Survey 2021
• The Podcast Host ‘Podcaster Cares’ Survey 2022
• Reuters Digital News Report 2018
• Podcast Industry Insights courtesy of Daniel J. Lewis
• Buzzsprout Podcasting Stats
• Ofcom Podcast Survey April 2023
• Statista – U.S. Radio Industry – Statistics & Facts
• iab U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study.
• The Spoken Word Audio Report

It’s true that the best way to grow an audience is to create great content. But it’s rarely as simple as that. If you never do any podcast promotion, then it’s unlikely your show will fulfil its true potential.

Building a bit of marketing into your workflow from day one is advisable. There are loads of different ways to promote a podcast – some may appeal to you, others might not.

The aim here is that you can pick and choose the ones that feel like the best fit. With podcast promotion, there’s no silver bullet and no shortage of trial and error. But, armed with these tips, you’ll be ready to go out there and double, treble, or even quadruple your downloads – if you’re willing to put the work in.

Our ultimate guide to podcast promotion is a list of the various routes, strategies, and options gathered together in one place. You can pick a few and try them over time to see what works for you and what doesn’t.

And, because we love a framework, we’ve packaged our podcast promotion guide into one. It’s called SCALE

The SCALE Podcast Promotion & Audience Growth Framework

Each podcast promotion tactic in this guide falls into the following categories:

• S – Syndication
• C – Communities & Collaboration
• A – Advertising (Paid Promotion)
• L – Live & In-Person
• E – Email & Engagement

Are you ready to SCALE your podcast growth? Then let’s get into it…

Syndication

Be everywhere your audience listens and searches.

Submit Your Show Everywhere You Can

The beauty of running a podcast is that people can consume it on platforms you’ve never even heard of.

Once you submit your show to Apple Podcasts, it will appear in the vast majority of directories and apps out there. Then, Submit to Spotify, and you’re catering to the large chunk of users over there. The final place to consider is YouTube. You can put a podcast on YouTube even if you don’t record video, too, so this is definitely worth doing!

Optimise Your Website for Podcast Growth

A great podcast can still suffer from having a poor website associated with it.

Many podcasters limit their show’s growth by overlooking some low-hanging website-based fruit. You want to enable your audience and traffic to help you grow.

If you don’t have a home for your show yet, check out our ultimate podcast website guide, which covers the whys, hows, and wheres.

But here are some important things to consider right off the bat;

• Do you have an About page where you sell the benefits of why people should listen? What’s in it for them?
• Do you have a Subscribe page where you link to podcast directories like Apple, YouTube, & Spotify? You could even explain here why and how to subscribe to the show.
• Do you have a Contact page listing how folks can get in touch? Stick your email address and social media links here.
• Do you have a media kit page?
• Do you have social sharing buttons on your posts? You want to make it easy for your listeners to promote your episodes.
• Is your domain name descriptive or memorable and easy to spell?
• And does your site display properly on mobile and tablet?

Be sure to create a short promo trailer for your podcast and embed it on your homepage, too. That way, potential listeners on your site can get a taster of the show immediately!

SEO & Google Search for Podcast Promotion

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.

No matter how or where you set up your website, you now have a base to create searchable content that can rank and be found on Google, Bing, and the ever-evolving AI search and LLMs, where an increasing number of folks are finding their info.

If you’re using WordPress, the Yoast SEO plugin is a great tool for optimising your shownotes. It’s worth checking out this full guide on how to make your podcast SEO-friendly, too.

Of course, a huge part of this is your episodes’ actual names and titles, so how do we make the most of those?

Create Clear & Compelling Episode Titles

The way you title your episodes has a significant impact on your overall download numbers.

The worst thing you can do is to use a naming system like “Episode 6” or “The Whatever Podcast – Episode 6”. You don’t need your show title in there at all. And simply labelling content with numbers does nothing to tempt anyone to listen. It gives no hint of what’s on offer, so there’s no incentive to hit play.

Be as descriptive about the ‘hook’ of each episode as you can. It all depends on the content, but there are certain formats you can use to make clicking the play button irresistible. We go in-depth in our WHISPER TITLES Framework, and the following video will show you how to utilise them in your own topic or niche.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you should try to shoehorn these episodes if they’re not a good fit for your show. Just be as descriptive as possible. Let your target audience know at a glance this is the show they’ve been looking for.

For examples of ultra-descriptive episode titles, check out our show Pocket-Sized Podcasting.

Build Great Blog Podcasts Around Your Episodes

The blog post you write around each episode is also called your podcast show notes. The more detailed and helpful these are, the more they can work as stand-alone content to get your show in front of new people.

Add links to any tools or resources mentioned in your episodes, and Google will appreciate that, too. Some folks recommend copying full episode transcriptions into your show notes, but this content is often badly written – we talk very differently to how we speak, after all. Instead, it’s better to make your transcripts available elsewhere and clearly link to them in your shownotes.

Here’s our full guide to writing great podcast show notes for a deeper dive on that topic.

Communities & Collaboration

Grow through people, shared audiences, and strong fan culture.

Run Regular Audience Surveys

This isn’t a strategy for brand-new podcasters who don’t yet have an audience. But if you’ve been running a show for six months or more, you can get some invaluable growth insights from an audience survey.

Your existing fans can tell you a lot about your show. For example, how or where did they discover it? If many listeners find you in the same place or way, you can do more of it.

Likewise, if you’ve just spent $100 on an ad campaign and literally not one person discovered you that way, you can save yourself the money in future.

You can ask your listeners what things they like about the show. What topics do they like you to cover? What would they like to hear in future episodes? Give them a place to tell you all their likes and dislikes, and then tailor your content around that data going forward. It’s a lot better than trying to guess what your listeners want!

Sell Podcast Merch

Many podcasters see merch predominantly as a monetisation strategy rather than a podcast promotion tactic. And, whilst it’s true that it can be both, it’s usually more effective as the latter.

The vast majority of podcasters use third-party print-on-demand stores to create and sell their merch. This means that prices can be high and profit margins low.

If you run a merch store in this way, it’s worth selling stuff as cheaply as possible to maximise the amount of it out there in the wild. After all, every t-shirt, sticker, or mug with your logo is like a little billboard for your show.

Here’s our full guide to running a podcast merch store, as well as our podcast monetization roundup for more effective ways to earn some pennies from your show.

Collaborate & Cross-Promote

If other podcasters cover similar topics, you don’t need to see these shows as your competition.

It’s not like old-style TV, where folks had to watch one or the other. Podcast listeners subscribe to lots of different shows, and they’ll usually be based on similar subjects.

So, what active podcasts are putting out content for the same target audience as you? Why not draw up a list and reach out to the people behind them?

Here’s our full guide on podcast collaboration and cross-promotion, with 14 actionable tips.

Working together can help share your collective audiences, which will benefit everyone. Here are some top-level suggestions:

Swap Trailers

You might initially consider doing a ‘promo swap’, where you each play the other show’s promo trailer on an episode or two.

Create Content Together

You could look at collaborating on some podcast content. A common way of doing this is to co-host an episode together, which is then published to both of your feeds.

Build a Montage Episode

If you’re in touch with a handful of podcasters in your niche, you could also create a montage episode. This is where you reach out to them with a question and have them answer it in an audio form. Then, you piece these together into a single episode.

For example, a writing podcast might ask, “What’s your best tip for overcoming writer’s block?”. Or a health podcast might ask, “What does your morning routine look like?”.

Montage episodes are well shared amongst everyone involved. In turn, everyone’s audience gets a boost as a result!

Create Content for (Or About) Others

This follows from the collaboration angle and is also based on creating shareable content.

Guest Posting

A popular way to promote your podcast is to post a guest blog on a site with a similar target audience. With a guest post, you’re creating insightful and helpful content for their readers and, in turn, can link back to your own content.

Reviews

You can also create content that’ll be well-shared by reviewing a product or service you like. For example, if you do a cooking podcast and use a specific type of whisk, you could review it on an episode, then get in touch with the company that makes it and let them know. The chances are, they’ll share it with their own audience, many of whom will be interested in your show.

Guesting on Another Podcast

Another way of creating content for others is to be a podcast guest on their interview show. However, it’s not as easy as approaching someone and saying, “Hey, bring me on, please!”.

If you’d like to be interviewed on a specific podcast, give them a thorough proposal on what you can offer their listeners. What unique insights can you bring to the table? Personalise this to the show’s format and previous episodes. Only reach out to podcasts you’ve actually listened to.

You might even want to make your proposal in video rather than in written form. This will be much more likely to resonate with the podcaster. It’ll also set you apart from the many other requests they might get in.

Here are some useful tips on how to get booked as a guest on a podcast.

Advertising (Paid Promotion)

Use strategic spend to boost visibility and reach new listeners.

Pay to Advertise Your Show

If you’re a traditionalist, you might see podcast promotion as simply paying to get it in front of some new eyeballs (or ears!).

And advertising your podcast can be a great way to kickstart your growth if you have some budget behind you.

You can pay for podcast ads to promote your show in many places. It’ll always depend on your topic and audience, but these range from Google and social media ads to newsletters and print magazines.

One of the most effective ways we’ve found so far is on the podcast listening app Overcast. Here’s the lowdown (and our data) on Overcast advertising.

Other podcast apps offering ads include Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, and Podbay. You can find full details in our podcast advertising guide.

However, a creative “Guerrilla Marketing” campaign might be the best option for those with little or no budget!

Gain Visibility Through Financial Support

Just like the traditional advertising route of podcast promotion, you might be able to dedicate a small budget towards gaining extra visibility.

You could literally sponsor another podcast in your niche or wider topic. If done well, this could be a very effective way of gaining new listeners.

Some shows run Patreon accounts (other crowdfunding platforms are available), and rewards often include being mentioned on their episodes or websites. If you find a popular show with such a reward tier in your niche, you could chuck some money their way.

This route doesn’t only apply to other podcasts, either. Perhaps there’s a charity in your niche you could support? An example of this could be a tabletop wargaming podcast supporting a veterans’ charity. Or a writers’ show supporting an organisation that helps fund books for kids in socially deprived neighbourhoods.

Obviously, with charities, it’ll be more of a reciprocity thing than a direct transaction of money for promotion. You’ll need to be respectful here and keep in mind that this is an ongoing relationship rather than a service.

Live & In-Person

Create real-world connections that deepen loyalty and word of mouth.

Real World Podcast Promotion

Believe it or not, promoting your podcast away from the screen is possible!

For starters, are there in-person events in your area based on your topic? If you join a local club or society, you’ll naturally meet folks interested in what you do.

Are there any conferences or conventions happening in the next year? Why not inquire about running a booth or organising a session, panel, or workshop?

Finally, you can use the montage episode idea to promote your show in person with Vox pops. Vox pops are basically just clips of numerous folk answering the same question. You can record vox pops anywhere, from a dedicated event to out in the street.

If you go down this route, give each person you speak to a business card promoting your podcast. Let them know that this is where they’ll hear the finished piece. Most of them will be keen to check it out!

Email & Engagement

Build lasting direct relationships and drive listener action.

Embrace Email Marketing

When we ran our podcaster cares survey, 40% of respondents agreed that “any serious podcaster must run an email list”.

If you’re a “serious podcaster” and don’t, though, there’s no need to go on the defensive about this. If you’ve no time or enthusiasm for email marketing, then it’s better not to do it.

However, if you can muster the time and motivation, email is a great way to keep in touch with your listeners.

“But I already do that with my podcast episodes” is a valid answer. The thing about audio, though, is that CTAs are tricky. Often, our listeners are busy doing other things whilst we chat to them in their earbuds. Very few are looking at their screen or in a position to immediately click any link.

So, an email list can act as the perfect complement to your show. You can use it to mail out your show notes or any other offers, competitions, or sales you’re currently running.

If you’re interested in setting up or improving your email marketing strategy, our full guide has you covered!

Optimise Your Calls to Action (CTAs)

Finding new listeners is a huge part of this podcast promotion guide. But one place you certainly will find your target audience is at the end of each of your episodes. Those loyal folks who listen right to the end are your biggest fans, and they’ll be willing to help you out if you ask in the right way. That means honing in on your Calls to Action.

Two of the most common podcast promotion mistakes are;

1. to overlook those who are already listening
2. to waste your Calls to Action

Even if you’ve ‘only’ 20 regular listeners, those 20 people can help you reach a much bigger audience.

You can give your Call to Action (CTA) at the end of each episode. You’ve served the listener with great content, and they’ve really enjoyed and benefited from it. Now, you can ask them for a small favour.

Many podcasters ask for reviews because they think that’ll help the podcast grow. Sure, they can be great social proof, and we’ll talk more about that shortly. But don’t focus exclusively on reviews in your CTAs.

Instead of constantly urging your audience to review your podcast, try some other CTAs that could make more of an impact. A great place to start is by asking your audience to recommend the show to one friend they think would enjoy it.

You could even make an engagement-forward game out of it: ask your fans to recommend your podcast to a friend directly on social media and tag your show in the post. Then, thank that listener in your next episode!

Podcast Promotion on Social Media

Social media may seem like the most obvious place to promote your podcast. But if all you do is post, “Hey everyone, check out my podcast!” then you’ll be another meaningless voice amongst a very loud noise.

If you want to use social media for your podcast (and, by the way, you don’t have to!), then pick a few where you think your audience is most likely to hang out. In What’s the Best Social Media Platform for Podcasters, Kristina gives the lowdown on each app, from Twitter/X and TikTok to Pinterest and Reddit.

Facebook isn’t the goliath it once was, but its ‘groups’ feature can still be an excellent place to find or create communities around your topic or niche. If you can contribute to these in a way that’s positive and helpful to others, your podcast can find new listeners as a result.

You can also use micro-content to run effective Facebook ads. Or, you might opt for a platform like Instagram to pay for some potential traffic. But I’d recommend starting with a very small budget and only investing more if you see promising results.

Promoting a podcast on WhatsApp is also a thing, and joining or running a Discord community offers all the benefits of social media without algorithm-led issues and distractions.

In terms of the content you create for social media, most of these platforms now lean heavily into video, so let’s take a look at that…

Create Shareable Videos

Audio is notoriously hard to “go viral” because it’s long-form and non-visual. A good way to make your audio more shareable on platforms that cultivate short attention spans is to turn it into short video clips. Traditionally, the most popular way of doing this was with Audiograms, but creating video (especially ‘Shorts’) has become simpler and more accessible in recent years,

Perhaps the most innovative and fun approach here, though, is to have a clip from your show turned into a cartoon. We tried that with our show Hostile Worlds a while back, and got a really nice response.

Text-Message Marketing

Text-message marketing is similar to email marketing, though arguably a lot more personalised. You’ve probably had a marketing text from your local gym, hairdresser, or takeaway shop before, and you can use that same technology to grow and engage your podcast audience with regular updates and unique offers. Check out our full guide to text-message marketing to learn more.

Use Podcast Reviews As Marketing Material

As mentioned earlier, podcast reviews can be great social proof for your shows. Here are some tips and tactics for getting more podcast reviews. Once you actually have a few, you can start sharing them, too.

This is much better than telling people how great your show is – now, you have others to do it for you.

There are still some tactful and elegant ways to share your reviews on any platforms you’re active on. Even bad podcast reviews can be used humorously as part of your podcast promotion toolkit.

You can use podcast reviews on your website or on your podcast merch. You can even grow your podcast by writing podcast reviews for other shows!

Ready to SCALE Your Podcast Growth?

Hopefully, that’s given you plenty of ideas and tips for drawing up your own promotional strategy. Combine these approaches with creating great, unique content, and you’ll be well on your way to running a successful podcast.

Remember, if you haven’t done so already, check out our article on what’s a good number of downloads for a podcast. Setting realistic goals and expectations is important to avoid disillusionment with your show.

And, if you’d like some real-world examples and case studies of indie podcasters promoting and growing their shows, check out the following Podcraft episode…

Top Promo & Growth Lessons From Successful Indie Podcasters

Read article called: Top Promo & Growth Lessons From Successful Indie Podcasters

Finally, be sure to join us in the IndiePod Community, where you can discuss your latest growth plans and strategies with an enthusiastic group of like-minded podcasters. We’d love to see you in there!

You can pour time and energy into creating the best content humanly possible. But if you don’t put a bit of thought into the naming of that content, you’re going to limit its overall reach and impact severely.

So, how do you come up with good titles for your episodes? What considerations are there? And are there any “rules” to be aware of?

It Starts With Your Episode Content

One way to prevent the name of your episode from becoming an afterthought is to have a clear plan and aim behind your content.

For example, some of the most effective types of episode titles are things like “how to…[do something]” or “7 tips for… [achieving something]”.

These kinds of episodes have their titles in place before they are recorded. It’s all part of the planning.

So, if you’re doing things like lists, comparisons, reviews, or case studies in your episodes, then the titles are basically going to write themselves.

If it’s an interview or a monologue, though, you might need to retrospectively decide what the most valuable part of the episode was, and create your title around that.

The WHISPER TITLES Framework

We created the WHISPER TITLES framework to help give examples of compelling episode titles, but it quickly became a source of infinite content ideas, too. How many of these could you rework for your own topic or niche?

W – “What” or “Why” Titles

Spark curiosity or offer clear explanations.

Why Some People Always Seem Lucky
What No One Tells You About Building Wealth

H – “How to” Titles

Provide actionable, step-by-step advice.

How to Launch a Business with No Money
How to Wake Up Early Without Feeling Tired

I – Insider Titles

Offer exclusive, behind-the-scenes insight.

Inside the Mind of a Billionaire
Inside Apple’s Product Design Process

S – Secrets Titles

Reveal hidden truths or little-known strategies.

The Secret to Lasting Happiness
The Hidden Truth About the Stock Market

P – Problem-Solution Titles

Tackle a pain point and offer a fix.

Struggling with Anxiety? Try This
Feeling Stuck? Do This One Thing

E – Emotion-Driven Titles

Tap into strong emotions or shared experiences.

The Heartbreaking Truth About Burnout
Why No One Talks About the Dark Side of Success

R – Results-Oriented Titles

Focus on transformation or measurable outcomes.

Get Fit in 30 Days Without a Gym
Master Any Skill in 10 Hours or Less

Subscribe or follow Podcraft on your listening app of choice!

T – Trending & Timely Titles

Leverage current events, pop culture, or timely insights.

Why AI Will Replace 80% of Jobs
The Biggest Fashion Comeback of the Decade

I – Intrigue & Mystery Titles

Create suspense and curiosity.

The One Thing That Will Make or Break Your Career
The Hidden Connection Between Wealth and Happiness

T – Top List Titles

Use numbers for easy-to-digest tips or rankings.

7 Habits of Highly Successful People
10 Simple Ways to Improve Your Memory

L – Life-Changing Titles

Suggest dramatic transformation or impactful advice.

Life-Changing Lessons from a Monk
The Power of Saying No

E – Expert or Contrarian Takes

Challenge the norm or present authority insights.

Everything You Know About Dieting Is Wrong
What If We’ve Been Wrong About Success All Along?

S – Storytelling Titles

Share relatable personal journeys or experiences.

How I Went From Broke to Millionaire
The Unexpected Journey That Changed My Life

Target Audience, SEO, & Keywords

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) isn’t simply about choosing a title for your episode. It’s about deciding what your episode will be about, and why.

When planning your next batch of episodes, think about your potential audience – the podcast listeners who haven’t discovered your show yet. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What sort of terms are they searching for?
2. What questions are they seeking answers to?
3. How are you positioned to help them?

Make it clear in your episode titles that this is precisely what they’re looking for. Remember, it’s not “clickbait” if you deliver on your promise in the episode.

Podcast directories are essentially just search engines, so make sure your titles are the sort of things that’ll appear in a search on that topic. It helps to add the odd relevant keyword or two, but don’t go overboard into the “keyword stuffing” realm.

Of course, your podcast episodes aren’t limited to being found in listening apps, either. If you run a website or publish your episodes on YouTube, then that’ll go a long way to helping your show’s discoverability, too.

Test Your Titles: What Do Listeners Love?

There’s no need to guess how effective your titles are in the long run. By looking at what existing listeners are already hitting play on, you’ll know how compelling they’ll be to potential listeners.

Looking over your stats will show you at a glance how many people are hitting play on or downloading each episode.

You can compare individual episodes with others released in the same period and look for patterns. Check to see if certain types of titles perform better than others.

For an even deeper dive, you can look at your Apple Podcast Connect data to get a sample of listener completion rates for your episodes.

If your compelling titles are doing a great job enticing people to hit play, but nobody is listening for very long, it’s possible you aren’t delivering on what listeners feel you’re promising them. If that’s the case, you might need to rethink how you introduce each episode and get to the main topic quicker.

Should I Put Guest Names in My Episode Titles?

Adding a descriptive title to any non-fiction podcast episode is good practice. But what about interview shows? Should you add the name of the guest to your title?

If your guest is “famous” (even within your niche), this is beneficial as folks might search their name for the content they’ve been involved in. You can still get a bit of description in there, too. For example:

Taking aaaaages to finish a book series, with George R. R. Martin

Or

Meghan Markle on how to monetise your podcast on Spotify

But, after publishing these two episodes, you’ll face a dilemma next time you have a guest nobody has ever heard of. John from next door might have an interesting topic, but will he get offended if his name doesn’t make it into the title? These are the tricky “no right answer” decisions you sometimes have to navigate in podcasting.

What About Non-Industry Podcasts?

This advice so far is definitely geared towards “industry” podcasts. But there are a lot of other types of shows out there, too.

If you run a fiction podcast or a more experimental type of human interest series, for example, then these literal titles won’t necessarily work for you.

With this branch of podcasting, most listeners discover their favourite shows through means other than search. Word of mouth, audience relationship, and community building will be more important than episode titles here.

Of course, it’s still a good idea to get certain keywords related to your content in there over time. For example, if your show has a Lovecraftian theme, then the odd nod to the Cthulhu Mythos in your titles won’t do you any harm at all.

Overall though, you have a lot more creative freedom here than someone who podcasts help and advice topics as an industry leader or content marketer.

How Long Should My Podcast Episode Titles Be?

Just like your episodes themselves, shoot for “as long as it needs to be, and no longer”.

Consumption takes place on a vast number of different podcast listening apps. These apps vary with how many characters in your title they’ll show before cutting it short.

If your title exceeds around 60 characters, then you’ll start to find it cut short on certain apps, so that’s a good ballpark length to shoot for.

3 Podcast Title Best Practices

• 60-70 characters (avoids cutting off in apps)
• 6-10 words (sweet spot)
• Front-load value (important words first)

Laying Out Your Podcast Episode Titles

Some things are worth avoiding when typing out your title in your podcast hosting account.

First up – leave your podcast’s name out of your episode titles. This is redundant and wastes valuable space.

Also, avoid pre-loading your episode titles with numbers or codes. If you want to put these in, put them at the end.

Here are some examples (good and bad) of how we could lay out the title of an episode of our own show, Podcraft.

Let’s say the episode topic is our top 10 USB mics for podcasting.

Good Examples of Podcast Episode Title Layouts

• Top 10 USB Mics for Podcasting
• What Are the 10 BEST USB Mics for Podcasts?
• 10 of the Best USB Mics for Podcasting
• Our Top 10 USB Mics for Podcasters in 2025

Not-So-Good Examples of Podcast Episode Title Layouts

• Episode 25
• Episode 25 | Top 10 USB Mics for Podcasting
• Podcraft Episode 25 | Top 10 USB Mics for Podcasting
• PC025 – Top 10 USB Mics for Podcasting

Case Study: Pocket-Sized Podcasting

Another show of ours, Pocket-Sized Podcasting, gives listeners one short sharp tip every single day of the week. The episode titles don’t leave anyone guessing what’s being covered.

AI-Generated Podcast Headlines

Unsurprisingly, many AI tools for podcasters can offer a helping hand when writing podcast episode titles or even when coming up with new content ideas.

You’ll find a deeper dive into this in our Best ChatGPT Prompts for Podcasters guide. But, Katie observed there, that:

What’s really interesting about ChatGPT’s response to this prompt is that it didn’t just produce title ideas, but also gave me some inspiration about the direction I’d want to take the episode in.

Summary: Podcast Episode Titles

So naming your episodes really shouldn’t be complicated. Here are the key takeaways to keep in mind:

• Create content your target audience will find valuable.
• Title it so it shows up clearly in search.
• Don’t waste space – be as succinct as possible.
• Avoid putting episode numbers, your podcast series name, or the word “Episode” in there. Unless it’s at the end.
• Monitor your stats over time to see how various titles are performing.
• And if you’re a non-industry podcast, you can be much more creative with your titles. If your show is good, people will discover it in other ways.

Need More Help With Your Podcast?

If you’re looking for more direct support or guidance, remember to check out the Podcraft Academy, where you’ll find courses, podcast feedback tools, and a bunch of downloadable checklists and resources to keep you moving forward. We’d love to work with you in there!