Podbean Vs Simplecast Vs Buzzsprout: Which Is Better For You? [2021]

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Are you trying to decide which podcast hosting to choose? Podbean or Simplecast or Buzzsprout? Which one is more suitable for you?

In this article, I am going to share with you all the information you need to decide which podcast hosting platform is better for you and your business. 

How To Choose The Right Podcast Hosting

So, how do you choose your podcast hosting?

First of all, you need to know what you need before you can decide what podcast hosting the most suitable for you.

Here is a list of questions you can ask yourself to get clearer on what you need from your podcast host:

• Are you hosting the podcast show by yourself or are you going to have team members?
• Are you hosting a single podcast show or are you planning to have multiple podcast shows?
• How often are you going to publish new content and how much content do you think you will publish every month? ( e.g. if you plan to publish new content every day, you will need a lot of storage for your podcast)
• Are you planning to monetize your podcast? (e.g. if yes, you are going to need monetization tools from your podcast host)
• What is your budget for podcast hosting? 

Once you know what you need, the next step is to compare the features and the pricing plans between Simplecast and Buzzsprout and see which one suits your podcasting needs better. 

Essential Features That Any Podcast Host Should Have

Before we go on to compare Simplecast with Buzzsprout, let’s look at the essential features that your podcast host should have:

• Easy-to-use dashboard to upload and publish your podcast episodes
• Distribution to all podcast directories ( i.e. does it make it easy to get your podcast listed on all the places your audience listens in, such as iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify?)
• Embeddable Players (i.e. does it offer an embeddable player? so that you can embed your podcast on your websites and offer audio content to your website audience)
• Podcast Analytics (i.e does it provide you with comprehensive statistics (e.g. downloads and trends, listener geography, top 10 episodes, etc) on your podcast so that you can track how your podcast is performing over time?)
• Monetization ( i.e. does it make it easy for you to monetize your podcast with advertising or selling premium podcast content?)

There are of course additional cool features that are offered by both Simplecast and Buzzsprout, and we will talk about that in detail later on. 

Depending on your podcasting needs, you can decide if you really need those additional features. 

Additional Factors You Should Consider While Choosing Your Podcast Hosting

So, what other things do you need to look at when you are trying to choose the best podcast hosting for you?

• Storage Capabilities (i.e. does it offer unlimited audio or does it set a fixed monthly upload limit on your audio content?)
• Customer Support (i.e. how good is their customer support? what kind of support does it offer? email or live chat?)
• Reviews (i.e. how is its online review?)
• Pricing (i.e. what pricing options are there? Is the price competitive?)

Simplecast Podcast Hosting

Simplecast has been around for more than 7 years, and it’s a podcast technologies company at its core. 

As a podcast technology company, it has one of the industry’s most robust audio streaming infrastructure–delivering millions of minutes of audio content every single day.

So, you know that your podcast show is guaranteed to be up and running any time your listener wants to stream it.

What’s more, Simplecast is trusted by some of the world’s biggest technology companies such as Facebook, Twitter, McAfee, and Shopify to host their own podcasts.

One-Click Publishing

Simplecast is still the easiest way for podcasters to publish audio to the world.

With just one-click, you can publish and distribute your podcast episode to iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify or wherever your audience listens.

Embeddable Player

Simplecast offers you one of the most beautiful, robust, and intelligent web players available.

It allows you to embed either a single episode or an entire show which consists of multiple episodes.

Also, it makes it super easy for you to put it on your website and across social media.

More importantly, Simplecast can tell you information such as your listeners’ listening speeds, share points, and drop-offs.

Custom Podcast Website

If you don’t want to create a separate website for your podcast, here’s the good news.

Simplecast allows you to use its site builder to create a website quickly and easily without knowing a single line of code.

You can customize everything from theme colors to pages.

Plus you also get your custom domain for your podcast for branding.

Best of all, it’s mobile-friendly and optimized for search engines. 

Recast

Recast is a new podcast sharing and discovery tool which allows you and your listeners to share custom clips of your episodes on social media.

As a podcaster, you will find it very useful to promote and market your new show.

For your listeners, it’s also a very easy way for them to interact with your show and share their favorite show with their friends on social media.

Simplecast’s Pricing

Simplecast offers three paid plans:

• Basic at $15/month or $13.5/month if billed annually (Unlimited Audio, 2 Team members, Multiple Shows & Email Support)
• Essential at 35/month or $31.5/month if billed annually (Unlimited Audio, 4 Team members, Multiple Shows, Podcast Analytics, Email & Live Chat Support)
• Growth at $85/month or $76.5/month if billed annually(Unlimited Audio, 9 Team members, Multiple Shows, Advanced Podcast Analytics, Email & Live Chat Support)

All these paid plans allow you to have multiple collaborators and host multiple shows from one account. 

What’s more, all give you unlimited audio, so you don’t have to worry about paying extra for exceeding the upload limit.

So, what’s the difference between these three plans?

The key difference between the basic plans and the more expensive plans is you pay more to add more team members and advanced podcast analytics and live chat support. 

If you are just starting out, the basic plan is more than good enough for your podcasting needs.

Try out Simplecast and get a 14-day free trial (no credit card required)

Here’s a special promo code just for my audience: ONSIMPLECAST.

When you use this special promo code, you get 50% OFF the first two months on Simplecast. 

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Buzzsprout Vs Simplecast

So, which podcast hosting is better for you, Buzzsprout or Simplecast?

Both Buzzsprout and Simplecast offers you the following essential features:

• Easy-to-use dashboard 
• customizable player 
• Podcast statistics
• Custom podcast website

Now, is there any difference between Buzzsprout and Simplecast?

Yes, there are a few key differences.

First of all, Buzzsprout offers a free podcast hosting plan (i.e. upload 2 hours of content every month for 3 months, after which all your files will be deleted unless you upgrade) while Simplecast offers a free 14-day trial.

But, if you are serious about podcasting, then either free podcasting plan or free trial doesn’t really matter.

Simplecast offers unlimited audio for all its paid plans while Buzzsprout puts a fixed monthly limit on audio content and you have to pay extra if you want to upload more audio content. 

Also, Simplecast allows you to host multiple shows and have multiple team members while Buzzsprout only allows you to have multiple team members. 

In terms of functionality, Simplecast, as a podcasting technology company, has a more robust audio streaming infrastructure that gives you 99.9% uptime guarantee. 

So, you don’t have to worry about anything and just focus on podcasting.

Also, Simplecast has this very unique podcast sharing and discovery tool which allows you and your listeners to share custom clips of your episodes on social media.

If you want very detailed and comprehensive podcast analytics, then Simplecast has all the data and statistics you need. 

On the other hand, Buzzsprout only gives you basic Podcast analytics. 

In terms of pricing, Buzzsprout only offers monthly plans while Simplecast offers both monthly plans and annual plans.

The cheapest plan on Buzzsprout starts at $12/month with 3 hours of audio content every month ($4 for every additional hour of content upload) while Simplecast’s cheapest plan starts at $15/ month with unlimited audio, unlimited shows, and multiple team members.

In terms of customer support, Buzzsprout offers only email support for all its paid plans while Simplecast offers email support for its cheapest plan but you will get live chat support with its Essential (35/month) and Growth plans (85/month).

So, If you are planning to host multiple podcast shows and have multiple team members, I highly recommend Simplecast because it gives you the best value for money with its unlimited audio.

Try out Simplecast and get a 14-day free trial (no credit card required)

Here’s a special promo code just for my audience: ONSIMPLECAST

When you use this special promo code, you get 50% OFF the first two months on Simplecast. 

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Podbean Vs Simplecast

So, which one is more suitable for you, Podbean or Simplecast?

Both offer you all the basic things to start your podcast and promote your podcast.

Also, like Simplecast, Podbean podcast hosting has been around for many years and it’s trusted by more than 360,000 podcasters including some well-known brands such as IBM, Stripe, J.P Morgan, and DHL.

So, is there any difference between Podbean and Simplecast?

Yes, here’s are a few key differences between them.

In terms of functionality, Podbean offers you a lot of very powerful podcasting tools that Simplecast doesn’t have.

For example, it allows you to do video podcasting on its platform. 

So, if you want to try video podcasting, you can do it with Podbean.

What about live audio streaming?

You can do that too with Podbean.

With live audio streaming, you can not only take listener calls and get real-time comments, but you can also earn virtual currency from ticket sales and gifts.

On top of that, Podbean has an app audio recorder which makes it super easy for you to record, edit, and publish podcasts right from your phone.

Plus, it’s designed to make you sound great, so you can record and publish your podcast on the go worry-free.

Lastly, Podbean offers you a lot of monetization options which Simplecast doesn’t have currently:

• Podcast Advertising (i.e. either connect you with potential advertisers or allow you to dynamically insert ads in your podcast)
• Get paid for premium podcast content with subscriptions or single-episode sales 
• Get recurring, monthly donations from fans of your podcast

But, that’s not to say Simplecast has nothing special about it. 

It has a more robust podcast analytics platform which provides you with much more insight and data on your podcast than Podbean. 

Also, it has a podcast sharing and discovery tool called “Recast” which allows you and your listeners to share custom clips of your episodes on social media.

But overall, I would say that Podbean is a much more powerful podcasting platform than Simplecast.

In terms of pricing, both of them offer monthly and annual plans. 

Podbean’s cheapest plan starts at $14 monthly (or $9/month if billed annually) with unlimited audio and unlimited storage. 

On the other hand, Simplecast’s cheapest plan starts at $15 monthly (or 13.5/month if billed annually) with multiple podcast shows, multiple team members, unlimited audio and unlimited storage

So, which one should you choose?

If you are planning to host only one podcast show and you are hosting it by yourself, then Podbean’s basic annual plan is the best choice for you because it gives you the most value for money and you can do so much more with Podbean platform.

Try out PodBean and get a 30-day free trial now (No credit card required)

Which Podcast Hosting Should You Choose?

If you are planning to host multiple podcast show and/or have multiple team members, then I recommend Simplecast‘s basic plan at $15 monthly (or 13.5/month if billed annually) because Podbean only offers multiple podcast shows and multiple team members for its most expensive plan at $99/month.

So, it’s definitely much more affordable to go with Simplecast.

What’s more, Simplecast offers unlimited audio, unlike other podcast hosts which set a fixed monthly limit on the audio content you can upload and you have to pay extra if you exceed it. 

Try out Simplecast and get a 14-day free trial (no credit card required)

Here’s a special promo code just for my website audience: ONSIMPLECAST.

When you use this special promo code, you get 50% OFF the first two months on Simplecast.