Anchor is one of the most popular podcast hosts out there. But, if you are looking to host your podcasts, it is encouraged to do your research about other similar alternatives too. Let's look at some of them right now.
Top 10 Anchor Alternatives
The popularity of podcasts is steadily reaching its peak, as the sole idea of just listening to a piece of audio, whether educational or entertainment has intrigued most of us. But, the process behind developing a podcast is a lengthy one. Besides creating content, and narrating it clearly, one has to host a podcast on some platform. This enables them to upload the podcasts to major platforms like Spotify, iTunes, etc.
Anchor is one such platform that allows you to edit, and host your podcasts online. But, if you are looking to host your podcasts, it is encouraged to do your research about other similar alternatives too. Let's look at some of them right now.
1. Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is one of the most popular hosting platforms, used by more than 100,000 podcasters. And another plus point is that Buzzsprout is one of the few companies that offer a free plan including unlimited team member accounts.
Key Features of Buzzsprout -
- This platform allows its users to embed a podcast player right onto your website.
- An easy-to-understand dashboard that uses an algorithm to display the number of listeners each of your episodes receives within the initial 90 days of release.
- An impeccable audio quality, with an additional podcast transcription offer as an extra add-on.
Pricing -
Now, let's discuss the pricing, depending upon the plan you need. You can avail of different features from different pricing ranges. They are,
- Free - Upload 2 hours each month.
- $12/ month - Upload 3 hours each month, and unlimited storage.
- $18/ month - Features above, plus, upload 6 hours per month.
- $24/ month - Features above, and upload 12 hours each month.
2. Listnr
Listnr is one of the most recently released podcast hosting, and transcription platforms. One of the main goals of Listnr is to make it easier for you to upload a podcast onto all the popular listening platforms.
Key Features of Listnr -
- Embeddable player and accurate analytics.
- Allows you to record HD and 4k Podcasts easily with separate and uncompressed participant tracks.
- Creates a custom podcast page for your podcast show.
- Allows you to monetize your podcast.
Pricing -
- Free ($0 forever) - 1 Podcast Show, 5000 downloads/mo
- Alpha ($19/ month) - Unlimited podcast shows, unlimited episodes, up to 4K video recording, monetization, and one-click publishing on Spotify and iTunes, and Google Podcasts,
- Beta ($49/ month) - All the features of the Alpha plan + 150GB storage + 6 HD recording hours and 6 transcription hours.
- Omega ($99/ month) - All the features of the Beta plan + 150GB storage + 6 HD recording hours and 6 transcription hours.
3. Spreaker
Spreaker is the go-to platform for beginners, who are just getting started as podcasters. One of the unique features of Spreaker is that it connects podcast creators, listeners, and even advertiser's in a single platform.
Key features of Spreaker -
- Allows podcasters to enable a content management system, where the new episodes will be distributed, automatically to all the major listening platforms.
- Enables users to manage multiple podcasts under a single account.
- Assists in setting up a monetization scheme strategically.
- Allows users to collaborate and a podcast.
Pricing -
Free - 5 hours of audio storage.
On-Air Talent ($5.50/month) - Up to 100 hours of audio storage.
Broadcaster ($16.50/month) - Up to 500 hours of audio storage.
Anchorman ($41.25/month) - Up to 1,500 hours of audio storage.
4. Transistor
Transistor provides a top-notch service that already hosts some of the most popular podcasts like Honey Badger, Drift, and Cards Against Humanity. Transistor also provides a built-in analytics system.
Key Features of Transistor -
- Allows unlimited hosting.
- Provides an interface to manage multiple users from a single master account.
- Automatically distributes your podcasts to all the major listening platforms like Spotify, iTunes, etc.
- Provides advanced analytics and statistics.
The key difference between Transistor and other platforms is that the analytics dashboard here displays stats like the number of subscribers, average downloads per episode, and even downloads over a certain amount of time.
Pricing -
- Starter Plan ($19/ month) - Provides unlimited podcasts, and 10,000 downloads per month.
5. PodBean
PodBean is one of the highly recommended platforms, as they have been in the podcasting hosting field for over ten years. The average count of users in PodBean exceeds 500,000.
Key Features of PodBean -
- The free plan offers around 5 hours of storage.
- Enables dynamic ad insertion.
- Automatically posts to social media like Facebook and Twitter.
- Features a mobile app.
Pricing -
- Basic ( Free plan ) - 5 hours of storage.
- Unlimited audio ( $9 / month ) - Unlimited storage, pro themes, and offers advanced design.
- Unlimited plus ( $29/ month) - All of the features of the Unlimited audio plan, in addition to dynamic ad insertion.
- Business ($99/ month) - Features above, plus private podcasts, and multiple domains.
6. Simplecast
As stated on their website,
"From your first listener to your first million, Simplecast provides powerful tools needed to manage, distribute, share, and grow your podcast."
It has certainly lived up to it. Simplecast powers some of the most popular brands like Nike, Facebook, and HBO.
Key Features of Simplecast -
- Offers one-click publishing.
- A fully functioning website.
- Offers advanced tools.
- Multiple team members through a single account.
Pricing -
- Basic Plan ( $15/ month) - Unlimited storage, two members per account, and 20k downloads per month.
- Essential Plan ($35/ month) - All the features of the basic plan, plus, analytical tools, 50k downloads per month, and addition of chat support.
- Growth Plan ( $85/ month) - All features of the previous plan, plus a total of 9 users per account, and 120k downloads per month.
7. Captivate
Captivate is a recently launched podcast host, whose main goal is to increase the number of podcast audiences.
Key Features of Captivate -
- An unlimited number of podcasts.
- Unlimited team members
- An advanced dashboard to display analytics.
- Comes with inbuilt marketing tools.
Pricing -
- Podcaster Plan ($19/ month) - Up to 12,000 downloads per month.
- Audio Influencer Plan ($49/ month) - Up to 60,000 downloads per month.
- Podcast Brand Plan ( $99/ month) - Up to 150,000 downloads per month.
8. Castos
Castos is a fully-functioning podcasting plugin built for WordPress users. One of the pros of Castos is that the process of adding podcasts onto your website has been made extremely easy.
Key Features of Castos -
- Features auto transcription, where you can add your audio files within minutes.
- Automatic republishing to YouTube.
- Offers customizable podcast websites.
- Analytics tools provided.
Pricing -
- Starter ($19/ month) - Unlimited storage.
- Growth ($49/ month) - Above features, plus YouTube republishing, and even custom-designed audiograms.
- Pro ( $99/ month) - All the features of the Growth plan, plus, an advanced analytics toolkit, and video file hosting.
9. Podcastics
Podcastics is known for its highly interactive and intuitive dashboard. When you get started, you can easily set up your podcast details within a few minutes.
Key Features of Podcastics -
- Offers multiple users within a single account.
- The podcast analytics include day and hours, and locations.
- Offers podcast editing tools.
- Live streaming feature.
- Can easily schedule episodes.
Pricing -
Podcastics offer a total of five plans, out of which, all plans offer unlimited episodes and even unlimited bandwidth.
10. Fusebox
Fusebox is a hosting platform built by the famous podcaster, Pat Flynn.
Key Features of Fusebox -
- Offers email captures.
- Comes with a transcript plugin that automatically adds transcripts to your website.
- A user-friendly analytics dashboard to keep track of the number of listeners, and other details.
Pricing -
- Fusebox free - Up to 10,000 monthly views, and only up to 3 free shows per account.
- Fusebox Pro ( $15.83/ month) - Up to 100,000 monthly views, and an unlimited number of shows on a single account.
About Ananay Batra
Founder and CEO @ Listnr Inc