{"question": "best podcast hosting platforms for small businesses", "category": "podcast-hosting-platforms", "category_name": "podcast hosting platforms", "audience": "small-businesses", "audience_name": "small businesses", "engine": "Claude (Anthropic) with web search", "model": "claude-opus-5", "asked_at": "2026-10-01T00:26:56Z", "permalink": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/s/podcast-hosting-platforms-small-businesses-2026-10-01", "question_page": "https://bikoosh.com/answers/q/podcast-hosting-platforms/small-businesses", "brands_named": [{"position": 1, "brand": "Buzzsprout", "label": "recommended"}, {"position": 2, "brand": "Spotify", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 3, "brand": "Transistor", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 4, "brand": "Captivate", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 5, "brand": "Ausha", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 6, "brand": "Podbean", "label": "mentioned"}, {"position": 7, "brand": "Libsyn", "label": "mentioned"}], "sources_cited": [{"url": "https://www.thepodcasthost.com/websites-hosting/best-podcast-hosting/", "domain": "thepodcasthost.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://riverside.com/blog/best-podcast-hosting", "domain": "riverside.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.podcastengineers.com/blogs/podcast-hosting-compared-2026/", "domain": "podcastengineers.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://www.stackscored.com/pricing/podcast-hosting/", "domain": "stackscored.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://costbench.com/software/podcast-hosting/buzzsprout/", "domain": "costbench.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://alitu.com/creator/content-creation/best-podcast-hosting-platforms-made-simple-2025-guide/", "domain": "alitu.com", "source_type": "other"}, {"url": "https://learn.g2.com/best-podcast-hosting-platforms", "domain": "learn.g2.com", "source_type": "review"}], "answer_text": "## My picks, in the order I'd actually recommend them\n\n**1. Buzzsprout** - My default recommendation for most small businesses. The dashboard is genuinely beginner-proof, distribution to Apple/Spotify/etc. is one-click, and the free tier (2 upload hours/month, episodes expire after 90 days) lets you test before paying. Paid starts at $18/mo ($15 annual). Downside: it bills by *upload hours*, not downloads, so a high-volume show is cheap but a long-episode show gets expensive. Great support and tons of documentation if you're the only person handling the podcast.\n\n**2. Transistor** - Best if you'll run more than one show, which is very common for businesses (a customer-facing podcast plus an internal/private one). Every plan includes unlimited podcasts and unlimited storage, and billing is by downloads: $19/mo for 20k, $49/mo for 100k, $99/mo for 250k. It also handles private/team podcasts well, which matters for internal comms or paid/gated content.\n\n**3. Captivate** - Pick this one if the podcast is explicitly a marketing channel. It's built around growth: trackable links for sponsors and affiliates, email list capture, calls-to-action on episodes, custom playlists to surface your", "answer_truncated": true, "measurement": "One answer from one engine on one date. Not a ranking and not a claim about the world; brands the engine did not name are not recorded.", "limitation": "Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included.", "alerts": {"name": "Answer Watch Pro", "price_usd": 79, "period": "month", "gets": "daily change alerts for up to 5 brands in what one AI answer engine says, history, CSV export. Coverage: Claude (Anthropic) with web search. Other engines not included", "url": "https://bikoosh.com/answers"}}