Podbean vs Buzzsprout: The Ultimate Battle Of 2024!

When it comes to two of the leading podcast hosting providers, the debate between Podbean vs Buzzsprout is never-ending! 

Podbean and Buzzsprout are one of the leading podcast hosting platforms with robust functionalities. However, with cut-throat similarities between them, it can be challenging to find the right hosting provider. After all, you are investing time and money when choosing your hosting provider. 

One wrong move in choosing a podcast hosting provider can affect your results drastically. So, you may want to focus on deciding your ideal hosting provider between Podbean and Buzzsprout. 

Since we have spent time gathering information from experienced users, we decided to compare both hosting providers based on all the crucial factors. The comparison will remain unbiased and help you understand what Podbean and Buzzsprout offer clearly. 

So, let’s get into the detail below and see who wins the title of best podcast hosting provider!

Podbean is offering a FREE Trial!

Claim it right now to enjoy Podbean Premium for Free 🤑
Click on the button below ↓

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Key Differences

Here are the key differences between Podbean and Buzzsprout.

  • Podbean offers a 30-day free trial, whereas Buzzsprout offers a 90-day free trial.
  • Podbean offers a mobile app that you can use to listen to podcasts and also record your own podcasts as well. But Buzzsprout does not offer any mobile app.
  • Podbean integrates with Alexa, which allows you to share your podcasts across all Alexa devices, so your reach will also increase, whereas Buzzsprout does not offer this integration.
  • Podbean offers an in-built live-streaming feature, whereas Buzzsprout does not offer a live-streaming feature.
  • Buzzsprout offers unlimited storage on all of its plans, whereas Podbean does not offer this facility.

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Overview 

Before we dive into our in-depth comparison of Buzzsprout and Podbean, let us give a quick overview to understand both hosting providers better. 

Podbean Overview

Podbean is one of the leading podcast hosting and monetizing platforms that offer exceptional hosting plans. With over ten years of experience, Podbean currently has over 600,000 users. Additionally, Podbean allows you to create and publish your podcasts with its beginner-friendly user interface. From analytics to live streams, you can enjoy plenty of tools, regardless of genre and size. 

PodBean vs Buzzsprout- PodBean Overview

Buzzsprout Overview 

Buzzsprout is another popular podcast hosting provider with thousands of users. Since its launch in 2008, Buzzsprout has been catering to beginners, entrepreneurs, and business needs with robust tools. With affordable pricing plans, you can create podcasts, publish them, and market them to reach a wider audience. Furthermore, it offers a 90-day free trial, so you can test Buzzsprout without paying a single dollar! You can check, the Buzzsprout voucher to get a $20 Amazon gift card.

Buzzsprout Overview

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Key Features 

Now that you have an idea about Buzzsprout and Podbean let us look at key features and what each one offers. 

Podbean Key Features

  • Comprehensive Podcast statistics to help you track how your podcast is performing. 
  • Embedded social sharing tools to promote your podcasts. 
  • Excellent monetization tools. 
  • Free podcast websites with cutting-edge and mobile-responsive templates. 
  • The Podbean mobile app allows you to publish and create your podcast from anywhere. 
  • Live streaming to expand your podcast with live audio shows. 
  • Schedule and publish your podcast episodes from your phone. 

Buzzsprout Key Features

  • Magic Mastering to filter audio files and optimize them. 
  • Automatic episode optimization to ease your burden. 
  • Dynamic content tools. 
  • Transcription to convert your podcast into blogs. 
  • Excellent podcast player for your podcast website. 
  • Easily manage various podcasts with team members. 
  • Excellent analytic tools to track your podcast’s performance. 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: User Interface

Another crucial aspect to consider is the user interface. If the platform doesn’t offer a user-friendly interface, there are chances that you will waste your time understanding the interface. Therefore, you need to have an easy-to-use interface to save time and focus on your podcasts. 

Podbean User Interface 

Podbean offers a beginner-friendly user interface that does not need you to be tech-savvy. Starting with the signup process, the procedure is simple and quick. Although the user interface of Podbean may not be the most intuitive, the user interface is easy to navigate. All the main components are visible once you sign up or log in to your account. 

PodBean User Interface

You can view the dashboard, settings, statistics, layouts, episodes, publish, and more options on your screen. You can easily navigate through all the options with a click of a button. Overall, the interface is straightforward with a simple design that doesn’t take long for users to understand and get started. 

Buzzsprout User Interface 

Beginning with the start-off process, Buzzsprout offers a simple signup process. As soon as you sign up, you get plenty of resources that give you a brief idea about Buzzsprout. These guides and resources are excellent for beginners to understand how to create podcasts and get the most from them. Coming to the user interface, we must admit that Buzzsprout provides a clean, easy-to-navigate, and aesthetic interface. 

Buzzsprout User Interface

The interface is divided into three parts, with all the tools and options easily available on your screen. Due to this reason, Buzzsprout remains an excellent choice for beginners who need a quick and easy-to-use user interface. 

So, when it comes to the user interface, Buzzsprout beats Podbean

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Podcast Website Creation

If you do not have a website already, creating one is essential. Both -Podbean and Buzzsprout lets you create websites without any hassle. Let us look at what each one offers in detail below. 

Podbean Website Creation

Irrespective of your plan, Podbean offers free website creation where you get mobile-responsive and beautiful designed templates explicitly made for podcast websites. You can customize every aspect of your website with its beautiful designs. You can choose from various themes, both free and paid. Additionally, if you opt for the paid plan, you get a custom domain and advanced customization options. Lastly, you can view real-time changes to see how your website will look to your visitors. 

Buzzsprout Website Creation

Buzzsprout, on the other hand, also allows you to create your podcast website along with a custom domain. You can also choose your website’s background image and color to focus on personal branding. However, when it comes to customization, Buzzsprout stays behind Podbean. You do not get advanced customization options like Podbean, making Podbean a better choice for people who want to build a robust podcast website. 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Monetization And Advertising

Whether you are starting a podcast for your hobby or starting with the aim of earning money through it, having monetization and advertising features from your hosting platform can make a significant difference. 

Podbean Monetization and Advertising 

Podbean has plenty of monetization features to help you make money from your podcasts. You can decide which monetization feature works the best for your podcast. It lets you publish premium podcasts where you can post unlimited premium podcasts. Your audience can purchase your content through premium podcasts within a few clicks. 

PodBean Monetization and Advertising

Additionally, you can listen to your podcasts through the Podbean advertising marketplace. The marketplace is free for Podbean users and enables you to connect with potential advertisers. You can run ads to maximize your revenue from your podcast business. Lastly, you can publish patrons-only podcasts for your fans to support you with rewards and donations in a few minutes. 

Now, when it comes to advertising, Podbean provides robust marketing tools to help you reach your podcast to your targeted audience and grow your audience. The social media auto-sharing option allows you to share your podcasts on other social media platforms. It also allows you to distribute your podcasts on the platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more. Other features include embedded players and Amazon Alexa to make your voice heard globally. 

Buzzsprout Monetization and Advertising

After all your efforts to create the perfect podcast, you may want to monetize your podcast to make a handful of money. Luckily, Buzzsprout understands the importance of monetization, which is why it grants you access to an affiliate marketplace to collaborate and match with affiliate programs. Moreover, if you want a suitable sponsor for your podcast, Buzzsprout has partnered with Podcorn. 

Buzzsprout Monetization and Advertising

Regarding advertising, Buzzsprout allows you to publish your content on all the leading podcast directories, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Castro, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more. Publishing your podcast on various platforms will let your voice reach millions of people and help you earn a significant income from your podcasts. Sounds amazing. Doesn’t it? 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Integrations 

While there may be plenty of features offered by Buzzsprout and Podbean, having access to third-party integrations that let you add more functionality to your podcast can help you. So, let us take a quick look at the integrations offered by both platforms. 

Podbean Integrations 

Podbean offers email integrations with Mailchimp. Through this integration, you can collect the email addresses of users and email them whenever you release a new podcast. There are also plenty of free and paid third-party integrations that Podbean supports. These integrations include Article Amplifier, Dropbox, SEO Meta Tags, Google Analytics, Popcorn, Vokal Studio, and more. 

Buzzsprout Integrations 

Buzzsprout integrates with some of the prominent podcast tools to piece everything together. The audio transcripted feature is paid, starting at $0.25 for every minute. Although it may be expensive for many users, it is excellent for SEO to reach more audiences and convert your episodes into blogs. In addition, you get access to a free WordPress podcast plugin. More integrations include Hindenburg, Chartable, Podtrac, and more. Lastly, if you are tech-savvy, you can access Buzzsprout API for additional integration options. 

Clearly, Podbean beats Buzzsprout when it comes to integrations. 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Analytics and Statistics 

Getting insights about how your podcast is performing can help you significantly. Therefore, when looking for the right podcast hosting provider, focus on the analytics and statistics aspects. With that, let us check out the analytics and statistics of both platforms. 

Podbean Analytics and Statistics 

Podbean offers comprehensive statistics for your podcast that will help you track your podcast’s performance. Understanding download numbers and how well your podcast is performing for your audience is essential. Therefore, Podbean lets you see the downloads and shows you the recent trends. 

PodBean Analytics & Statistics

In addition, it summarizes your top 10 podcasts that are performing well with your audience. You can also view the geographic location of your audience to help you understand what kind of content you should create. Furthermore, you may want to know what time and day is right to publish your podcast, so Podbean provides data where you can view what time and day your podcasts had the most downloads. Additional analytics and statistics features include user retention, user agent charts, and more.

Buzzsprout Analytics and Statistics

Buzzsprout also offers advanced analytics and statistics features to help you track the progress of your podcast, even in the free plan. You can understand your audience and create strategies that help you grow your podcasts. Some of the features of Buzzsprout’s analytics include which application people prefer to listen to your podcast, the geographical location of your listeners, and total download. 

Buzzsprout Analytics & Statistics

However, if you take an overall look at the analytics and statistics, we believe both the hosting providers work equally well. 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Mobile App

There are many podcast hosting solutions that offer mobile apps so that podcasters can record, publish, or edit their podcasts. They can also listen to their or other people’s podcasts directly from their mobile devices. Let’s consider whether Podbean and Buzzsprout offer mobile apps or not.

Podbean Mobile App

Podbean offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. The name of Podbean’s mobile app is Podcast Player App, where you can enjoy millions of podcasts worldwide. You can discover, listen, and personalize your listening preferences. You can also record & publish directly from their mobile app. You can also promote your podcasts on the Podbean app for a specific price.

Podbean Mobile App

Buzzsprout Mobile App

Buzzsrpout does not offer any mobile app for mobile devices yet. We can hope they will release a mobile really soon.

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Customer Support 

No matter how easy the platform may be, you may encounter specific issues. However, having a support team ready to help you whenever you get stuck will help make your podcast hosting experience hassle-free. So, let us look at both platforms’ customer support below! 

Podbean Customer Support

Podbean offers one of the best customer support to its users. You can directly contact customer support by filling up the form. Once you fill out the form with all the information, Podbean will assign the right person to solve your query. Additionally, the platform also provides an in-depth support center with plenty of video tutorials and articles on various topics. From monetization and setting up to getting started, you can find articles related to almost every aspect of Podbean.  

Furthermore, you can also join Podcast academy to learn about how to start a podcast. You will find reliable methods to become a successful podcaster. Lastly, Podbean provides live events where you can learn directly from prominent podcasters worldwide. 

Buzzsprout Customer Support 

If you ever get stuck, you can contact Buzzsprout’s customer support team through email. Once you email the customer support department, they will respond to your query. Moreover, you can find resources, including blogs, articles, guides, and FAQs, to solve minimal queries on your own. They also provide free video tutorials and a podcast community. 

However, customer support of Podbean is better than Buzzsprout since it lacks support options. 

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Pricing 

Having an affordable podcast hosting solution is crucial. You do not want to spend your money only to get disappointed in the end. So, let us take a look at the pricing plans of Buzzsprout vs Podbean. 

Podbean Pricing: 

PodBean Pricing Plans
Podbean PlansPricingBest for
Basic$0Beginners who need a free podcast hosting solution. 
Unlimited Audio $9 per month. Best for audio podcasting
Unlimited Plus $29 per monthBest for video podcasts and monetization
Business$99 per month. Best for business podcasts 

Note: Podbean offers a free trial of seven days on all the plans. Once the seven days trial ends, you will be charged the regular subscription fee. However, there is no money-back guarantee or refund policy by Podbean.

Buzzsprout Pricing 

Buzzsprout PlanPricingBest for
Free$0Beginners who need to start with their podcasts
Premium Plan$12 per monthBest for beginners who need additional features
Premium Plan$18 per monthIdeal for people who need 6 hours of uploading hours
Premium Plan$24 per monthBest for experienced users with 12 hours of upload

Podbean vs Buzzsprout: Pros and Cons 

Now that we are coming to the end of our post let us summarize all the pros and cons of Podbean and Buzzsprout quickly. Do they have more cons than pros? Let us compare them below! 

Podbean Pros and Cons 

Podbean ProsPodbean Cons
Free basic plan No refund policy
Affordable pricing plans Users need to sign up to comment
Free website builder with all the plansUsers must create an account to subscribe
Podbean app for iOS and Android
Free migration to Podbean 
Extremely easy and beginner-friendly 

Buzzsprout Pros and Cons 

Buzzsprout ProsBuzzsprout Cons
Clean interface No free website builder
All plans come with unlimited storage Customer support only through email
90 days free trial! Lack of customization option for website
No credit card or contract neededNo video hosting feature with audio hosting
Allows you to create multiple podcasts with a single account

Who Should You Choose Podbean?

After comparing Buzzsprout and Podbean side by side, it is clear that Podbean offers additional features that Buzzsprout lacks. Therefore, Podbean is the ideal solution for beginners as well as experts. If you are just starting with podcasts, you can opt for the free plan from Podbean. It can help you understand Podbean’s features and determine if it is the right option. Moreover, when it comes to customer support, Podbean offers excellent customer support that Buzzsprout lacks. Lastly, the free plan of Podbean offers 5 hours of upload, whereas Buzzsprout’s free plan offers only 2 hours of upload. 

Overall, Podbean is the right choice for anyone who needs an industry-leading platform with all the features. 

Who Should You Choose Buzzsprout?

Buzzsprout, on the other hand, also offers robust features. Buzzsprout is the ideal solution for anyone who needs a reliable hosting solution. Compared to Podbean, the user interface of Buzzsprout is user-friendly and clean. However, it lacks customization options. But overall, it may be the right choice for anyone looking to kick-start their podcast to reach their targeted audience! 

Final Verdict On Podbean vs Buzzsprout (2024)

Now that we have reached the end, you probably have an idea of what each of these hosting providers offers. Both the platforms are best in their way and provide powerful tools to help you create and publish podcasts without any hassle! 

Ultimately, the ideal podcast hosting provider between Podcast and Buzzsprout depends on your needs, budget, and what features you are specifically looking for in your host. Once you have a clear idea about your needs, you can select the best one! Irrespective of the hosting provider you pick, you will have a hassle-free experience!

We hope this comparison was helpful in understanding the differences. Let us know which podcast hosting provider you choose in the comment section below!

FAQs On Podbean vs Buzzsprout

Is Podbean better than Buzzsprout?

Podbean and Buzzsprout both offer excellent tools and features. It would be unfair to declare one hosting provider better than the other. So, the best podcast hosting provider between the two depends on the individual’s needs and the features they are looking for. 

Is Podbean ideal for beginners with no experience?

Absolutely! Podbean provides plenty of tutorials and resources to help you get started with podcasts and master the art of creating the best podcasts. The user interface is also beginner-friendly, so you do not have to worry about navigating through the interface. 

Does Podbean allow you to earn money through podcasts?

Yes! Podbean provides a live streaming feature where you can accept virtual gifts from your listeners. Additional features of monetization are also included with each plan. 

Is Buzzsprout reliable for my podcasts?

Buzzsprout has significant experience and is trusted by thousands of people globally. It is definitely a reliable hosting provider that allows you to host your podcasts without any hassle. 

About The Author

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top