Acast: Podcast Hosting Review

Acast is a podcast hosting platform that suits every podcaster’s needs. According to their website, this platform is the real home of podcasting and the perfect place to create and publish your work.

You can get your voice out there in a couple of steps through creation and distribution tools.

Founded in 2014, Acast is described as a fully integrated, fast-growing podcast marketplace worldwide. The team is composed of audio fanatics with flourishing offices from New York to Paris and from Stockholm to Sydney. They are just as passionate about delivering the best products as they are about creating successful entrepreneurs.

And if you want to know how Acast can help you make the most of your content, read on!

Table of Contents

Key Features:

  • Easy to use
  • Create and publish directly to apps like Spotify, Apple podcasts, and Amazon Music
  • Acast helps you find the right monetization strategy – make money through advertising, sponsorship, or your listeners.
  • Easy audio to video converting – share your podcast on social media.
  • Audience targeting with artificial intelligence. Launch your podcast to reach the right audiences by context
  • Insights and data tracking – understand your marketing strategy and see how your podcast is growing.

Best for Advanced Podcasters

If you’re looking for a podcast hosting service that gives you advanced analytics and monetization features, Acast is the choice for you.

On top of the basic podcaster tools, including hosting, audio players, and RSS feeds to distribute to major platforms, you receive unique audio-video features (audiogram) and audio campaigns to build an engaging listening experience for your listeners. Receive AI-powered analytics to get the most detailed audience insights to grow and increase monetization within your podcast.

With more established brands, the pro plan offers even more monetization and marketing support to gain audience engagement to increase chances of funding your podcast show.

Integrated Plugin

Unfortunately, Acast does not offer an integration plugin. However, embedding a player into your website has never been easier. Simply copy and paste in your RSS feed URL, and Acast will move all the media to their robust servers.

Acasts modern and simplified audio podcast player can be embedded on any site. As a plus, it will match the theme of your website with its neutral and elegant look.

Storage Limits

The good news, there are no limitations! Enjoy unlimited episodes and downloads for every plan. Whether you are just starting your podcast or have been producing episodes regularly for years, Acast can support your content. Sounds great, right?

Bandwidth Limits

Acast provides access to 20,000 shows with 265MM listens each month. And the great thing is there are no time limits on how long an episode should be, so you can podcast as long or as little as you want.

While it is undoubtedly an excellent service with many advantages, there are a few downsides. One of these is that the platform is not video-supported. As a team of audio experts, Acast focuses instead on creating high-quality recording tools and features for podcasters.

Additionally, when you share your podcast, the Acast team recommends uploading 128 kbps MP3 files to get the highest recorded audio quality. They also support MP3 and M4A files in mono and stereo. 

Listing/Integration into Podcast Directories

Want to grow your podcast audience and reach more listeners? If so, then you need to publish your show on the most popular podcast apps and directories. Acast allows you to do just that!

Grow your audiences in the following directories:

  • Apple podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Acast
  • Amazon Music
  • Breaker

 Other popular streaming platforms available are Castbox, Google Podcasts, Overcast, and pocket casts.

 Advanced Features

Acast is one of the leading podcast hosting platforms, with a wide range of advanced features that make it a popular choice for content creators.

With Acast, you’ll be able to:

  • Supply your audio, or the Acast team will supply you
  • Get sponsorships. Brand messages are carried through unique voices!
  • Produce branded content. Create branded content with an existing podcast or an entirely new podcast series
  • Insert ads. Generate more income through dynamic ad insertion to your podcast track
  • Share your episodes directly to social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or your website
  • Create an SEO-optimizable website. It is customizable, so you can always change the theme to portray your podcast episodes.

User reviews

One user stated that podcasting is hard work, but it’s a relief to have a team like Acast who can help them acknowledge and field significant opportunities. They’re excellent partners.

Another review stated that Acast is not only a bunch of good, intelligent, like-minded people with great taste; they’ve also been incredible, supportive partners during their podcast launch. These podcasters wouldn’t be where they are now without them, and they recommend them to any podcaster.

Some user experiences were more on the negative side.

 This user switched to Acast to replace an app with poor sound quality. According to them, the search facility isn’t the greatest, though. There are not enough categories, so there’s no way to search for fiction of any kind, nor within fiction.

Another user reported Acast to be very glitchy and annoying. They only had it for a few weeks but have had to uninstall and install it several times. Also, this user kept getting warnings when the app was not in use that it was not working. Another thing they found irritating was not being able to look at the list of episodes when you’re listening to a podcast, and it’s tricky to go back.

Current Pricing

  • The Starter plan is free, with basic analytics and a basic podcast website.
  • The Influencer plan is $14.99 per month with advanced features.
  • The Ace plan is $29.99 per month with additional advanced features.
  • Acast’s pro plan: Eligible for more established podcasters. This pro plan includes premium hosting, monetization features, and marketing support.

Final Words

In conclusion, Acast is a hosting platform that offers plenty of resources for your podcasting journey. It’s easy to use and provides various tools and features that meet the needs of all types of creators.

The website provides an array of stats, metrics, and analytics tools to track your show’s success and find ways to improve its performance over time. And with strong support for social media promotion, there are plenty of opportunities to engage with your audience and attract new listeners!

So if you’re looking for a user-friendly podcast hosting site that can help take your content to the next level, Acast is worth checking out.