Anchor guarantees to help podcasters monetize their shows through a feature called Anchor Sponsorships, which launched in November 2018 in the US.
This happened just months before Spotify developed the company to meet a milestone of 140 million dollars.
You can easily create an , distribute it and monetize your free of charge.
With uploading tools to make publishing that much easier, you have the option to distribute your content to some of the biggest listening apps outside Spotify – that already has millions of listeners in the world.
Anchor believes that everyone should share their voices, and that’s why they made it completely free for anyone anywhere. Get your on Spotify at any level.
Table of Contents
Best for Beginner or New Podcasters
Anchor’s tagline is “ made easy” and emphasizes that it’s one of the easiest hosting platforms to use stated on their website.
The platform is equipped with built-in uploading, recording, and editing tools to better your episodes without getting confused in the content publishing process.
Distribute your to all major listening apps globally with a couple of clicks to expand your .
Keep in mind episodes will publish immediately on the Anchor app, but it could take up to 6-10 days for listening apps to have your podcast up, which is not great if you like to stay on a weekly schedule for your uploads.
Integrated Plugin
Anchor does not currently have a WordPress plugin. However, you can manually embed an audio player into WordPress using the code. Then, paste the code into the designated field of your website.
Editing
Anchor also provides editing software for your episodes on iOS and Android devices. This means you can trim or split your audio to edit any unwanted parts like offensive language or gaps in speech.
This is so handy as you won’t have to download additional software and import your Anchor files to edit your podcast.
Storage Limits
Files cannot exceed 250MB when you upload. Disclaimer: using a WAV file may be difficult to work with that’s longer than 15 minutes.
Bandwidth Limits
Furthermore, Anchor provides an unlimited amount of bandwidth. It is assumed Spotify is covering these expenses on the bandwidth bill themselves.
Time Limits
- No time limit for episodes. You can record as many segments as you like. However, Anchor recommends limiting episodes to an hour for listeners to stay on board.
- Solo recording. When doing web recording on Chrome, it has a limit of 30 minutes. Web recording on Safari: 5 minutes maximum. On mobile recording, it has a limit of up to 2 hours.
- Recording with friends. 2 hours maximum of recording time if collaborating with a friend in an . A side note: the longer an is, the more probable a connection or technical issue could happen during the recording.
- Voice messages have a limit of up to 1 minute – as any longer isn’t necessary. You can still have full-on conversations through messages and add them to your altogether.
Is it supported by video?
Anchor is not video supported as it’s created by a music and listening Spotify. Just ensure that your file doesn’t exceed a limit of 250MB and that it is in one of the following supported file types:
- mp3
- m4a
- wav
- mpg
Once you finish recording your audio through Anchor, it will process and be stored in your library.
hosts can always record a video version of the and upload it to their website or on a video platform such as YouTube.
Statistics
- IAB 2.0 certified metrics. Receive insightful directly from Spotify in one dashboard
- geolocation. Engagement tracking to help plan your goals around your best content the engages in most.
- Demographical statistics. breakdowns on age, gender, and listening apps to learn about your listeners on Spotify to better your content for the audience’s needs.
Listing/Integration into P Directories
Supported by a one-click distribution through Anchor’s . Listening distribution apps are equipped with RSS readability to process the code onto their . Plus, Anchor does this whole process for you.
Anchor will distribute your episodes on the following apps:
- Spotify
- Breaker
Other directories include Castbox, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic. As a bonus, if you know how to copy and paste your RSS code onto other websites not listed above, you can distribute your content yourself.
Add Spotify Songs to Your Episodes
Anchor has a music tool that allows you to add your Spotify songs to your podcast. This is great if you have a music podcast and want to include snippets or even whole songs for your listeners to hear.
This is also a great tool if you want to use a snippet of a song for the introduction theme song to your podcast. Any episodes that you included with Spotify songs will need to be reviewed before being published on Spotify.
Monetization
Anchor allows users to make money from their podcasts through monetization. However, this is only currently available to US creators.
Anchor does take a 30% cut from your monetization along with the Stripe service fee, which is $0.25, which would be quite a large chunk if you’re trying to use your podcast as a serious form of income.
People with larger or growing audiences tend to gain the most sponsorships and therefore make the most money. CPM is around $10-15, so you’ll need a few thousand downloads of your episodes to make some cash.
There is also a feature on Anchor called Listener Support, which allows your audience to set up a monthly donation to support your podcast.
User Impression/Reviews
Overall, Anchor has been rated 4.5 stars. An Anchor user stated that it makes it easy to start a This started in 2006 and was “spoiled” by how easy Anchor makes it in 2021.
It helped improve efficiency in recording, distributing, and monetizing has gone up at least 80%.
However, they wish it would allow two to share the same account for ad revenue.
Other podcasters agreed they liked how Anchor distributes their completed episodes to Spotify and other platforms for free.
Although there are some slight connection and compatibility issues, it is easy to create content in the form of for businesses and networking, which can build brand traction.
Another review stated they’ve been doing for a decade, and there’s never been an easier process than what Anchor offers.
If you’ve never done one ever, they are certain that you’ll find it intuitive and awesome.
They wish there were a few more metrics available to see.
What’s It Lacking?
Anchor is limited in its capabilities to provide full metrics and analytics of your episodes if you automatically distribute across various platforms. Anchor shows you how many downloads you have on an episode, and that is just about it.
You also won’t have access to Apple’s Podcast Connect, which allows you to monitor how many people listen to the complete episode and where and when people click off from the episode.
Analytics like this allow you to improve your podcast and get a general idea of what content people enjoy from your shows to hopefully increase your audience.
Other podcasting platforms allow you to have closer analytics into where your listeners are coming from and what apps they’re using to listen to your podcast.
One other major limitation to Anchor is that it only allows you to attach your episodes to one category to be found by users.
This is a huge letdown for creators who discuss various topics across episodes and try to draw in as big an audience as possible.
Current Pricing
Start for free. No monthly or annual fees. Just put your content out there to maximize your listeners to gain their financial support.
Supporters do not need to be signed into an Anchor account to subscribe to your channel. Your anchor profile allows listeners to donate monthly without an account.
Anchor gives listeners the option of paying $0.99, $4.99, or $9.99 a month.