PodBean Podcast Hosting Review

Podbean is focused on podcast publishing and monetization, which provides free and advanced hosting plans for newbies and businesses. Podbean offers an easy and clean interface that incorporates publishing, management, syndication, and analysis tools into simple podcasting packages.

This hosting platform service allows podcasters to publish and market their content in a modern blog-like setting. Podbean’s embed and sharing functions allow publishers to integrate podcasts into their own websites, blogs, and social media pages, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, and WordPress, to expand their audience.

The Podbean app is compatible with iOS and Android. The app is equipped to play podcasts on Amazon Alexa products for quality listening.

This is an excellent option for podcast listeners to enjoy their favorite podcasts anywhere, at any time. Podcasters can also record and publish episodes right from the Podbean app.

Table of Contents

Best for Beginneror New Podcasters

Podbean is best for beginners, and new podcasters, thanks to its easy navigation. No difficult technology to learn while uploading or creating podcast episodes.

Get your podcast up and running with a few quick steps. Podbean keeps things simple, so you can focus on creating the best podcast content. 

Integrated Plugin

There is no integrated plugin for self-hosted websites. However, Podbean sticks to its promise of delivering easy usage for all podcasters. To embed a podcast on a WordPress website, copy and paste the URL onto a blog post in WordPress.com.

Storage Limits

5 hour limit for the free plan. Unlimited storage for all paid plans. This enables podcasters at any level to have the utmost freedom of content creation for their listeners – beneficial for business podcasters to make more money.

Bandwidth Limits

100GB Monthly. Unmetered bandwidth for all paid plans.

Time Limits

Is video supported too?

Podbean supports video podcasts, best with the Unlimited Plus plan.

Statistics

Podbean provides industry-leading podcast statistics so you can track how your podcast is doing and get insights into your audience.

  • Retention and hourly stats
  • Episode downloads comparison
  • Stats overview in a graph
  • User engagement tool

Listing/Integration into Podcast Directories

Podbean podcast hosting distributes your podcast to all destinations: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, the Podbean Podcast App, and more. Get your podcast heard by people all over the world.

Grow your audience in:

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • Google podcasts
  • Podbean App

And more. Upload to social media including Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Youtube.

Advanced Features

Premium content: a powerful podcast monetization tool to offer top-tier functionality to sell podcast content. Premium features include:

  •  Customizable. Choose specific content to monetize. Your Podbean dashboard tells you how to sell it and set pricing for an ongoing series of episodes or any podcast package.
  • Easy access. Listeners can buy content while listening in the Podbean app. To access, customers can access purchased content securely within the Podbean app anytime.
  • Unlimited premium channels. Can create and market as much premium content as needed to sell. There are no costs for storage limited downloads as fees are only taken as a percentage of the sales you make.
  • Sell more. In-app purchases help you make more money from listeners, as 20% of buyers tend to spend more on in-app purchases.

Enterprise: prepares podcasts for top corporations, organizations, and educational institutions. Enterprise features include:

  •  Mobile training and marketing. Reach larger audiences from podcast updates to each of the targeted group’s and roles
  • Unlimited flexible features. Connect through Podbean APIs to receive the custom made features on your podcasts needs
  • Reliable and faster. Reliable hosting as the episodes will run on secure and stable networks.
  • Manage and collaborate. The ability to collaborate with multiple admin levels allows the team members to contribute helpful ideas.

User Impression/Reviews

Reviews on Podbean have a 4.5 rating. A user stated they began podcasting almost two years ago. Starting, they used another hosting site that didn’t satisfy their podcasting needs. PodBean is insanely easy to use.

Whether you’re a new podcaster or a seasoned veteran, you’ll be publishing episodes quickly with many customizable options.

The team explains every step, and you can use up to 10 hours with their free plan (upgrades are available in the paid plans). There are ways to monetize your podcast for business creators, and the app has unique features that they have never seen on other hosting sites.

In opposition, it is tough to find an explanation for refunds and cancellations on their annual premium plan. They find it a hindrance in considering to level up to this upgrade.

Another review stated that they love the value and reliability of PodBean. This podcaster has used Podbean for around 18 months and currently hosts a weekly podcast with 73 episodes and moderately heavy traffic.

There are almost no complaints about PodBean. However, a user stated they would like to see more customizable themes and slightly more control over the podcast website’s look and feel.

It’s simple and doesn’t get complicated with a lot of unnecessary technical fluff. The sound quality from the app exceeds this user’s standards.

However, It’s not more well recognized, so it doesn’t always get all of your favorite podcasts you want to listen to on the site.

For the technologically hopeless, PodBean is easy to use and navigate. Staying current on trends and products is important in higher education. Podbean allows schools to share what they are doing easily and cheaply.

The auto-download and delete are not always functioning correctly and can quickly fill up my memory if I am not paying attention.

Current Pricing

All paid plans are either paid annually or with a priced monthly fee. Plus, unlimited features, including storage and bandwidth.

Basic: Free per month with limited features and storage

Unlimited Audio: $9 month for unlimited audio podcasting

Unlimited Plus: $29.99 per month for video podcast and monetization tools

Business: $99 per month for podcast networks and business podcasts

Free Trial

Always start free. Then, you can upgrade to a paid plan if you need more features to grow your podcast’s audience.