Teams leave Buzzsprout for practical reasons: the plan is counted in upload hours, so a long weekly show runs into overage; the help centre says a podcast cannot be made fully private; and one show per plan below Multi-Podcast stops a company with several series. The options below price by downloads, by bandwidth or by monthly hours, and several include private feeds.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Buzzsprout in our podcast hosting ranking are Podigee, Fireside and Captivate. Where a category has smaller vendors worth recommending, they occupy the first three places and the big brands come below them. Choose Podigee if you want a European vendor and private podcasts on a mid-priced plan. These 11 products are all in Best Podcast Hosting for Business in 2026; the notes say how each one compares with Buzzsprout.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Pricing: Per month by yearly upload hours (72 or 180), published, with overage at the plan's hourly rate; free plan with 2 hours a month, episodes kept 90 days
Established in: United States
Built for: A first company podcast that has to be live this month
Not for: Internal communications or customer-only gated audio
01
Why buyers look past Buzzsprout
01
Plans are counted in hours, not downloads
Buzzsprout's pricing page lists Audio at $15 a month with 72 upload hours a year, Audio + Video at $25 with the same 72 hours, and Multi-Podcast at $30 with 180 hours shared across shows. Unused hours do not roll over, and extra upload time is billed at the plan's hourly rate, a figure the page does not print. A show that publishes every week at length should do the sum before signing.
02
Internal shows have no private option
Buzzsprout's help page on private podcasts says a podcast cannot be fully private, because anyone holding the feed address can download the episodes. It suggests hiding the public website, skipping directories and sharing the link directly. For a company that wants employee or client-only audio with access control, that points to a host that sells private feeds.
03
One show per plan until the top tier
The Audio and Audio + Video plans each cover one podcast. Multi-Podcast allows up to 5 audio shows or 10 with video, drawing on one pool of 180 hours. A business with a podcast per product line or per region reaches that ceiling sooner than a hobbyist would, and the hours are shared between all of those shows.
you want audited stats for advertisers and accept an ad-sales owner
#11
03
What each one does differently
1
Podigee
Germany · Published
Podigee is a German host whose entry plan, Launch, costs nothing for one show with 60 minutes of audio. Starter is €19 a month with unlimited audio storage. Scale, at €39, brings three podcasts, three seats, dynamic ad insertion and private podcasts with personal access. Counting is by shows and video minutes, never by audio hours.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you want a European vendor and private podcasts on a mid-priced plan.
Fireside charges a flat price tied to bandwidth, not hours: Starter is $9 a month with 500 GB, Standard $19 with 1 TB and Professional $49 with 5 TB. Extra podcasts cost $8 a month each. Keeping a finished season online between series costs $5 a month per podcast, a hiatus option many hosts lack.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you want a flat bill and a cheap way to park a show between seasons.
Captivate prices by monthly downloads from $19 for up to 30,000, and every plan lists unlimited podcasts, uploads and storage plus private podcasting and dynamic content insertion. The Professional tier covers 150,000 downloads and Business 300,000. A 30-day free trial is offered. Length of episode never changes the bill.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you publish long or frequent episodes and would rather be billed on audience size.
Transistor's $19 Starter plan already carries unlimited podcasts, unlimited team members and 50 private podcast subscribers, with 20,000 monthly downloads. Professional at $49 raises that to 100,000 downloads and 500 private subscribers, and adds dynamic ads and video. New accounts start with a 14-day trial.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you run several shows or an internal feed and want the cheapest plan that includes private subscribers.
Castos publishes unlimited podcasts, episodes and downloads on every plan, starting at $19 a month for Essentials with up to 100 private subscribers and 10 transcripts a month. Growth at $49 adds a mobile app for private podcasting and republishing video to YouTube. Moves in from another host are free, and a 14-day trial is offered.
Switch from Buzzsprout if your listeners are mainly staff or customers and you also want video sent to YouTube.
Blubrry sells monthly publishing hours: 1.5 hours for $7, 3 for $15, 6 for $25 and 12 for $50, with unlimited downloads on all of them. Its own site says it has existed since 2005. The Standard plans bring a managed WordPress website, and the PowerPress plugin links the show to a WordPress site you already run.
Switch from Buzzsprout if your website runs on WordPress and you still want an hours-based plan.
Ausha is a French service that bundles hosting with promotion. Launch is $15 a month billed annually, with unlimited storage, episodes and downloads, four video clips a month, a podcast website and a newsletter of up to 1,000 emails. Boost at $29 adds dynamic ad insertion and YouTube distribution. Search optimisation is a separate subscription.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you want clips, a newsletter and a show page from the same account as the hosting.
Libsyn also meters audio, but monthly rather than yearly: Basic is $12 for 3 hours, Advanced $25 for 10 and Max $150 for 55, each with video uploads up to 100 GB a month included. Every plan starts with 30 free days. Dynamic ad insertion and API access sit on its Professional and Enterprise plans, which are quoted.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you want large monthly upload room and video included in an hours-based plan.
Podbean's Unlimited Audio plan is $12 a month on annual billing ($17 monthly) with unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth and 1 GB of uploads a month, which it equates to 16 hours of audio. The Business plan, at $99 on annual billing, adds unlimited private podcasts plus two public ones, 100 private members, SSO and SOC2 protection.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you need SSO and a larger set of private members, and can accept a busier dashboard.
Acast is a Swedish platform with a free Starter tier of one show and five episodes, and unlimited episodes when the show joins its ad marketplace. Essential is $14.99 a month billed yearly ($25 monthly) and adds sponsorships. Pro, at $29.99 yearly, adds team management and a publishing API. The model fits shows with an audience to sell.
Switch from Buzzsprout if your show is public, has listeners worth advertising to and you want a Swedish partner.
Spreaker belongs to iHeartMedia, as its own footer states. Its plans page promotes statistics certified by IAB Tech Lab and a Nielsen partnership, a one-click move that leaves your directory listings in place, and an Enterprise tier for publishers. We could not read its plan prices this session, so check them on its site.
Switch from Buzzsprout if you want audited stats for advertisers and accept an ad-sales owner.
Transistor: The $19 Starter plan lists 50 private podcast subscribers, unlimited podcasts and unlimited team members.
02
You want a European vendor with private feeds
Podigee: Scale at €39 a month lists three podcasts, three seats, dynamic ad insertion and private podcasts with personal access.
03
You publish long episodes every week
Captivate: Plans are priced by downloads from $19 for up to 30,000, with unlimited uploads and storage on every plan.
04
Your company website runs on WordPress
Blubrry: Standard plans bring a managed WordPress website, and the PowerPress plugin publishes from a site you already have.
05
You want a flat bill and to park a show between seasons
Fireside: Starter is $9 a month, and keeping a podcast online during a break costs $5 a month.
04
When Buzzsprout is still the right choice
Buzzsprout stays a sound choice for a single public show that publishes at a steady length. Its paid plans include transcripts, unlimited team members and a podcast website with a custom domain, and its features page describes IAB 2.2 certified statistics. Because the bill follows upload hours, a viral episode costs nothing extra. Count your yearly hours first: at 72 a year, about 80 minutes a week fits, and many shows do.
05
What moving off Buzzsprout involves
01
Check the exit route with support first
Buzzsprout's redirect help page covers moving a feed to Buzzsprout from other hosts and, for leaving, tells you to contact support. Ask for a 301 redirect on the old feed address and keep the old account for two to three weeks while directories catch up, as that page advises for redirects in general.
02
Legacy pricing ends if you change plan
Buzzsprout's pricing page says existing customers on legacy plans lose that pricing if they downgrade, cancel or move a podcast. If you are on one, compare its current cost against new quotes before you start, and do not downgrade as a test run.
03
Alternatives import by feed
Most hosts below can pull your episodes in from your RSS feed. Podbean and Acast both name a free or easy import from a previous host. Run the import on a test show first and compare episode counts, artwork and show notes before pointing the redirect.
06
Questions about replacing Buzzsprout
6 answers
How many hours does Buzzsprout include?
The Audio and Audio + Video plans include 72 upload hours a year, and Multi-Podcast includes 180 hours shared across shows. Unused hours do not carry over, and extra time is billed at your plan's hourly rate, which the pricing page does not give.
What does the Buzzsprout free plan offer?
The pricing page lists 2 hours of uploads a month, with episodes hosted for 90 days. Paid plans keep episodes online.
Can Buzzsprout host a private podcast?
Its help page says a podcast cannot be fully private, since anyone with the feed address can download it. It lists workarounds such as hiding the website and not submitting to directories, and points to Subscriptions for premium episodes.
Which alternatives include private subscribers on entry plans?
Transistor's $19 Starter lists 50 private subscribers and Castos Essentials at $19 lists up to 100. Captivate lists private podcasting on all its plans, and Podigee puts private podcasts on Scale at €39.
Is there a host that does not count hours at all?
Captivate bills by monthly downloads from $19, Fireside by bandwidth from $9 a month, and Ausha lists unlimited storage, episodes and downloads from $15 a month on annual billing.
Does Buzzsprout charge for extra team members?
The pricing page says unlimited team members come with premium plans, so seats are not a reason to leave.
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Sources
Checked 2 November 2026
Buzzsprout pricing: Audio $15 and 72 hours a year, Audio + Video $25, Multi-Podcast $30 and 180 hours, free plan 2 hours a month and 90 days, overage at plan rate, no rollover, legacy plan rule, unlimited team members, transcripts.
Buzzsprout features: IAB 2.2 stats, custom domain, Subscriptions, dynamic content, unlimited podcasts claim and team members.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. How we review.
