Speaker 1: Buzzsprout and Podbean are two of the most popular podcast hosting options, but which one is right for you and your show? Today, we're going to find out. When it comes to picking the right podcast host, it really comes down to three core things, features, support and price. So we're going to walk through those categories for each of these hosts to help you make the right decision. The first thing I want to mention about Buzzsprout is that it's extremely easy to use and it's been built to be as easy as possible. That is the core focus for them as a business, is to make any new tool they create extremely easy. If they can't make it easy to use, they won't make it. That's a recurring thing with Buzzsprout. It's all over their branding, their messaging. And it's very true. It's incredibly simple, straightforward and easy to use. But it still comes with a ton of features. Like every podcast host, Buzzsprout allows your show to be listed across all the different directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, et cetera. They have Magic Mastering, which uses AI to treat your audio to make it sound a lot better without you having to do any additional work. You just put it in, add Magic Mastering and it will do the work for you. They recently launched their Buzzsprout ads platform. And so this is a platform exclusive to Buzzsprout podcasts, which allows advertisers to easily connect with podcasts so you can get paid as a podcaster for using Buzzsprout. A super powerful tool to start making some money from your show. They give you advanced stats for your podcast, like your listeners, where they are, et cetera, everything you'd want to know. They just launched a brand new mobile app that allows you to manage and grow your show on the go. This is their latest thing they've been working on, and it is pretty awesome. For more tools to make money, you can also sell subscriptions through Buzzsprout. And this allows you to accept payments and publish premium content. Buzzsprout also has dynamic content tools. So this allows you to change pieces of content even after it's already been posted. And the easiest example to drive this home is podcasters typically have ads in the beginning of their show or the end of the show or the middle, et cetera. Using dynamic content, you can adjust these at any time, even on already published episodes. This is super helpful when it comes to working with advertisers, because you can also sell ad placement across your already published content, giving you another tool to leverage your audience. They have their co-host AI feature, which automatically optimizes your episodes using AI to help it be found by the right people across all the different podcast directories. It does most of the heavy lifting to optimize your show. So it shows up where you want. They offer a podcast player to put in your existing website, and they also give you a website for your show itself. Within Buzzsprout, you can manage multiple podcasts and you can also add team members to help you manage your show or shows. So those are all the features that Buzzsprout gives you. And again, they're all extremely easy to use. And so that's a lot of great there. But we also like to include the cons or things you may want to consider when it comes to picking a podcast host. When it comes to Buzzsprout, one of the biggest cons is that you do have to pay per podcast. So when you start your plan, if you want to run more than one show, you're going to have to pay per show. If you're running one podcast, that's no problem. But if you're planning on running multiple, that will be an additional expense. Their magic mastering and co-host AI features are also additional add-ons. So if you want access to those features, it will cost you a little bit more per month. They also don't give you the option to host a private podcast, which is a feature that a lot of people like to use for, say, internal podcasts for their businesses or anything else they want to keep private to a select group of people. Not an extremely common need, but Buzzsprout doesn't offer it. So I wanted to make sure you knew that. Now on to the support when it comes to Buzzsprout. And this is another area where Buzzsprout really shines. They have award-winning real and local customer support that is incredibly responsive. I've been using Buzzsprout and recommending it for years at this point, and I've never had someone complain to me about their customer service. So you can feel really confident if you go with Buzzsprout that you're going to have a good experience. If you ever run into any issues, you're going to have a real person to help you. They also have a massive Facebook group for other podcasters and users of Buzzsprout that you can join completely for free. It is an extremely valuable resource with a ton of fellow podcasters dropping a ton of value. And they also have a fantastic YouTube channel, newsletter and blog to give you as much information as possible on how to grow your show and run it more effectively. When it comes to support, Buzzsprout gives you a ton. Now on to price. Buzzsprout does have a completely free plan. And so with the free plan, it'll host your content for up to 90 days. And if you don't upgrade within that time, you will lose the content that you uploaded. But 90 days is usually more than enough for people to decide if they're going to stick with this or not and decide if they want to upgrade. And their paid plans start at $12 and go up to $24 per month, depending on how much content you want to be uploading per month. Unlike a lot of other podcast hosting options that charge based on downloads for your show, Buzzsprout exclusively charges based on how much content you are uploading. The benefit to that is even as your show grows, you won't be paying more per month unless you want to post more content. So that's awesome to know that your expenses are not going to increase unless you're posting way more content. And again, just one point to mention here is that Magic Mastering and co-host AI are both additional add-ons. So if you do want to have that included in your monthly plan, you will have to pay extra. So who's Buzzsprout best fit for? They are best for new podcasters or podcasters that aren't tech savvy. They are obsessed with ease of use. And even though they constantly add new features, you can rest assured they will always be easy to use. So if you're someone who doesn't love tech or learning new things involved with technology, Buzzsprout is probably the right option for you. Before we get into the features, something I want to stress about Podbean is it's for a pretty particular person. They give you a ton of features to really customize things and make it a little more high tech and your own unique feel, which you'll see when I go through the features. So they definitely gear themselves towards a specific kind of podcaster. So if you like diving into tech, really making it your own, Podbean's probably the perfect fit for you and you'll see why. Like any podcast host, Podbean allows your show to be found across the different directories where people consume shows like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the other players, which is the point of a podcast host because if people can't find your content, they can't listen to it. Podbean also gives you a podcast studio, which is an easy to use audio recorder app that you can use to create the content that you distribute. Podbean also has live stream functionality, which allows you to capture high performing audio without any limits. And this is a very unique feature to Podbean that for certain situations makes them the obvious no brainer choice. They also have a podcast app for you as the podcaster, as well as for listeners that acts as a podcast player. And a ton of people are using this app to consume podcasts. So that's a huge advantage that you get through using Podbean. And as a creator, you can actually manage your show within the app as well. They recently launched Podbean AI, which uses AI to give you a ton of benefits. The first category is AI audio optimization, and this uses AI for noise reduction, intelligent leveler to level out different mics to make it sound as smooth as possible. Cut filler words in silence, plus filtering and auto EQ. So basically it uses AI to make your content sound as good as possible without additional work for you as the creator. They also have AI generated content tools. And with these, you can automate titles and show notes to make it more click worthy and easier to find across different directories. There's AI enhanced transcripts to make it more accessible and precisely crafted chapter markers to help viewers find exactly what they're looking for. And all of these tools just really make it a better experience for your listeners without any additional time to you. And all of these things used to take a lot of time if done manually. So they're using AI to make that as seamless as possible. The next batch of features is all about monetization, and they give you a ton here as well. They have their own ads marketplace that makes it easier for you to find sponsors. They have patron and paid content options that you can sell to your listeners, exclusive content and access to you and your show. They have Apple podcast subscription integration. So you can sell subscriptions through the Apple podcast platform and they have dynamic ad insertion capability. And what this allows you to do is change content within already published content. And in this example, it would be ads. So, for example, you have an ad, let's say in the beginning, the middle and the end. You can change this content since it's dynamic at any point in time, which is a huge tool for you as a podcaster, because even if you approach a new sponsor, you can sell sponsorship across your previous catalog of content as well. So a massive tool for making money. The cons when it comes to Podbean, because of course, like anything, there are some, is that you do have to pay per podcast. So if you do want to host multiple podcasts, you're going to have to pay additionally for another Podbean plan for that show, except on their highest plan. If you go for their highest plan, you can host multiple shows. Podbean AI, one of their latest features, is also a paid upgrade after the two hour free trial. So if you want to take full advantage of all those benefits, you will have to pay additionally on top of your subscription for the podcast hosting. I want to make that as clear as possible for you. And also with all these different tools to take full advantage, you're going to have to learn their ecosystem and how to best use them. Luckily, they're pretty active with their community. They create a ton of content and resources to help you do this, but you will have to invest a bit of time to take full advantage of these tools. But if you're this kind of person that would be drawn to Podbean, probably not an issue for you because you like this stuff anyways, and you're probably drawn to them for the specific things that you can do with Podbean that you can't with other hosts. Podbean also gives you unlimited audio hosting across their paid plans, as well as video hosting for certain plans. So you don't pay additionally for how much content you're uploading or even how many people are downloading it. They also give you a professional podcast website and they have a ton of customizable themes that you can make this look any way that you want. And there's a ton of customization when it comes to the website that you can create for your show through Podbean. When it comes to support, Podbean has a very good track record when it comes to customer satisfaction. They've been able to be a main player in the game for a long time because they serve their customers right and they get back to you if you actually have a problem. With that being said though, live customer support is only accessible to those users on their highest plan. So just keep that in mind. For pricing on Podbean, they do have a completely free plan that comes with some basic features, but most users will end up upgrading to one of their paid plans. And those start at $14 when paid monthly or $9 per month when paid yearly and range up to $99 per month when paid monthly or $79 when paid yearly. And as mentioned already within the features section, their plans come with unlimited storage for both audio and video depending on the plan that you go with. So there won't be additional expenses to you if you decide to upload more content per month or if your show grows dramatically. You only pay more if you want access to certain features within that tier, which is pretty nice. You know what you're getting into and it's not going to scale up even if your show goes to the moon. So who is Podbean best fit for? Podbean is fantastic for tech savvy people with unique needs fit to Podbean's really unique features. They have some features that no other podcast hosts really have. And for the people that are drawn to that, it makes Podbean an absolute no-brainer. Whichever one's right for you, Buzzsprout or Podbean, they're both linked down below. If you use the Podbean link, you can get yourself a free trial and the Buzzsprout link will get you a free $20 Amazon gift card if you end up upgrading to a paid plan. Using those links helps to support the channel at no additional cost to you. So thank you in advance for doing so. Let me know which option you went with in the comment section down below. And since you're a podcaster looking to grow your show and make more money from it, make sure you subscribe to this channel and our free newsletter. We publish content exclusively for podcasters to help them do just that. Turn their dream show into a profitable business and grow a loyal audience. YouTube thinks you'll like this video right here. I'll see you in the next one and happy podcasting.