Speaker 1: What's up, Podcaster? It's Ben here from Podcast Pros with a Podcast Hosting Comparison. And today we're comparing Buzzsprout to Spreaker. So if you've been debating between these two hosts, this video will help you make the right decision for you and your show. And once you've made your decision, there are links to both Buzzsprout and Spreaker in the description box and pinned comment. We're going to be breaking down these two hosts based on three categories. The first being features, second being price, and third being ease of use. And each category will have a possible score of 10 for a total possible score of 30. So let's get right into it. Buzzsprout does give you a lot to work with. For starters, like most podcast hosts, they provide super easy distribution to all the different podcast directories. So it makes it very easy to get listed where people can actually listen to your show. Custom episode publishing as well as the ability to schedule episodes to be released at a later date. They also have a feature called Magic Mastering and this feature is actually exclusive to Buzzsprout. So what Magic Mastering does is if you upload an episode up to Buzzsprout and you've paid for the additional Magic Mastering service, it actually treats the audio, it levels it out, it makes it sound a lot better. This is huge if you're using two different microphones or say it's an online call. It normalizes the audio and makes it far more friendly on the ear. So this is an extra paid add-on, but it does a ton of the editing work for you and there's quite a dramatic difference before and after when you use Magic Mastering. For podcasters looking to monetize their show, Buzzsprout provides two different solutions. The first is their exclusive affiliate hub. So essentially what they've done is they've reached out to brands that are highly reputable and have great affiliate programs and they've negotiated for even better affiliate opportunities exclusive to Buzzsprout users. So if you are a Buzzsprout user, you get access to this affiliate hub so you can start making money right off the bat through using these offers. They also have the ability to integrate your show with Podcorn which makes it very easy to find sponsorship for your shows. Buzzsprout also allows you to manage your shows and upload content all from your mobile device. Buzzsprout's very much community-driven and this is shown through their content and presence on social media. From their blog to their YouTube channel, they have a ton of very helpful resources to really guide you through anything that you'd want to do with your podcast. In addition to this, they also have a Facebook group with over 10,000 members that are all Buzzsprout users that are very eager to help you with anything Buzzsprout or podcast related. Buzzsprout also allows you to create audiograms or what they call visual sound bites which are great tools that you can use to promote your show on social media. All of Buzzsprout's plans also give you a podcast website that can act as a mobile app, but it's not a true native app. Meaning it's not one that you could just go download from the App Store directly. Buzzsprout also provides automatic episode optimizations that you don't have to worry about choosing the right file type when you're uploading audio to your host. They also offer on-platform transcription and an embeddable podcast player which makes it very easy to embed specific episodes on certain pages on your website. They also give you the ability to put in chapter marks which makes it very easy to highlight specific points within the episode making it very easy for your listeners to jump to the significant points within the episode. One point of note on that one is that not every podcast directory has this feature built in so it'll only work on those that actually allow it to happen. All of Buzzsprout's plans allow for unlimited team members meaning you can have as many people as you want helping you to manage and operate your show. All their plans also come with unlimited storage. What you get more of as you move up the tiers is more upload time per month. Some recent additions to features on Buzzsprout is you now have the ability to import your podcast stats from your previous host. So when you're switching over to Buzzsprout you can actually import all those download numbers so that you never lose the downloads that you've worked so hard to achieve. They've also added some dynamic content features in the form of dynamic pre and post rolls for an episode or all of your episodes. And what that allows you to do is change either an intro or an outro to your episode to highlight whatever you're trying to promote at that time. This is great for working with sponsors because you can also offer sponsorship on all of your previous episodes in the form of changing the dynamic pre or post roll. So in layman's terms, there's a piece before and after an episode and you can change that live without actually changing the physical episode meaning the episode stays the way it was but you can change the beginning or the end to suit whatever need you have at the time. So that was a lot for even me to say so that definitely speaks to how many features Buzzsprout gives you. So obviously they scored very well in this category. We gave them an 8 out of 10. And the only reason they didn't score even higher is for a few nitpicky things. The first is that for every paid plan you only get one show meaning that if you do want to have more than one show you are going to have to pay for its own allotment of hours. You can manage it on the same Buzzsprout account but you do have to pay per show per month. And the other things we're being nitpicky about is it would be nice to have a private podcast hosting option. A lot of the other hosts out there do offer this and Buzzsprout doesn't. And the final thing that we're really nitpicking here is that Magic Mastering is a feature exclusive to Buzzsprout that we love but it is behind a paywall meaning that if you do want to use that for your show and we highly recommend it you do have to pay for that in addition to what you're paying for already to host your show. So that's the reason it didn't score even higher but 8 out of 10, a very very solid score and we are very happy with Buzzsprout's features. Moving on to price, all of Buzzsprout's plans are very affordable and you do get a ton for what you're paying for and they even have a completely free option but with that free option, they only host your episodes for 90 days. But it is a fantastic way to really experiment and get your hands on Buzzsprout and see if you like it before upgrading to a paid plan. But even Buzzsprout's paid plans are all very affordable and you do get a ton of value for what you're paying for. What you get more of as you upgrade to the higher tiers is more upload time. So depending on how much content you're going to be uploading per month in terms of time will depend on which tier you have to go for. So with all that being said, we still think Buzzsprout has fantastic value regardless of which plan you go for. So we gave them an 8 out of 10 when it comes to price. Finally moving on to ease of use. This is where Buzzsprout really really shines. This is their core focus as a business. They want to give you everything that you could possibly want as a podcaster but they only give you a feature if they can make it extremely simple and very easy to use and that is a core focus of theirs through and through with everything that they offer. And on top of their features being very straightforward and easy to use, they also give you a ton of support in the forms of their YouTube channel, their blog, and the Facebook group with over 10,000 members. So it's unlikely that you'll ever have any problems or confusion with using the service, but if you ever do, there is a ton of support to help you. So for all those reasons, we gave them a 10 out of 10 when it comes to ease of use because this is really their core focus as a business. So overall across the three categories, Buzzsprout scored a 26 out of a possible 30 points. We are massive fans of Buzzsprout and we think it's a fantastic option for you and your show. Moving right into features, there are a few features that Spreaker has that make it a very unique and compelling choice and that is really their focus on live podcasting as well as making money and monetizing your podcast from the beginning. All of their paid plans give you access to their monetization features which allows you to start making money the second you start your show. And if you have an existing catalog of episodes, if you move them over to Spreaker, you can even make money off of your previous episodes. They do this by providing dynamic ad insertion which allows you to pick certain parts of your episodes where an ad will play and they fill those spots automatically by using something called programmatic advertising. So what this means is that advertisers can pay Spreaker to advertise on podcasts to specific demographics. Spreaker will then put ads that make sense for you and your show into the spots that you've given them and you earn a percentage of that revenue for letting them play. So they do most of the heavy lifting here and make it very easy to start making some money and you pick how many ads there are and where they play in your episodes. So this saves you the time and hassle of having to go find advertisers and negotiate with them and allows you to start making money right from the beginning and you can even make episode off your previous episodes when people listen to them. Obviously, since you're earning only a percentage of the revenue, you're going to get less than you could have on your own but you're saving yourself the time and hassle of having to go find those opportunities. All of their plans allow you to host multiple shows on one account meaning you don't have to pay for another plan if you decide to host another show. All their plans provide an embeddable podcast player and their paid plans allow you to customize your RSS feed. Their free plan as well as their cheapest paid plan just provide basic podcast stats. If you want more advanced analytics, you're going to have to pay for the more expensive tiers. They also give you the option for a private or a limited access show but only on their broadcaster or above plans. They also offer what they call Spreaker Studio which is a podcast creation and audio editing software that you can download and really create and edit your entire episode on and this can be downloaded for your phone, tablet or desktop. Spreaker also has their own podcast player app which is available on both Apple and Android devices. So those are Spreaker's core features but to us there are two that really stand out and it's their focus on live podcasting as well as simple podcast monetization. So because of these and their additional features, we gave them a score of 9 out of 10. So now moving on to pricing. Spreaker does offer a free plan but it will limit you in terms of what features you have access to and there will be no monetization features on any of their free plans. With that being said though, you can still host multiple shows on their free plan. Upgrading to their paid plans gives you access to these monetization features. It also gives you a customizable RSS feed and more storage time and if you upgrade even further beyond their cheapest paid plan, you get advanced statistics as well. The limited access podcast or private podcasting option is limited to their more expensive plans. So if that's something you're looking for, you're going to have to go for the higher tier options. They also provide an enterprise solution for podcast networks and larger companies but for the individual podcaster, their paid plans will run you $7 to $50 per month when paid monthly and $6 to $45 if you pay for the year. Spreaker also scored very well in this category because even on their cheapest plan for $6 or $7, what you get is a lot of value for your money. So we gave them a score of 8 out of 10 when it comes to price because their cheapest plan is a great option and as you move up, you're getting more and more value. So now moving on to ease of use. As mentioned, Spreaker's core focuses are live podcasting and simple podcast monetization. From that element, making money off your show is very, very simple and that plays into ease of use as that is a lot of podcasters core focus. Their live tools, their podcast app, and their audio editing software are all things that you're going to have to learn if you want to use Spreaker to its full extent but they are very simple and user-friendly to use even for beginners. So it will definitely take some time to learn about all of Spreaker's features and the options that they provide you but they do make it fairly easy to use even for beginners. Because of all of this, Spreaker scored an 8 out of 10 when it comes to ease of use. So overall, Spreaker scored a 25 out of a possible 30 points. It is a fantastic podcast hosting option, especially if you're looking for simple monetization and live podcasting. As I mentioned earlier, there are links to both Buzzsprout and Spreaker in the description box and pinned comment. Full disclosure, those are affiliate links. So if you do decide to use them, the channel will earn a small commission for you doing so. At no extra expense to you. So we appreciate the support in advance. And if you use the Buzzsprout link to sign up for a paid plan, you'll get yourself a free $20 Amazon gift card for doing so and the Spreaker link will get you a free trial of their service. So after watching this breakdown, we want to hear from you. Are you going to host with Buzzsprout or Spreaker? Let us know in the comment section down below. And don't forget to subscribe for more podcasting videos and I'll see you in the next one. Happy podcasting.