Speaker 1: Captivate and Podbean are two of the most popular podcast hosting options on the market. They're both fantastic tools, but which one is the right fit for you and your show? Today, we're going to find out. When picking the right podcast host, it really comes down to three things. Features, support and price. So we're going to walk through each of those categories for these two hosts to help you make the right choice. So the first thing I want to mention about Captivate before we dive too far into it is that they are obsessed with growth and helping you grow your income and audience with your podcast. It was created by a podcaster who saw those as serious problems for podcasters and wanted to build tools to help make it as simple as possible. Their founder, Mark, has been on the channel a bunch of times to help people better use Captivate. And I can say firsthand, the guy loves podcasting and building tools for podcasters. And they have built a ton. And I really do mean that. And so we're going to walk through the majority of their features so you can get a feel for how much is really here to use within Captivate if you decide to go with them. So the first category is all about monetization, and they give you a bunch of features to help with this. You're able to sell custom memberships. You can accept listener tips. You can sell exclusive content, early access content. They have a one click media kit and you can sell direct sponsorships. So they give you a ton of tools to help you make money from your show as soon as possible. They also have dynamic advertising and content features. They have audio monetization and insertion engine or AMI, book ad editor, baked in ad painter and a DAX ad marketplace. All of these are just tools to make it easier to make money. Next is on to their download and analytics features. Their analytics are IAB certified. They have link analytics, network analytics, episode performance comparison. You can download location information, device and listening tools, information, web player analytics, and you can export analytics to CSV files. Another point of note when it comes to Captivate that is a recent addition. If you are moving your podcast from a different host, they now have industry leading data transfer. So you will not lose any of your valuable data from your previous host. You will get to keep all of the important info. They have episode workflow tools, which include episode idea planning, episode research links, plugin, dynamic show notes, builder, default publish times, Captivate OmniSearch, Descript integration and Zapier integration. They also help with guest booking and interview management. They have an integrated guest booking platform, customizable booking page, complete interview management and public calendar integration. This is huge. If you are planning on hosting interviews, they try to make it as simple as possible to make those interviews actually happen. Now on to their podcast marketing tools, because they do want to help you grow as much as possible and they give you tools to help you do it. They have measurable short links, trackable single promo links, playlists, email marketing integrations, marketing links and the ability to remove Captivate branding. They also offer a podcast player that you can embed into your website. And with this, you can create custom playlists, collections, fully customizable links, self-designing player and social embeds. They also create a podcast website for you. And this website is customizable. You can also add your own custom domain. And they have the Captivate sync WordPress plugin. Captivate also allows you to create a podcast network. And this is something extremely unique to Captivate, which really makes them a no brainer if you are running a network. And these features include number of network podcasts, cross promotional feed drops, cross promotional analytics, aggregated network analytics, customizable network website, link custom network domain, network team members, podcast taxonomy integration, host client podcasts and network API. As you can see right there, there is a ton here. And that is a recurring theme when it comes to Captivate, is they want to give you every possible tool you could think of to grow your show and grow your income from your show. Like every podcast host, Captivate allows you to get your show featured across all the different directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, et cetera, all the places that people listen to podcasts. But wait, there's more. They do take feedback extremely seriously, as well as recommendations. So if there is a feature that you request, chances are, if it's decent, they're going to build it. Even with all that's there right now, they are constantly adding to this and do take your feedback very seriously if there's something you're looking for. Captivate gives you the ability to have unlimited shows within one plan. So if you're going to be hosting multiple shows, it won't cost you more unless you're getting more downloads across those shows. They also allow you to host private podcasts, which are great for internal teams or any kind of content that you want to keep restricted to a set number of people. So they definitely give you a ton to work with. But like anything, it does come with some cons. And Captivate's biggest con is really also its biggest pro. There's so much here that to take full advantage of it, you have to learn how to use all of these tools. And that will take time. Luckily, they do a great job of providing resources and education on their website in the form of courses, blog posts, and even on their YouTube channel, they make content to help with all this stuff. So it's not that hard. It's fairly straightforward and they give you a ton of support, but it will take some time. So I wanted to make sure that you were aware of that before picking them. Now on to support for Captivate. They are very active on their YouTube channel and with their email list. They drop a ton of valuable content that is super niche specific to podcasters. They have free courses to educate you on how to start a podcast and grow it. The founder, Mark, is still actively involved with the product, and he constantly is making content to help you use it better, which we love to see. And they also have solid and fast customer support if you end up becoming a customer. Now on to pricing for Captivate. They do have a free trial, but after that trial is over, their paid plans start at $17 per month when paid yearly and range all the way up to $90 per month, again, when paid yearly. They're both a little bit more if you decide to pay monthly. But how Captivate's pricing structure works is based on downloads. So you only ever have to pay more if you're getting more downloads across the show's links to your account. And the vast majority of people will be able to stay on their lowest tier Captivate plan for a very long time. And by the time you upgrade, you're going to be making more than enough money that it will not be a big deal. So who's Captivate best fit for? Captivate is perfect for growth focused podcasters or marketers. Or if you run a podcast network, Captivate also becomes a no brainer. 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 is 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 gonna 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 gonna 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. So whether you want to go with Captivate or Podbean, links to both are down below in the comments section in the pinned comment of this video. And that will give you access to completely free trials of either. Using the links helps to support the channel at no additional cost to you. So thank you in advance for doing so. And also definitely let me know which one you went with in the comment section down below. I love to hear what other podcasters are using and why. 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.