Speaker 1: What's up, Podcaster? It's Ben here from Podcast Pros with a podcast host in comparison, and today we're comparing Podbean to Blueberry. 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 choice, there are links for free trials of either service in the description box and pinned comment of this video. We're going to compare these hosts based on three categories, the first being features, second being price, and third being ease of use to help you make the most informed decision. Let's get right into it. Let's get right into it and start off with features. And this is definitely going to be the longest category because Podbean gives you a ton of features to play with. Podbean has been in the podcast hosting space for over 10 years now, so they are one of the original and trusted names within podcast hosting. They also have their own mobile podcasting app and player with a ton of users. All of Podbean's plans come with podcast stats. All plans also include a podcast website, but something that's specific to Podbean is that they give you full access to change the code to really customize the design of your website. And on that website, on their paid plans, you can actually integrate your own domain. So if you own a domain name for your show or for your business, you can use that on the podcast website. They also offer custom episode publishing and the ability to schedule episodes to go live at a later date. You can also manage and publish podcast episodes all from your mobile device. Podbean also offers an embeddable podcast player, which makes it very easy to embed specific episodes onto your website. And they also have an integration with MailChimp, which makes it very easy to capture emails to then later use for email marketing. You can also use their mobile app to create your own podcast and you can edit all the audio and capture all the audio within the app. For podcasters looking to monetize their show, Podbean gives you a ton of ways to do this. They provide a patron program, which makes it very easy for you to sign up your listeners as patrons to contribute to your show every single month. You can sell access to your show through subscription, but you can get even deeper than that and charge for specific episodes. They also have an ads marketplace, which makes it very easy to connect with sponsors and get them to run ads on your show. Podbean also gives you the ability to live stream your episodes and your guest hosts can call in live. And with these live streams, you can even sell tickets to your listeners to grant them access to this live stream. And you also have the ability to receive virtual gifts from your listeners when they're listening to the live stream. Podbean is also one of the few hosts that allows for video podcasts. So if you're looking to incorporate video, Podbean can do that. They also offer a business plan for podcast networks or larger businesses. So regardless of who you are, there's definitely an option for you on Podbean. So those are all of Podbean's core features. And as you can see, they give you a ton to work with. So naturally, they scored very well within this category. We gave them a 9 out of 10 when it comes to features. They give you so much to work with. If you want to do something with your podcast, you probably can with Podbean. So now moving on to pricing. Because Podbean has so many features, they split up the access to these features depending on which tier or which plan you opt for. They do have a completely free option, which gives you five hours of total storage and 100 gigabytes of monthly bandwidth. With the free option though, a lot of the cool features that make Podbean so compelling aren't included. So you're probably going to opt for a paid plan. Their paid plans start off very affordable at $9 per month when paid yearly and $14 when paid monthly. And they move up in price depending which features you want access to. If you use the link down below and head over to Podbean's pricing page, you'll see how their different tiers are structured and which features come with which plan. That'll make it very easy for you to see which plan that you have to go for to get the features that you really want. Podbean also scored very well in this category because we love the fact that they have a completely free plan and even their paid plans are very affordable for the value that you get out of them. And that's why we gave them an 8 out of 10 when it comes to price. Now moving on to ease of use. As mentioned earlier in the features category, there is a ton to work with here. So naturally, those are all things that you're going to have to learn. And some of the more complex features, there's a more of a steeper learning curve to really get the most out of them. So they do give you a ton to work with, but for some people it may almost be too much and a little overwhelming. They do give you a ton of support and because Podbean's been around for a long time and they are a very popular host, there is a ton of resources on Podbean's website and on YouTube and blogs, etc. But there is a bit of a learning curve compared to some of the other podcast hosting options. But it is a necessary evil to have all these different features that Podbean gives you. So that definitely shouldn't scare you away because all their features are very approachable, but naturally they're going to take a little more time to learn because you have so much more to play with. And that's why we scored Podbean an 8 out of 10 when it comes to ease of use. Because they give you so many features, they're not the plug and play very simple solution that some of the other hosts are, but naturally that comes with having all of these advanced features. So they give you a ton to work with, but obviously you're going to have to spend a little bit of time figuring out how to use them to maximize your use of Podbean. Overall, across all three categories, we scored Podbean a 25 out of a possible 30 points. We are massive fans of Podbean and all that they offer to podcasters. Let's get right into features. As mentioned before, Blueberry is one of the original podcast hosting providers. So they're a very trusted and reputable name within the podcast hosting space. But what really makes Blueberry a very compelling choice for podcasters still today is their integration with WordPress websites. Every one of Blueberry's podcast hosting plans comes with a WordPress website. So what that means is that you're actually building your podcast website through WordPress. So this allows you to have way more customization and features built into your website, especially when compared to other podcast hosting website options that are out there. So if you're comfortable and familiar with building websites on WordPress, this is a huge pro for you because of all the features and customization that it allows you to have. All plans also include a custom embeddable podcast player, which makes it very easy to embed specific podcast episodes onto website pages. All plans also include phone and email support as well as unlimited bandwidth. So what you get more of as you pay for the more expensive plans is more storage and that dictates how much content you can be posting on a monthly basis. And Blueberry's cheapest plan gives you 100 megabytes of storage per month. Luckily, audio files aren't huge, but 100 megabytes is not a lot. So a lot of people are going to have to opt for their more expensive plans. When you see the monthly storage included in your Blueberry hosting plan, that number is for new content each month, meaning that previous episodes will not count towards that storage number for the month. Another Blueberry feature we love is that all plans include professional podcast statistics. So regardless of which plan you opt for, you're going to have the same access to your stats. So those are all Blueberry's core features. But again, what really makes them so unique is the integration with WordPress because having a WordPress website gives you access to all the WordPress plugins and different features that you can build into your website. So with all that, we gave Blueberry a 7 out of 10, a very solid score, but it wasn't higher because of how reliant it is on WordPress. It's just another thing that you have to learn. So it's great if you know it, it's a little more difficult if you don't. Moving on to price now, their cheapest plan comes in at $12 per month and their most popular plan comes in at $20 per month. Their most popular plan is what they call their medium plan and this gives you 250 megabytes of monthly storage. A lot of shows will be fine staying under that 250, but if you do need more, you will have to pay for it. Blueberry also offers what they call their pro hosting solution, which gives you unlimited storage and they say it's perfect for people looking to start podcast networks or multiple shows. Because I think that a lot of shows will be over 100 megabytes per month, meaning that you can't opt for their cheapest plan, I'm really setting this based off of their medium tier plan and that's why I gave them a score of 7 out of 10, a very affordable pricing option, especially if you love WordPress, but a lot of people are going to have to opt for the medium or above to get that necessary storage for their show. So 7 out of 10 is a very solid score, but if you are familiar and love WordPress, the fact that you get a WordPress website for free with your podcast hosting could really improve that value if you do fall into that camp. But since I'm not a huge WordPress guy, I gave it a 7 out of 10 solid value. So now moving on to ease of use. Because of how tightly connected Blueberry is to WordPress websites, the ease of use of Blueberry really comes down to the ease of use of WordPress. So if you're comfortable and familiar with WordPress and you love it, it could be a 10 out of 10 for you. But for me, I was a newbie to website building and WordPress had a pretty steep learning curve. Luckily, it's a very popular product and there are a ton of YouTube tutorials out there, but it is definitely not as straightforward and easy to use as some of the other podcast hosting website options and podcast hosts in general. There's a lot more that you have to learn, but with that gives you a lot more freedom, creativity, and flexibility. So WordPress and Blueberry in general are definitely not impossible to use, and there are a ton of tutorials and support out there to help you use these products, but there is a steeper learning curve than other ones out there. And for that reason, we gave them a 7 out of 10 when it comes to ease of use. So overall, we scored Blueberry a 21 out of 30, a very solid score. But if you're someone who loves WordPress and you love all the customization and features that it gives you, it may make Blueberry a 30 out of 30 and a perfect option for you. It really depends on your situation, your willingness to learn WordPress, or what you already know. So as mentioned before, there are links for free trials of either Podbean or Blueberry in the description box and pinned comment of this video. So go ahead and use one of those to get yourself a free trial of whatever service is your favorite. And full disclosure, those links are affiliate links. So if you ever end up signing up for a paid plan, 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 after watching this comparison, I want to hear from you. Are you going to host your show with Podbean or Blueberry? Let us know in the comment section down below, and don't forget to click subscribe for more podcasted related content to help you run your show like a pro. I'll see you in the next one and happy podcasting.