Buzzsprout Review: A Podcast Host for Everyone

Last updated on March 4th, 2020

Buzzsprout is an established podcast hosting platform, introduced close to a decade ago, but anyone who has tried it knows that it has really transformed and grown over the past few years. Since 2009, the platform has provided reliable, fairly affordable hosting and services, with new features like customizable podcast websites, the ability to transcript podcast episodes and easy to understand podcast statistics available to help you maximize your podcast growth. This Buzzsprout review is aimed at helping existing or new podcasters make an educated choice on their podcast hosting solution.

Related articles: best podcast hosting services, Podbean vs. Blubrry review, best free podcast hosts.

Like many of the veteran competitors in this space, such as Blubrry or Podbean, the differences between the top hosting services are fairly niche. One factor that makes Buzzsprout stand out is that they offer a free option, although it is very limited amount of storage space and only provides hosting for 90 days. Paid plans begin at $12 / month for 3 hours of content, with the ability to add more content on a pay-per-hour basis. The largest plan offered, and the best option for full-time podcasters putting out a show or two a week is the $24 / month plan, which provides 12 hours of space.

Buzzsprout pricing differs from many competitors that price their plans by storage size, not time of episodes. The hourly plans are nice for beginners who may not exactly how much storage space they need. It is really hard to make a comparison between audio duration and file size, because recording methods and export settings can lead to a lot of variation. 1 GB of audio could be around 3 hours of WAV files recorded at 48K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth, or it could be around 24 hours of MP3 audio  at a 96K Sample Rate and 16 Bit Depth. To evaluate how much space you need, it’s best to look at your past episodes or ask an audio engineer if you work with one to record.

Beyond pricing, Buzzsprout stands out because of the support and assistance they offer, their easy to use platform, and the aforementioned website and transcription services. In the remainder of this review, we’ll look closely at some of the features Buzzsprout offers to help you decide which podcast host is right for you.  

What Makes A Good Podcast Host?

If you have spent any time searching for a service to use to host your podcast, you know that the space is crowded and can sometimes be hard to navigate. In addition to pricing or any specific features you may be looking for, reviews and reputation are really the best way to evaluate which hosting platform is best. Buzzsprout has a great reputation, with over 50,000 podcasters currently using it.

In addition to their hosting platform, Buzzsprout is well-known for their comprehensive “How to Make a Podcast” guide, which is free to read and provides guidance on how to record, what equipment to consider, and how to optimize your episodes to be discovered. The guide is supplemented by dozens of great blog articles about the podcasting industry, proving the expertise of the Buzzsprout community and helping to provide resources for both paid Buzzsprout users and those still deciding on a hosting platform.

Buzzsprout is a full, robust platform but their interface is simpler and may be easier to use than some competitors, which could be appealing.

Customizable Podcast Websites and Easy Embedding To Other Sites

While it is not unique to Buzzsprout, the ability to easily create a podcast website is sought-after and a great added benefit to any podcast hosting platform. Buzzsprout just announced this service and offers websites that are simple, clean and easy to integrate with your existing audio feed and connect to your social platforms.

Perhaps the best way to understand what the Buzzsprout website creation system offers is to check out the two sample websites they created, for Buzzcast and How to Start a Podcast. While the sites are not as complex as the websites you could create with WordPress, Squarespace or from scratch, they are certainly a step up from having no website at all and would be sufficient for plenty of podcasters.

If you already have a website for your podcast, Buzzsprout offers an easy to embed podcast player called Wave that can be integrated with your site. The Wave Podcast Player can be customized and can include one episode or a feed of multiple episodes. It looks very similar to embeds that you may have seen before from Spotify or Soundcloud, and includes and single-click “Information” section, as well as the ability to change the playback speed and easily share an episode on social media.

Easy To Understand Podcast Statistics

At this point, most top hosts have fairly similar statistics available, and not much differentiates the top competitors when it comes to stats. Buzzsprout’s statistics are very clear and easy to read, but the information itself (number of downloads, method of download, location of listeners) is fairly typical. That being said, all of the information you will want is there, and the fact that it is presented in such a clean and approachable way could set Buzzsprout slightly above some competition that do not have as approachable statistics pages.

Although every host will sell their stats as the best, the playing field has been leveled out and most of the top options will provide you with very comparable statistic offerings.

Podcast Episode Transcription

One unique offering that Buzzsprout provides is audio transcription services, starting at $0.10 per minute. Audio transcription of podcasts is useful for growing your reach with SEO and providing alternative ways for your audience to engage with your episodes, but transcription has always been an expensive and slow process.

Buzzsprout’s transcription is competitively priced compared to other similar services, but would be worth considering if you want your episodes transcribed because it is connected directly to the platform and therefore is very easy to work with. Editing and revising transcriptions is seamless, and you can publish the transcription directly to your public Buzzsprout page in addition to copy / pasting it to other websites.

Buzzsprout API Integration

If you use an editing platform like Alitu or Hindenburg, you may be drawn to the recently released Buzzsprout API that allows you to upload your episodes directly into your Buzzsprout account, eliminating the need to download and re-upload every episode. If you don’t use a platform that can integrate the API, exporting and uploading is still relatively simple.

Hopefully if the partnership with Alitu and Hindenburg goes well and customer feedback is positive, Buzzsprout will consider adding more partners for easy publishing directly to a Buzzsprout account.

Critique

While it may be appealing to some customers, Buzzsprout’s hourly plans instead of storage size plans are a bit confusing. Presumably, Buzzsprout converts all uploaded files to an optimized size, but there is no information provided about how this might affect podcasts that are more than just voices talking into a microphone. Although they do offer a monthly “128k Stereo Optimization” add-on, audiophiles still may prefer a storage-sized based plan where they know exactly how many files they can upload monthly. On the contrary, if you are not recording a podcast that has any complex audio structure, the hourly plans may be easier to understand than file-size plans.

What really makes Buzzsprout stand out is that a lot of their best features, like their customizable websites, were recently implemented features and it is very clear that Buzzsprout is committed to adding new features and making sure the platform stays up to date with current trends. The platform is definitely one to consider for smaller podcasts, individuals looking for an easy to use and simplified platform, and professionals that could take advantage of offerings like the API integration or transcription services.

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