Is the included Buzzsprout website enough?
Use the included Buzzsprout website if you want a low-maintenance home for your episodes and do not plan to publish much beyond the podcast itself. It covers more than a bare episode list and may save a new show from buying another product too early.
Add a dedicated website when the site has a larger job. That might mean attracting readers through articles, collecting leads, selling products, publishing videos or courses, creating campaign pages, or bringing several podcasts under one brand. In that setup, Buzzsprout can remain the podcast host while Beamly handles the website.
What Buzzsprout does
Buzzsprout stores your media, creates the podcast RSS feed, tracks downloads, and provides a dashboard for getting listed in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other directories. After the initial submission and approval, new episodes flow to those directories through the RSS feed. Buzzsprout says more than 115,000 podcasters use the platform.
The service is easy to learn, which is a real advantage for someone publishing a first show. Its pricing is based mainly on the number of hours uploaded during a billing period, not the size of the audience.
Buzzsprout pricing in 2026
Buzzsprout offers monthly and annual billing. These are the main audio plans and the entry video plan:
- One audio podcast – $19 per month or $180 per year, 6 hours per month or 72 hours per year
- One audio and video podcast – From $30 per month or $300 per year, 72 hours per year on the annual plan
- Up to 5 audio podcasts for $39 per month or $360 per year. 15 hours per month or 180 hours per year.
- Up to 10 audio podcasts for $79 per month or $780 per year, 35 hours per month or 420 hours per year.
The video plan publishes 1080p video to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Multi-podcast video plans are also available. All current paid plans include advanced statistics, automatic transcripts, directory listing tools, and the Buzzsprout website. Cohost AI and Magic Mastering cost extra.
Check the official page before buying because podcast hosting prices can change. If you are still choosing a host, the podcast hosting platforms comparison puts these limits beside competing plans.
Is Buzzsprout free?
Buzzsprout’s free plan includes two upload hours per billing cycle, and each episode stays online for 90 days. It is useful for learning the dashboard and testing the publishing process. It is a poor long-term home for a public back catalog because episodes expire.
The free plan does not include the Buzzsprout website, automatic transcripts, video distribution, paid add-ons, Fan Mail, or monetization. Those features require a paid plan.
What the Buzzsprout website includes
Buzzsprout includes a basic website with their plans.
The Episodes page lists every published episode and includes search by title, description, or guest. Each episode can have its own page with the player, artwork, show notes, chapters, and transcript. This gives you a clean URL to share instead of sending listeners to a directory listing.
The site can also display:
– An About page based on the podcast description
– Contributor profiles for hosts, producers, editors, and guests
– Selected Fan Mail messages
– Podcast recommendations through a Podroll
– A Support page for Buzzsprout Subscriptions
– A Follow page with podcast directory, social media, and RSS links
Design controls cover colors, fonts, and a background image, with desktop and mobile previews. You can connect a custom domain you own.
For a show that only needs episodes, transcripts, people, subscription links, and a branded URL, this is a solid set of features.
Where the Buzzsprout website reaches its limit
Buzzsprout provides a set of predefined podcast pages, not a general page builder. You can change the visual theme, but you cannot freely restructure the navigation or build each page with custom sections and layouts.
There is no built-in blog editor or system for creating arbitrary landing pages. That rules out common additions such as a resources library, a sponsor media kit with a custom layout, a lead-magnet page, a course catalog, or a set of articles built around the subjects covered by the show.
A custom domain does not remove those product limits. It gives the site a branded address, which is useful, but it does not create new page types or broader design control. Search performance also depends on the content available to index. Episode pages and transcripts can appear in search, while a blog gives a publisher more room to answer specific questions beyond the podcast’s name and episode titles.
Buzzsprout’s website covers the publishing and listening essentials. A dedicated site adds the pages and tools needed to run a wider content business.
How Buzzsprout works with Beamly
Beamly connects to the Buzzsprout RSS feed, so you can keep hosting and publishing in Buzzsprout. Existing episodes are imported with their metadata and artwork. New episodes and later edits sync automatically. If a Buzzsprout transcript is present in the feed, Beamly can import and display it too.
Setup takes five steps:
1. Create a Beamly account and start a website.
2. Search for the podcast or paste its Buzzsprout RSS feed.
3. Choose a podcast website template.
4. Customize the pages, episode layouts, and player.
5. Connect a custom domain and continue publishing in Buzzsprout.
There is no need to re-upload the back catalog or change the RSS feed submitted to podcast directories.
What Beamly adds around a Buzzsprout podcast
Beamly has a drag-and-drop builder for custom pages, along with podcast templates and reusable sections. You can choose how many episode cards appear in a row, what details each card shows, where the player sits, and how the rest of the page is arranged. These podcast website examples show how those choices look across different types of shows.
Beamly is also cross-format: Besides podcast, you can add unlimited blog posts, landing pages, create online courses or upload a full video catalog. You can also sync the website with your existing YouTube channel or playlist.
Unlimited pages and a full blog make it possible to publish content that the Buzzsprout site has no page type for. Each page includes editable SEO metadata, structured data, and sitemap support. Those tools provide the technical base for search, but the usefulness and quality of the content still determine whether it earns traffic.
A choice of podcast players
You can keep the Buzzsprout embed player or use Beamly’s audio and video player. Beamly’s player supports custom colors and controls, sharing and download options, and a sticky mode that keeps playing while someone visits another page.
Subscribe buttons for major podcast apps are imported automatically. Apple Podcasts and Podchaser reviews can also appear on the site, and listeners can submit a new review without leaving your domain.
Publishing, audience, and revenue tools
The same site can hold blog posts, videos, courses, digital downloads, and several podcasts. Contact forms, email opt-ins, guest intake forms, comments, and listener voice messages give visitors something to do after listening.
Buzzsprout has its own subscription feature, so a separate platform is not required simply to charge listeners. Beamly becomes more relevant when the paid offer spans several content types or needs to live inside a larger branded site. Creator and Business plans support paid memberships, private podcast feeds, paywalls, and digital products with 0% Beamly platform fees. Stripe processing fees of about 3.6% plus 30 cents per transaction still apply.
For a podcast network, Beamly can import several Buzzsprout feeds into one website. Each show can have its own page, while combined episode lists and filters let visitors browse the network in one place.
Which setup should you choose?
A first-time podcaster with no content plan beyond regular episodes should start with the Buzzsprout website. It is included in the paid hosting plan, updates itself, and covers the pages most shows need at launch. Put the saved money into audio quality, editing, or promotion.
A show publishing articles, collecting email subscribers, or running campaigns will reach the fixed page structure sooner. Keeping Buzzsprout for hosting and adding Beamly avoids a podcast migration while giving the website room to grow.
A membership business should compare the whole offer, not only the checkout. Buzzsprout Subscriptions may suit a paid podcast with a simple support page. Beamly fits better when members receive a mix of private episodes, articles, videos, downloads, or courses on the same site.
A network can pair Buzzsprout’s multi-podcast hosting with a Beamly network website. That keeps feed management and download statistics in Buzzsprout while presenting all shows under one design and domain.
