Podbean vs Beamly

Podbean is a lower-cost choice for public hosting with unmetered bandwidth and access to an ad marketplace. Beamly is the better platform when the show should live on the creator's own site with paid members, a private feed per member and a 0% platform fee.

Podbean offers public hosting, advertising, premium content sales and private podcasts for organizations. Those are separate use cases. Beamly combines hosting with a full website and adds paid memberships on Creator. Compare the paid content offer itself before assuming you need Podbean's Business plan.

Podbean pricing

Unlimited Audio is $12 a month billed annually, or $17 billed monthly. It includes one public channel. Another public channel is $12 a month billed annually, or $17 monthly. New uploads are capped at 1 GB a month, which Podbean equates to about 16 hours of audio. Total storage is unlimited. Bandwidth is unmetered, subject to Podbean’s fair-use policy. The plan includes 600 AI credits, advanced podcast stats, a custom podcast site and an embed player. Monetization tools include Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, an ad marketplace and dynamic insertion, which has a separate usage fee. One-click distribution lists Apple Podcasts, the Podbean app, Spotify as audio-only, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and others.

Unlimited Plus is $29 a month billed annually, or $39 monthly. Two public channels, audio or video. Uploads are 10 GB a month, described as about 160 audio hours or 10 video hours. AI credits rise to 2,400. Extra public channels on this tier are $29 a month billed annually each.

Network is $79 a month billed annually, or $99 monthly. Unlimited audio and video podcasts, 40 GB of uploads and 3 TB of monthly bandwidth. Overage bandwidth is $0.03 per GB. Podbean’s own example says a 30-minute episode at that allowance is on the order of 100,000 downloads. The plan adds network-level stats, 50 team members and a network station page. Fair-use unmetered bandwidth does not apply here. This is the plan with a hard bandwidth number.

Business is $99 a month billed annually, or $129 monthly. Unlimited private podcasts plus two public channels, 40 GB of uploads, unmetered bandwidth under the fair-use policy, unlimited team members, SSO and SOC 2. Private members start at 100, and Podbean says you can buy more. The public page does not list the price of those extra members.

Podbean also sells Premium content, including subscriptions and episode packages. Listeners access purchases through Podbean’s apps or online, and Podbean takes a percentage of sales. That product is separate from the Business plan’s private-member allowance. Confirm current Premium fees and availability before choosing it for a new paid show.

Upload limits, private access and fair use

Public downloads are not the meter on Unlimited Audio. A show that grows from 2,000 to 40,000 downloads can stay on the $12 plan, as long as new uploads stay inside 1 GB and the account remains inside fair use. That can cost less than download-based plans on Captivate or Simplecast as the audience grows.

The upload allowance, private access requirements and fair-use terms need a closer look.

Upload size is one meter. Sixteen hours a month is generous for a weekly show and tight for a daily long audio show. Video itself starts on Unlimited Plus, not on the $12 plan. Spotify distribution on the pricing page is marked audio-only, so a video episode should not be planned as a Spotify video from Podbean unless a newer control says otherwise.

Private podcasting for a defined organization starts on Business at $99 a month billed annually, with 100 private members included. That tier also provides SSO and business access controls. A fan subscription is a different purchase. Podbean Premium sells content to listeners, and Apple Podcasts Subscriptions is another option. A creator selling bonus audio does not necessarily need Business.

Fair use is the other meter. “Unmetered” on Unlimited Audio and Unlimited Plus still sits under that policy. Network replaces that language with 3 TB and a per-gigabyte overage. Read the fair-use policy before you point a very large back catalog at the $12 plan and assume the bill can never move.

Where Podbean is the better fit

Choose Podbean Unlimited Audio if the show is public, the episodes fit in 1 GB of new files and you want ads or Apple subscriptions more than a member site. The ads marketplace is on the $12 annual plan. Podbean’s comparison table lists dynamic ad insertion at $1 CPM, so that line sits on top of the hosting fee. Beamly does not have an ads marketplace. A host-read spot you sell yourself can be baked into the audio file before upload. The automatic marketplace demand is Podbean’s.

Choose Unlimited Plus if the show needs video files and two public channels. At $29 a month billed annually it is $1 less than Beamly Creator and a very different bundle. Podbean gives you two shows, video uploads, ad tools and a podcast site. Beamly Creator gives you one show, video, a full website, a course and Stripe memberships with a 0% platform fee. If the second show and the ad marketplace are the requirement, Unlimited Plus wins. If the membership site is the requirement, Creator wins.

Choose Network if you operate many public shows and you can live inside 3 TB. The bandwidth math is published. Choose Business if you need SSO, SOC 2 and private feeds for a company audience and 100 seats is the right starting count. That is an operations plan. For fan subscriptions, compare Premium and Apple Podcasts Subscriptions before paying for organizational access controls.

Podbean includes a basic podcast website and custom-domain support. Beamly offers a drag-and-drop builder, blogging, course hosting and member access across several content types. That is useful if the website needs sponsor landing pages, articles and paid resources alongside the episode archive.

How the paid content offers differ

Starter is $18 a month billed annually. It hosts or syncs one podcast and puts a site, a blog and a custom domain in front of it. It does not include the ads marketplace, dynamic insertion or paid memberships. Use it beside a Podbean feed. Keep Podbean if you want its marketplace to help fill ad slots.

Beamly Creator is $30 a month billed annually for one podcast, video hosting, one course and paid memberships for up to 1,000 free and paid members combined. Members can receive unique private feeds, and the same account controls access to paid posts, videos and downloads. Beamly takes 0% of sales, with Stripe processing separate. Podbean Premium also sells paid audio, but its percentage fee and app or web delivery are a different offer. Business at $99 should be compared for internal private podcasts, where SSO and organizational controls may justify the higher price.

For several shows on one website, Beamly Business starts at $64 a month billed annually for 10 podcasts, courses and video channels. Higher limits cost extra. Podbean Network costs $79 a month billed annually for unlimited public shows and includes a 3 TB bandwidth allowance. It also has Podbean’s ad tools, which Beamly does not provide.

Keep Podbean and add Beamly

Most Podbean shows do not need to move. Connect the RSS feed to Beamly, keep unlimited-audio hosting at $12 and let episode pages, the blog and the sponsor page live on the creator’s domain. New episodes sync. Podbean’s stats, dynamic ads and Apple subscriptions keep working because the media stayed.

You can leave the public show on Podbean and host separate premium episodes on Beamly Creator. Moving public hosting is optional. If you do move, a public feed redirect will not transfer Premium purchases, Apple subscriptions or private-member access. Plan those separately and export analytics first.

Deciding between Podbean and Beamly

Pick Unlimited Audio for one public audio show that fits the upload allowance and benefits from the ad marketplace. Choose Unlimited Plus for video and two public channels, or Network for many public shows within its bandwidth allowance. Business is worth considering for internal podcasts that need SSO. For paid bonus audio, investigate Premium and Apple Podcasts Subscriptions first.

Choose Beamly Creator if you want Stripe payments, private member feeds and a website that can also sell courses or downloads. Starter can build the public site while Podbean keeps hosting. Business covers several shows sharing a website and member access.

Beamly Creator is the stronger fit when paid episodes should share a website and checkout with articles, videos or courses, at 0% platform fees. You can try it free for 14 days while leaving the public show on Podbean.

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