9 Best WordPress Podcast Plugins (Free and Premium)
Are you looking for ways to utilize a podcast plugin for your WordPress website? You have come to the right place. This article will show you some of the best WordPress podcast plugins.
But before we get into that, let’s first see what a podcast plugin is and why it is, along with factors to consider while choosing one. Let’s find out.
What Are WordPress Podcast Plugins and Why Use Them
A WordPress podcast plugin is an add-on tool that enhances the functionality and versatility of a website when it comes to hosting, managing, and presenting podcasts. These plugins are designed to streamline the entire podcasting experience by simplifying tasks such as audio file upload, episode scheduling, RSS feed generation, and embedding media players on your site.
One of the significant benefits of using a podcast plugin is that it provides an intuitive user interface that allows even beginners to effortlessly create and publish their podcasts without requiring any technical expertise.
With a well-equipped WordPress podcast plugin, you can effectively engage with your audience through high-quality audio content while enhancing the accessibility and discoverability of your podcasts online.
What to Look for In WordPress Podcast Plugins
When enhancing the podcasting experience on your WordPress website, selecting the right plugins can make all the difference. WordPress podcast plugins offer many features that cater to audio content creators, ensuring seamless integration and an engaging user interface for hosts and listeners alike.
Here are some crucial aspects to consider while looking for a WordPress podcast plugin:
- Compatibility: Plugin compatible with popular podcast hosting platforms such as Libsyn or Blubrry, allowing easy synchronization of episodes and statistics tracking.
- Customization: Look for plugins that provide customizable audio players with sleek designs to match your website’s aesthetics seamlessly.
- Transcriptions: Display show notes or transcripts alongside each episode enhances accessibility and boosts SEO rankings by making content searchable.
- Subscription: Enables visitors to conveniently subscribe through various platforms like Apple Podcasts or Spotify with just a few clicks, expanding your audience reach effortlessly.
- Analytics: Gather valuable insights into listener behavior and preferences, helping you tailor future episodes accordingly.
- Responsive: Responsive design across different devices guarantees an optimal listening experience regardless of whether users access your site from their desktop computers or mobile phones.
Now you know what to look for in WordPress podcast plugins. Now, let’s move to the article’s core, where we will list the top 9 WordPress podcast plugins.
Best 9 WordPress Podcast Plugins
Our handpicked list of the best WordPress podcast plugins includes the following plugins:
- PowerPress
- Libsyn
- Podlove Podcast Publisher
- Seriously Simple Podcasting
- Buzzsprout
- Podcast Player
- Simplecast
- Fusebox
- PodBean
Each plugin comes with great features. Based on your requirements and preferences, you can choose an option. Below, we will mention what makes each tool unique.
Without any further ado, let’s get into the list.
1. PowerPress
PowerPress is one of the best WordPress podcast plugins, which lets you showcase your shows with advanced analytics, monetize with ad insertion, and even add video podcasting. With the most robust WordPress plugin, you can add a responsive sidebar widget to any website page or use a straightforward shortcode to build subscribe pages for your podcast.
In addition, users can receive a fully managed WordPress website from the Blubrry team, which is entirely free. You can establish numerous channels for your podcast with PowerPress, which allows multiple podcasts. Using this WordPress podcast plugin, you may quickly and effectively make and publish your podcast without sacrificing quality.
PowerPress is compatible with multiple podcast distribution platforms, including Google, Apple, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart, RSS, Stitcher, and Pandora. Furthermore, you get free technical assistance for any account and unrestricted migration from any location.
Features
- Offers basic podcasting analytics and statistics for free
- SEO tools for your podcast feed and website
- Integrate an HTML5 media player with YouTube compatibility
- Includes podcasts with both audio and video
Pricing
PowerPress is a freemium WordPress podcast plugin. The starting cost for the base plan is $12 a month. You can download the tool’s free version from the WordPress repository and premium versions from their official website.
2. Libsyn
Libsyn is a well-known podcast hosting service that also provides a WordPress plugin. This plugin allows you to manage your audience across your favorite podcast sites, schedule posts, and produce podcast episodes and drafts directly from your WordPress dashboard.
Although it might seem that your WordPress server is billed for all of the above features, your media files are still hosted with Libsyn. This indicates that there is no interruption to your hosting server. Libsyn also hosts and distributes your PDFs, audio files, text posts, and videos without impacting your hosting server.
In addition to offering revenue alternatives like opt-in advertising and premium content subscriptions, Libsyn Publisher Hub also provides comprehensive data that lets you keep a close eye on the growth of your podcast activity.
Features
- An integrated player that is fully compatible with HTML5
- There is no decrease in page speed as all data is kept on a Libsyn server
- Create unique ways for listeners to interact with your podcast
- Build an app using the plugin itself
- Automated migrations of feeds and shows
Pricing
Libsyn is a freemium WordPress plugin. You can download the free version from the WordPress repository and premium version from the official website. The cost of the premium version starts at $5 a month for 50MB of storage capacity.
3. Podlove Podcast Publisher
Another WordPress podcast plugin on our list is Podlove Podcast Publisher. With complete control over user behavior, podcast feeds can be created using WordPress, an open-source program that is incredibly creative, effective, and compatible.
Using contemporary audio and video captures, this plugin facilitates multi-format publication. With the help of the Podlove Podcasting Plugin, podcasters may offer customized feeds for specific audiences or use cases without extra effort when publishing.
Not only that, but with the help of the plugin’s customizable template system, you may publish podcasts in a specific format and modify the appearance at any moment without having to edit each posting.
Features
- Compatibility for MP3, Vorbis, and Opus
- Customize the style at any time using customizable templates
- Podcast playback is fully compatible with HTML5
- Allows publishing in multiple formats
- Subscription buttons integrated under the audio and video player
Pricing
Podlove Podcast Publisher is a free WordPress plugin available to download at the WordPress plugin repository.
4. Seriously Simple Podcasting
Seriously Simple Podcasting is a free WordPress podcast plugin created by Castos, a top-rated podcast plugin for beginners and experts. It powers over 20K+ podcasts with its extensive features, easy setup instructions, and abundant customization possibilities.
Regardless of the podcast hosting company you use, this WordPress plugin for podcasters is functional. You may upload a new episode file or update your podcast’s details with Seriously Simple Podcasting, and the changes will automatically sync with your Castos hosting account.
Likewise, you can run several podcasts, each with its own RSS feed, from a single website with Seriously Simple Podcasting. Additionally, this plugin allows podcasting in both audio and video formats. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and all other podcasting platforms are compatible with Seriously Simple Podcasting Shortcodes.
Features
- Feed that works with Google Play and iTunes
- Post your podcast episodes directly to your website
- Incredibly light with a fast page speed
- Organize unique RSS feeds for various podcasts
- Show customized links for audio apps (Sticher, Spotify, Overcast, etc)
Pricing
Seriously Simple Podcasting is a freemium plugin. You can download the free version from the WordPress repository and premium version from the official website. The cost of the premium version starts at $29 a month.
5. Buzzsprout
With Buzzsprout, all you have to do is upload your audio file, and this excellent plugin for podcasters manages everything after that. You can publish your episodes immediately or choose when your listeners can access them.
If you are a beginner, you will quickly become an expert podcaster with the help of this WordPress podcast plugin. You can effortlessly reach millions of prospective listeners by putting your podcast in Apple, Spotify, Google, Sticher, and many other top directories. Not only that, Buzzsprout feeds are compatible with all of the major directories, so your podcast will appear anywhere people are searching for it.
Furthermore, for data, Buzzsprout provides podcast analytics to help you understand your audience. You’ll get a comprehensive overview of your podcast’s download total over time, and the apps users use to listen to it, and the locations where listeners find your podcast.
Features
- Automatic episode optimization
- Provides affiliate marketing facilities
- Add transcriptions to your podcast to increase accessibility
- Publish your podcast to all of the major podcast directories
- Organize several podcasts with an infinite number of collaborators
Pricing
Buzzsprout is a freemium WordPress plugin. Both free and premium versions can be downloaded from their official website. You get two hours of monthly upload time in the free plan, whereas the premium plan starts at $12 a month with unlimited storage.
6. Podcast Player
Podcast Player is another free WordPress podcast plugin that is very customizable and suitable for websites to play out external podcast RSS feeds on our list. You can provide your audience with excellent content using this potent plugin, including download and subscribe buttons.
With his plugin, you can quickly display and play your podcast episode using the podcasting feed URL. Your listeners can also easily access any episode from any page on your website or every page.
Also, the podcast player is fully responsive and looks great on any device. Not only does podcast player have an attractive appearance, but it also comes with advanced features to enhance the listening experience for your audience. It also seamlessly integrates with social media platforms to easily share your episodes.
Features
- Provides real-time analytics data
- Multiple playback options (continuous play and shuffle mode)
- Modify your design based on the podcast player’s width
- Make specific player elements visible or hidden
- Access a responsive podcast player with just a feed URL
Pricing
Podcast Player is a freemium WordPress plugin. The free version is available from the WordPress repository, while the premium version is available on their official website, which costs $39 a year.
7. Simplecast
As the name suggests, Simplecast is a very basic WordPress podcasting plugin. It supports the integration of podcasts from any podcasting service, such as Buzzsprout, SoundCloud, Libsyn, etc.
To display your podcasts on your website, all you need to do is add iTunes URLs to WordPress, regardless of where your podcasts are hosted. Each time you enter the iTunes URL, a unique page with a player, pictures, and a description is automatically created for each of your podcast episodes, which is easy to use and completely automated.
Additionally, other features of this plugin include fully customized buttons, clickable timestamps, automatic URL shortening, Clammr integration for sharing snippets on Twitter and Facebook, and more. The primary purpose of the plugin is to assist podcasters who wish to use their WordPress websites to advertise their podcasts.
Features
- Unlimited numbers of uploads and storage
- Web player for embedded episodes
- Deliver podcasts to other podcast directories
- Hosting numerous shows from a single account
- Recast for sharing on social media
Pricing
Simplecast is a premium WordPress plugin, but you get 14 days of free trial. After that, the basic package costs you $15/mo.
8. Fusebox
Fusebox is an all-in-one solution that integrates seamlessly with your WordPress website. This plugin includes a Sticky Player feature, which lets you put a signup form into your player settings, allowing you to capture emails to add to your email marketing list. It is compatible with numerous email service providers, including MailChimp and ConvertKit.
The Fusebox plugin makes sharing your podcast with your audience incredibly easy. You can effortlessly share it via email or on popular social networks and completely control how your podcast is shared. With that, it is ensured that your podcast reaches the most relevant platforms to your target audience.
Not only that, with just one click on the Fusebox player, listeners can download your podcast to their preferred app (iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, etc) and listen to it wherever they choose. Along with that, with complete access to all of your previous episodes, users may spend longer than ever on a single page of your website, which increases retention and keeps users engaged.
Features
- Integrated with email capture feature
- Compatible with all mobile devices
- Compliant with all podcast hosting services
- Seamlessly integrate your transcript with your episodes
- Customize the player to fit your brand
Pricing
Fusebox Podcast Player is a premium WordPress plugin. You can download the plugin from its official website. The starting price of this plugin is $7.50 a month.
9. Podbean
The PodBean plugin for WordPress is a powerful tool that simplifies the management of your podcast episodes. Using this plugin, you can effortlessly publish your episodes directly to your website, making it easy for your audience to access and listen to them.
Additionally, the PodBean plugin seamlessly distributes your podcast to popular podcast directories, increasing its visibility and reach. One of the standout features of this plugin is its monetization options. With the Podbean plugin, you can explore various avenues for generating revenue from your podcast, such as sponsorships and listener donations.
Not only that, PodBean offers unique functionalities like video podcasting and audio live streaming, enabling you to connect with your audience in new and engaging ways. And if you opt for premium features, you get unlimited storage, ensuring you never have to worry about running out of space for your episodes.
Features
- Unlimited hosting for videos and audio
- Create your custom cover art
- Automated sharing on social media
- Instant customer support with email and tickets
- Allow recording straight from smartphones
Pricing
PodBean is a freemium WordPress plugin. You can download both free and premium versions from its official website. It costs $9 a month with unlimited audio.
Conclusion
This concludes our list of the top 9 WordPress podcast plugins. With so many options available, it’s critical to carefully analyze your objectives and goals before deciding on the best podcast solution for your website.
To summarize, PowerPress, Fusebox, and Seriously Simple Podcast are beginner-friendly and offer an all-in-one solution that works best for anyone new to podcasts. And if you are looking for something simple on a moderate budget, then Simplecast and Libsyn are the perfect options.
Likewise, Podlove Podcast and Podcast Player give you complete control over the customizable. But if your main focus is social media, PodBean and Buzzsprout could be great picks.
We hope this list has helped you select the best podcast plugin for your WordPress site, and we look forward to seeing how you will present your podcast with one of these fantastic plugins!
Meanwhile, here is a list of articles from our site that you might find helpful:
