Is starting a new podcast part of your resolutions? Kicking off the new year with a new podcast is a great choice. If you’re looking for the best podcast hosting company for your show, I might be able to help. I’ve been podcasting for around 15 years. I also spent a chunk of my professional career working at a podcast hosting company (not listed here) and still spend a lot of my time reviewing and assessing what podcast hosting platforms actually provide for their customers. There isn’t one perfect podcast hosting company I can point to. Many of them cater to a specific type of podcast creator. In this breakdown, I’m highlighting my three favorite choices. I’m assessing these through the lens of someone who wants to treat their podcast seriously. Maybe this podcast is part of your brand’s marketing initiatives. Maybe you want to add an audio layer to the content you already produce. Either way, the options below can support the needs of a growing business or brand. ## The 3 Best Podcast Hosting Companies for Starting Your Podcast As mentioned earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for podcast hosting. Each platform offers a different experience depending on the type of podcaster you are. The three options below are great for anyone taking podcasting seriously. This isn’t just a hobby or an experiment, it's a podcast that represents you or your brand! ### What You Get Across All Three Hosts * Strong customer support across the board. * A robust set of tools for podcasters. * One-click distribution to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more. * Support for Podcasting 2.0 features and active participation in the podcasting ecosystem. ## Transistor.fm: The Great All-Arounder _Sign up for Transistor_ _(affiliate link, it supports us!) or use a_ _clean_ _link._ This is where I host most of my personal and professional podcasts. I’ve been using Transistor for the last four years, and it’s been rock solid. The support is excellent, and the feature set fits my workflow perfectly. ### Key Features * Simple, fast, and easy to use. * Helpful when problems actually matter. * Great for podcasters just getting started. * Clean embeds for your website. * Run sponsorship campaigns across episodes. **Podcasting 2.0 support** * Funding tag for donation links * Transcript tag with AI-generated transcripts * Person tag for hosts and guests You can watch this series of videos where I walk through setting up a new Transistor account on my YouTube channel. My Transistor.fm Playlist If you host multiple podcasts or like to experiment with new shows, Transistor’s pricing makes it easy and affordable. If you want a reliable, all-around podcast host, **Transistor.fm** is my top pick. ## RSS.com Hosting: From Free to Cutting Edge _Sign up for RSS.com._ There’s no better way to start a podcast than starting for free. RSS.com now offers a free plan, which is perfect for niche or local podcasts. I often recommend RSS.com to podcasters who want to move from another host and need deeper features. Their analytics are especially strong and useful for brands and advertisers. I also host _Our Beloved Medium_ on RSS.com, and it’s been a great fit. ### Features I Appreciate * Deep insights for serious podcasters. * PAID Ads: Monetize without selling ads yourself. * A strong commitment to podcasters through The RSS Space. * Unique Podcasting 2.0 tags * Live Item tag for live audio * Soundbite tag for short audio clips Launching a free plan at the end of 2025 shows a real commitment to helping new creators succeed. ## Buzzsprout: Easy Monetization, Easy Podcasting _Get started with Buzzsprout_ Buzzsprout is one of the largest podcast hosting companies in the industry, yet it’s still run by a small, thoughtful team. Every host I’ve recommended genuinely cares about podcasting and podcasters. Buzzsprout has been a champion of both for many years. While I haven’t personally hosted a podcast there, I’ve used their paid ad network to promote _Crew Collective_ , a podcast I produce at my full-time job. I also know many podcasters who’ve had great success with the platform. ### Features That Stand Out * Designed for beginners. * In-house production tools: Magic Mastering and Cohost AI simplify production. * Listener support (like Patreon) and dynamic ads through their network. If you’re brand new to podcasting and want an easy path to monetization, Buzzsprout is a strong option. ## Spotify and YouTube Are Not the Podcast Hosting Companies You Want If you’ve spent any time listening to podcast professionals, you know one of the biggest debates right now is a simple question: _What is a podcast?_ Over the last year, YouTube has become the industry’s darling of podcasting. But YouTube isn’t the savior of podcasting. YouTube wants you to start YouTube channels. While they offer a “podcast” option, it mainly exists to categorize episodes so they appear in the YouTube Music app. Spotify tried a similar approach years ago when they acquired exclusive rights to _The Joe Rogan Experience_ and made a massive push toward gated, premium content. When people say you need an RSS feed, it can sound like a techie clinging to the past. But having a proper RSS feed is both an insurance policy and an access strategy. It protects you from platforms changing the rules, throttling reach, or altering algorithms overnight. It also ensures your audience can always access your content using their podcast app of choice, not just Spotify or YouTube. Even if platforms change, your audience can still listen anywhere. That’s why your RSS feed should come from a dedicated podcast hosting company. ## It’s About Features _and_ Fit Choosing a podcast hosting company can feel overwhelming. You’re never quite sure if a platform will support your workflow or provide the help you need. The good news is that all three options here are solid choices. Podcast hosting isn’t just about features. It’s about fit. * Want to host multiple podcasts with a strong feature set? **Transistor.fm** * Want deep analytics, a free plan, and cutting-edge features? **RSS.com** * Want a turnkey solution with built-in monetization? **Buzzsprout** You can start a 14-day free trial with Transistor (aff. link) or explore free plans from RSS.com and Buzzsprout. Have questions about starting your podcast? Feel free to contact me. **Go podcasting!** 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more

I'm a huge fan of WordPress. The world's most popular Content Management System (CMS) is what puts food on the table for my family. I produce 3 podcasts and two YouTube channels about it. But it's not always the best solution for a podcaster. Especially if you're a podcaster that doesn't have the time or the need to learn & scale a site of which WordPress has the potential to handle. Ghost, which is what powers this website, is a fantastic alternative. In today's video, I highlight some of my favorite features Ghost provides and why they might work for you! ## Why Ghost? Like podcasting, Ghost is an open source solution. I think if you're investing in your RSS feed, staying away from platform lock-in from the likes of YouTube or Spotify, opting for your own "dot com" on an open platform makes really good sense. While you might think it appeals only to techies or a more cult-like follwing, what you realize in the longterm is that open platforms give you more freedom. Freedom to move your content/data around, freedom to shape the experience, and freedom to decide if you want to play nice with other tech giants. I encourage you to watch the video above to hear me go deeper into the following points, but here they are for brevity sake. 1. **Ease of use:** This is the clear reason to choose Ghost over any other platform. It's a blog and a newsletter in one – and they make the whole thing a breeze to manage. 2. **Hosting:** You can host your own version of Ghost on your own servers or opt to sign up to Ghost hosting, which is quite affordable compared to other platforms. 3. **Analytics:** This buckets into the ease of use part, but I do give it a special call out because the Ghost team presents it so seamlessly that you don't have to think critically about it. 4. **Payment/Subscribers:** I did forget to mention this in the video, but Ghost comes with built-in membership to the newsletter (and website content) with payment options built in. Obviously this is a massive win for podcasters that are seeking to monetize their publication. Some drawbacks worth mentioning: 1. **Learning curve:** Like everything else, there's a small learning curve. Albeit, this is the easiest platform for publishing a blog and newsletter I've ever used. You still might need a weekend to get comfortable with it. 2. **Integrations/Plugins:** If you're coming from the WordPress world, Ghost is nowhere near as "off the shelf" extensible as what you're used to. They have a solid set of integrations like any other SaaS offering, but if there are business critical apps you need your site to talk to, be sure to check their integration page first. 3. **Themes:** Another double-edge sword. They have great looking themes you can choose from, but you're not dragging and dropping any layouts here. You have the choice to toggle some style and layout options, but if you're used to an Elementor or Wix style approach – you won't find that here. ## Conclusion You can't go wrong with Ghost if your main objective is to build a newsletter and home base for your podcast content. You can signup for free and take it for a spin before you fork over any hard earned sponsorship money. DM me on LinkedIn if you have any questions, I'm happy to help. _I'm sponsored by Ghost, but am under no direction to write this article, nor did the team at Ghost have any input. These are all of my own thoughts as a Ghost customer, and a fan of WordPress! ;)_ 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more

Every year I like to run a fun, slightly nerdy experiment using AI to analyze something happening in the podcast world. This time, I decided to break down a full year of Podnews Weekly episodes and turn them into an interactive research dashboard. It is called the Podnews Weekly Report 2025. Disclaimer: This project is not endorsed by Podnews, Podnews Weekly, James Cridland, or the great Sam Sethi. Everything inside the report was generated and researched with the help of AI. I used Claude Code to build local Python scripts, spaCy NER for entity recognition, Python 3, Chart.js, Tailwind CSS, and a lightweight Worker-based setup for hosting references. All data originates from the transcripts included in the Podnews Weekly RSS feed, and I have cited everything back to the original source. This is not definitive research. It is an AI-assisted exploration. With that out of the way, let us talk about what this project really shows. Because this experiment is not just about Podnews Weekly. It is about what AI and open podcasting standards unlock for creators. ## AI Opens New Doors for Podcasters The biggest takeaway from building this report is that AI does not need to power massive web apps or change how listeners consume podcasts. Sometimes the most valuable use case is much smaller. A micro app. A lightweight tool. Something that enhances how audiences interact with your content. That is what this report is. It is not a listening experience. It is an interactive way to explore a year’s worth of conversations. A visual snapshot of the topics, people, and companies that shaped Podnews Weekly throughout the year. And it did not require a huge tech stack. It required: * Python 3 * spaCy for NER * Chart.js * Tailwind CSS * Claude Code to assist in writing and structuring the logic * A willingness to experiment with data I already had This is a great example of what podcasters can build today. You do not need to launch a full SaaS product. You can create small tools that make your show more dynamic, more engaging, and more useful. By the way, you can get the source code on Github. ## Your Episode Archive Is More Valuable Than You Think Podcasters move fast. You record, publish, promote, and get ready for the next episode. But when you zoom out and look at the totality of your work—especially with transcripts—your archive turns into something much more valuable. Your content becomes a dataset. Your conversations become analyzable. Your show becomes a research resource. For this project, I analyzed roughly 57 episodes. Once laid out in charts and trend lines, it became obvious how much depth lives inside a consistent publishing habit. This matters even more in today’s AI-centric world. Tech companies ingest written and video content to power their models. They do the same with podcasts. So the question becomes: Why shouldn’t podcasters also benefit from their own data? This is where open standards matter. RSS matters. Independence matters. If your feed is portable, your data is portable. When your data is portable, you can build your own tools and your own experiences on top of it. Dashboards, research apps, companion tools, community features. It all becomes possible. ## Podcasting 2.0 Makes This Even Better Podcasting 2.0 dramatically improves what creators can build because of its structured tags. Transcripts, people, funding, chapters, location, and more are available in the RSS feed itself. Podnews Weekly uses Buzzsprout, which supports the transcript tag. That meant I did not need to transcribe anything. A small Python script could fetch every transcript, and spaCy handled the entity extraction. Because of that, the dashboard can display: * Guest photos via the person tag * Chapters from the chapter tag * Keyword frequency over time * Episode-level summaries and visual cues If I wanted to extend this further, I could add modal popouts, embedded players, interactive timelines, and more. And I would not need to reverse-engineer anything. The data already lives inside the RSS feed. This is what makes Podcasting 2.0 so compelling. It opens the door to richer experiences that do not rely on proprietary podcast apps. ## Why This Report is Important The dashboard allows anyone in the podcast industry to step back and see a larger narrative. You can compare how often certain companies, topics, or people appear across the year. You can see when certain themes spike. It becomes a simple, visual way to trace trends and understand how industry conversations evolve over time. For analysts, creators, or platform builders, this context can be valuable. It highlights the shifting focus of the podcast ecosystem. ### A Searchable, Structured Archive Because the report indexes every transcript, you can search across the entire year of episodes from a single place. If you want to know when a technology, platform, or trend was mentioned, the Transcript Search feature makes that easy. Clicking into any episode brings you deeper into the source material. The result is a condensed research archive that saves you time and makes it easier to study conversations that might otherwise blend together. ### Context for Strategy, Development, and Analysis If you are building podcast tools, advising clients, buying ads, or producing shows, this type of data can help you understand the broader landscape. You can see rising interest in things like video podcasting or programmatic ads. You can identify when certain companies show up repeatedly and when they fade out. None of this replaces traditional research. But it gives you directional clarity, which often matters just as much when you are making strategic decisions. ### A Resource for Anyone Deeply Invested in Podcasting For people who follow the podcast industry closely, this dashboard offers a way to browse, compare, and revisit a year’s worth of insights from Podnews Weekly. It is a lightweight, fast, easy-to-digest way to stay informed. And because it is built on open standards and your own content, it reinforces a larger point about the value of accessible podcast data. ## Final Thought This experiment is about showing what is possible when podcasters take ownership of their content and look for ways to extend the experience beyond audio. As we close out the year, I hope this inspires you to experiment with your archive and build something interesting with your own content. Your episodes contain more value than you think. If you explore the report, let me know what stands out. And stay tuned for more experiments at The Podcast Setup!

RSS.com just launched a free podcast hosting plan, and I wanted to share what it includes because I think it solves one of the biggest objections I hear from aspiring podcasters: "It's too expensive to get started." Full disclosure: RSS.com are friends of mine and they sponsor one of my shows, Our Beloved Medium. But this free plan is legitimately useful, especially if you're thinking about starting a podcast in 2026 and don't want to drop money on hosting before you've even recorded episode one. ## What's Included in the Free Plan Here's what you get without paying a dime: * **Unlimited episodes** — No artificial caps on how much you can publish * **Free podcast website** — A basic site for your show * **Episode scheduling** — Plan your releases in advance * **Automatic distribution** — One-click submission to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other directories * **Promotional tools** — Help people discover your show * **Podcasting 2.0 features** — Pod roll recommendations, funding tags, and value-for-value streaming * **Enhanced email privacy** — Protects your email address in your RSS feed * **Location tagging** — Tag where your podcast is recorded or what it's about for local/niche discovery The main limitation? **Podcast analytics are capped at 90 days** instead of the extended history you'd get with their paid plans. ## Who Should Use the Free Plan (And Who Shouldn't) If you're a hobbyist or someone just trying to get something off the ground, 90 days of analytics is plenty. Honestly, if you're obsessing over analytics beyond 90 days, you're probably running a business or trying to sell ads. At that point, you should be paying for hosting anyway. RSS.com's middle-tier plan bumps you to 180 days of analytics, adds AI transcripts, and includes programmatic ad insertion. That's where you want to be if podcasting is part of your business strategy or you're using it for brand building at your organization. But if you're just testing the waters? Or you've been putting off starting because of costs? The free plan removes that excuse. ## Setting Up Your Free Podcast (Quick Walkthrough) I signed up for a free account just to see what the experience is like. Here's the process: 1. **Create your podcast** — Add your show name, description, and category 2. **Upload cover art** — Use something like Canva to create your 3000x3000 pixel cover image (Canva is free for basic designs) 3. **Start uploading episodes** — The dashboard is clean and straightforward 4. **Distribute to platforms** — One click to submit to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other apps The interface is one of the things I appreciate most about RSS.com. Everything is where you'd expect it to be. ## Analytics and Monetization Features Even on the free plan, you get basic analytics showing where people are listening and what apps they're using. It's not the deep data you'd get with a paid plan, but it's enough to know if your show is resonating. For monetization, **programmatic ads aren't available** on the free tier. But you can still use: * **Donation and funding tags** — Add your PayPal or Stripe link, and any podcast app that supports the funding button will display it to listeners * **Value-for-value streaming** — If you want to accept Bitcoin micropayments (sats) from listeners using compatible apps Just paste your payment link into the dashboard, and you're set. Any app that supports Podcasting 2.0 features will display your funding button automatically. ## Why Podcasting 2.0 Features Matter (Even If You Don't Know What They Are Yet) RSS.com includes several Podcasting 2.0 features in their free plan: * **Funding tags** — Let listeners support you directly through their podcast app * **Pod rolls** — Cross-promote other podcasts you recommend * **Location tags** — Help people discover local or niche shows * **Value-for-value** — Alternative monetization through streaming micropayments If none of that makes sense right now, that's fine. The point is these are forward-looking features that give you more control and flexibility as a creator. RSS.com supporting them on the free tier shows they're thinking about independent creators, not just extracting maximum revenue. ## The Bottom Line Starting a podcast in 2026 doesn't have to mean spending money on hosting before you've proven the concept to yourself. RSS.com's free plan gives you everything you need to launch, distribute, and even monetize a show. The stuff that's not free? Your time. You still have to create the content, whether that's scripted monologues or interviews. But the infrastructure is there, ready to go, for zero dollars. If you know someone who's been putting off podcasting because of costs, point them to RSS.com's free plan. It's a solid way to get started without financial commitment.

I’m coming off a bit of a cold this week, but I still wanted to share some thoughts after reading a Reddit thread from Overcast creator Marco Arment about Podcasting 2.0. Marco has been a hugely influential indie developer, but I found myself disagreeing with several parts of his take on the Podcasting 2.0 movement and the open-source spirit behind it. With my background in the WordPress world, I see a lot of parallels. Open ecosystems move forward because communities experiment, share ideas, and build on top of shared foundations. Nothing is mandatory, and no one is required to adopt every proposal. That freedom is exactly what keeps innovation moving. In the video that accompanies this post, I break down Marco’s comments, why I think they’re missing the broader context of open podcasting, and why Podcasting 2.0 continues to matter as more major apps adopt its tags. Want to share your podcast setup? Contact me! #### Video Transcript Why Marco Arment is wrong about open source [00:00:00] Hey, it's Matt from the podcast setup.com. Got a bit of a cold. Bear with me one day. I'm gonna start an official podcast for this channel. I won't just be doing these one-off media blitz and, uh, standing on my soapbox, but that's what, uh, that's what the love of podcasting is for. I wanna highlight. A Reddit thread, uh, in the Overcast Reddit, uh, which I'm not a member of. Um, I don't use Overcast. I used to way back in the day when it was the only indie option, uh, compared to or against, uh, apple Podcast offering, which was very thin and weak back then. But of course, podcasting wasn't as mature and as popular as it is today. Marco Armand, the creator of, uh. Overcast, uh, this is his Reddit and his thread on podcasting 2.0, talking about some of the tags that he wants to, uh, adopt into the software. Uh, as you know, I'm an advocate for Podcasting 2.0. As you might also know, I spend a lot of time as a, uh, developer [00:01:00] advocate for WordPress in the greater WordPress space, which has a lot of similarities to podcasting. They're both open source when we're talking about RSS publishing and where you can host a podcast and they're both community driven, like podcasting 2.0. WordPress has a massive community. These two things are, or these two communities, these two projects are not unique in open source. That's how a lot of open source stuff. Works. We have open source code backed by maybe a commercial company, and a lot of that support comes from people in the community who give their time developing, advocating, marketing, integrating, adopting, reviewing, creating security patches, et cetera. So that is the lay of the land. If you don't quite understand what podcasting 2.0 is, but you should know what Podcasting 2.0 is, especially if you're a pod news listener. Um, apple keeps adopting some really cool features from podcasting 2.0, like chapters and [00:02:00] transcripts. They're continuing to enhance the. Apple Podcast app, uh, and it's quite a fantastic app actually. My daily driver right now is Pocket Cast. Um, but I have a set of podcasts that I listen to on Apple podcasts so that I can continue to, um, test drive and dog food what Apple's doing, especially when it comes to adding these tags. So I want to give Marco credit, of course, for leading the charge of Indie podcast app development. And really sort of setting the groundwork for an alternative, um, in the Apple ecosystem so many years ago. But I think that's the issue is that it's these resting on these laurels of so many years ago where he has a very opinionated view on adapting to podcasting 2.0, and that's totally fine. Setting the stage for this stuff. That is the beauty of open source. In WordPress world, there are many solutions to the same problem. There are developers [00:03:00] creating software to solve form, contact forms, and form entry data. That's my day job at Gravity Forms, we have a lot of competitors, both free and commercial. Third party, away from E, from WordPress. It is totally fine to have many solutions. In fact, that's what drives innovation and awareness of open source stuff, right? Uh, especially in the lens of, of WordPress and, and podcasting. So it's great that he wants to adopt these tags and enhance overcast, and that is the beauty of what Podcasting 2.0 has brought to. I'll call the industry is a ragtag set of people who are building really cool stuff on top of the RSS feed and enhancing what is possible. For podcasters, for listeners, for hosting companies, and heck, the greater [00:04:00] advertising and commercial side of podcasting at large chapters and transcripts, obviously being the most, um, the most powerful of solutions to come out of this movement. So let's just dive into this Reddit thread really quick and I'm gonna quote some of the stuff from Marco and I'll link this up, uh, wherever you're watching or listening to this so you can read the whole thread. Marco says, the podcast namespace season and episode tags are supported in the current beta. He's talking about overcast. I'm. Working on some others, including person chapters and transcripts. Fantastic person tag, great. Sort of enhances that visibility of who the host is, who's been on the show, et cetera. Very like really good chapters. Again, apple just adopted chapters and you can, and pockets and many other apps. Have had chapters for a while. This is giving the listener the ability to skip ahead and find the chapters that they wanna listen to in your long format show, including cover art to those chapters. Very, really, um, or chapter art to those chapters. Fantastic [00:05:00] transcripts. We know the obvious thing here. Um, and he continues to say, I'd like to set the expectation accordingly, though there are some tags like those above that add useful metadata in many contexts that I look forward to supporting. I don't see enough benefit or viable path to publisher adoption to justify supporting many of the tags or mechanisms. It's fine, like you don't have to. It's the beauty of the open source. You have it, you build on top of it. Think of the Linux kernel and how it. Uh, is is the heartbeat of, uh, Linux desktop applications. You don't need every package. You don't need it to do every single way. I have no plans to support their cryptocurrency feature or anyone else's. It's too messy. It's outside of my expertise. I don't wanna get involved with many, uh, that people's money. That's fine. Like we've moved past that debate and I think where Marco. Maybe just is unaware 'cause he is not spending time listening to the podcasting 2.0 podcast or the pod news weekly. Like people just get stuck in value for value in cryptocurrency. Oh my God. [00:06:00] Like that's the thing that just like they hear it and they immediately go, I don't want any part of this. I've talked about this ad nauseum. It is looking at an alternative payment source. It doesn't have to be crypto, it can be the funding tag, which is literally a text field that says, if you wanna support me, click this button, click this link. It can go to PayPal, it can go to Stripe, it can go to my WordPress website, it can go wherever, but people just get bogged down in like podcasting two point. Cryptocurrency. It's not more broadly. I'm gonna continue with his, with his comment here more broadly. I do have a bit of philosophical pushback on any pressure to adopt podcasting 2.0 proposal. Uh, this was not a standards body collaborating with podcasters podcast app makers and podcast listeners to get widespread agreement on a set of proposals. It's some people who had some ideas and publish them. And [00:07:00] while I respect the people greatly, there are some great ideas within, and they gave it a name Podcasting 2.0 that suggests. Or they gave it a name Podcasting 2.0 that suggests a level of authority and inevitability that I do not agree with. I'll adopt the parts that make sense for Overcast to adopt and there are some good ones there. But Podcasting 2.0 is not a standard in bold that anyone is obligated to adopt. It's a list of proposals. I'm always gonna prioritize features that I believe, uh, will have significant benefits to my customers. Some of those podcast namespace power, but the most won't be. And I like my set. I like to set my own roadmap. Lemme start with that tail end. Absolutely. As an indie developer, yes, you should. That's how everybody should work. Open source gives, I feel, to the commons. You have this set of things that you can pull from and adopt into your own software. It could be one, tag all the tags. It's your prerogative to, to serve customers the right way.[00:08:00] What I just completely disagree with and what I, I keep hearing over and over again as if podcasting 2.0 and the folks behind it are just constantly pushing onto people to, to do this or not. There could be another podcasting 2.0 that comes out. There could be, as Marco puts it, uh, a, a set of, uh, suggestions, um, and not obligated to adopt. These are not standards. Yes. I understand that, and maybe there's another movement that comes up and comes up with a whole set of their own tags that could exist too. WordPress, Drupal, right. You know, any other indie app that's alongside of Overcast exist because somebody said, I want to do it this way, but this whole thing of like. This was not a standards body collaborating with podcasters. Podcast app [00:09:00] makers. Podcasts, listen to get widespread agreement on a set of proposals. I mean, I use Overcast early on. I, I dunno, I feel like it was 10 years ago when I started using it. Has it been around that long? Did Marco start with asking everyone here's how it should be done? No. What we're talking about is a guy who has had a very successful app who. Like the leading indie app probably on Apple Podcasts, right? And maybe even across, if you compared it to Google or um, uh, Android, you know, probably the most successful. And it's easy to look back and go, well, I'm at the top of the hill now. No one's really asking or collaborating with me. I have a chip on my shoulder. And these podcasting 2.0 guys, like, they're, they're trying to like push this agenda. This is not how open source or innovation works. Marco, did he ask everybody? When I make this overcast app, I am going to ask, uh, everyone, [00:10:00] uh, all these podcast hosting companies, what the best way is to ingest RSS feeds, uh, and cash, uh, episodes. I worked at a podcast hosting company for three years. I didn't hear from Marco once when I was at that company, right? Innovation does not start with this heavy set executive style, big organization, corporate style approach. Okay. Yes, it could be, but a lot of people, I'm sure, like Marco was sitting in a cafe and he was like, I think I'm gonna make a podcast app. I don't like what Apple has to offer. I will make my own and I am going to launch it into the world. This is innovation. This is how a seed is planted and grown. I don't understand how somebody who's an indie developer who's not working at a giant corporation. It just has like this, this [00:11:00] distaste for a, a, an open source movement. Is it because you don't like what I'll call the two founders of the project? Is it because there's this disagreement with, because cryptocurrency was there and, oh my God, if you're in that, I don't want any part of it. And guess what? It's totally fine if that's what Marco, how Marco is voting. But if it's just like all these steps weren't followed for innovation. No one was collaborating. I mean, get involved. This is the biggest issue I see in the WordPress side is when people complain about what's happening with how WordPress is developing. And I never see anyone get involved with the community talks, with the developer, talks in the meetings, in the meetups, get involved. And if you're too busy, you're too busy. But also don't get on the soapbox and complain that no one's talking to you. Indie developers that stifle open source innovations or communities [00:12:00] or like push it down because it wasn't done in like this practice, the standard practice kind of way. It drives me nuts. That's why I'm here ranting about it. And, uh, I'll wrap it now because we've, we've gone on too long and I have a meeting to get to. he says, like, again, I'll repeat it while I respect the people greatly and there are some great ideas within that. Gave it the name podcast, it suggests a level of authority, inev in, in an inevitability that I don't agree with. Podcasting 2.0 is not a standard. It's not a standard. And it's open source. I mean, no one is saying it's a standard, but when, if Margo just steps back for a moment and goes, like, if he's gonna keep saying, no, I'm not gonna do this. No one's, no one's making me do this. But also at the same time we see Apple adopting it. Maybe Spotify doing some stuff. Maybe in the future, maybe YouTube does something, probably not. Maybe it does. And then we have all these other indie developers building on top of it. That's fine. if you don't wanna adopt it. All right, let's wrap this video up. It's just because, Nope. Alright, let's just wrap this video up. It just really gets under my skin when. Somebody who is an indie developer, which I would classify in that more like open source kind of community, I'm sure he's an open source advocate. I mean, he's publishing a podcast app, ingest RSS feeds. There must be some affinity to open publishing, an open distribution that Marco likes. He seems to be a very intelligent person, very successful in terms of this space. So I give him all the credit there. I just simply cannot understand when people. In the podcast space, in the people who probably advocate for an open web can also just be so [00:13:00] adamant against another open movement. It's fine if you don't wanna adapt to it or adopt, uh, the suggestions. It's just when you sort of punch down on a group of people who are also innovating, just like you did in the beginning. Maybe still today, it doesn't make sense to me. We're all in this same boat. We're not the Spotify or the YouTubes, and I'm, I'm not even gonna throw Apple into that mix because they've been adopting some of these tags. What more could we ask for? So. It's been another, uh, another episode. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave 'em in the comments below. Leave 'em on the blog post where you're listening to this or watching this. Leave 'em on the YouTube channel and one day I'll have a podcast. It's Matt from the podcast setup. Join the newsletter for free. Let me, uh, let me interview you about your podcast setup. Go to the podcast setup.com. Thanks for watching. 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more

Transcripts do more than make your podcast accessible. They make your show easier to search, quote, and share. They give listeners new ways to engage with your content, whether that’s following along in a player, finding a specific segment, or scanning your episode for quick insights. In this post, I’ll explain why every podcaster should be adding transcripts, the real benefits behind them, and how Transistor.fm makes the whole process simple. 💡 Links to Transistor are using my affiliate link. If you signup, it helps support the work I do. If you'd prefer not to use my link, just visit Transistor.fm directly. ## The Benefits of Podcast Transcripts There are many reasons to include transcripts with your podcast, and it starts with accessibility. Here are three key benefits that make transcripts worth adding to every show you produce: **1. Accessibility for All** Transcripts make your podcast available to everyone, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. They also help people who prefer reading, who want to skim an episode, or who are in a setting where listening isn’t practical. Providing transcripts ensures no one is left out of your audience. **2. Better Listener Experience** Modern podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, TrueFans, and Fountain now display live transcripts as an episode plays. This interactive feature lets listeners follow along word for word, jump back to specific moments, or find key insights more easily. It enhances the overall experience and makes your content feel more polished. **3. Improved AI Searchability and SEO advantages** Having transcripts available online means search engines and AI tools can understand what your episodes are about. This helps your show appear in search results when someone is looking for topics you’ve covered. Even if the SEO impact is small, it builds a stronger foundation for discoverability and long-term reach. ## How to Get Transcripts Into Your Podcast There are plenty of ways to generate transcripts. Tools like Descript and Riverside include built-in transcription. Apps like Whisper Transcription for Mac let you drop in an audio file and automatically get a transcript back. But each of these adds extra steps to your workflow. You still have to export the file, edit it, upload it, and attach it to your podcast host. It’s not difficult, but it does add friction. That’s where Transistor.fm stands out. Transistor's Transcription Window ## Why I Like Transistor’s Built-In Transcripts Transistor recently rolled out an automatic transcription feature powered by AI, and it’s a perfect example of how podcast tech should work: simple, affordable, and designed for creators. Here’s what makes it great: * **Affordable pricing:** About $1 per hour of transcription credits * **Automatic workflow:** Transcripts are created directly inside your Transistor dashboard * **Clean interface:** Easy to read, edit, and manage transcripts without any clutter * **Speaker recognition:** It detects who’s talking, which saves you from reformatting * **Team-friendly:** You can grant permissions to others to review or edit transcripts It’s not competing with a full editing suite like Descript or Riverside. It focuses on doing one thing really well: _making transcripts simple and integrated into your publishing flow._ ## Quick Start: How to Add Transcripts to Your Podcast If you’re ready to add transcripts to your podcast, here’s how to get started: **Step 1: Check Your Podcast Host** Look for a transcription option in your current hosting platform. If it doesn’t support Podcasting 2.0 transcript tags, consider switching to Transistor.fm, which handles it automatically. **Step 2: Create or Import Your Transcript** Use tools like Descript, Riverside, or Whisper Transcription to generate a transcript. You can upload that file directly to Transistor or let Transistor’s built-in AI handle it for you. **Step 3: Review and Publish** Once your transcript is processed, edit for clarity, fix speaker names, and publish. Apps like Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts will display it automatically, enhancing the listening experience for your audience. ## The Bottom Line Transcripts make your podcast more engaging, searchable, and accessible to a wider audience. When your host handles them automatically, like Transistor.fm does, you remove the friction that often keeps creators from adding them. If your current host doesn’t support transcripts, it might be time to switch. Visit Transistor.fm using this link to help support the Podcast Setup. Your listeners will appreciate the added effort, and your podcast will be better for it. 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more

After 18 years of podcasting and countless hours spent in various editing suites, I never thought I'd say this: I'm moving away from Descript for podcast production. As someone who's been using Descript for years and genuinely loves the platform, this decision didn't come lightly. But the reality is that Descript seems to be falling out of love with podcasters, pivoting heavily toward AI, video, and avatar creation as they chase bigger enterprise markets. Meanwhile, Riverside has been quietly building exactly what podcast producers need, and they're executing it better than anyone else right now. Where Descript has become increasingly clunky and unfocused, Riverside offers a streamlined, podcaster-first experience that respects both my time and my workflow. Here are the four key reasons why Riverside has won me over: ## 1. **Lightning-Fast Performance That Keeps You in the Flow** Riverside's transcript editing is simply snappier than what I've experienced elsewhere. Everything feels more responsive, from basic cuts to timeline manipulation. When you're working with long-form content or multiple layers (which is most podcast editing), this performance difference becomes a game-changer. The timeline work is particularly smooth, which has always been a pain point in other editors. I can get through edits faster, which means more time for the creative aspects of podcast production rather than waiting for the software to catch up. It's the kind of performance improvement that you don't realize you needed until you have it. ## 2. **Thoughtfully Designed AI Tools That Just Work** Riverside takes a "powerful but simplified" approach to AI features that I absolutely love. Instead of wrestling with precise numerical values, I get intuitive controls: "better," "best," or "least" for pause removal. Smart, balanced, cut, or mute options for filler words. There's less critical thinking required for routine tasks, which keeps me focused on the bigger picture. The "Smart Mute" feature alone is worth highlighting. It automatically mutes tracks when someone isn't speaking, which should be a no-brainer feature for any interview-style podcast. These aren't just AI features for the sake of having AI; they solve real workflow problems that podcast producers face every day. ## 3. **Automatic Content Creation That Saves Hours** One of Riverside's standout features is how it handles clip creation. After recording, Riverside automatically creates clips, shorts, and longer segments without any prompting from me. No multi-step workflows, no compositions to manage, no waiting around. You finish recording, and your content is ready to review and publish. For busy podcast producers juggling multiple shows, this automation is a massive time-saver. I can focus on the creative decisions rather than the mechanical process of identifying and creating clips. The quality is consistently good, and the variety gives me plenty of options for social media and promotional content. ## 4. **A Clean, Purpose-Built Interface** Riverside's interface stays laser-focused on podcast production. Everything is where you'd expect it to be, and the design language is consistent throughout. There's minimal mental overhead in figuring out where features are or how to accomplish basic tasks. What I appreciate most is how the interface doesn't try to accommodate every possible use case. It's what I call "intelligently simplified": powerful enough to handle complex edits, streamlined enough that I'm not fighting the interface. The learning curve is gentle, and experienced editors can dive right in without feeling overwhelmed by options they'll never use. ## The Bottom Line: Hoping Riverside Stays Focused While I'm genuinely excited about what Riverside is building for podcasters, I do have one concern about their future direction. Their recent announcement about adding podcast hosting feels like potential feature creep. Podcast hosting involves analytics, Podcasting 2.0 features, advanced website integration, and distribution management. When companies try to do everything, they often end up doing nothing particularly well. My hope is that Riverside continues to excel at what they do best: making podcast production efficient, intuitive, and enjoyable. Right now, they're winning by staying focused on their core users. The podcasting community needs tools that understand our specific workflows and challenges. For fellow podcasters considering Riverside: it's not perfect (their export workflow could use some refinement), but it's the most podcast-focused production tool I've used. Sometimes the best choice isn't the one with the most features. It's the one that does what you actually need, efficiently and well. The switch from Descript wasn't easy, but Riverside has earned its place in my production workflow by simply being better at the things that matter most to podcast creators. 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more

After 18 years in the WordPress ecosystem—building client solutions, hosting WordPress podcasts, and working for Gravity Forms—you might wonder why I'd choose Ghost for The Podcast Setup. It's not because WordPress isn't capable. In fact, it's quite the opposite. WordPress can do anything, and that's exactly the (my!) problem. ## The WordPress "Problem" For Me When you've worked with WordPress for 18 years, you can build whatever you want, and that's _my_ problem... I spend time adjusting layouts instead of writing content. I update plugins instead of recording episodes. WordPress gives me endless options, so I use them. It delays the real goals I need to achieve with the finite time I have to commit to publishing here. For The Podcast Setup, I need to publish content and grow (launch) the podcast. WordPress makes me want to tweak and configure, Ghost just gets me to publish. From a business perspective, I need a tool that is hyper focused on the newsletter features, with a simple blogging experience. I login, I see the stats and subscriber count. If I want to turn on payments, it's easy. On WordPress.com, that lightweight laser focused experience just isn't there. For The WP Minute, I use Kit which is far more robust of an email solution, because the business requires it. Anyway, here are my reasons for going back to Ghost :) ## My 3 Reasons For Using Ghost I still love WordPress and I think it's a tool that some users can grow into when their business or brand requires it. For now, Ghost will help me with streamlining publishing. ### 1. Guardrails That Actually Help Ghost puts up guardrails that WordPress doesn't. There are no granular design tools to lose hours in. No endless plugin ecosystem to explore. No point-and-click editor for the entire website that invites constant tweaking. These limitations aren't restrictions—they're liberations. Ghost boxes me in and keeps publishing easy, which forces me to focus on what actually matters: getting ideas out of my head and onto the page. When I use Ghost, I can get in, publish my thoughts, and get out. That's exactly what The Podcast Setup needs right now. ### 2. The Sponsorship Story (And What It Taught Me) About a year ago, I pitched John O'Nolan, Ghost's founder, on sponsoring a new podcast called CMS Minute. This was my reaction to the WordPress trademark controversy and uncertainty in the community. I wanted to explore content management options beyond WordPress. I interviewed several CMS founders and recorded episodes about their platforms. The content was okay, but something wasn't clicking. As months passed, I realized I was creating "inside baseball" content—too technical, too niche, too reactive to current events rather than genuinely helpful. The content grew stale. I'd spent months spinning my wheels on creative ideas instead of serving an actual audience need. Sound familiar? It's the same productivity trap that WordPress can create, just in content form. Meanwhile, I kept getting questions about podcast setup, hosting, and strategy. People still need basic guidance on starting and running podcasts. The word "podcast" has never carried more cultural weight or marketing value than it does right now. That's when it clicked: podcasters need practical solutions, not technical deep-dives. They need platforms that help them build their brand hub without getting in the way. ### 3. Better Alignment for Real Needs Ghost and podcasting actually make perfect sense together. Podcasters need a central hub for their brand, a place to publish written content that expands on their episodes, and an easy way to build an email newsletter. Ghost does all of this really well. More importantly, it does it simply. No learning curve that takes months to navigate. No need to hire a developer for basic functionality. No plugin compatibility issues or security updates to manage. As someone who consults in the podcast space and works for a podcast hosting company, I see this need constantly. Podcasters want easy. It's hard enough to create great audio content, book guests, and grow an audience. The last thing they need is a website that demands constant attention. ## Ghost vs. WordPress: The Right Tool for the Right Job Let me be clear: WordPress isn't going anywhere in my world. I'll continue building WordPress solutions for clients who need that level of customization and power. WordPress is fantastic when you need unlimited flexibility, complex functionality, or highly custom designs. But for a podcast brand that needs to focus on content creation? Ghost provides everything necessary without the distractions. WordPress gives you infinite possibilities. Ghost gives you focused productivity. Both have their place, but for The Podcast Setup, productivity wins. ## Building Your Content "Database" There's another consideration that's becoming increasingly important: owning your content in an age of AI. Large language models are trained primarily on text found on websites. If you think of your website as your personal database—your biography, your expertise, your unique perspective—then having an easy way to consistently add to that database becomes valuable. Ghost and WordPress excel at this. But as I turn my attention on podcasters that want easy solutions, the publishing workflow of Ghost is effortless, which means you're more likely to actually publish. Every blog post that expands on a podcast episode, every insight you share, every piece of your expertise that you document becomes part of your owned content repository. In a world where AI is learning from the web, the content you own and control on your own domain matters more than ever. ## What's Next for The Podcast Setup Moving forward, The Podcast Setup will be sponsored by Ghost throughout the rest of the year. (Thanks to John O'Nolan and the Ghost team for supporting practical podcast education—even if John doesn't know I'm doing this yet!) I'll be creating tutorials on getting started with Ghost for podcast websites, exploring Ghost v6 features that make publishing even simpler, and showing how Ghost can serve as the central hub for your podcast brand. If you're comparing Ghost to WordPress or another platform you've been thinking about leaving, let me know what specific questions you have. I'm happy to share what I learn as someone who knows both platforms well. ## Choosing Simplicity Over Possibility Sometimes constraints breed creativity and productivity. Sometimes the platform that does less helps you accomplish more. WordPress will always be there when you need its power. But if you're a podcaster who wants to focus on creating great content rather than managing a complex website, Ghost might be exactly what you need. The goal isn't to build the most feature-rich website possible. The goal is to grow your podcast and media brand. Choose the platform that helps you do that, not the one that gives you the most ways to procrastinate. 🏆 PRESENTED BY GHOST.org Running a podcast business is tough. Publishing your site and newsletter shouldn’t be. Ghost makes it simple. Get your podcast website & newsletter live on Ghost today. Learn more