Hosting a podcast

Podcast puts your show on your own website: an episode list at /podcast, a page for each episode, a player that keeps playing while listeners move around the site, and the RSS feed podcast apps read. Uploading audio needs the media library on your plan, and audio counts towards your storage.

Set up the show

Start under Podcast → Show. Fill in the show's name, host and description, and add Artwork — a square JPEG or PNG between 1400 and 3000 pixels; Apple Podcasts won't list a show without it. Pick an Apple category and the Episode order (newest first, or oldest first for a series), and add Listen on links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or YouTube so their buttons appear on your podcast page.

Publish an episode

1. 1Under Episodes, press New episode and give it a title.
2. 2Upload the audio — MP3 or M4A plays everywhere. The length is read from the file.
3. 3Add a Summary, Show notes and, if you like, Chapters: one line each, such as [12:34] Interview.
4. 4Set a Publish date — leave it empty to publish now, or pick a future date to schedule it — and publish.

An episode can't be published without audio. Season, episode number, type (episode, trailer or bonus), the explicit flag and its own artwork are optional; without artwork, an episode uses the show's.

Getting into Apple Podcasts and Spotify

The Episodes screen shows your feed address, /podcast/feed, with a copy button. Submit it once to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Castbox; from then on, new episodes reach them on their own. Chapters and published transcripts go into the feed too, for apps that show them.

Moving a show from another host

1. 1Open Move a show here, paste your current feed address and press Check feed to see how many episodes will come across.
2. 2Import them. Episodes keep their original dates and IDs, so listeners' apps don't treat them as new, and empty show details are filled in from the feed.
3. 3Imported audio still plays from the old host at first. Press Copy the audio on the Episodes screen and keep the page open while it copies, one episode at a time.
4. 4Then follow the checklist on the screen: redirect your old feed to the new address, or change the feed in Apple Podcasts Connect and Spotify for Creators.

Stats

Stats shows downloads over the last 30, 90 or 365 days, by day or by week, broken down by app, country and operating system, with a table of each episode's first 7 days, first 30 days and total. One listener downloading one episode on one day counts once; bots and tiny partial requests don't count, and no IP address is stored.

Transcripts and the writing assistant

If your plan includes transcripts, press Generate transcript on an episode. It's transcribed in the show's language — keep the page open until it finishes. Correct it in the edit box, then press Show the transcript to put it on the episode page, where listeners click a time to jump there, and into the feed. Your plan sets how many minutes you can transcribe each month.

With a finished transcript, the Writing assistant can Write show notes — title ideas, a summary, show notes, chapters and quotes — and Write the posts: a blog post, a newsletter, and posts for Instagram, Telegram, X and LinkedIn. Everything is a suggestion: use what you like, and Create a draft post puts the blog post into your blog as a draft.

Audiogram turns 15, 30 or 60 seconds of an episode into a square or vertical video with your artwork and a moving waveform, for sharing on social media. It's made in your browser, so use a recent Chrome, Edge or Safari.

Members-only episodes

With Members on your plan, choose which shop products make a buyer a member: a subscription counts while it's active, and any other product gives access for a number of days you set. Then mark episodes Members only. Members find a private feed for their podcast app in their account on your site; Apple Podcasts and Overcast can play it, Spotify can't.

Sponsors

• Add each sponsor under Sponsors, then credit up to five on an episode, each with its own message, such as a discount code. They appear on the episode's page as its supporters.
• A sponsor's Report shows the downloads of every episode that carried them, ready to copy into an email.
• Publish the media kit to open /podcast/advertise: your pitch, packages with prices, rounded audience numbers if you choose to show them, and an inquiry form. Inquiries are emailed to you and wait in the Sponsors tab.