Podcast hosting
Acast vs Riverside compared on 15 fields
- Acast score
- 70/100 (5 of 8 criteria)
- Riverside score
- 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria)
- Fields won by Acast
- 2 of 11
- Fields won by Riverside
- 1 of 11
Acast
Riverside
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
Acast and Riverside are both podcast hosting platforms. We compared them on 15 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the podcast hosting platforms scorecard Acast scores 70/100 (5 of 8 criteria) and Riverside 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria) (ranks 13 and 20 in the category).
Of the 11 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), Acast wins 2, Riverside wins 1 and 8 are ties.
Acast scores clearly higher on pricing transparency and entry price.
Side by side
| Field | Acast | Riverside | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | ✓ $25/month | $29/month | Acast |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | ✓ $14.99/month | $24/month | Acast |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Free trial | No | ✓ Yes | Riverside |
| Trial length (days) | – | 14 | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Platforms supported | – | 6 | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| One-click distribution to podcast apps | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Listener analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Monetisation (ads or listener support) | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Transcripts | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Video podcasts | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Private podcasts | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Podcast website | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Team access | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: Acast pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Riverside pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | Acast | Riverside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 10$25/month billed monthly on Essential; $14.99/month billed annually on Essential (scored on the monthly price) | 0$29/month billed monthly on Pro; $24/month billed annually on Pro (scored on the monthly price) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 100Free plan (Starter) | 100Free plan (Free) |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 1004 of 4 plans have a public price | 803 of 4 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") |
| Verified features | 15% | 1007 of 10 tracked features verified: one-click distribution to podcast apps, listener analytics, monetisation (ads or listener support), transcripts, video podcasts, podcast website, team access | 1007 of 10 tracked features verified: one-click distribution to podcast apps, listener analytics, transcripts, video podcasts, private podcasts, podcast website, team access |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100public API | 100public API |
| Shows per plan | 10% | – | 302 podcasts on Grow ($39/month) |
| Total score | 100% | 70/100 (5 of 8 criteria) | 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria) |
Acast plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free | Free | per workspace |
|
| Essential | $25 | $14.99 | per workspace | None stated |
| Pro | $40 | $29.99 | per workspace | None stated |
| Video | $50 | $39.99 | per workspace | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Riverside plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace | None stated |
| Pro | $29 | $24 | per workspace | None stated |
| Grow | $39 | $34 | per workspace |
|
| Business | Contact sales | Contact sales | Not stated | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these podcast hosting platforms is scored by the same 8 criteria (scorecard v2). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to podcast hosting platforms. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other podcast hosting platforms on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $7/month or less = 100, $29 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $6.38/month or less = 100, $25.54 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 10 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (one-click distribution to podcast apps, listener analytics, iab-certified analytics, monetisation (ads or listener support), dynamic ad insertion, transcripts, video podcasts, private podcasts, podcast website, team access). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 5 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (30 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Shows per plan | 10% | Category | Podcasts included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Log scale: 10 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
| Upload allowance | 10% | Category | Upload hours per month included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Linear scale: 10 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | Category | Monthly price per user for a team of 3, on the cheapest paid plan that is priced per seat or states room for at least 3 users.Log scale: $6.16 per user or less = 100, $24.65 or more = 0. Plans that do not state a user limit are not used. No such plan = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is Acast cheaper than Riverside?
Acast starts lower: $25 per month billed monthly ($14.99 billed yearly) on the Essential plan, against $29 per month billed monthly ($24 billed yearly) on the Pro plan for Riverside. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do Acast and Riverside have free plans?
Both have a free plan.
Which is better, Acast or Riverside?
On our scorecard Acast scores higher (70/100 (5 of 8 criteria) vs 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.