Podcast hosting
Podbean vs Riverside compared on 17 fields
- Podbean score
- 69/100 (7 of 8 criteria)
- Riverside score
- 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria)
- Fields won by Podbean
- 2 of 12
- Fields won by Riverside
- 2 of 12
Podbean
Riverside
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
Podbean and Riverside are both podcast hosting platforms. We compared them on 17 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the podcast hosting platforms scorecard Podbean scores 69/100 (7 of 8 criteria) and Riverside 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria) (ranks 14 and 20 in the category).
Of the 12 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), Podbean wins 2, Riverside wins 2 and 8 are ties.
Podbean scores clearly higher on entry price and pricing transparency.
Side by side
| Field | Podbean | Riverside | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | ✓ $17/month | $29/month | Podbean |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | ✓ $12/month | $24/month | Podbean |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Free trial | No | ✓ Yes | Riverside |
| Trial length (days) | – | 14 | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Platforms supported | 3 | ✓ 6 | Riverside |
| Public API | – | Yes | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| One-click distribution to podcast apps | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Listener analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| IAB-certified analytics | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Monetisation (ads or listener support) | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Dynamic ad insertion | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Transcripts | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Video podcasts | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Private podcasts | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Podcast website | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Team access | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: Podbean 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 | Podbean | Riverside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 38$17/month billed monthly on Unlimited Audio; $12/month billed annually on Unlimited Audio (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 (Free) | 100Free plan (Free) |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 1005 of 5 plans have a public price | 803 of 4 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") |
| Verified features | 15% | 10010 of 10 tracked features verified: 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 | 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 |
| Shows per plan | 10% | 302 podcasts on Unlimited Plus ($39/month) | 302 podcasts on Grow ($39/month) |
| Upload allowance | 10% | 10016 upload hours per month on Unlimited Audio ($17/month) | – |
| Cost per user (team of 3) | 5% | 0$33 per user per month on Network (team of 3, billed monthly) | – |
| Total score | 100% | 69/100 (7 of 8 criteria) | 60/100 (6 of 8 criteria) |
Podbean plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace | None stated |
| Unlimited Audio | $17 | $12 | per workspace |
|
| Unlimited Plus | $39 | $29 | per workspace |
|
| Network | $99 | $79 | per workspace |
|
| Business | $129 | $99 | per workspace |
|
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 Podbean cheaper than Riverside?
Podbean starts lower: $17 per month billed monthly ($12 billed yearly) on the Unlimited Audio 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 Podbean and Riverside have free plans?
Both have a free plan.
Which supports more social platforms, Podbean or Riverside?
Riverside supports 6 platforms, Podbean 3.
Which is better, Podbean or Riverside?
On our scorecard Podbean scores higher (69/100 (7 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.