Podcast hosting
Top Riverside competitors 10 competitors in Riverside's market
- Competitors listed
- 10
- Ranked on the scorecard
- 10
- Riverside's rank
- #20 of 22
- With a free plan
- 5
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
These are the 10 tools closest to Riverside in its own market: podcast hosting platforms that list podcast hosting too, picked by shared categories and how close their entry price is to Riverside's (the rules are below).
10 of them are ranked on the podcast hosting platforms scorecard; Buzzsprout is the highest at 79/100 (#6 of 22 in the category).
Riverside itself is #20 of 22 with 60/100, so 8 competitors on this list rank above it.
Riverside's cheapest paid plan is $29 billed monthly (Pro). On the same billing basis, 9 of 10 competitors with a published price start lower and 1 start higher; entry plans are not like-for-like, so check the limits.
5 competitors have a free plan, and so does Riverside.
Riverside vs its competitors: market position
| Rank | Tool | Score | From, billed monthly | From, billed yearly | Free plan | Public API | Integrations | Features verified | Data checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #20 | RiversideThis tool | 60/100 | $29/mo | $24/mo | Yes | Yes | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #6 |  Buzzsprout | 79/100 | Not offered | $15/mo | Yes, 2 upload hours per month | Yes | – | 8 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #11 |  Spreaker | 72/100 | $20/mo | Not offered | Yes | – | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #12 |  Transistor | 72/100 | $19/mo | Not offered | No | Yes | – | 8 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #13 |  Acast | 70/100 | $25/mo | $14.99/mo | Yes, 1 show | Yes | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #14 |  Podbean | 69/100 | $17/mo | $12/mo | Yes | – | – | 10 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #16 |  Castos | 69/100 | $19/mo | Not offered | No | – | – | 9 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #18 |  Captivate | 67/100 | Not offered | $17/mo | No | – | – | 7 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #19 |  Podpage | 61/100 | $19/mo | $12/mo | No | – | 30 | 3 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #21 |  Squadcast | 57/100 | $24/user/mo | $16/user/mo | Yes, 1 show | Yes | – | 2 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| #22 |  Alitu | 46/100 | $38/mo | Not offered | No | – | – | 4 of 10 | Oct 14, 2026 |
Each value links the page it was read from (hover for the check date).
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
How each competitor differs from Riverside
- Buzzsprout · #6, 79/100
Podcast hosting service for publishing audio and video episodes to listening apps, with statistics, a podcast website and add-ons.
- Score: 79/100, #6 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $15 per month billed annually (Audio), $9 less than Riverside's $24 source
- Platforms: 1 platform (Riverside: 6); not on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, IAB-certified analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts and 4 more
10 of 14 tracked details verified
Homepage captured Oct 14, 2026 - Spreaker · #11, 72/100
Podcast hosting platform for creating, distributing and monetizing shows, with statistics, ad tools and subscription options.
- Score: 72/100, #11 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $20 billed monthly (Broadcaster), $9 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, IAB-certified analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts and 2 more
8 of 14 tracked details verified
- Transistor · #12, 72/100
Podcast hosting platform that hosts unlimited shows per account, with analytics, private podcasts, video hosting and a built-in website.
- Score: 72/100, #12 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $19 billed monthly (Starter), $10 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Free plan: no (Riverside: yes) source
- Platforms: 1 platform (Riverside: 6); not on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn
- Matches Riverside: has all 8 features we verified for Riverside
10 of 14 tracked details verified
- Acast · #13, 70/100
Podcast hosting and monetisation platform that distributes shows to listening apps, provides listener analytics and sells ad and sponsorship placements.
- Score: 70/100, #13 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $25 billed monthly (Essential), $4 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts, Video podcasts and 3 more
9 of 14 tracked details verified
- Podbean · #14, 69/100
Podcast hosting and monetisation platform offering distribution, analytics, a podcast website, ad tools and AI features for audio and video.
- Score: 69/100, #14 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $17 billed monthly (Unlimited Audio), $12 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Platforms: 3 platforms (Riverside: 6); not on Instagram, TikTok and X (Twitter)
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, IAB-certified analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion and 5 more
11 of 14 tracked details verified
- Castos · #16, 69/100
Podcast hosting platform covering distribution, private podcasting, analytics, transcripts, YouTube republishing and a WordPress plugin.
- Score: 69/100, #16 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $19 billed monthly (Essentials), $10 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Free plan: no (Riverside: yes) source
- Platforms: 1 platform (Riverside: 6); not on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Transcripts and 4 more
10 of 14 tracked details verified
- Captivate · #18, 67/100
Podcast hosting platform with distribution, analytics, private podcasting, websites and an ad marketplace for podcasters and advertisers.
- Score: 67/100, #18 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $17 per month billed annually (Personal), $7 less than Riverside's $24 source
- Free plan: no (Riverside: yes) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Monetisation (ads or listener support), Dynamic ad insertion, Private podcasts and 2 more
8 of 14 tracked details verified
- Podpage · #19, 61/100
Podcast website builder that imports new episodes from a podcast feed and updates the site, with SEO, social posting and email to listeners.
- Score: 61/100, #19 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $19 billed monthly (Basic), $10 less than Riverside's $29 source
- Free plan: no (Riverside: yes) source
- Platforms: 4 platforms (Riverside: 6); not on TikTok and YouTube
- Verified features: Monetisation (ads or listener support), Transcripts, Podcast website
5 of 14 tracked details verified
- Squadcast · #21, 57/100
Browser-based remote recording studio for podcasts and video, now part of Descript, with editing, transcription and AI tools.
- Score: 57/100, #21 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $24 per user billed monthly (Hobbyist), $5 less than Riverside's $29 (different pricing units: compare plan limits) source
- Verified features: Transcripts, Team access, Public API
5 of 14 tracked details verified
- Alitu · #22, 46/100
Podcast production tool for recording, cleaning up, editing and publishing episodes, with built-in hosting and a podcast website.
- Score: 46/100, #22 of 22 (Riverside: 60/100, #20)
- Entry price: $38 billed monthly (Alitu), $9 more than Riverside's $29 source
- Free plan: no (Riverside: yes) source
- Verified features: One-click distribution to podcast apps, Listener analytics, Transcripts, Podcast website
5 of 14 tracked details verified
Riverside head to head
How we picked
- Pool: tools in the same market as the tool on this page: they list its primary category, and their own primary category is one it lists too. Explicit competitor links count as well.
- Closest first, at most 10: explicit competitors, then the same primary category, then more shared categories, then the smallest gap in entry price (per month, on a log scale), then more shared platforms, then name.
- Order on the page: tools ranked on the category scorecard by their category rank, then tools that are not ranked (no scorecard, or under 60% of the weight with verified data) in closeness order.
- Prices are compared only on the same billing basis (billed monthly with billed monthly, billed annually with billed annually). A feature counts as missing only when the vendor's page states it; a feature the vendor does not mention is not listed either way.
Every value is read from the vendor's own pages (or GitHub for licences and stars) and shown with the date we checked it. A value we could not verify is shown as a dash, never estimated, and never read as a “no”. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Methodology
The scorecard behind the ranks
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
Who are Riverside's main competitors?
By our scorecard, the highest-ranked of its closest competitors are Buzzsprout (79/100), Spreaker (72/100) and Transistor (72/100).
Which Riverside competitor is cheapest?
Billed monthly, Podbean starts lowest at $17 a month (Unlimited Audio). Entry plans differ in limits.
How does Riverside rank against its competitors?
Riverside is #20 of 22 ranked podcast hosting platforms with 60/100.
Which Riverside competitors have a free plan?
Buzzsprout, Spreaker, Acast, Podbean and Squadcast.