Private podcast hosting cost at 100, 250 and 500 listeners

Private podcast hosting cost: the table by listener count

Private podcast hosting for 100 listeners costs $19 a month on Castos Essentials, billed monthly, and for 500 listeners $49 a month on Transistor Professional against $99 on Castos Pro, as read on October 18, 2026. The table prices each host at 100, 250 and 500 listeners, all billed monthly.

Castos's agencies page says "unlimited private listeners on eligible plans", while its pricing page caps private subscribers at 100, 250 and 500 by plan; the table follows the pricing page, so ask Castos which plans the agencies page means.

How each host counts the listeners you pay for

Castos counts private subscribers, meaning people who each receive their own private feed, and says it moves an account up to the next plan when it passes a cap. Castos pages do not say whether one person on two private shows counts once or twice; Transistor counts each email address once.

Hello Audio counts private feeds, not listeners. A feed is the web address a podcast app reads to find a show's episodes. Starter includes one feed and Pro three, with unlimited listeners on every plan; Starter is $17 a month, billed monthly, and Pro is $47. Podbean counts private members, and Business includes 100; extra seats are bought inside the account, with no price shown.

Above 500 listeners: add-ons and contact-us plans

Castos Pro stops at 500 private subscribers. Above that, the add-on is $50 a month per extra 500, per Castos, whose pages describe the route to it three different ways; Castos pricing sets them out. Castos Premium is from $499 a month, with custom pricing for private subscribers, and you contact Castos to buy it.

Transistor Business covers 3,000 private subscribers at $99 a month, billed monthly; past that, Transistor lists Enterprise from $199 a month and asks you to contact it. Two prices are missing from the pages: Castos prints no annual price for its $50 add-on, and Podbean prints no price for members above the 100 on Business.

Monthly or annual billing

Castos and Transistor print a year total beside the monthly price. Castos Essentials, Growth and Pro are $190, $490 and $990 a year, billed annually, and Transistor Professional is $490 a year. Castos calls this 2 months free, and Transistor 12 months for the price of 10.

Hello Audio and Podbean print only a per-month rate for yearly billing, so no year total appears here: Hello Audio Starter is $14 a month, billed annually, and Podbean Business is $99 a month, paid yearly. Pay annually only once the plan is settled, because there is no refund for unused time, per Castos's terms.

Working out cost per listener for your own headcount

Divide the plan price by the people you invite, not by the cap, to see what one listener costs you. An HR lead at a 180-person company that wants a weekly leadership update in Apple Podcasts is past Castos Essentials' 100, so the Castos plan is Growth at $49 a month, billed monthly; divide $49 by the 180 people invited. Transistor Professional is also $49 a month, billed monthly, and covers 500.

Every Castos plan starts with a 14-day free trial; Castos takes a card at sign-up, and the first charge comes after the trial, at the plan price above.

Pick Castos Growth or Pro when staff should have the Castos app; Castos vs Transistor sets the two hosts side by side. Pick Transistor Professional when the list heads toward 500 and no app is needed; its pages name a website player and email notices for subscribers.

Pick Hello Audio Starter for one feed with unlimited listeners at $17 a month, billed monthly, though its pricing page names no single sign-on. The best private podcast platform for business list covers sign-in and apps.