Castos review: Could Castos be the missing piece in your podcasting journey?

If you're new to running a podcast, choosing the right hosting platform is essential. The right platform can help you reach more listeners, grow your show, and make money. 

That's where Castos comes in—it's easy to use and packed with features for creators of any level.

In this review, we'll examine what makes Castos special, how to use it, and key things to consider when choosing a podcast platform. 

By the end, you'll know if Castos is the right fit for your podcasting journey.

What is Castos?

With the slogan “You Create. We Distribute. Your Audience Grows” Castos makes podcasting simple and worthwhile. Their mission is to make podcasting easier, faster, and accessible for everyone to anyone.

The Castos team has years of experience in podcasting and has built a platform that connects everyone with podcasts that carry knowledge, news, and updates from anywhere in the world.

You can share your struggles, queries, and experiences and learn a lot in the Castos podcasters’ community. It’s also a great hub to find potential collaboration opportunities.

And if you’re looking for inspiration or resources like webinars, blog posts, or tutorials to level up your podcasting skills, Castos has you covered there, too. Either hit the community or find what you need in Productions Resources.

In short, Castos is an all-in-one solution for podcasters that helps them grow and monetize.

A brief overview of Castos

Castos makes it super easy to get your podcast out into the world. From recording and editing to sharing it everywhere, Castos has everything you need in one place.

Let’s take a look at what Castos can offer you.

User-friendly interface

Castos primarily wants to make podcasting super simple and easy. With this focus, Castos has built a streamlined user interface.

After creating your first Castos account, you will be assigned a dedicated account manager to help you through all the podcasting experience. Now, you only need to record an episode and send the file to Castos.

Migration made easy

You can add your podcasts manually by filling in the details or importing them using the RSS feed link from your current podcast host. This option is helpful if you're already hosting a podcast and want to switch platforms.

The Castos team of professional audio engineers, video editors, and marketers will do the rest.

Once the file is remastered, they will send you the edited file or even publish it directly for you.

More on this later.

Customizable website and themes

You can customize your podcast website theme from three pre-designed ones: the Lagom theme, the Orka theme, and the Poa theme.

You can change your theme to represent your brand, personality, or anything you wish.

Streamlined distribution

Once you create a podcast, it will be distributed to all the major audio directories, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

So, your podcasts are one click away from revolving worldwide on the ship of Castos. We explore this in more depth later on in our review.

Advanced analytics

Castos collects all your listening data from multiple listening platforms and presents it in one dashboard.

Thus, you can track your total listens, analyze demography, and study listening behavior through simple insights.

Castos also provides multiple integration features, efficient podcast monetization options, migrating features, and four pricing tiers that make it stand out.

Who should use Castos?

Castos users range from beginners to mid-level podcasters. Tens of thousands of podcasters worldwide trust and love Castos hosting and its tools.

Podcasters who can host with Castos:

• Beginners, mid-levels, and pros
• Independent and solo
• Businesses, brands, large-scale enterprises
• Schools/university faculties and students
• Edu-preneurs
• Nonprofits and more.

You can be a WordPress user, influencer, educator, gamer, or even a large organization. Castos fits into any workflow, regardless of its purpose.

A closer look at Castos' top features: What makes Castos stand out?

Let’s explore the top features of Castos that make it a big name in the game.

Unlimited storage and bandwidth

One of the best things about Castos is that you don't need to worry about storage or download limits. You can upload as many episodes as you want, and it doesn't matter if your audience grows—there are no extra charges or hidden fees.

This is a huge perk if you're looking to expand without constantly checking your storage cap.

Automatic distribution to major platforms

Castos takes care of getting your episodes everywhere they need to go. It automatically sends your show to all the big platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and even YouTube. 

So, instead of juggling multiple uploads, you can publish once and let Castos handle the rest.

This is a major time-saver, and it means your show is always where your listeners are.

Simple podcasting WordPress plugin

If you're already using WordPress, Castos has a great plugin called Seriously Simple Podcasting that lets you manage your entire podcast from your WordPress site.

You can upload episodes, check out listener stats, and even manage multiple shows all in one place. For anyone with a WordPress site, this makes everything feel seamless.

Automated transcriptions

Castos offers automated transcriptions in 19 different languages, which is fantastic for accessibility and SEO. Transcriptions make it easier for people who are hard of hearing to enjoy your show and make your episodes searchable online.

It's a small detail that goes a long way toward helping more people find and enjoy your content.

Dynamic ad insertion

Looking to monetize? Castos has dynamic ad insertion, which means you can add ads to your episodes without going back and editing each file.

This is ideal if your show is growing and you want to start earning from advertising without spending tons of extra time on production.

Detailed podcast analytics

Castos deeply examines who's listening, with insights on demographics, location, devices, and which episodes are performing best. These analytics are extremely helpful because they let you see what's working and what isn't.

You can even share these numbers with potential podcast sponsors to show the value of your audience.

Automated YouTube republishing

With Castos, you can turn your podcast episodes into YouTube videos with almost no extra work. You just upload your audio, and Castos handles the rest—pushing it out to your YouTube channel.

This is a great way to reach a whole new audience since YouTube is one of the biggest content platforms.

Private podcasting and monetization options

Castos allows you to monetize in ways that fit your style, like offering private, subscriber-only episodes or accepting donations through Castos Commerce.

There are even integrations with membership platforms if you want to set up a full subscription model.

If you're looking to make podcasting more than a hobby, there's a lot of flexibility here.

Embeddable podcast player with customization options

The Castos player is embeddable anywhere, and you can customize it to match your brand's look. That means you can put your episodes on your website or blog, and listeners don't have to go anywhere else to tune in.

Plus, it's mobile-friendly, so you're covered no matter what device people use.

Getting started with Castos

1: Create a new podcast

As soon as you sign up for Castos, the following window will appear with three options.

• Create New Podcast
• Import Existing Podcast
• Connect to WordPress

If you’re beginning your podcasting journey, click “Create a New Podcast.” We’ll explain the other two options later in this review.

2: Add your podcast information

It's now time to add your podcast details. Once this window appears, add your podcast information, such as name and description, in the "Overview" tab.

3: Upload cover picture

In the tab next to "Overview," you'll see a tab named "Cover." This is where you upload your podcast's cover picture.

If you don't have a picture that meets the requirements given, you can still move on to the next tab. Castos can later give you some standard cover pictures to use from the "Summary" tab.

4: Claim website URL

Each podcast you upload gets a unique Castos website. You can claim your subdomain from the "Website" tab.

5: Select category

Choose the category that best suits your podcast topic. You can choose primary and secondary categories.

Click "Next" when you're in the "Summary" tab to recheck all the information you have provided. If you haven't picked a cover art before, you can see a few pre-designed cover art options in this window.

6: Add your first episode

Ready to go live? Please click 'Add First Episode,' and let's kick off your podcast journey!

After this, you will be taken to another page where you need to add episode details, upload the audio file, and add transcripts of the episode.

Set your podcast publishing date and go ahead with "Publish Episode." If you're not ready, it's okay. Save it as a draft and come back to publish or edit anytime.

Castos how-tos: Migration, distribution, analytics, and integrations

How to migrate to Castos from another podcast hosting platform

If you’re already on a podcast hosting platform and want to migrate to Castos, you can import all your podcasts from your RSS feed link.

First, go to your Castos dashboard and click on your profile name. In the dropdown menu, select “Imports.”

Click this option, and then you can start importing in the next step, “Import A New Podcast.”

Paste the RSS feed URL from the podcast host you already have and import it by clicking the indicated button.

You can now find all the podcasts you’ve just imported on the dashboard, which gives you more options, such as Settings, Add New Podcast, Add Episode, View Episode, etc.

Click the “Settings” option to see three more actions come up.

• Feed Details
• Web Page Settings
• Distribution

Go to “Feed Details” to update any information that was not automatically imported from your previous RSS feed.

Save your podcast details and go to the 3rd one, “Distribution.” Here, paste your new RSS feed link.

Please remember to copy your Castos RSS feed to set it up as a redirect in your previous RSS feed settings, or head to your dashboard and start managing your podcasts on Castos.

Migrating your podcasts may take a few hours - it depends on the volume of content you are about to transfer.

Distributing your podcasts

To start sharing your podcast, please go to “Settings” and then click “Distribution.”

Using the Castos analytics dashboard

Podcasts can be difficult to manage. Keeping track of performance, audience, or growth can be challenging. Castos simplifies the analytics and statistics for you.

From your Castos Analytics dashboard, you can learn the following:

• Total “Listens,” all direct downloads and streams from connected listening directories.
• Filter by podcast and custom date.
• Stats about your best-performing episode, like new followers and listens counted.
• Find out what device, app, or browser your audience uses more
• Get a streamlined analytics report CSV or PDF to send to your sponsors.
• Share the show’s success.
• Find who your loyal listeners and fans are.
• Learn where the listeners are from and engage with them accordingly.

Castos analytics delivers stats about your listener demographics, such as their age, gender, location, preferred device, and all other information relevant for you to grow. This information means you can tailor your podcasts to fit your target audience and increase engagement.

Not all content is suitable for everyone. When you get all the audience insights, you can keep going on making content because now you know what they want and like.

Fine-tune your creations for your listeners and gain more audience and revenue.

Using Castos integrations

Castos has tons of third-party tools to help you manage, grow, and monetize your podcast. Here’s a quick breakdown and some of the top integrations:

WordPress:
Use the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin to manage your podcast directly from WordPress. You can publish episodes, view analytics, and customize your feed without leaving your WordPress dashboard.

Zapier:
Automate tasks by connecting Castos with other apps through Zapier. For example, add new subscribers to an email list or send private podcasts to students on Teachable.

Automated Transcription:
Get free, automatic transcriptions in 19 languages to make your podcast more accessible and SEO-friendly.

YouTube Republishing:
Castos can automatically turn your audio into video and publish it to YouTube, helping you reach a bigger audience.

Membership Plugins:
These WordPress plugins (Memberspace, MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro) allow you to offer private podcasts to paying members. When someone signs up, they get an email with a link to download the Castos app and start listening.

Shopify:
Your Shopify store can offer private podcasts instead of physical products. Connect Shopify to Castos, and new customers can automatically become podcast subscribers.

Elementor:
Build your podcast website with Elementor’s drag-and-drop tools. Use forms and popups to grow your subscriber list.

Descript:
Edit your podcast easily with Descript. Cut out filler words, edit audio, and publish with just one click. Descript makes it simple to polish your podcast before sharing it.

ConvertKit:
Manage your audience by automatically adding and removing subscribers from your private podcast list.

Stripe and PayPal:
Accept payments directly from listeners, making monetization easy without sponsors.

REST API:
Integrate Castos with other apps and manage episodes and details through the Castos REST API.

How do you make money with Castos?

The aim of any podcast is to make money with it! With Castos you can use ads, accept donations, or even offer paid private episodes. Just choose the option that works best for you and your audience.

Membership-only podcasts

If your podcasts only reach paid subscribers who listen to them, you can monetize freely by publishing great audio content.

Castos integrates with three WordPress membership plugins: MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, and Memberspace. This allows you to create a paid audience that can only enjoy your creations.

Anyone who cancels their subscription is immediately cut off. You own your subscriber list, which means you get to choose who listens.

Private podcasting

This is similar to membership-exclusive podcasting, but it’s not the same. It’s when you share your content with a specific group, for example, your employees or anyone with the correct RSS feed URL, with or without a paywall.

Your private podcasts won’t be available publicly and will be restricted to the audience you define beforehand.

Adding subscribers to a private podcast:

• Manually input the name and email in your “Subscribers” dashboard in Castos.
• Share your RSS feed link with them.
• Set up Stripe automation with a custom trigger. When someone makes a payment through Stripe, they automatically get added as a listener. Or use PayPal.

Castos Commerce

Do your listeners love your show? If they do, let them help out by making small donations. It's pretty simple to set up a monthly donation using Castos Commerce.

You can decide whether to give a one-time gift or ongoing support. You can even set different amounts so they can choose what feels right for them.

You can also monitor donation trends, and your paid listeners have a subscriber dashboard to manage contributions or donation receipts. You can take donations directly from the checkout page on your Castos podcast website.

Dynamic ads

Castos also has a feature called Castos Ads that you can set up in just a few minutes. Usually, sponsors only pay attention if you have thousands of listeners. But with Castos, you can make money from podcast ads no matter how big or small your audience is.

The Castos team will create ads that match your style and add them to all your episodes, both at the beginning and the end.

How much does Castos cost?

Castos offers 4 monthly and yearly pricing tiers to meet a variety of podcasting needs.

Castos has four podcast plans to help you at different stages of your podcasting journey.

• The Essentials plan is $19 a month (or $190 a year) and is perfect if you’re starting and need the basics to get your show going.
• The Growth plan costs $49 monthly (or $490 a year) and gives you extra tools to help more people find your podcast.
• The Pro plan is $99 a month (or $990 a year) if you want to add video episodes and get deeper insights with advanced analytics.
• For larger podcasts, there’s Castos Premium—starting at $499 a month (or $4990 a year)—which has all the tools a large company might need to manage multiple podcasts and reach a wider audience.

You can pay monthly or save a bit for the year upfront.

There’s no free plan so unfortunately you can’t try it out by just logging in. But the 14-day free trial flexibility gives you enough time to test it and it includes access to all the paid features.

Is Castos right for your podcast? Pros and cons

Here is an overview of the pros and cons of using the Castos podcast hosting platform, which should help you decide whether to use this service for your podcast.

What are the advantages of Castos? 

• ✅Unlimited podcasts and episodes—no limits.
• ✅Connectivity with WordPress makes your podcast site more powerful.
• ✅Lets you create private podcasts and charge subscriptions.
• ✅Offers solid listener stats to track your audience.
• ✅Easy to manage shows with the Castos app.
• ✅Quick and easy to switch from another platform.
• ✅You can embed the Castos player on any website.
• ✅SEO-friendly with automatic transcripts to help people find your show.
• ✅Sends episodes directly to YouTube for a wider reach.
• ✅Works with Zapier to connect with other tools.

What are the disadvantages of Castos? 

• ❌No free plan.
• ❌Only Pro users can create video podcasts.
• ❌Limited tools for editing episodes on the platform.
• ❌Limit on paying subscribers for private podcasts.
• ❌Pricey if you’re podcasting as a hobby.

Alternatives to Castos

Here are two Castos alternatives and how they compare to Castos.

BuzzSprout vs Castos

Buzzsprout is an excellent Castos alternative if you want a simple, budget-friendly way to start a podcast. Unlike Castos, Buzzsprout has a free plan, so beginners can jump in without spending a dime. It’s super easy to use, which is great if you’re just getting the hang of podcasting.

While Castos offers unlimited uploads, Buzzsprout does have a monthly cap—but it still covers all the essentials. You can schedule episodes, get listed on major apps, and see basic listener stats. For a straightforward, beginner-friendly alternative to Castos, Buzzsprout is hard to beat!

Castos vs Transistor

If you're looking for a strong alternative to Castos, Transistor might be just what you need. Both start at $19 a month and offer similar core features, like private podcasting, monetization, detailed stats, episode storage, and integrations with other tools. So, they’re neck and neck on the essentials.

Transistor is great if you want to run multiple podcasts. It lets you host all your shows under one account, so you can easily keep track of everything in one place.

Monetize your podcasts with Whop

If you already have a podcast on Castos or anywhere else, Whop makes it easy to start monetizing it.

With Whop, you can make money from your podcast with:

• A paid VIP community
• Live video chats for your paid members
• Downloadable PDFs like show notes and ebooks
• Members-only content
• Affiliate marketing
• Donation so fans can support you directly.

The best part?

Whop doesn’t charge any monthly fees or sign-up costs—just a cut when you make a sale—so you don’t pay anything until you’re making money.

Moreover, Whop handles all the boring stuff, like subscriptions, fulfillment, and customer management, so you can focus on making great content.

Using Castos and Whop together is a perfect match. Castos streams your podcast, and Whop helps you earn from it. It’s easy to grow your show, connect with fans, and make extra cash.

Ready to give it a shot? Whop is here to help.

Castos FAQs

What is the top podcast in the world?

The Joe Rogan Experience is currently one of the top podcasts globally. It's known for engaging in conversations with numerous prominent guests.

Is Castos free?

Castos is not free but offers a 14-day free trial. After that, you'll need a paid subscription starting at $19/month.

Is Castos worth the price?

Castos provides excellent features, especially for podcasters needing a streamlined publishing process, reliable hosting, and helpful analytics for content growth.

Can I monetize my podcast with Castos?

Yes. Castos supports monetization through private podcasts and integration with Patreon, giving creators the flexibility to earn revenue from their content.

Is Castos beginner-friendly for new podcasters?

Castos offers a user-friendly platform, making it easy for new podcasters to get started with minimal technical skills and accessible tools.

How easy is it to migrate an existing podcast to Castos?

Castos makes it simple to migrate an existing podcast with a few clicks, which ensures your content moves over without issues or data loss.

Does Castos integrate with WordPress or other platforms?

Yes. Castos is seamlessly integrated with WordPress through the Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin and is compatible with other content platforms.

How does Castos handle podcast distribution?

Castos automates podcast distribution to major directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts to simplify audience reach across platforms.

Can I host video podcasts on Castos?

Yes. Castos supports video podcast hosting on its Pro plan, allowing you to upload and distribute video episodes.