Plans and Pricing FAQ
Whether you're just starting out as a new podcaster or are a seasoned veteran of this fantastic medium it's important to know exactly what your podcast hosting provider is offering, and on what terms.
Our goal in this article is to detail exactly how the Castos platform works when it comes to the plans and pricing tiers we offer.
Why Isn't This Free?
Generally in life, you get what you pay for. And podcast hosting is no exception. Sure there are free tools out there, but they come with many "Strings Attached" that may hamper your ability to grow your show, actually own your content, and make the kind of progress you want to make in your podcasting endeavors.
Choosing a tool (like Castos) that offers a fair price for the features, support, and infrastructure that it does is often a better choice if you're really taking your podcast seriously and want to stick with this medium for the long run.
Free Trial
Every new podcaster to Castos starts off on a free 14-day trial. In this you have access to all of the features of our Starter plan, and can publish as many podcasts and episodes as you'd like.
During that time you'll hopefully see that this is the home for you and your podcasts, and can upgrade to any of our paid plans at any time.
In the 14-day free trial period some features are limited, in order to prevent fraud and abuse of the system, but those are all unlocked when you upgrade to any of our paid plans.
During this trial period we'll be in touch via email with info about how to get the most out of the Castos platform, tips and tricks if you're just starting out, and guidance on how to move your existing podcast to Castos if you've been hosting elsewhere previously.
Download Limits by plan
All podcasting platforms, and frankly all technology companies, have some sort of limitations on the usage of their software. Think about tools you use every day like Dropbox and Gmail which have different pricing tiers based on the amount of storage, or your website hosting provider which has limits on both file storage and bandwidth, and Castos is no different.
We certainly would never want to limit the number of Podcasts or Episodes you can publish, which is why we offer completely unlimited Podcasts and Episode storage on all plans.
But to align our pricing metric with the thing that we believe is most indicative of a successful podcast, we choose account-wide Downloads as the metric with which we tier our pricing structure.
You can view the complete pricing breakdown on our pricing page but they are:
- Starter - 20,000 downloads per month
- Growth - 75,000 downloads per month
- Pro - 200,000 downloads per month
The truth is that the vast majority of podcasters never experience more than 20,000 downloads per month. In fact platform wide here at Castos this group represents 90+% of podcasts we power.
Note: These download limits apply to your entire account, not individual podcasts.
What happens if I exceed the download limits in a month?
Nothing. In the first month if you exceed the download limit for the plan that you're on we'll send you a virtual high five email and congratulate you on the success of your show. Getting 20,000+ downloads in a month is a major achievement for you as a podcaster, and it's time to celebrate.
If in the second consecutive month you again exceed the download allowance for the pricing plan that you're on we'll send you an email asking you to upgrade your plan to the next highest tier.
Note: We will NEVER limit your podcast's availability to listeners or restrict the amount of content you can publish. Your podcast will always be available to listeners and directories like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.
Private Subscribers
If you're running a Private Podcast then the number of Private Subscribers (i.e. those individuals you have added to your podcast) is another consideration when it comes to the best plan for your podcast(s).
The allowances for Private Subscribers is:
- Starter - up to 100 Private Subscribers
- Growth - up to 250 Private Subscribers
- Pro - up to 500 Private Subscribers
If you would like to add additional Private Subscribers above the 500 that are included in the Pro plan they are charged at a price of $50/month per bundle of additional 500 subscribers.
Which plan is best for me?
Great question. There are a few things to consider when choosing the right plan for you at Castos. Here is how we think about the options and features included in each of our pricing tiers:
- Starter - $19/mo or $190/year: Best for most all hobbyist podcasters. Whether you're just starting out or have been podcasting for a while and this is not your main gig, the Starter plan gives you all of the tools, features, and access to run a really successful podcast.
- Growth - $49/mo or $490/year: Best for those who want to grow their shows. With Castos' YouTube Republishing and Audiogram integration with Headliner this plan allows you to repurpose your content, automatically, every time you publish a new episode.
- Pro - $99/mo or $990/year: Best for those who are publishing video or need advanced analytics. If you're wanting to host a video podcast this is the place for you. And if you're looking for enhanced insights into your podcast audience Castos' advanced analytics gives you that additional data.
- Enterprise: If you need things like SSO, dedicated white-label instances of the platform, or custom features Castos offers enterprise level packages. Drop a message to our team here to learn more.