Simplecast

Simplecast hosts the files, sends them to the apps, and gives you a show site. Storage is unlimited. Downloads on the self-serve plans are not. It does not record or edit for you. It is part of SiriusXM. Monetization on the big plans runs through AdsWizz. They say they do not put ads on the show unless you are on Professional and you mark the spots.

It is for a weekly host who will pay a small bill for hosting and a site. It is also for a network that wants insertion, targeting, and a sales report in the same login. Podnews still lists it as a real host with certified counts. Edison's US top 50 in Q2 2026 had 17 Simplecast shows, per Podnews. It is not only a starter host.

What people keep circling is the meter. The Podcast Host still calls the download cap a soft limit: they contact you, they do not cut the show off. The bill rises because the show got popular. Recast clips are the extra on the cheap plans.

If the catalog is busy, 20,000 downloads a month is easy to hit. Professional and Enterprise prices are hidden. Contracts, not the public page, govern those. Leave later and the feed the apps read still has to move. There is no forever-free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card.

Start the trial. Import the old feed. Watch the download number for a month before you promise a price. If you needed ads on day one, talk to sales about Professional. For a host with published unlimited public downloads, compare Castos. Transistor also caps monthly downloads. If you wanted iHeart ads instead, that is Spreaker.

If you wanted SiriusXM-family hosting with a real ads stack later, it holds. If you wanted cheap unlimited forever, this is the wrong ladder.