Substack

Substack hosts the show too. An episode is a post: the audio, the notes, the email, the comments. You write or record, mark it free or paid, then publish. Send the public feed the apps read to Apple and Spotify once. After that, public episodes show up like any other hosted show. There is no monthly hosting bill. If people pay you, Substack takes 10 percent plus Stripe. Paid listeners get a private link. Free listeners do not hear paid episodes unless you add a preview.

It fits a writer who wants the newsletter and the show in one place, plus a list they can take with them. Comments live on the same page as the episode. Official copy says more than half of new subscribers come from inside the platform. It does not fit a sponsor-first show that needs a download number a brand will trust. You also cannot drop their player on an outside site. A dedicated host still wins if you live in the apps and need those numbers.

The appeal is combining writing, audio and a subscriber relationship. Publishing can start without a platform subscription, while paid subscriptions introduce a platform revenue share and payment-processing charges. Compare the reporting and distribution workflow with a dedicated host.

The charts here are thinner than a dedicated host. You get downloads, countries, and which app. You do not get unique listeners or where people quit. Views on the post are not the same as downloads. Public Spotify is the public feed only. Paid audio on Spotify is a later extra step. Help tickets sit longer than they do at Buzzsprout or Transistor.

Turn on Podcast in settings, add square art, publish one episode, then paste the feed the apps read into Apple and Spotify. That is the hosting setup. For a paid episode, mark it paid and add a free preview if you want one. If you are moving in, import the old feed and keep the old host live until the apps catch up. Do not expect the Substack player on your own website.

Substack is a host if you want one. The 10 percent is the price of no monthly host bill. If Notes, the list, and a simple Apple and Spotify listing are the job, it holds. If you need numbers a sponsor will trust, people already keep a dedicated host and only use Substack for the essay.