Spotify for Creators alternative for podcast hosting
Choose Transistor.fm if you're ready to level-up your podcast
Transistor Team
Many people start their podcast on Spotify for Creators (formerly called Anchor) but later want to upgrade to a more professional solution.
Why do people switch from Spotify to Transistor for podcast hosting?
Most people switch to Transistor from Anchor for one of the following reasons:
Ability to distribute video episodes to multiple locations at once: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, etc.
Transistor supports multiple podcasts on one account (you don't need to pay for creating additional shows)
Better customer support (real humans who answer live chat)
Built-in podcast website builder
Private podcasting with advanced features like email notification when you publish a new episode
Affordable dynamic audio insertion (available on our $49+ plans)
In his review, Scott Hastie describes why folks end up leaving Spotify for Creators:
If you’re serious about starting a podcast for personal brand or business reasons, then Spotify for Creators probably isn’t for you. When podcasting with Spotify's hosting offering, your content will be heavily branded by them. Because it’s free, they’ll take the opportunity to promote themselves anywhere and everywhere your content can be found. That’s the trade off.
Anchor makes it easy to publish a podcast, but it comes with some downsides.
Spotify for Creators doesn't give you a podcast website
The big thing Spotify for Creators is missing is they don't offer you a podcast website. Users move to Transistor to get a customizable website with a built-in audio/video player and landing pages for each episode.
Transistor offers two options:
You can host your website on Transistor with our built-in CMS.
Or, you can self-host your podcast on your website using our embeddable player. This is what users like Komal are doing.
Furthermore, websites hosted on Transistor can integrate with your email newsletter (MailChimp, Drip, and ConvertKit). You can collect email signups from your podcast's homepage and episode pages.
Transistor also allows you to bring your custom domain name (yourpodcast.com).
Transistor automatically submits your podcast to other apps
Transistor has one-click submissions to 12 major podcast apps. Plus, we'll show you how to submit to Amazon, Stitcher, Deezer, TuneIn, RadioPublic, Pandora, and iHeartRadio.
The podcast player
Spotify's current embeddable podcast player lacks many controls. Here's how it looks:
Transistor's podcast player looks like this:
The Transistor player allows you to:
Display your latest podcast episode on your website (like we're doing above) with a special embed code.
See more info about the podcast.
Subscribe to the podcast.
Embed your whole season of episodes. (Example)
Our player also has great sharing tools; hover over the player and click the "Share" link.
Should I use Spotify to host my podcast?
It depends. If you're starting your podcast for fun, or out of personal curiosity, it might be a good fit for you.
But if you're looking to build "a serious and long-term podcast" (as Scott says), you should use a professional podcast platform like Transistor.
