Podcast Hosting Services Compared
Monday, September 17, 2007 at 7:48AM 
A less complicated way to publish your podcast is to use a podcast hosting service. Services like SolidCasts, LibSyn, and PodOmatic allow you to upload your audio file to their site through a Web browser. Then you are prompted to enter information about your podcast. Podcast hosting services then generate the news feed and a website for your podcast.
Some hosting services are free and others charge monthly or yearly fees. While a hosting service is the easiest way to publish, if the hosting service goes out of business or you stop paying the fee, your podcast will be deleted from their servers and, thus, unavailable to your listeners.
There really are many hosting service options. I've created a chart with six selected hosting companies. The chart shows if there is a free version and what you get with the paid version.
My recommendations? If you are going to pay, I suggest LibSyn (short for Liberated Syndication). It's $5 per month and you receive 100 MB per month of storage and unlimited bandwidth (downloads). This is the service I use. I like the per month model because LibSyn archives all past episodes. I probably have close to a gigabyte hosted there by now. If you are going with a free service, I recommend SolidCasts.com. SolidCasts has no advertising and they give you 100 MB free "for life." Be aware, the 100 MB limit is not monthly and means that once you fill it up, you'll have to delete old episodes to make room for new ones.
podcasting 
Reader Comments (4)
I did not include on the chart other features like the ability to podcast by phone. You cannot edit those kinds of podcasts and I don't listen to any that use that method.
Tony, several of our teachers are using GCast (www.gcast.com). It's free, although I'm not aware if it has a storage limit. You can create a podcast over the phone, or use the more traditional method of uploading an mp3 file.
Thanks algona81! I have tried out gcast but didn't include it in the chart. I'll check it out again and include it on the next one.
It is crazy how each service has so many different features and drawbacks...
I like Podomatic. It creates a podcasting webpage automatically (Podomatically???), and I like the capability to copy and paste a flash player on another website. It also provides a "subscribe in iTunes" or subscribe by email link.