In my last article, I compared Soundcloud and Libsyn as podcasting services. If you’re too lazy to check it out (I can be lazy too), then my basic conclusion was that both services are awesome for hosting a podcast, but Soundcloud is cheaper if you’re just starting out and testing out a new show or want an unlimited upload plan.
If you don’t know, I’m currently running two Podcast shows (one on crowdfunding and one on nonprofit fundraising). I decided to migrate my nonprofit fundraising show to Soundcloud for two reasons.
- To really experience how Soundcloud compares to Libsyn and see which I like more after an extended use case.
- Soundcloud is free up until 3 hours (sounds kind of cool, but is it?).
Upon further investigation, the free 3 hours deal means that you will only be able to upload a total of 3 hours and the $6/month deal means that you will only be able to upload a total of 6 hours.
“Pro subscription comes with 360 minutes (6 hours) in total. If you need more than 360 minutes, you will need to upgrade to a Pro Unlimited account, which has unlimited upload time.” – Source.
Under Libsyn pricing, the fees are dependent on the amount you want to upload each month, not the total amount of storage that you’ve used up.
“Monthly Storage is the amount of new content you can upload each month. If you have the Libsyn Basic 250 plan you can upload 250MB of new content each month. The storage quota for each account is reset on the 1st of the month. Once your quota resets your files from the last month no longer count against quota.” – Source.
It’s a very interesting and important difference.
So why the switch?
Aside from wanting to try out Soundcloud, I haven’t been putting out the new show as regularly as I’d like and want to keep it housed on Soundcloud’s free plan for a little bit.
I think that for the $15 unlimited storage option, Soundcloud makes sense (Libsyn gives you 250 mb at their $15 option), but ironically I’m not transferring over the show that I do upload once per week, which makes me max out my storage on Libsyn each month.
I got to be honest, it was a pain to transfer the audio files from Libsyn to Soundcloud. It’s definitely not something I would want to do if I had 100 episodes. Then again, you could always outsource that task to a virtual assistant. You need to upload titles, descriptions, artwork, etc. You will also need to re-configure your RSS feed in your Libsyn dashboard to tell iTunes where the new RSS feed is.
If I had a very regular or long daily show, then I think Soundcloud would be a good choice. The only other reason I’d consider SoundCloud would be to try out a new show and see if you’re committed to it before doubling down on paid hosting.
Concluding thoughts
Seeing as the $15 tier is the most popular for Libsyn, I think that Soundcloud is really pushing their pro unlimited option, which is a good deal, particularly if you start your show on their platform so that you don’t have to deal with migrating from another.
But, since my main show only comes out weekly and I’m fine with the 250 MB monthly for now, I’m going to stay with Libsyn for that show.
The one realization that I had from making this switch is that you need to choose your podcast host carefully. You don’t want to have to deal with switching to another provider when your dozens of episodes in. It’s a pain.
