Searching for the best WordPress podcast plugins? It seems like everyone and their mother has their own podcast these days. Seriously, I’m just waiting for my mom to send me the subscribe link to her podcast.
Perhaps that’s because podcasting has grown up as an industry and people (*cough* Spotify *cough*) are now throwing big money around. Now, Spotify might not be willing to give you $100 million for your podcast, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own audience and maybe make a little money.
If you want to create a website and grow your podcast, WordPress makes a great choice. And in this post, I’m going to share 7+ great plugins that can help you build your WordPress podcast site.
Some of these are full-service plugins that help with everything from creating RSS feeds to displaying podcast players. Others are just feature-rich podcast players. And still, others are niche plugins that I think might be useful for podcasters, like a widget that you can add to your site to accept voice messages from your listeners.
Let’s dig in!
7+ Best WordPress Podcast Plugins
1. Seriously Simple Podcasting
Seriously Simple Podcasting is a free WordPress podcast plugin from Castos, an affordable podcast hosting service that’s specifically built for WordPress users. It works with both audio and video podcasts.
However, you do not need to pay for the Castos service just to use Seriously Simple Podcasting. The plugin itself is standalone and free – you can use it to host the files on WordPress and create the RSS feeds that you need to submit to services like Apple Podcasts. However, the plugin does seamlessly integrate with the Castos service if you do want to use Castos.
You can add your podcasts to any post type. Even if you use a custom post type, Seriously Simple Podcasting includes a feature to still inject your podcast episodes into your main blog feed, which is pretty cool.
You’ll also be able to manage your podcast RSS feed from WordPress. You can also create multiple separate RSS feeds (like for separate shows).
The responsive podcast player itself is clean and looks great. You can feature individual episodes in the player or create playlists that feature all episodes from a season or just your own custom collection. There are also free add-ons to enhance it with things like speaker lists or transcripts.
You can also view listen counts and see detailed stats with the free Seriously Simple Stats add-on plugin.
Overall, Seriously Simple Podcasting has definitely evolved over the past few years to become one of the best WordPress podcast plugins.
Examples of Seriously Simple Podcasting in Action
Pricing
The Seriously Simple Podcasting plugin is 100% free.
You’ll only need to pay if you want to use the Castos podcast hosting service which, again, is 100% optional. The Castos service starts at $19 per month for unlimited podcasts, episodes, and downloads. Castos also offers a paid full done-for-you service that includes editing, transcripts, production, etc.
Get Seriously Simple Podcasting Get Castos
2. Blubrry PowerPress
By the numbers, Blubrry PowerPress is the most popular podcast plugin at WordPress.org. Like Seriously Simple Podcasting, it’s a standalone plugin that you can optionally integrate with Blubrry’s podcast hosting service. However, you don’t have to use Blubrry hosting to use the plugin.
Blubrry PowerPress includes everything you need to get up and running with a podcast:
- Integrated responsive HTML5 players for audio or video podcasts. You can either create a player for individual shows or create playlists of multiple episodes
- Create podcast RSS feeds that are fully compliant with Apple Podcasts and other services
- Create a dedicated podcast subscribe page
- Import podcasts from any other RSS feed including from popular services such as LibSyn and Soundcloud
- Support for multiple podcasts
- Create podcasts from custom post types
If you want more features, you can also use the Blubrry statistics service to view total and unique downloads on various platforms. The basic version is free and there’s also a paid version with more detailed analytics.
Examples of Blubrry in Action
Pricing
The Blubrry PowerPress plugin itself is 100% free.
If you want to use Blubrry for podcast hosting, those plans start at $12 per month for 100 MB of storage with unlimited bandwidth. You also get a free WordPress site as part of the plan, which is kind of cool.
You can also use Blubrry for just podcast statistics – there’s a limited free plan and the full-featured plan costs $5 per month.
3. Fusebox
Fusebox is the reincarnation of Smart Podcast Player that comes from Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income. Its killer app is its podcast player. In terms of design and features, I think that Fusebox has by far the best podcast player on this list.
First off, the basic podcast player just generally looks great and is user-friendly (on both desktop and mobile). The design is well-done and it includes useful features to let users skip forward/back, change the speed, etc.
There are multiple layouts – you can have one player for your entire show that makes it easy to browse all your episodes and another dedicated player for individual episodes. In total, you’ll get:
- Full player – showcases all of your episodes and makes it easy for visitors to browse them.
- Individual episode player – a simple player that shows just that podcast episode (multiple layouts).
- Sticky podcast player – a bar-style player that “sticks” to the bottom of your site.
In the screenshot above, you can see the full player and the sticky player.
The Fusebox player also goes beyond just a basic podcast player. You can also include:
- Transcripts (that are SEO-friendly)
- Show notes
- Tags
- A list of your past episodes
- A search box for past episodes
- Subscribe buttons
Fusebox also has some unique “conversion” features, like an email capture box built into the player and easy share buttons. Or, you can also easily offer content upgrades, like a PDF download.
To add your episodes to Fusebox, Fusebox supports any RSS feed. For example, if you’re using Apple Podcasts, you can just plug in your Apple Podcasts RSS feed to add episodes to Fusebox on autopilot.
Examples of Fusebox in Action
Pricing
Fusebox has a limited free version that gives you access to the sitewide sticky player (but not the other players). It also has a lot of other limitations.
If you want the premium version, you’ll pay either $96 per year or $12 per month.
4. Simple Podcast Press
Simple Podcast Press is another premium WordPress podcast plugin that mainly handles the WordPress display side of things. All you do is add the RSS feed to your podcast and Simple Podcast Press will help you publish it on WordPress. Or, it also integrates with Blubrry PowerPress to replace Blubrry’s default player with Simple Podcast Press’ player.
It gives you a customizable podcast player that includes useful details like:
- Clickable transcripts
- Subscribe buttons
- Email opt-in
- Custom CTAs
- Share buttons
- Review prompts
- Download buttons
This customizability is really the most unique thing about Simple Podcast Press – it lets you build a player that meets your needs.
The player also includes basic details like options to skip back (but not forward) and change the playback speed and you can create playlists that include multiple episodes.
Pricing
Simple Podcast Press is a premium plugin. Plans start at $67 for all features and use on a single site.
5. Service-Dedicated Podcast Plugins
If you’re already using a podcast hosting service, there are lots of service-specific WordPress podcast plugins to help you add episodes to your WordPress site.
I didn’t want to give all of these plugins their own sections because, unlike the previous plugins, they won’t work unless you use the service. However, if you are using one of these podcast hosting services, you might prefer using one of these dedicated options:
6. Podcast Subscribe Buttons
Next up, we have the free Podcast Subscribe Buttons plugin. Unlike most of the other plugins on this list, this one is not a comprehensive podcasting plugin with its own player. Instead, it just helps you add one very important element to your website – podcast subscribe buttons.
You can either display buttons for individual services or show one button that expands a modal list of everywhere your podcast is hosted.
Podcast Subscribe Buttons offers 40+ podcast-specific buttons, including all of the popular services like:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Podcasts
- Stitcher
- Spotify
- SoundCloud
- Etc.
All in all, if you want to add podcast subscribe buttons to WordPress, this one is a great option.
Pricing
Podcast Subscribe Buttons is 100% free.
7. SpeakPipe
Lastly, we have SpeakPipe, which is another plugin that’s a bit out there, but something that I think is useful for podcasters. It doesn’t help you manage RSS feeds or create a podcast player or anything like that.
Instead, it adds a widget to your WordPress site that lets you receive voice messages from visitors. This is great if you have a podcast that takes any type of listener-generated content.
You can add a page to your website to collect questions or messages from your visitors. Then, you can easily feature those voice messages in your podcast episode.
Pricing
SpeakPipe has a limited free plan that supports 100 MB storage and a max of 90 seconds for recordings. Paid plans start at $15 per month for more features, storage, and longer recording duration.
8. BONUS – Appendipity Podcast Themes
Appendipity is a WordPress theme developer who exclusively creates podcast-focused themes. If you’re not satisfied with just a plugin, they’re a great way to turn every aspect of WordPress into a podcasting machine.
Appendipity currently has 7 different podcast themes, all of which are built on and require the Genesis framework.
All of Appendipity’s themes are designed to integrate with existing plugins like Blubrry PowerPress or Simple Podcast Press. They also integrate well with email marketing services to make it easy to build a podcast-promoting email list.
If your site is 100% focused on podcasts, you might want to consider using one of these themes in conjunction with one of the other podcast plugins on this list.
Which Is the Best WordPress Podcast Plugin?
Now for the important question – which is the best WordPress podcast plugin for your needs?
If you want a complete solution that can help with everything from managing RSS feeds to displaying a video player, my personal recommendation is Seriously Simple Podcasting. It’s got everything you need in a seriously simple package and the new podcast player design also looks great. You can use it by itself or integrate it with the Castos podcast hosting service.
Blubrry PowerPress is another excellent option here – you won’t go wrong with it either.
On the other hand, if you’ve already got your podcast hosting and feeds sorted and just want an easy way to add a great-looking podcast player to your WordPress site, then I think Fusebox is definitely your best option. In terms of design and features, I think it has the best WordPress podcast player of any plugin on this list.
Finally, no matter which plugin you’re using, you can consider adding Podcast Subscribe Buttons to drive subscriptions. And if you accept visitor messages, SpeakPipe is also another interesting option to help you integrate that feature into your WordPress site.
Still have any questions about WordPress podcast plugins? Ask away in the comments section!
