About Captivate
Captivate is a podcast hosting service that markets itself as growth-focused and offers unlimited podcast hosting. Its aim is to help creators publish a show, grow an audience and earn money, with a feature library organized by goals such as building a brand, starting a network or saving production time.
The site lists use cases and show formats including interview, solo, co-hosted, news, short-form and storytelling podcasts, as well as client podcasts with a dashboard for multiple shows and teams. It also covers internal podcasts for companies and private member podcasts with access controls, and a Creator Suite of extra tools.
Captivate is a hosted commercial platform. A pricing page exists on the site, but plan names, episode limits and costs are not included in the supplied information, so check the vendor site before choosing a plan.
Key features
- Unlimited podcast hosting
- Analytics and audience growth tools
- Monetization options for shows
- Dashboard for client podcasts and teams
- Private and member-only podcasts
- Internal business podcast feeds
Good fit for
- →Running a podcast network from one account
- →Creating a members-only podcast
- →Hosting client shows for an agency
- Tags
- podcast-hosting
- analytics
- monetization
- private-podcasts
- podcasting
- networks
- saas
Captivate: questions and answers
- What is Captivate used for?
- Captivate is a podcast hosting platform with growth, analytics and monetization tools, including support for networks and private shows. It is a good fit for running a podcast network from one account, creating a members-only podcast and hosting client shows for an agency.
- How much does Captivate cost?
- Paid plans for Captivate start at $17 per month, and there is no free plan. A free trial is available.
- Is Captivate open source?
- No. Captivate is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Captivate include Castopod and Microfeed.
- What are some alternatives to Captivate?
- Captivate competes with Buzzsprout, Transistor and Simplecast. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Captivate alternatives.
Open-source alternatives to Captivate
See all
Castopod
Media & Streaming
Castopod is an open-source hosting platform made for podcasters who want engage and intera
AGPL-3.0vs Buzzsprout★ 874
Microfeed
CMS
an agentic cms self-hosted on cloudflare, for podcasts, blogs, photos, videos, documents,
AGPL-3.0vs Buzzsprout★ 4.1k
Tautulli
Media & Streaming
A Python based monitoring and tracking tool for Plex Media Server.
GPL-3.0★ 6.6k
ListenBrainz
Media & Streaming
Server for the ListenBrainz project, including the front-end (javascript/react) code that
GPL-2.0vs Last.fm★ 1k
Jellyfin
Media & Streaming
The Free Software Media System - Server Backend & API
GPL-2.0vs Plex★ 58k
Spotube
Media & Streaming
🎧 Open source music streaming app! Available for both desktop & mobile!
OSSvs Spotify★ 50k
SaaS alternatives to Captivate
See all
Buzzsprout
Media & Streaming
Beginner-friendly podcast hosting with stats, directory submission and a free tier
SaaS
Transistor
Media & Streaming
Podcast hosting for multiple shows with private feeds, analytics and embeds
SaaS
Simplecast
Media & Streaming
Podcast hosting and analytics platform
SaaS
Libsyn
Media & Streaming
One of the earliest podcast hosting services, with distribution and statistics
SaaS
Podbean
Media & Streaming
Podcast hosting platform with distribution, monetization and a mobile app
SaaS
Acast
Media & Streaming
Podcast hosting, distribution and advertising platform
SaaS

