Customizable Pricing

Since different shows will bring different value to their fans, a good podcast platform should let you customize your podcast subscription price. On average, podcast subscriptions are priced between $1 to $6 per month, and more premium shows can reach $10 – $15 per month.

You’ll want to choose a premium podcast platform that lets you fully control your pricing, and change your pricing after you already have subscribers. A good host will know you will start with one price and may want to change it later.

Payment Options

Make sure your podcast host will give your fans various payment options. The 3 most common payment options are monthly, yearly, and one-time.

Monthly option lets fans subscribe to your premium podcast without a long-term commitment. It’s an easy way to hook fans into becoming subscribers.

Yearly option lets fans not have to worry too much about monthly bills. A good platform will also let you customize your yearly price, and give a fan a discount off the monthly price to reward them for a longer commitment.

One-Time payment option let you sell a “lifetime” subscription for your members. Usually, this is a higher fee than even your yearly plan, because a fan will just pay once for full access to your premium podcast as long as it exists.

Cross Platform

We always recommend putting your premium podcast on a podcast host that’s cross-platform. There are 2 podcast subscription platforms listed below that won’t be available across platforms: Apple and Spotify.

Although these are the 2 largest podcast listening apps, if you choose them to host your premium podcast, just know that your premium podcast won’t be available on the other platform. In our opinion, this alienates half your listeners, and for this reason, we don’t recommend either of these platforms.

Along with this, we also recommend choosing a platform that allows your fan to consume your premium podcast on a normal web browser and from an RSS feed.

Unique RSS Feeds

Since subscribers can cancel their subscriptions, you’ll want to make sure your podcast host offers a unique RSS feed specific to each subscriber. This way, the podcast host can dynamically activate and deactivate each subscriber’s RSS feed, depending on their subscription status.

A lot of subpar podcast platforms just provide 1 RSS feed shared between all your subscribers. So let’s say your monthly subscriber cancels after just 1 month. Without unique RSS feeds, that canceled subscriber will still have access to that premium podcast feed since it’s not unique.

Fan Engagement

Subscribers to your podcast want to feel special. They are your superfans. A great platform will give your subscribers exclusive access to discuss and comment on each episode. It’s an extra way for them to engage with you, your content, and with each other.