Acast vs Captivate Comparison 2026
Acast hosts a podcast and sells advertising against it from one account, free for one show and five episodes before the marketplace lifts the cap. Captivate has no free tier, but every plan from $17 a month billed yearly ($19 monthly) includes the full feature set, analytics, a website, dynamic ad insertion, priced on download bands rather than episode counts, so a back catalogue costs nothing to keep. The choice is between a free plan with ad sales attached, or a paid plan priced on how many people actually listen.
At a glance
- Acast starts cheaper, at $14.99.
- Only Acast has a free tier.
Side by side
Acast | Captivate | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $14.99 | From $17 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial (they differ) | None | 30 days |
Acast
Podcast hosting with an ad marketplace attached
Acast hosts the show and sells the ads against it, which is the combination a podcaster otherwise assembles from two companies. Putting a show into its marketplace lifts the episode cap on the free plan, so monetizing and hosting are the same decision. Ad revenue depends on being picked up by advertisers, and a small show may see nothing for a while.
Only on this side
- Covers ad networks
- Covers monetization & payments
Captivate
Podcast hosting priced by downloads
Captivate hosts shows on download bands rather than storage or episode counts, so a back catalogue costs nothing to keep and a viral episode is the thing that moves you up a tier. Every plan carries the full feature set, which is unusual here: analytics, a website, dynamic ad insertion and a listener signup tool are not held back for the dearest band. Unlimited podcasts sit on one account, so a second show does not mean a second bill.
Our note
The thing to check before signing up is your actual monthly download number rather than your subscriber count, because that is the only number the pricing responds to. If a single old episode still pulls traffic, the dynamic ad insertion is what makes this pay for itself.
Why people weigh these two
- Captivate instead of Acast
- Captivate prices hosting by downloads instead of a flat fee, starting at $17, for someone who would rather sell sponsors directly.
- Acast instead of Captivate
- Acast hosts with an ad marketplace attached and a free tier, paid from $14.99, for shows chasing sponsorship over feature depth.
Which one should you pick
Pick Acast when you want the ad marketplace and the host to be the same company and you are starting from zero. Free covers one show and five episodes, and the cap lifts once the show joins the marketplace, though ad revenue depends on being picked up and a small show may see nothing for a while.
Pick Captivate when the show is growing and you do not want the bill to jump because you published more episodes. Bands run by monthly downloads: $17 up to 30,000, $44 up to 150,000, $90 up to 300,000, billed yearly, with every feature, dynamic ad insertion included, on every band. There is no free tier, so one short series with a small audience will find a free host cheaper, but a 30-day trial covers the full feature set before you commit.
Common questions
- Does Captivate have a free plan?
- No. Every plan starts at $17 a month billed yearly, or $19 billed monthly, though a 30-day free trial covers the full feature set. Acast's free tier covers one show and five episodes at no cost, with a card required at signup that the page states will not be charged.
- What decides the price on Captivate?
- Monthly downloads, not episode count or storage: $17 up to 30,000, $44 up to 150,000, $90 up to 300,000. Acast's free tier is capped by episode count instead, five episodes, until the show joins the ad marketplace.
- Which one includes dynamic ad insertion on every plan?
- Captivate does, on all three published bands, alongside analytics, a website and a listener signup tool. Acast's ad tools come through joining its marketplace rather than being a plan feature you switch on.
- Is Captivate cheaper than Acast for a show with a big back catalogue?
- It can be, since old episodes cost nothing extra to keep and only the current download count decides the band. Acast has no download-based pricing at all; its tiers are set by number of shows and episodes instead.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.