Audacy Creator Lab vs Megaphone Comparison 2026
Audacy Creator Lab is a sponsorship marketplace with free hosting attached: brands post campaigns, a podcaster pitches a rate, and the only charge is a 10 percent fee taken when a campaign actually pays. Megaphone is a paid host built for a show that already earns, with dynamic ad insertion into old episodes and access to the Spotify Audience Network, at $99 a month. One costs nothing until an advertiser pays you. The other is a monthly bill whether or not a campaign ever lands.
Podcast sponsorships on a stated fee
Spotify's podcast host with an ad marketplace
At a glance
- Only Audacy Creator Lab has a free tier.
Side by side
Audacy Creator Lab | Megaphone | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free | Paid subscription |
| Free tier (they differ) | Yes | No |
| Billing | Not stated | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
Audacy Creator Lab
Podcast sponsorships on a stated fee
Creator Lab is a marketplace where brands post campaigns and podcasters pitch for them, with the hosting thrown in free. A creator sets their own rate, talks to the brand directly and gets paid through the platform rather than invoicing anybody. The service fee is published rather than negotiated, which is rarer in podcast advertising than it should be. Shows too small for a network to call back are the ones this exists for.
Our note
This is Podcorn under Audacy's name, and the pricing survived the change intact, which is more than most acquisitions manage. Take it for the free hosting and treat any campaign that lands as upside, because the marketplace costs nothing while it is quiet.
Megaphone
Spotify's podcast host with an ad marketplace
Megaphone is where Spotify puts podcasters who want to sell advertising against a back catalogue rather than only against new episodes. Hosting and distribution come with a campaign manager, so an ad sold today can be inserted into an episode published two years ago and swapped out when the campaign ends. The Spotify Audience Network is the demand side of it. It is priced for somebody whose show already earns, not for a first episode.
Why people weigh these two
- Megaphone instead of Audacy Creator Lab
- Spotify's podcast host with an ad marketplace at $99 and no free tier; sized for shows well past the too-small-for-a-network stage Creator Lab serves.
- Audacy Creator Lab instead of Megaphone
- Audacy Creator Lab states its sponsorship fee up front and costs nothing to join, lighter weight than a hosting platform with dynamic ad insertion.
Which one should you pick
Audacy Creator Lab is for a show whose download numbers are too small for an ad network to return the call, but whose audience is defined enough that a brand would still care. There is no sign-up fee and hosting is free, so a show can sit in the marketplace waiting for the right campaign at no cost, and the only bill, 10 percent, arrives attached to money that already came in. A show already earning steady ad revenue from a large back catalogue is the case Megaphone is built for instead.
Megaphone is for a show with a back catalogue people still download, where old episodes keep earning through dynamic ad insertion and the Spotify Audience Network brings in demand beyond your own sales. Professional is $99 a month whether or not a campaign lands, plus a revenue split that is not published on the pricing page. A podcast in its first season has no back catalogue yet to sell against, so the $99 buys machinery with nothing to run through it.
Common questions
- Which one is free to join?
- Audacy Creator Lab. There is no sign-up fee and hosting is included, so the only cost is a 10 percent fee taken when a sponsorship campaign pays. Megaphone starts at $99 a month for its Professional plan regardless of whether any advertising sells.
- Does either one sell ads into old episodes?
- Megaphone does, through dynamic ad insertion that places a sponsor read into a back-catalogue episode and pulls it when the campaign ends. Audacy Creator Lab matches a podcaster with a brand for a rate the podcaster sets, without that back-catalogue insertion.
- Which one suits a small, new show?
- Audacy Creator Lab, since there is no fee to join and nothing is owed until a campaign pays. Megaphone charges $99 a month from day one, which is a hard cost for a show with no back catalogue yet to sell against.
- How is Megaphone's revenue split different from Audacy Creator Lab's fee?
- Audacy Creator Lab states its cut plainly: 10 percent of a campaign, charged to both the podcaster and the brand. Megaphone's $99 covers hosting and the campaign toolkit, but the separate revenue share from actual ad sales is not published on its pricing page.
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