Audacy Creator Lab vs Spreaker Comparison 2026
Audacy Creator Lab is a sponsorship marketplace: brands post campaigns, a podcaster pitches a rate, hosting is thrown in free, and the only cost is a 10 percent fee charged when a campaign actually pays. Spreaker is a host that sells advertising against the show itself, filling ad slots automatically through dynamic insertion so older episodes keep earning, with a free plan capped on storage and a 20 percent cut of supporters club income until you move to $20 a month. One is free until a brand agrees to pay. The other starts selling before anyone does.
Podcast sponsorships on a stated fee
Hosting with programmatic ads on the free plan
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
- Spreaker takes no share of what you earn. Audacy Creator Lab takes 10%.
Side by side
Audacy Creator Lab | Spreaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $20 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| 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.
Spreaker
Hosting with programmatic ads on the free plan
Spreaker hosts a show and sells advertising against it, which is the reason to pick it over a host that only stores files. Dynamic ad insertion means a slot can be filled and refilled after an episode is published, so a back catalogue keeps earning. The free plan carries a storage cap and takes a fifth of anything a supporters club brings in. Paid plans drop that fee to nothing and raise the limits.
Why people weigh these two
- Spreaker instead of Audacy Creator Lab
- Hosting with programmatic ads running on the free plan, then $20; monetization starts automatically rather than campaign by campaign.
- Audacy Creator Lab instead of Spreaker
- Audacy Creator Lab states a fee for a sponsorship upfront, free to use, a different shape from Spreaker's fill-and-refill ad insertion.
Which one should you pick
Pick Audacy Creator Lab if your show is too small for an ad network to return the call but has a defined audience a brand would want. There is no sign-up fee, hosting is free, and the 10 percent service fee only applies to a campaign that pays, so a quiet month costs nothing. You set your own rate and talk to the brand directly rather than working through a rate card.
Pick Spreaker if you want the show to start earning before a brand ever says yes. The free Free Speech plan carries programmatic ads and a 20 percent fee on supporters club income, and $20 a month removes that fee entirely. Dynamic ad insertion means a slot can be refilled after publishing, so a back catalogue keeps earning without new uploads. A show that already turns down sponsorship deals gets more from Spreaker's built-in ad sales than from a marketplace waiting for the next pitch.
Common questions
- Does Spreaker take a cut of sponsorship deals like Audacy Creator Lab does?
- Not for direct advertising, since that revenue share is negotiated through Spreaker's own programme rather than published. Its stated fee is 20 percent on supporters club income on the free plan, which drops to nothing once you pay $20 a month. Audacy Creator Lab charges a published 10 percent on any sponsorship campaign that pays.
- Is hosting free on both?
- Yes on Audacy Creator Lab, hosting comes free alongside the sponsorship marketplace with no sign-up fee. Spreaker's Free Speech plan is also free but caps storage, and the paid tiers start at $20 a month for higher limits and no supporters club fee.
- Which one pays out first?
- Spreaker can pay out sooner, because dynamic ad insertion sells programmatic ads against the show from the free plan onward. Audacy Creator Lab only pays once a brand accepts a pitch, so income depends on landing a sponsorship rather than on running ads automatically.
- Which suits a show too small for an ad network?
- Audacy Creator Lab, since there is no sign-up fee and the only cost is 10 percent of a campaign that actually pays, so a show can wait for the right brand at no cost. Spreaker charges a stated 20 percent of supporters club income on its free plan unless you upgrade to $20 a month.
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