Megaphone vs Spreaker Comparison 2026
Megaphone hosts a show and sells advertising against its back catalogue through the Spotify Audience Network, $99 a month flat with no free tier. Spreaker starts at $0 and already carries programmatic ads on that free plan, unusual among hosts, though it keeps 20 percent of supporters club income until you pay $20 a month to drop that fee to nothing. Megaphone is built for a show that already earns. Spreaker is built to start earning before any money changes hands.
Spotify's podcast host with an ad marketplace
Hosting with programmatic ads on the free plan
At a glance
- Spreaker starts cheaper, at $20.
- Only Spreaker has a free tier.
Side by side
Megaphone | Spreaker | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $99 | From $20 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated |
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.
Our note
Compare this against what your current host charges plus what you currently earn from ads, rather than against hosting alone. Megaphone is priced as an advertising business with hosting attached, so if the ad side stays empty you are paying a premium for a file server.
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 Megaphone
- Spreaker runs programmatic ads on its free hosting plan, the fit for a show still building the back catalogue Megaphone's insertion technology needs to pay off.
- Megaphone instead of Spreaker
- Megaphone at $99 is Spotify's host with its own ad marketplace, aimed at a show large enough to sell inventory directly.
Which one should you pick
Pick Megaphone if your show has an established back catalogue and you want Spotify's own advertiser demand behind it rather than a fee-free starting point. It is $99 a month flat with unlimited team seats and role-based permissions, roughly five times Spreaker's On Air Talent tier at $20. There is no way to try it for free.
Pick Spreaker if you want to monetize from the first episode without a subscription. The free Free Speech plan already runs programmatic ads, just with a storage cap and a 20 percent cut of supporters club revenue; paying $20 a month, still a fifth of Megaphone's price, drops that cut to nothing. It suits a show building an audience more than one that already has advertisers calling.
Common questions
- Which one is cheaper to start?
- Spreaker, by a wide margin. Its Free Speech plan costs nothing and still runs programmatic ads, just with a storage cap and a 20 percent fee on supporters club income. Megaphone has no free tier at all; Professional starts at $99 a month.
- Does Spreaker's free plan really include advertising?
- Yes, which is unusual among podcast hosts. Programmatic ads run on the free Free Speech plan, though supporters club income is cut 20 percent until you pay $20 a month, which removes that fee entirely.
- How much more expensive is Megaphone than Spreaker's paid tier?
- About five times. Megaphone's Professional plan is $99 a month flat. Spreaker's On Air Talent tier, which removes the supporters club fee, is $20 a month, and even Anchorman, its top listed tier, is $250.
- Which one connects to the Spotify Audience Network?
- Megaphone does, which is its main reason to exist: outside advertiser demand from Spotify rather than only your own sales. Spreaker's advertising instead runs through its own programmatic system, with revenue share on it negotiated rather than published.
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.