Captivate

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.

Three bands, each printed at a month paid yearly: $17 up to 30,000 downloads a month, $44 up to 150,000 and $90 up to 300,000. Above that the page asks you to email for a custom plan. The page's own title quotes $19 a month as the starting price, which is the monthly rate against the $17 annual one. All plans include a 30-day free trial and the full feature set.

A show that expects to grow and does not want the bill to jump because it published more episodes. Pricing on downloads suits an archive: old episodes cost nothing to keep and only listening moves you up. A podcaster with one short series and a small audience will find the free hosts cheaper, since there is no free tier here.