There are around 21786 podcasts under Apple Popular Podcast Pages. This post analyzes from the hosting platform aspect. A post on the podcast aspect is still in the making (subscribe to get informed)
The take away is.. Megaphone.fm, Simplecast and Omnycontent are the top 3 hosting platform choices for podcasts with huge audience. anchor.fm and Acast are worth looking if interested in free plan. Buzzsprout, Spreaker and Podbean if you want to look further.
If you are interesting in hosting platforms pricing comparison, please read the preivous blog post 2022 Popular Podcast Hosting Platforms
Megaphone.fm is clearly the #1 platform used by other popular podcasts. It’s owned by spotify and targets podcasts with huge audience. Prices start at $99/month. There is no self-service and you need to submit form first. Anchor.fm is also owned by spotify and everything is free. Simplecast has 3 plans: $15/m, $35/m and $85/m with different download limit.
Some fun facts:
- Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend by one of my favorite hosts is hosted by Simplecast.
- Crime Junkie is the most reviewed podcast and has a whopping 329k reviews. also hosted by Simplecast.
Hosting services by podcasts with at least 500 reviews
| # | hosting | podcast count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | megaphone.fm | 832 |
| 2 | simplecast.com | 291 |
| 3 | omnycontent.com | 264 |
| 4 | anchor.fm | 195 |
| 5 | art19.com | 193 |
| 6 | acast.com | 141 |
| 7 | buzzsprout.com | 112 |
| 8 | audioboom.com | 108 |
| 9 | spreaker.com | 102 |
| 10 | podbean.com | 101 |
Hosting services by podcasts with less than 50 reviews
| # | hosting | podcast count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | anchor.fm | 2185 |
| 2 | buzzsprout.com | 1113 |
| 3 | podbean.com | 613 |
| 4 | megaphone.fm | 375 |
| 5 | spreaker.com | 307 |
| 6 | simplecast | 279 |
| 8 | acast.com | 224 |
| 7 | omnycontent.com | 196 |
| 9 | captivate.fm | 167 |
| 10 | transistor.fm | 150 |
The most reviewed podcasts by hosting service
Megaphone
| # | Podcast | Rating | Review | Genre | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sofia with an F | 3.8 | 81300 | Comedy | Sloot Media |
| 2 | Pod Save America | 4.5 | 75300 | News | Crooked Media |
| 3 | Up and Vanished | 4.5 | 59400 | True Crime | |
| 4 | Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain | 4.8 | 59300 | Comedy | Emma Chamberlain and Ramble |
| 5 | Revisionist History | 4.7 | 56700 | Society & Culture | Pushkin Industries |
| 6 | The Dan Bongino Show | 4.7 | 52700 | News | The Dan Bongino Show |
| 7 | Lore | 4.6 | 42700 | True Crime | Aaron Mahnke |
| 8 | Verdict with Ted Cruz | 4.6 | 40100 | News | Premiere Networks |
| 9 | Louder with Crowder | 4.7 | 35300 | News | Blaze Media |
| 10 | Criminal | 4.7 | 32700 | True Crime | Vox Media Podcast Network |
Simplecast
| # | Podcast | Rating | Review | Genre | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crime Junkie | 4.8 | 329000 | True Crime | audiochuck |
| 2 | My Favorite Murder with .. | 4.6 | 156100 | True Crime | Exactly Right |
| 3 | The Daily | 4.4 | 88900 | News | The New York Times |
| 4 | Office Ladies | 4.8 | 80400 | Comedy | Earwolf |
| 5 | Serial | 4.5 | 71300 | True Crime | Serial Productions & The New York Times |
| 6 | Armchair Expert Umbrella with.. | 4.7 | 63400 | Comedy | Dax Shepard |
| 7 | Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend | 4.8 | 50500 | Comedy | Team Coco & Earwolf |
| 8 | Last Podcast On The Left | 4.7 | 46700 | True Crime | The Last Podcast Network |
| 9 | S-Town | 4.6 | 43700 | Society & Culture | Serial Productions & The New York Times |
| 10 | Hidden Brain | 4.6 | 35500 | Arts | Hidden Brain |
Omnycontent
| # | Podcast | Rating | Review | Genre | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuff You Should Know | 4.5 | 66100 | Society & Culture | iHeartPodcasts |
| 2 | The Charlie Kirk Show | 4.7 | 38200 | News | Andrew Kolvet |
| 3 | The MeatEater Podcast | 4.9 | 36000 | Sports | MeatEater |
| 4 | Monday Morning Podcast | 4.8 | 30000 | Comedy | Bill Burr |
| 5 | WTF with Marc Maron Podcast | 4.6 | 25600 | Comedy | Marc Maron |
| 6 | Myths and Legends | 4.8 | 22300 | Arts | Jason Weiser |
| 7 | Stuff You Missed in History Class | 4.2 | 22000 | Society & Culture | iHeartPodcasts |
| 8 | Impaulsive with Logan Paul | 4.4 | 21300 | Society & Culture | Kast Media |
| 9 | Atlanta Monster | 4.2 | 20200 | True Crime | iHeartPodcasts & Tenderfoot TV |
| 10 | The Viall Files | 4.1 | 20000 | Society & Culture | Kast Media |
Acast
| # | Podcast | Rating | Review | Genre | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Here’s Where It Gets Interesting | 5 | 13900 | Society & Culture | Sharon McMahon |
| 2 | Anna Faris Is Unqualified | 4.4 | 10800 | Society & Culture | Anna Faris |
| 3 | The Rich Roll Podcast | 4.8 | 9800 | Education | Rich Roll |
| 4 | Unraveled | 4.7 | 9700 | True Crime | Emily Servodidio |
| 5 | We’re Alive | 4.8 | 8900 | Arts | Wayland Productions Inc |
| 6 | The Magnus Archives | 4.9 | 8200 | Arts | Rusty Quill |
| 7 | The Weekly Planet | 4.9 | 8000 | TV & Film | James |
| 8 | Small Town Dicks | 4.7 | 7900 | True Crime | Small Town Dicks Podcast |
| 9 | Dungeons and Daddies | 4.9 | 7900 | Comedy | Dungeons and Daddies |
| 10 | Giggly Squad | 4.6 | 7200 | Comedy |
Anchor.fm
| # | Podcast | Rating | Review | Genre | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 | 4.9 | 17700 | Sports | Pat McAfee |
| 2 | Elevation with Steven Furtick | 4.8 | 13800 | Religion & Spirituality | Elevation Church |
| 3 | The Rundown | 4.9 | 11200 | TV & Film | Noah Beck and Josh Richards |
| 4 | SnapBack Sports Pod | 4.9 | 10700 | Basketball | SnapBack Sports |
| 5 | That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs | 4.9 | 9100 | Religion & Spirituality | Annie F. Downs |
| 6 | Bad Friends | 4.8 | 9100 | Comedy | Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee |
| 7 | rSlash | 4.9 | 8500 | Comedy | rSlash Reads Reddit |
| 8 | Rumble with Michael Moore | 4.7 | 8400 | News | Michael Moore |
| 9 | Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History.. | 4.9 | 7600 | History | Tyler Mahan Coe |
| 10 | Very Really Good | 4.9 | 7200 | Comedy | Kurtis Conner |