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How Much Does it Cost to Start a Podcast At Any Level 2024

Wondering how much does it cost to start a podcast? Here's the ins and outs of how much podcasting actually costs.

Stephen Robles

Video & Podcast Creator

Last Updated:

March 21, 2024

min

Reviewed by

Ortal Hadad

Stephen Robles

min read

Since there’s no universal set cost for starting a podcast, it’s difficult to know where to pitch your show or put your budget.

But this shouldn’t put you off launching a podcast. To the contrary, you should be encouraged by the fact that it’s completely possible to start a podcast for virtually nothing. Plus, it’s important to remember that different types of podcasts require a different scale of budget – if you’re launching a professional branded podcast, you’re looking at a bigger bill than if you’re setting up a side hustle or hobby.

Whatever level you’re thinking of, we’ve put together an estimated budget (and cost breakdown) to give you a better idea of what you should be looking at spending.

What is the average cost of starting a podcast?

Different sources put the average cost of starting a podcast between $100 and $5000.

Remember, though, not all podcasts are the same – and neither are people’s budgets. It’s also important to distinguish between different levels or types of podcasts. Professional or branded shows require a far bigger budget than a hobby or side-hustle podcast, for example.

Again, this ball park figure considers all different types of podcasts, ranging from hobbyists, amateurs, and professionals.

How do podcast owners get paid?

Understandably, the biggest question on most podcast hosts’ minds is how do they get paid? The answer is there are a few different ways that podcast owners can make money by monetizing their show:

Adverts

Opening up slots in your show for ads is the easiest way to start making money from your podcast. You can opt for dynamic advertising, which automatically fills these slots and keeps your content evergreen, or go for host-read ads, where you read out the ads yourself.

Sponsorship deals

This is another lucrative way of making money from your show. Businesses and brands that are interested in your particular audience will pay to sponsor your podcast.

Merchandise

Selling branded products to your loyal audience can be another effective way to make money from your podcast. While you can sell clothing and objects like mugs, we suggest trying to match your topic or niche. For example if you’re podcasting about photography consider selling something like camera cases.

Subscriptions or membership fees

Offering your listeners exclusive content in exchange for a subscription fee has become a popular way of making money from podcasts. You can create extra content like behind the scenes, or episodes with higher value content.

Live events

You could also talk at a live event sharing valuable insights in your niche topic. For example if you podcast about marketing you could become a guest speaker at a marketing event.

Selling courses or other resources

If you produce your own resources, such as courses, your podcast listeners are the perfect potential customers. If you sell your product right, you can see a lot of conversions off the back of your show.

Is it profitable to start a podcast?

It most certainly can be. But you shouldn’t bank on seeing a profit straight away. The most important thing is to not get too disheartened if you don’t. Consistent output and investing in building a captive audience is key. You don’t necessarily need a huge listenership to start seeing profits from sponsorship deals and ads.

Can you start a podcast for free?

It’s completely possible to start a podcast for free – or virtually for free. If you lean into a minimal equipment setup, you’ll be able to start making your podcast without spending too much.

We’ve got a full guide on starting a free podcast to help you out.

What does it actually cost to start a podcast?

The first thing to make clear is that you can choose to spend as much or as little on your podcast. You’ll find decent podcast equipment and kit within every budget range. Though, you may have to compromise on recording quality or how smooth your workflow is. We’ve broken down how much it can or should cost to start a podcast based on the type of podcast you’re launching:

For hobbyists: Low-budget setup podcast costs

If you’re starting your podcast as a side hustle or hobby and don’t want to spend too much, here’s the kind of budget you should be looking at:

Equipment

You can keep your equipment setup minimal by sticking to the essentials. All you need is the following:

Podcast microphone
Computer or laptop
A camera (if you’re planning on creating a video podcast).

If you really want to limit your spending and are lucky enough to have a mic, camera, and laptop lying around, there’s no need to buy new replacements.

If you do need to purchase new kit, don’t worry, there are plenty of budget-friendly options out there:

Mic

If you’re able to invest in a decent podcast mic, it will make a huge difference to the overall quality of your podcast recording. For the sake of your budget, choose a USB mic to avoid having to purchase an audio interface. Here are a few great options that come in under $200:

Camera

If you’ve got a recent phone that can shoot in high-quality or up to 4K, this is a great budget-friendly alternative. However, if your phone camera isn’t up to the job, to keep costs down, we’d recommend going for a web-cam:

Depstech 4K Webcam - $79.99

Computer

Again, if you already have a computer or laptop you definitely don’t need to invest in a new one. However, if you need a replacement, here are some options that won’t break the bank:

Accessories

A pop filter is a small (and affordable) addition to your setup that can make a significant difference to your audio quality. This mic accessory helps to eliminate “pops” that occur in audio recording as a result of plosive sounds (like ‘P’ and ‘T’) in speech.

Aokeo Professional Mic Pop Filter - $10.99

Software

In addition to your physical podcast-making equipment, you’ll need some podcast software to help make the magic happen:

Recording & Editing Software

To keep your expenses to a minimum, you should look for a software that combines your recording and editing needs. This way, you avoid cluttering your workflow and save on subscription fees.

Riverside

Riverside gives you all the capabilities and flexibility you need. You can record high-quality video and audio and edit it all together from one browser window. You can start using Riverside for free or upgrade to a $15/month subscription that gives you the ability to record 5 hours of separate audio and video and access to all of the platform’s powerful features.

Key features:

Record high quality content with up to 4K video and 48kHz audio
Browser-based and mobile app so you can record wherever you want
Remote record with up to 7 other participants
Easy to use and no learning curve even if you’re a complete beginner
Separate audio and video track recording for each participant, giving you more editing flexibility.
Local recording means Riverside captures each person’s audio and video on their own device rather than over the internet. Bad wifi won’t negatively impact the quality of your recording.
AI-powered transcription with over 99% accuracy makes it easy to repurpose your recordings into other types of content like blog posts.
Captions. Riverside lets you automatically add captions to your recordings. You can also customize the font, color and placement to ensure they look just right alongside your video recording.
Text-based editor makes editing easier and quicker. All you need to do is edit your transcript like you would a Google doc. Riverside will reflect the changes in your recording.
AI-generated summaries and show notes. Saves you time and speeds up the time from recording to publication.
Magic Clips feature automatically identifies interesting and gripping moments from your recording. It then transforms these into short-form videos that are perfect for promoting your podcast on social media.

Free recording & editing software

If you’re keen to stick with free recording and editing software, check out these options:

Garageband or iMovie. Depending on whether you’re creating an audio-based or video podcast, you can stick with Apple’s free recording software that comes with your Apple devices.
Audacity is a free and open-source audio recording and editing software. It’s a great contender for budget-friendly podcasting software – though some creators might find it difficult to work with.
Spotify for Podcasters is the streaming platform’s very own podcast creation, editing and publication tool. And it’s available to use for free.

Hosting & distribution

To get your podcast out there and in your listeners’ ears, you need a hosting platform. Ideally, your hosting platform will also publish your show to all the various listening platforms. Here are a few budget-friendly options:

As above, Spotify for Podcasters takes care of distributing your podcast to all the major platforms
Buzzsprout gives you two hours of uploads per month for free. Alternatively, pay $12 per month for a three-hour monthly upload limit as well as a free hosted website for your podcast.
You can get 5 hours of hosting with Podbean. It will also take care of your distribution needs.

Other expenses

When you’re trying to keep costs low, additional or superfluous expenses are the easiest to cut out. Bringing all your marketing in-house by creating your promotional materials yourself – by making the most of Riverside’s Magic Clips feature for example – is the best way to eliminate marketing expenses.

For amateurs: Medium-budget setup podcast costs

With a bit more to spend and more time to give, you can set yourself up well for creating a professional podcast. Here are a few ideas for medium-budget podcast setups: