14 Best WordPress Plugins for Podcasters

Want to take your podcast to the next level? With millions of podcasts competing for listeners, you will need the right podcasting plugins to help your podcast website stand out and grow your audience.

At WPBeginner, we’ve helped many podcasts establish and expand their online presence with WordPress. Plus, a few years ago, we even created our own YouTube podcast, which has over 100 episodes and nearly 1,000 subscribers. Currently, we also run a bi-weekly podcast called WordPress Insights.

From our hands-on experience, we’ve learned which tools you need to promote your podcast and increase your podcast revenue. Since we’ve run a visual podcast, one of our favorite podcasting tools is the Smash Balloon YouTube Feed plugin. But, during our research, we found that PowerPress, Fusebox, and Simple Podcast Press are also excellent choices.

That said, they weren’t the only tools that stood out to us. So, in this article, we have hand-picked some of the best WordPress podcast plugins for beginner and professional podcasters.

Overview of the Best WordPress Plugins for Podcasters

In a hurry? Check out our top picks for podcasting plugins:

#	Plugin	Best For	Price
🥇	PowerPress	Beginners + Blubrry users	Free
🥈	Fusebox	Well-designed audio player + transcription tool	From $7.50/mo
🥉	Simple Podcast Press	Email marketing features	From $67/site
4	Seriously Simple Podcasting	Castos users + tight budgets	Free
5	Smash Balloon YouTube Feed	Video podcasting	Free + From $49/yr

How We Test & Review Podcasting Plugins

We test and review every plugin we recommend. For the best podcasting plugins, these are the main criteria that we looked for:

• Ease of Use: We checked to see how user-friendly each podcasting plugin was. In this case, we looked for easy episode importing, simple RSS feed management, and more.
• Customizable audio player: We like plugins that allow you to customize your audio player to match your site. This way, you can boost your branding. We also looked for audio players that give users more control of their listening experience with speed control, clickable timestamps, and more.
• Growth & SEO features: We checked for offerings like email opt-ins and call-to-action buttons to help you gain subscribers. We also looked for plugins that can boost accessibility and SEO by automatically creating transcripts and podcast show notes.
• Integrations: A good podcasting plugin should easily integrate with your preferred marketing tools, form plugins, and even payment gateways. We evaluated this as well.
• User Reviews: We always do our best to carefully test every plugin, but we know that we can’t explore every single scenario and use case. So, we relied on user reviews to fill in knowledge gaps and provide additional information.
• Pricing: Whether you’re just launching your first podcast or you’re a radio veteran, chances are price is a factor. We checked pricing and included podcast plugins that can accommodate every budget. Some on the list are even free!

How to Start Podcasting With WordPress

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform, chosen by top podcasters such as Tim Ferris, Lewis Howes, Michael Hyatt, and so on. That’s mainly because WordPress is easy to use and highly flexible, with tons of great templates and thousands of WordPress plugins.

If you’re looking to make your website and start a podcast, then first, you will need to get a domain name and WordPress hosting.

We recommend using Bluehost because they are one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider. On top of that, they are giving our users up to 75% off + a free domain.

Once you have signed up for hosting, the next step is to install WordPress. Follow the instructions for how to start a WordPress blog, and you will be up and running in no time.

Now comes the part where you will set up your podcast. To help you with this part, we have created a step-by-step guide on how to start your own podcast.

After that, you can take a look at our hand-picked list of the best WordPress plugins for podcasters.

Best WordPress Podcast Plugins to Grow Your Audience

Our goal is to share a comprehensive list of podcast plugins that work with all the best podcast file hosting services, such as Podbean, Blubrry, BuzzSprout, Libsyn, and more.

You can use these plugins to add a podcast audio player to your site, but also manage podcast episodes, automatically upload episodes to iTunes, easily share affiliate links, track podcast downloads, and more.

With that said, let’s take a look at our best WordPress podcasting plugins.

1. PowerPress

PowerPress is a powerful WordPress podcasting plugin that helps you manage all your podcast files in WordPress. When we tested this tool ourselves, we found that it was an excellent all-around option for beginners looking for standard podcasting features.

During our research, we noticed that it creates iTunes and Google Play-supported RSS feeds for your podcast. It also comes with an easy interface where you can add all the information required to submit your podcast to iTunes.

Adding podcast episodes to your WordPress site is easy with a beautiful HTML5 player. PowerPress also includes integrated subscription tools to boost your podcast subscribers.

It even comes with helpful community support from thousands of podcasters who already use it. Best of all, it works with the best podcast hosting services, including Blubrry.

Pros:

• It allows you to embed video and audio players on your WordPress site.
• You can easily publish to all podcasting apps like Apple, Google, Spotify, and Amazon.
• You can create a subscribe button or page on your Website.

Cons:

• The main drawback is that PowerPress doesn’t offer many marketing tools.

Why We Recommend Using PowerPress: We recommend PowerPress as our top choice because it lets you easily upload and publish podcasts. On top of that, it allows you to quickly create blog posts by transcribing audio into text. To put it simply, you get all the tools you need to easily convert website visitors into podcast subscribers.

2. Fusebox (aka Smart Podcast Player)

Fusebox is home to the Smart Podcast Player, one of the best podcast player plugins on the market. During our research, we found that it automatically displays your podcast episodes with a beautiful mobile-friendly player.

Unlike other podcast player plugins, it offers a better user experience with a well-designed HTML5 player. You can add a mega player that loops through all episodes or a single-episode player.

When testing, we liked the fact that you can choose your own colors with a light or dark theme. The plugin also has built-in social sharing features, a download button, speed control, timestamps, and more.

One standout feature is that you also get access to the Fusebox Transcript plugin. It allows you to beautifully display podcast notes and transcripts for each episode.

Users can open a transcript in a new tab, download it as a PDF, and, most importantly, get an SEO boost for your episode pages.

Pros:

• You automatically get episode transcripts, so you can turn them into blog posts.
• The plugin embeds podcasts, so users can enjoy the episodes right from your site.
• They offer analytics so you see which episodes receive the most downloads and which ones rank the highest.

Cons:

• One downside is that Fusebox requires a paid subscription starting at $9 per month and doesn’t have a free version.

Why We Recommend Using Fusebox: Fusebox provides a wide range of tools designed to support professional podcasting. You get to easily publish your podcasts, turn them into transcripts, and analyze how they performed all in one place. Our favorite things about the plugin were its customizable audio player and its bonus transcription tool.

3. Simple Podcast Press

Simple Podcast Press makes managing your podcast website super straightforward and allows you to easily add a beautiful podcast player. We also loved that it offers added email marketing features.

During setup, we found that all you have to do is add your podcast’s iTunes URL, and it automatically creates a page for each episode. It also fetches the metadata, images, and notes and adds them to each page with the player displayed on top.

Another great thing about the plugin is that it offers customizable buttons, clickable timestamps, social sharing buttons, a URL shortener, and more. Plus, it works with any podcasting service and helps you grow your email list with email opt-ins, call-to-action buttons, and more.

Pros:

• It allows you to embed an email opt-in to grow your list.
• You can customize your call-to-action buttons and gain subscribers.
• The podcast player has clickable timestamps and updated playlists.

Cons:

• It’s a paid tool that starts at a one-time fee of $67.

Why We Recommend Using Simple Podcast Press: This is a great plugin for podcasters because it aims to improve the user experience. It lets you easily upload your podcasts to your WordPress site. In our opinion, this plugin stands out for its added email marketing features.

4. Seriously Simple Podcasting

If you are a beginner without money to invest, then you may be hoping to start your podcast without purchasing dedicated podcast hosting or a media player. We found that the Seriously Simple Podcasting player can help you do that.

When we tried out this tool, we learned that it allows you to easily manage and upload your podcast episodes directly to your WordPress site. It generates your podcast feed, which is compatible with iTunes, Google Play, and many other services.

The plugin also comes with shortcodes and widgets to display podcast episodes easily throughout your website. It’s also important to note that this plugin was built by the Castos team, so it’s also ideal if you want to get podcast hosting from this provider.

Pros:

• The plugin is free.
• It’s very easy to use.
• It integrates seamlessly with all podcast hosts but was built specifically for Castos.
• The plugin creates your RSS feed to upload to all podcast directories.

Cons:

• It charges a pay-as-you model for getting transcriptions.

Why We Recommend Using Seriously Simple Podcasting: If you are just starting out with podcasting, then you can leverage your existing site visitors to grow your podcast with this plugin. It even supports video files, so you can publish the episodes to YouTube or any podcast directory.

5. Smash Balloon YouTube Feed

Smash Balloon YouTube Feed allows you to beautifully display YouTube videos on your WordPress website. In our opinion, it is the perfect companion plugin for podcasters who upload their video podcasts to YouTube.

At WPBeginner, we use this plugin ourselves and have researched it extensively for our complete Smash Balloon review. We like that this plugin is super easy to use and requires no coding skills.

It also supports live streams in addition to a standard YouTube feed. This allows podcasters to live stream each episode via YouTube and simultaneously broadcast it on their WordPress website.

Another thing we love about this plugin is that it supports multiple styles and layouts. You can choose from the masonry grid, list, or carousel to display your latest video podcast episodes.

Pros:

• This plugin is great for displaying YouTube podcast episodes on your website.
• It also can display live streams.
• The plugin is easy to use and requires no technical knowledge.
• It supports multiple styles and layouts for the feed.

Cons:

• It’s only designed for YouTube.
• There is a free version but it doesn’t come with all the features.

Why We Recommend Using Smash Balloon YouTube Feed: We included this plugin on the list because YouTube is a popular social media platform for uploading podcasts. In our opinion, tapping into an audience who prefers a visual podcast is a smart idea. With Smash Balloon YouTube Feed, you can automatically upload your episode playlists from YouTube onto your website.

6. Podlove Podcast Publisher

Podlove Podcast Publisher is created by Podlove, an online community of users who want to improve podcasting standards. We’re a big fan of it because it aims to offer cutting-edge solutions for podcasting issues that were not fixed by other available platforms.

Overall, Podlove Podcast Publisher makes it easier for you to manage your podcast from your WordPress site. It offers highly compatible podcast feeds and gives you fine-grain control over them.

We liked that it supports multi-format feeds, different audio and video codecs, an enhanced HTML5 player, chapter support, download stats, and customizable templates.

The best part is that you will be part of an active community. They have their own forums where you can ask questions and get help from developers and other users.

Pros:

• Podlove Podcast Publisher allows for multi-format pushing, embracing all legacy and modern formats.
• The plugin allows you to create a subscribe button and podcast widget to drive more listeners.
• You also receive download analytics.

Cons:

• One downside is that the plugin isn’t as intuitive as the others mentioned above.

Why We Recommend Using Podlove Podcast Publisher: This plugin is useful for creating an optimized web player that is compatible with legacy audio formats like MP4, H.264, WebM, Theora, etc. That means it can be a great option if you have an older podcast archive that you are finally moving to a website.

7. Sermon Manager

Sermon Manager is the best WordPress sermon management plugin for WordPress. We haven’t used this tool on our own website, but we’ve tested it extensively for this review.

During our research, it became clear that this plugin was made specifically for churches offering online sermons via their podcasts. It has all the features a religious organization will need.

Our testing revealed that it has full-featured iTunes podcasting support with additional features like speakers, series, topics, books, and service types.

It works with any podcast hosting service, and you can use it with your WordPress donations plugin to raise funds.

For detailed instructions, see our tutorial on how churches can offer online sermons with WordPress.

Pros:

• Sermon Manager allows you to embed videos from YouTube or Vimeo.
• It offers live chat support when you upgrade to the paid version.
• The plugin is compatible with PowerPress if you do plan on migrating.

Cons:

• Many of the best features are only available in the paid plans.
• This is only an appropriate plugin for religious organizations.

Why We Recommend Using Sermon Manager: Sermon Manager is the best option if you are looking to share speeches, sermons, bible studies, and other related topics online. This plugin makes it easy to upload all of your audio and video files and can be integrated with your website search bar.

8. Podcast Importer Pro

Podcast Importer Pro is a handy helper tool for podcasters who want to import their podcast into a new WordPress website. We can vouch for this plugin because we thoroughly researched it when writing our full Podcast Importer review.

The nice thing about it is that all you need is your existing podcast feed URL. The plugin works with all podcast hosting services and all podcasting tools, including PowerPress, and can even import podcasts from iTunes feed URLs.

You can select ‘Podcast’ as your post type during the import if you are already using a plugin like PowerPress. You can also import episodes as blog posts and categorize them as podcasts.

The plugin is made by SecondLine Themes, a WordPress theme shop specializing in WordPress themes for podcasts.

Pros:

• Sync episodes with a click.
• Podcast Importer Pro allows you to import podcasts into your site automatically.
• You can create default or custom-featured images and tags.

Cons:

• The only downside is that there is no free version. The plan costs $24 to get started.

Why We Recommend Using Podcast Importer Pro: We like this plugin because you can automatically import podcasts into your WordPress site with ease. You can set an automatic scheduled upload and resync episodes with a single click. On top of that, you can customize tags and featured images, assign a custom taxonomy, and more.

Bonus Plugins for Podcasters

Next up, let’s take a look at some plugins that aren’t specific to podcasting, but that can be incredibly valuable to growing your show and getting more listeners.

9. MonsterInsights

Want to know how people are discovering your podcast website? MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress users.

We know this first-hand because we use the plugin on the WPBeginner site. We’ve also covered it in-depth in our MonsterInsights review.

The great thing about MonsterInsights is that it helps you find out where your users are coming from, what they do, and how much time they are spending on your site. It also comes with a link-tracking feature that can help you find out which episodes are downloaded the most.

Plus, it comes with an add-on for Google Optimize, which is a tool to help you conduct content experiments like A/B testing. This way, you can figure out what works best for your website.

Pros:

• It brings Google Analytics into your WordPress dashboard.
• You can create unique links for each podcast episode.
• You can analyze how much traffic you are driving to your podcast pages and whether it’s converting to subscribers.

Cons:

• Some podcast plugins may already have reporting features.

Why We Recommend Using MonsterInsights: If you have a WordPress site, you can’t go wrong with MonsterInsights. It lets you easily set up conversion tracking to see how many visitors subscribe to your podcast.

Alternative: OnePageGA is another great analytics solution that transforms your complicated Google Analytics data into easy-to-understand reports.

10. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is the best conversion optimization software on the market, allowing you to convert visitors to your podcast website into subscribers and customers. At WPBeginner, we use it to get more email subscribers, and we love it.

We have also explored all the plugin’s features extensively in our OptinMonster review.

It comes with lightbox popups, floating banners, slide-in popups, countdown timers, and more. You can connect it to your email marketing service to grow your email list and social media following.

In our experience, OptinMonster can help you easily notify people about your podcast, especially using the exit-intent feature. When visitors are about to leave your site, make sure to tell them about your podcast.

Pros:

• OptinMonster lets you use pop-ups to grow your podcast.
• The plugin is easy to use.
• It helps to boost conversion rates.

Cons:

• It may not be useful if you already have other pop-ups on your site, so you don’t want to overload visitors.

Why We Recommend Using OptinMonster: With OptinMonster, there are many ways to grow your audience. Besides the exit-intent technology, you can also create targeted campaigns for different segments of your audience. For example, you can display specific opt-in forms to first-time visitors, returning visitors, or visitors who have visited particular podcast episode pages.

11. WPForms

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form builder plugin, allowing you to create beautiful forms for your podcast website without writing any code.

We’re big fans, and we use it for all our contact form needs. For more details, check out our full WPForms review.

In addition to creating contact forms, we found that you can also use WPForms to build survey forms, accept payments, add email subscription forms, and more.

In our opinion, its ease of use and powerful features make it a must-have for any podcaster’s toolkit. There’s also a free version of WPForms available.

Pros:

• There are pre-built templates for just about anything, such as creating contact forms, feedback or survey forms, guest booking forms, and more.
• WPForms is optimized for speed and performance.
• The plugin integrates the most popular payment gateways, CRM apps, and other third-party tools.

Cons:

• While WPForms has a free version, the best features and add-ons are paid.

Why We Recommend Using WPForms: You can use WPForms to help collect valuable feedback, get new guests, ask questions, or find other ways to engage your podcast fanbase.

12. SeedProd

SeedProd is the best drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress. In our opinion, if you are looking to grow your podcast audience and boost your subscriber count, then SeedProd is a must.

In fact, we have used SeedProd ourselves to create a custom login page, and some of our partner brands used it to create their entire websites. For more information, check out our complete SeedProd review.

When it comes to podcasting, you can use SeedProd to create landing pages to promote your episodes and encourage visitors to subscribe. Basically, the landing page will tell people about your show and is specifically designed to convert passing-by website visitors into listeners and leads.

The plugin comes with all kinds of advanced features. In the drag-and-drop editor, you can easily add a subscribe button, countdown timers, social proof, a newsletter form, and more.

One thing we really liked is that you can connect your page to an email marketing service like Constant Contact. It even seamlessly works with just about any WordPress theme, so you won’t face loading speed problems or compatibility issues.

Pros:

• The drag-and-drop editor makes SeedProd extremely easy to use.
• You can build just about any type of web page you want without writing a single line of code.
• It comes with an AI assistant to automatically generate engaging text and original images for your web pages.

Cons:

• You need access to the pro version if you want the best features.

Why We Recommend Using SeedProd: If you are looking to get more listeners to tune into your podcast, then SeedProd can help. You can build all types of custom pages for your podcast site, like landing pages, thank you pages, and more.

13. Pretty Links

Pretty Links is the best WordPress URL shortener plugin, and it can be super helpful if you want to monetize your podcast website using affiliate marketing. We have extensive experience with this tool and have written about it in our Pretty Links review.

To put it simply, this plugin allows you to create branded, shortened affiliate URLs and easily share them wherever you’d like.

We believe that shortening your affiliate links is crucial if you are going to be reading them out loud in your podcast episodes. That way, listeners can remember them more easily.

However, you can also share these shortened links in your podcast transcripts and descriptions to maximize your affiliate conversions.

The great thing about Pretty Links is that it lets you manage all your affiliate links from one dashboard. You can also use these shareable URLs in your email campaigns, social media posts, and on your website.

Pros:

• The plugin lets you create shortened, branded links.
• All links are trackable, so you can see their performance.
• You can even set up redirect options.

Cons:

• It might not be as important if you have a small podcast and don’t have sponsors yet.

Why We Recommend Using Pretty Links: Tracking affiliate revenue can be difficult, especially if you have multiple sponsors. This plugin will help track and provide analytics for the performance of your links, such as click-through rates, conversions, and other metrics. That way, you know which links and offers resonate most with your audience.

14. All in One SEO (AIOSEO)

AIOSEO is a leading WordPress SEO plugin, and you can use it to improve your podcast website’s ranking and grow your listener base. We use it on the WPBeginner site every day, and we couldn’t recommend it more.

For additional details, please see our full AIOSEO review.

AIOSEO can help optimize your podcast website for search engines by allowing you to easily customize meta titles, meta descriptions, and other important SEO elements for your podcast episodes, pages, and posts.

This can help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results, making it easier for potential listeners to discover your podcast. Aside from all the essential on-page SEO tools, it also comes with a video sitemap and other helpful tools for podcasters to rank higher in search.

Plus, we love that you can monitor the results of your SEO optimization efforts with the built-in search statistics dashboard and keyword rank tracker.

Pros:

• All in One SEO helps you optimize your podcast site for more visitors.
• You can create schema markup for podcasts to provide search engines with structured data like titles, descriptions, and so on.
• It generates XML sitemaps so search engines can crawl and index your podcast content.

Cons:

• There’s a learning curve if you are new to the world of SEO.

Why We Recommend Using All in One SEO: AIOSEO can help you handle all things SEO without knowing all the ins and outs of search engine optimization. While there’s still a learning curve, many of the features are plug-and-play.

What Is the Best Podcast Plugin for WordPress?

After testing all the most popular options on the market, we think PowerPress is the best podcasting plugin. It’s ideal for beginners and gives you all the essentials for embedding podcast episodes and managing RSS feeds.

Plus, it comes with some useful tools to grow your subscribers and gives you a beautiful HTML5 audio player.

Meanwhile, if all you want to do is import episodes to your website, Podcast Importer Pro is your best bet.

If you plan on creating videos for your podcast, we highly recommend Smash Balloon YouTube Feed. It can be a great podcast plugin that helps you reach a more visual audience.

To take a more proactive approach to growing your show, you can try conversion optimization tools like OptinMonster and WPForms. You can also build custom landing pages using SeedProd.

Then, you can use AIOSEO to optimize your podcast website for search engines and launch an affiliate marketing campaign with the help of Pretty Links. You can even use MonsterInsights to leverage the power of Google Analytics to find what’s working (and what isn’t) on your podcast site.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Podcast Plugins

Now, let’s go over some of the most frequently asked questions about podcasting plugins for WordPress:

Is WordPress good for a podcast website?

Yes, WordPress is an excellent option if you want to launch a website alongside your podcast. It is a beginner-friendly website builder with lots of customization options.

That said, if you don’t want to spend too much time customizing your site, you can choose a WordPress theme that’s pre-built specifically for a podcasting site.

Plus, WordPress also allows you to extend your site with podcast plugins like PowerPress, Podcast Importer Pro, Smash Balloon YouTube Feed, and more.

What is the best WordPress theme for a podcast?

In our opinion, the best WordPress themes for podcasts come from the SecondLine Themes team. We particularly like Tusant, Gumbo, and Dixie.

That said, you may want to check out our full list of the best WordPress themes for podcasters. Or, if you’re looking for advanced customization potential, you might consider using SeedProd.

We hope this article helped you find the best WordPress plugins for podcasters. You may also want to see our list of the best podcast hosting providers and our guide on podcasting statistics you need to know.

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