Captivate vs Firstory

Captivate is a web-based podcast hosting service for publishing shows and managing their distribution. It provides an RSS feed and sends podcasts to major directories. Advanced analytics give publishers detailed audience information, while monetization tools support revenue activity. The service also includes private podcasts and video podcast support. Captivate offers three listed plans. Personal costs $204.00 per year, billed annually at $17.00 per month, with 30,000 downloads per month, unlimited podcasts and unlimited uploads and storage. Professional costs $44.00 per year when paid yearly and allows 150,000 downloads per month, unlimited podcasts and unlimited uploads and storage. Business costs $90.00 per year when paid yearly and allows 300,000 downloads per month, with the same unlimited podcast and storage terms and a 300,000-download monthly limit. There is no free plan, but a 30-day trial is offered. Captivate was founded in 2013 and its maker is headquartered at 30 Leicester Square, London, UK WC2H 7LA.

Firstory is a podcast hosting platform for creators who want to publish, distribute, promote, and monetize shows. Uploading audio and video together in one go lets creators publish both formats, then distribute to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, KKBOX, and more than 10 platforms. Distribution is one-click for Spotify, KKBOX, and Pocket Casts; several other directories require manual distribution. AI Studio can create transcripts, summaries, highlights, newsletter drafts, questions and answers, keywords, and topic tags after upload. Analytics cover plays, audience profiles, and episode performance, combining RSS data with official Spotify data. Daily Spotify charts and listener and follower metrics are limited to Pro and higher. Promotion tools include FLink, a link for listening platforms and social profiles, an automatically built show website, and an embeddable player. Monetization options include dynamic ads, donations, recurring subscriptions, and cross-platform memberships. The free plan allows one show and one AI content extraction episode per month. Paid plans start at $7/mo, with a 14-day trial; annual billing saves 22%.