Firstory vs HarborFM
Firstory
firstory.meHarborFM
harborfm.comSide by side
| Figure | Firstory | HarborFM |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $7/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 0 |
| Spec score · Podcast hosting platforms | 9.2 (#3) | 7.5 (#45) |
| Directory distribution | major directories | selected directories |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The comparison page lists Apple Podcast subscriptions, Discord, Zapier auto-email, and corporate bank payout. | Podcast delivery supports S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, IPFS, and SMB. |
| Monetization tools | Yes | Yes |
| Private podcasts | Yes | Yes |
| Publishing | Creators can upload once and publish to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, KKBOX, and more than 10 platforms. | Each show can have an RSS feed with iTunes and Podcast 2.0 tags, and episodes can be scheduled for future publication. |
| RSS feed | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Firstory says all users receive a reply within two business days and paid users within one business day. | The site links to documentation, a live demo, and YouTube tutorials; it also describes a built-in contact form that can store messages and optionally email admins. |
Plans
Firstory
- Firstory FreeFree
- Firstory Lite$7 a month
- Firstory Pro$15 a month
- Firstory Enterprise$159 a month
In their own words
Firstory
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%.