Firstory vs Supporting Cast

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%.

Supporting Cast provides a platform for selling and delivering podcast subscriptions, audiobooks, newsletters, and other members-only benefits. Subscribers can listen to premium material in existing apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify without installing another app or copying a private RSS feed. Creators can offer single-show or multi-show bundles, monthly or annual billing, multiple tiers, pay-what-you-want pricing, and one-time payments. Exclusive video can be delivered through Spotify, a Supporting Cast subscription site, an embedded player, or private RSS; creators can also publish free or paid newsletters and blogs. The product supports private and video podcasts, RSS feeds, selected directory distribution, and advanced analytics. Integrations listed include Stripe, Mailchimp, Spotify, WordPress, Zapier, and WooCommerce. Reporting covers subscription growth, revenue, engagement, and individual downloads, with CSV export and data-pipeline queries. Pricing for podcast subscriptions is on request. Internal Podcast Starter costs $99 a month for up to 500 listeners; Enterprise pricing is by contact. Platforms include Android, iOS, web, and API.