There are millions of Web hosts out there and even more Web hosting accounts for you to choose from. With the new podcasting movement that has been going on though, how many companies have jumped on the band waggon and started providing special podcasting Web hosting services? Not many.
There are a few though, and I’ve had some time to look at each and every one of them. Which one is the best? Which one is the worst? Why don’t we just take a look and see what they have to offer us.
Podbus.com
With Podbus, you get 300 MB of space and 10GB of monthly bandwidth for the price of four dollars a month. Not too bad right? You could get a regular Web hosting account for a cheaper price if you did a little shopping though. You get your own little corner on a shared server after signing up, with a mysite.podbus.com domain name. You can pay by month or by year, so that isn’t a problem. If you want to pay two more dollars a month, you can get to host Web pages as well. With the bare bones package, I guess they will only handle your audio files and RSS feed. A few things in the Acceptable Use Policy though caught my eye:
* No streaming
* No material which would be illegal by international or US law
* No web pages (contact us for web hosting at a slightly higher monthly cost)
* No violations of copyright law
* No spamming
No streaming? I know that it can be a strain on the server, but they are really limiting what you can do with your audio once it is on the server. Thanks to a little flash, I have my podcast streaming on my Web site for anybody to listen to while they are on the Web site. With Podbus.com, I guess you wouldn’t be able to do that.
Rizzn.net
Rizzn.net didn’t do anything that really impressed me. It is a totally free podcast Web host, so that is a good thing. However the Web site for it is really confusing and doesn’t give me many details about their services. This is from the Web site itself:
The first true podcasting service out there, Rizzn’s Podcaster is a free service that allows you to podcast with no muss, no fuss, and even does some of your production and publicity work for you. Podcasting is a technology in it’s infancy, so we decided we wanted to make easy. If your know how to use a telephone or a computer with an email client, you can now podcast!
I wish there was more to tell about this, but really the Web site leaves people who are interested in the service in the dark. Can’t say I was too impressed at all.
Liberated Syndication
Thankfully after looking at the mess that was Rizzn.net, I had the chance to see somebody doing the whole podcast hosting deal right. Liberated Syndication is one of the more popular podcast hosts out there, and it is easy to see why. They have some reasonable prices and several plans to choose from. Choice is a very good thing.
I usually say stay away from places that promise you unlimited bandwidth, but Liberated Syndication does a good job at explaining what it means for them.
One of the biggest issues facing the early pioneers of podcasting is the bandwidth usage. We have a planned architecture of distributed downloads across multiple servers where the most recent, high-demand media files are served from faster, larger pipes, and older, archived material is from reliable- yet lower speed- connections.
They go through all the features they offer and do a good job at explaining what each one is about as well.
Audio Blog
This is another place that does a great job at providing special podcast and video blogging tools to folks. They will even give you a nice flash player to display on your Web site as well. Very nice addition.
For folks that are new to either podcasting or video blogging, I would tell them to turn to Audio Blog first. The do a good job at making things as easy as possible. Right now they are having a 7-day free trial too, so if you want to try before you buy, give them a shot.
After looking through the features to see what all they offered, I am really impressed. It seems like they have the best back end set up at the lowest cost.
OurMedia.org
If you are looking for something that is totally diff rent, give OurMedia.org a shot. Now free stuff usually has me a little worried, but it seems like they are doing everything right. They allow you to host video, audio, text and images totally for free. Now how can you turn down a deal like that? With the costs of video hosting really not low enough for folks to enjoy it, this is a good place to get your feet wet with podcasting or video blogging.
I like to visit the OurMedia.org Web site just to see what other folks are putting up there. There really is something for everybody to enjoy. Once you post something, you have to fill out a lot of legal jargon which kind of gets in the way. With the free hosting model though I guess you have to do it this way.
Pod Lot
Pod Lot says that they are a cheap place to park your podcast. For five dollars a month, I have to agree that is pretty cheap. Too bad the rest of the Web site doesn’t really seem to work. Once this goes live, I can’t wait to see what they are offering, right now though there isn’t much to look at.
Blog Matrix
BlogMatrix is offering something diff rent, that’s for sure. They offer their own program that you can download and use to record your podcasts and upload them. The nice thing about the client is it also acts as a RSS reader as well.
The pricing model they use is a little confusing though.
Basic Sparks!
Sparks! 2.0, for all functions except podcast recording, is free. This includes a full fledged weblog reader, podcatcher, radio recorder and many other features.
Sparks! Podcasting
Sparks! 2.0 with podcast recording costs $10. The podcasting recording feature is built in to all copies of Sparks! on a “try and buy” basis. After 30 days this feature is disabled until the podcast recording fee is paid.
If they cleared up some of the jargon on the pricing Web page where it would make a little more sense, I’d be happier. However, I do have to say they are also somebody I’d say is worth checking out.
Final Thoughts
Well there you go, just about every specialized podcast and video blogging Web host out there today. Some have a little more to offer and some have a little less to offer. What I would really like to see is more regular Web hosts jump onto the podcasting and videocasting bandwagons. They need to start offering special plans targeted to this market. Right now “podcasting” is a big buzz word and so many Web hosts are watching this gold mind just fly to the side.