---
title: "Podcast hosting platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?"
description: "Compare hosts for publishing, distributing, and measuring podcasts. Share of Search among Buzzsprout, Podbean, Transistor, Captivate and RedCircle, the podcast hosting platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time."
canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/podcast-hosting-platforms"
publisher: "Brandwave"
---

# Podcast hosting platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?

Compare hosts for publishing, distributing, and measuring podcasts. Share of Search among Buzzsprout, Podbean, Transistor, Captivate and RedCircle, the podcast hosting platforms Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time.

## Key facts

- **Competitive set**: Podcast hosting platforms
- **Market**: Global
- **Brands compared**: 5
- **Month measured**: Aug 2026
- **Highest Share of Search**: Buzzsprout, 49.7%

## Which brand is most popular in search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide?

- In August 2026, Buzzsprout was the most searched among podcast hosting platforms worldwide, with an estimated 37.5K branded searches and 49.7% estimated Share of Search within this set.
- Podbean is in 2nd place, 5.3 percentage points behind at 44.4% Share of Search.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Podbean’s estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide decreased from 45.9% to 44.4%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Transistor’s estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide increased from 1.5% to 3.1%.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Buzzsprout’s estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide peaked at 54.7% in January 2026 and was lowest at 45.8% in November 2025.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Podbean’s estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide peaked at 50.1% in November 2025 and was lowest at 40.3% in June 2026.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Captivate rose from 5th to 4th among podcast hosting platforms worldwide.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, RedCircle fell from 4th to 5th among podcast hosting platforms worldwide.
- Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Buzzsprout held steady: its estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide moved less than 0.5 percentage points.

## Compare search popularity between leading brands

- [Buzzsprout vs Podbean: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/buzzsprout-vs-podbean): 49.7% against 44.4% Share of Search.
- [Buzzsprout vs Transistor: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/buzzsprout-vs-transistor): 49.7% against 3.1% Share of Search.
- [Podbean vs Transistor: compare search popularity](/demand/global-en/compare/podbean-vs-transistor): 44.4% against 3.1% Share of Search.

## How did search popularity change for podcast hosting platforms worldwide in August 2026?

- In August 2026, Buzzsprout lost estimated Share of Search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide, from 50.4% to 49.7%.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Transistor worldwide rose 37.3% over 11 measured months, from 1.7K to 2.3K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Podbean worldwide fell 33.5% over 11 measured months, from 50.4K to 33.5K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for RedCircle worldwide fell 27.2% over 11 measured months, from 1.5K to 1.1K in August 2026.
- Estimated monthly branded searches for Captivate worldwide fell 13.5% over 11 measured months, from 1.3K to 1.1K in August 2026.

## Share of Search ranking

| Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Buzzsprout | 49.7% | 37.5K | -2.6% | Buzzsprout |
| 2 | Podbean | 44.4% | 33.5K | 0.0% | Podbean |
| 3 | Transistor | 3.1% | 2.3K | 0.0% | Transistor |
| 4 | Captivate | 1.4% | 1.1K | 0.0% | Captivate |
| 5 | RedCircle | 1.4% | 1.1K | +16.3% | RedCircle |

## Historical estimated branded-search demand

| Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Oct 2025 | Buzzsprout | 54.9K | 50% | 1 |
| Oct 2025 | Podbean | 50.4K | 45.9% | 2 |
| Oct 2025 | Transistor | 1.7K | 1.5% | 3 |
| Oct 2025 | RedCircle | 1.5K | 1.3% | 4 |
| Oct 2025 | Captivate | 1.3K | 1.1% | 5 |
| Nov 2025 | Podbean | 50.2K | 50.1% | 1 |
| Nov 2025 | Buzzsprout | 45.9K | 45.8% | 2 |
| Nov 2025 | Transistor | 1.7K | 1.7% | 3 |
| Nov 2025 | Captivate | 1.3K | 1.3% | 4 |
| Nov 2025 | RedCircle | 1.1K | 1.1% | 5 |
| Dec 2025 | Buzzsprout | 45.9K | 50.4% | 1 |
| Dec 2025 | Podbean | 41.4K | 45.4% | 2 |
| Dec 2025 | Transistor | 1.6K | 1.8% | 3 |
| Dec 2025 | Captivate | 1.2K | 1.3% | 4 |
| Dec 2025 | RedCircle | 970 | 1.1% | 5 |
| Jan 2026 | Buzzsprout | 56.1K | 54.7% | 1 |
| Jan 2026 | Podbean | 41.4K | 40.3% | 2 |
| Jan 2026 | Transistor | 2K | 1.9% | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | Captivate | 1.7K | 1.6% | 4 |
| Jan 2026 | RedCircle | 1.4K | 1.4% | 5 |
| Feb 2026 | Buzzsprout | 45.9K | 50% | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | Podbean | 41.5K | 45.2% | 2 |
| Feb 2026 | Transistor | 1.8K | 1.9% | 3 |
| Feb 2026 | Captivate | 1.6K | 1.7% | 4 |
| Feb 2026 | RedCircle | 1.1K | 1.2% | 5 |
| Mar 2026 | Buzzsprout | 56.1K | 50.2% | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | Podbean | 50.5K | 45.2% | 2 |
| Mar 2026 | Transistor | 2.1K | 1.9% | 3 |
| Mar 2026 | Captivate | 1.7K | 1.5% | 4 |
| Mar 2026 | RedCircle | 1.4K | 1.3% | 5 |
| Apr 2026 | Buzzsprout | 44.9K | 49.2% | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | Podbean | 41.5K | 45.5% | 2 |
| Apr 2026 | Transistor | 2.1K | 2.3% | 3 |
| Apr 2026 | RedCircle | 1.4K | 1.5% | 4 |
| Apr 2026 | Captivate | 1.4K | 1.5% | 5 |
| May 2026 | Buzzsprout | 43.4K | 48.5% | 1 |
| May 2026 | Podbean | 41.4K | 46.2% | 2 |
| May 2026 | Transistor | 2.3K | 2.6% | 3 |
| May 2026 | Captivate | 1.4K | 1.6% | 4 |
| May 2026 | RedCircle | 1.1K | 1.2% | 5 |
| Jun 2026 | Buzzsprout | 44.9K | 54.2% | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | Podbean | 33.4K | 40.3% | 2 |
| Jun 2026 | Transistor | 2.5K | 3% | 3 |
| Jun 2026 | Captivate | 1.1K | 1.4% | 4 |
| Jun 2026 | RedCircle | 950 | 1.1% | 5 |
| Jul 2026 | Buzzsprout | 38.5K | 50.4% | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | Podbean | 33.5K | 43.9% | 2 |
| Jul 2026 | Transistor | 2.3K | 3% | 3 |
| Jul 2026 | Captivate | 1.1K | 1.4% | 4 |
| Jul 2026 | RedCircle | 920 | 1.2% | 5 |
| Aug 2026 | Buzzsprout | 37.5K | 49.7% | 1 |
| Aug 2026 | Podbean | 33.5K | 44.4% | 2 |
| Aug 2026 | Transistor | 2.3K | 3.1% | 3 |
| Aug 2026 | Captivate | 1.1K | 1.4% | 4 |
| Aug 2026 | RedCircle | 1.1K | 1.4% | 5 |
| Sep 2026 | Buzzsprout | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Captivate | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Podbean | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | RedCircle | — | — | — |
| Sep 2026 | Transistor | — | — | — |

## What is being compared

- **Buzzsprout**: Measured on the search terms “buzzsprout” and “buzzsprout podcast hosting”, summed into one figure.
- **Captivate**: Measured on the search terms “captivate podcast” and “captivate podcast hosting”, summed into one figure.
- **Podbean**: Measured on the search terms “podbean” and “podbean podcast hosting”, summed into one figure.
- **RedCircle**: Measured on the search terms “redcircle podcast” and “redcircle podcast hosting”, summed into one figure.
- **Transistor**: Measured on the search terms “transistor podcast” and “transistor podcast hosting”, summed into one figure.

- [Buzzsprout](/demand/global-en/brands/buzzsprout)
- [Captivate](/demand/global-en/brands/captivate)
- [Podbean](/demand/global-en/brands/podbean)
- [RedCircle](/demand/global-en/brands/redcircle)
- [Transistor](/demand/global-en/brands/transistor)

## Methodology

- [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which brand is most popular in search among podcast hosting platforms worldwide?

In August 2026, Buzzsprout was the most searched among podcast hosting platforms worldwide, with an estimated 37.5K branded searches and 49.7% estimated Share of Search within this set. Worldwide · English terms: these are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms.

## Cite this page

Brandwave. "Podcast hosting platforms: Which brands are most popular in search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/podcast-hosting-platforms

This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/podcast-hosting-platforms. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.