Is Captivate or SamCart better?

Neither clearly leads. Captivate starts at Free and SamCart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Captivate or SamCart?

Captivate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Captivate and On request for SamCart.

Does Captivate or SamCart run on more platforms?

Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

Can I use Captivate for free?

Yes. Captivate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at On request.

What is Captivate best used for?

Captivate is most often used for podcast hosting with unlimited shows on any tier, distribution to the major podcast directories, audience analytics by episode and platform, running several podcasts under one subscription. Of those, podcast hosting with unlimited shows on any tier and distribution to the major podcast directories are not what SamCart is typically brought in for.

What can Captivate do that SamCart cannot?

Captivate covers Unlimited hosting, AI analytics, Smart recommendations, Distribution.

Podcast & Audio Publishing · head to head

Captivate vs SamCart

Captivate

Podcast & Audio Publishing

Smart podcast hosting with AI insights

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

SamCart

E-commerce

The number one checkout platform

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Captivate has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Captivate tiers are download ceilings and nothing else: 30,000 a month on Personal, 150,000 on Professional and 300,000 on Business; SamCart plans start at $79 per month, and features like subscription saver and A/B testing are reserved for the higher $199 per month Scale tier

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Captivate and SamCart actually diverge.

Attributes where Captivate and SamCart differ
Attribute	Captivate	SamCart
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	freemium	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Category	Podcast & Audio Publishing	E-commerce
Founded	2016	Unknown

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Captivate

Unlimited hosting
AI analytics
Smart recommendations
Distribution
Monetization
Audience insights
All podcast platforms
Social media

Only in SamCart

Nothing recorded that Captivate does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Captivate

Podcast hosting with unlimited shows on any tiernot SamCart
Distribution to the major podcast directoriesnot SamCart
Audience analytics by episode and platformnot SamCart
Running several podcasts under one subscriptionnot SamCart

SamCart

No use cases recorded yet. See the SamCart review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Captivate

Tiers are download ceilings and nothing else: 30,000 a month on Personal, 150,000 on Professional and 300,000 on Business
A show that exceeds its allowance for two consecutive months is expected to move up a tier
Above 300,000 downloads a month the plan is quote-only
Prices are quoted in euros at the yearly rate

SamCart

Plans start at $79 per month, and features like subscription saver and A/B testing are reserved for the higher $199 per month Scale tier

Pricing, plan by plan

Captivate

Free

FreeFree
- 3 hours storage
- Basic hosting
- Limited analytics
Professional$19/month
- Unlimited hosting
- AI analytics
- Full distribution

SamCart

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the SamCart review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Captivate if

You need unlimited hosting.
You want to start without paying.
You also want ai analytics.

Captivate review

Choose SamCart if

Nothing in the data separates SamCart from Captivate on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

SamCart review

Questions people ask

Is Captivate or SamCart better?: Neither clearly leads. Captivate starts at Free and SamCart at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Captivate or SamCart?: Captivate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Captivate and On request for SamCart.
Does Captivate or SamCart run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Captivate for free?: Yes. Captivate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SamCart starts at On request.
What is Captivate best used for?: Captivate is most often used for podcast hosting with unlimited shows on any tier, distribution to the major podcast directories, audience analytics by episode and platform, running several podcasts under one subscription. Of those, podcast hosting with unlimited shows on any tier and distribution to the major podcast directories are not what SamCart is typically brought in for.
What can Captivate do that SamCart cannot?: Captivate covers Unlimited hosting, AI analytics, Smart recommendations, Distribution.

Captivate vs SamCart

Captivate

SamCart

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Captivate

Only in SamCart

What people use each for

Captivate

SamCart

Where each one falls short

Captivate

SamCart

Pricing, plan by plan

Captivate

SamCart

Which should you pick?

Choose Captivate if

Choose SamCart if

Questions people ask

Related pages

More on Captivate

More on SamCart

Keep looking

Other head to heads