Is Acast or Fireside better?

Neither clearly leads. Acast starts at Free and Fireside at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Acast or Fireside?

Acast has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Acast and $20/month for Fireside.

Does Acast or Fireside run on more platforms?

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

Can I use Acast for free?

Yes. Acast has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fireside starts at $20/month.

What is Acast best used for?

Acast is most often used for podcast distribution and monetization, ad network management, listener analytics tracking, multi-platform publishing. Of those, podcast distribution and monetization and ad network management are not what Fireside is typically brought in for.

What can Acast do that Fireside cannot?

Acast covers Enterprise hosting, Dynamic ad insertion, Sponsorship platform, API access. Fireside covers Unlimited hosting, Community features, Distribution, Listener engagement. Both handle Analytics, Monetization, All podcast platforms, Web support.

Podcasting · head to head

Acast vs Fireside

Acast

Podcasting

Enterprise podcast hosting and advertising

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Fireside

Podcasting

Podcast hosting with community features

From: $20/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Acast has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Acast the free Starter tier is limited to 1 show and 5 episodes; unlimited episodes require making the show available in Acast's advertising marketplace; Fireside starter plan at $9 per month allows one podcast and 5 episodes per month
They diverge on capability: Acast covers Enterprise hosting, Fireside covers Unlimited hosting.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Acast and Fireside actually diverge.

Attributes where Acast and Fireside differ
Attribute	Acast	Fireside
Starting price	Free	$20/month
Pricing model	freemium	subscription
Free tier	Yes	No
Founded	2014	2018

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

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 Acast

Enterprise hosting
Dynamic ad insertion
Sponsorship platform
API access
Advertising networks
CMS systems
Enterprise security
SOC 2 compliant

Only in Fireside

Unlimited hosting
Community features
Distribution
Listener engagement
Email services
Social media
Content protection
Privacy controls

Both cover

Analytics
Monetization
All podcast platforms
Web support

What people use each for

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

Acast

Podcast distribution and monetizationnot Fireside
Ad network managementnot Fireside
Listener analytics trackingnot Fireside
Multi-platform publishingnot Fireside

Fireside

Hosting a podcast together with a customisable podcast websitenot Acast
Running several shows as a podcast network from one accountnot Acast
Tracking episode download metrics and link clicksnot Acast

Where each one falls short

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

Acast

The free Starter tier is limited to 1 show and 5 episodes; unlimited episodes require making the show available in Acast's advertising marketplace
Multiple shows require the paid Influencer plan at $14.99 per month billed annually or $25 per month billed monthly
Team management, prioritised support and the Publishing API require the Pro plan at $29.99 per month billed annually or $40 per month monthly
Publishing video episodes to Apple Podcasts requires the Video plan at $39.99 per month billed annually or $50 per month monthly
The Video plan includes only 10,000 monthly video views
A payment card is required to sign up even for the free tier
The Creator Network tier is quote only with no published price

Fireside

Starter plan at $9 per month allows one podcast and 5 episodes per month
Custom domain with SSL requires the $19 per month Standard plan; Starter sites sit on a Fireside subdomain
Additional podcasts beyond the one included on Standard cost $8 per month each
Bandwidth is capped at 1TB per month on Standard and 5TB per month on Professional
Advanced download metrics and click tracking require the $49 per month Professional plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Acast

Free

StarterFree
- 1 show
- 5 episodes (unlimited with monetization)
- Basic podcast website
Essential$25/month
- Unlimited shows
- Unlimited episodes
- All Starter features
Pro$40/month
- Unlimited shows
- Unlimited episodes
- All Essential features
Video$50/month
- Unlimited shows
- Unlimited episodes
- All Pro features

Fireside

$20/month

Creator$20/month
- Unlimited hosting
- Community features
- Distribution
Network$50/month
- Multiple shows
- Team management
- Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Acast if

You need enterprise hosting.
You want to start without paying.
You also want dynamic ad insertion.

Acast review

Choose Fireside if

You need unlimited hosting.
You also want community features.

Fireside review

Questions people ask

Is Acast or Fireside better?: Neither clearly leads. Acast starts at Free and Fireside at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Acast or Fireside?: Acast has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Acast and $20/month for Fireside.
Does Acast or Fireside run on more platforms?: Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Acast for free?: Yes. Acast has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fireside starts at $20/month.
What is Acast best used for?: Acast is most often used for podcast distribution and monetization, ad network management, listener analytics tracking, multi-platform publishing. Of those, podcast distribution and monetization and ad network management are not what Fireside is typically brought in for.
What can Acast do that Fireside cannot?: Acast covers Enterprise hosting, Dynamic ad insertion, Sponsorship platform, API access. Fireside covers Unlimited hosting, Community features, Distribution, Listener engagement. Both handle Analytics, Monetization, All podcast platforms, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Acast: What is the minimum cost to publish a podcast on Acast?

Acast offers a free Starter plan that allows publishing 1 show with up to 5 episodes. To unlock unlimited episodes and multiple shows, the Essential plan starts at EUR 25 per month.

Source

Acast: How does Acast's annual billing discount work?

Annual plans are discounted versus monthly billing. Essential plan costs EUR 14.99 per month when billed yearly, Pro costs EUR 29.99 monthly when annual, and Video costs EUR 39.99 monthly when annual.

Source

Acast: Which Acast plan includes team management and API access?

The Pro plan (EUR 40 per month) includes team management, prioritized support, and publishing API access. Pricing is for monthly billing.

Source

Acast vs Fireside

Acast

Fireside

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Acast

Only in Fireside

Both cover

What people use each for

Acast

Fireside

Where each one falls short

Acast

Fireside

Pricing, plan by plan

Acast

Fireside

Which should you pick?

Choose Acast if

Choose Fireside if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Acast

More on Fireside

Keep looking

Other head to heads