Researching your podcast production options? Do you want to see exactly how Castos and uStudio stack up? We’re giving you a straight-forward look at how Castos features compare to what uStudio offers.
Looking For A uStudio Alternative? Meet Castos.
On the surface, it appears Castos and uStudio offer similar private podcast hosting options. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice a few crucial differences in our services. If you’re on the fence about whether uStudio is the partner to help launch your private podcast, keep reading. We’ll show you how our features and costs compare to help you make a decision.
Castos vs. uStudio: A Comparison of Features
Castos is the best uStudio alternative for your private podcast hosting needs. We offer additional features, straight-forward pricing, and the ability to run both public and private podcasts from the same platform.
Here’s exactly how UStudio and Castos compare.
| Features | Castos | uStudio |
| Unlimited storage & bandwidth | Yes, across any plan | 1TB limit, includes all video uploads |
| Podcast accessibility | Employees can listen via Apple Podcasts or other major listening apps | Employees have to listen through uStudio’s app |
| WordPress & Zapier Integrations | Yes | No |
| Embeddable episodes | Embed a player anywhere you want employees to access the podcast | No, requires additional charges and setup fees |
| Comprehensive analytics | Yes, per podcast and episode | Yes |
| Audio and video file hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Private and public podcast hosting | Yes | No |
| Production services | Yes, try Castos Productions | No |
| Custom branding | Yes | Yes |
We don’t have upload or bandwidth limits for any plan so you can podcast until your heart’s content. uStudio doesn’t let you do that.
uStudio has a 1TB upload limit for their customers. The limit applies to both audio and video files uploaded to their platform. While 1TB is a lot of storage, it’s also one more thing to think about for your corporate podcast. Important videos or messages may need to be shortened or scraped all together, which goes against why you’re starting an internal podcast in the first place.
Calculate the amount of bandwidth you need using Podtopia’s Bandwidth Calculator. Grab your average episode file size in MBs, how often you publish new episodes, and estimated subscriber count to figure out your bandwidth needs.
Castos doesn’t believe in limiting your creative process so all of our plans include unlimited uploads and bandwidth, period. Upload as many hours as you want and rest easy knowing your employees will always be able to download your latest content.
You’ll have the freedom to experiment with new concepts, host multiple shows, and podcast until your heart’s content with Castos. We prefer that you get your message out there without worrying about limitations and unexpected costs.
Your employees can easily listen without downloading another app. With uStudio, everything needs to happen on their platform.
Companies start internal podcasts so their message gets heard. But asking employees to sign into another app may cause enough friction that many decide not to listen. With uStudio, their desktop and mobile app is easy to use but it’s one more hurdle for them to clear.
With Castos, we know your employees already listen to their favorite shows via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or other popular 3rd party apps. So why ask them to download a different app to tune into their company’s podcast?
Your internal podcast remains private and only accessible to those who are invited. You continue to control who has access and can delete subscribers at anytime.
We prioritize features that help you work more efficiently. Our integrations with WordPress and Zapier do just that.
Castos is the team behind the popular WordPress plugin, Seriously Simple Podcasting.
With Seriously Simple Podcasting, you can manage your podcast directly from the WordPress dashboard your team already users. With robust features and an intuitive interface, there’s a reason over 20K+ podcasters trust Seriously Simple Podcasting.
Here’s everything you can do directly from your WordPress dashboard using Seriously Simple Podcasting:
- Upload audio and video podcast episodes directly to WordPress
- Files are automatically synced with your podcast hosting provider (like Castos)
- Display podcast episode lists, single episodes, or playlists anywhere on your site
- Change embedded player settings with customized colors and episode images
- Feature custom subscribe links to any podcast listening platform
- View episode analytics within WordPress dashboard
On top of WordPress, Castos is also integrated with Zapier. Create zaps to automate a private podcast, making it even easier to manage who has access to the show. Connect your email service provider (like MailChimp or Hubspot) or any form generator (like Typeform or Gravity Forms), then reduce the amount of time your team spends managing the podcast.
Castos lets you embed your podcast anywhere–your intranet, employee portals, or on Slack. With uStudio, that requires a little more work.
uStudio’s main attraction is the security they promise for your internal podcast. They do this by making sure the content is only available via their platform. It can’t be embedded anywhere, even if you have a secure place to share the episode.
When creating our private podcasting features, we thought about our own internal communications. We’re often sharing files internally via email, Slack, and our intranet on WordPress. So we wanted to bring that same ease to our tool so your internal podcast is easily shared with your employees.
Here’s an example of what our embeddable player looks like from our company’s podcast, Audience:
A note that embeddable content doesn’t mean it’s readily available for the world see. Instead, you control where an episode is available. Whether it’s an employee portal, HR dashboard, or private Slack channels, the security in place to access these platforms will keep unwanted listeners out.
In-depth analytics means understanding if your employees are listening. Castos and uStudio can offer you that.
It’s important to measure the impact of an internal podcast–whether that means higher employee engagement, better prepared sales trainees, or getting remote workers all on the same page. And that measurement starts with the podcast’s analytics.
At Castos, we understand the importance of data and how it helps businesses make decisions. Inside our dashboards, we report on:
- Total Listeners/Downloads – The total number of people who pressed play or downloaded an episode over the entire lifespan of your podcast. You’ll want the ability to filter by date as well to learn when people prefer to listen.
- Total Listens Per Episode – This shows you how many people listened to a particular episode (including multiple plays), helping you determine what people like to hear.
- Listening Methods – This tells you where people listen to your show, including their browser or listening app.
- Geographic Stats – Where are your listeners in the world? If your company is in one location, this data should be pretty simple. But if your company resides all over the world, you’ll want to know where you’re connecting with people.
- Unique Listens Per Episode – This tells you how many individual people listen to each episode. If someone listens to an episode twice, this metric only counts them once.
Use one tool to host your private and public-facing podcasts. That’s one price and one platform for all of your podcasting needs.
If your company is launching a branded podcast for a new public-facing marketing channel, why purchase another service to publish those episodes?
You can save yourself time, money, and hassle by using Castos. Our platform hosts both private and public podcasts, all from one dashboard. While your internal podcast is secure and only accessible to your chosen audience, the public podcast will be automatically distributed to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more.
Since we don’t have any storage limits, you can create as many private and public podcasts as you need.
Castos can be your one-stop-shop, helping distribute and produce your internal podcast.
Castos can be more than just your podcast hosting service. With a team of expert audio engineers, we’re equipped to also produce your internal podcast.
Castos Productions can help put your company’s podcast on autopilot. The messaging and content is still controlled by your teams, but we’ll help you make each episode sound more professional and polished.
Chances are you’re starting a podcast with limited resources and budgets available. Likely not enough to hire a dedicated audio editor to help create each new episode you want to release. With our per-episode pricing, you can purchase exactly what you need each time.
