Free, sure. But it isn't really yours, and it doesn't look like yours either. Spotify for Creators gets you onto Spotify. Springcast gives you your own home: your website, your data in Europe, and analytics that tell you what's working. Here's the honest version of the comparison.
Your podcast is part of a business, a brand, or an organization. You want your own branded website, retention analytics that show where listeners drop off, social attribution that proves which post drove the listens, and your data hosted in the EU with a DPA and ISO 27001. You'd rather own your channel than rent space on someone else's.
You're starting a hobby show, you want zero euros out of pocket, and Spotify-first discovery is all you need right now. It's genuinely the best free option out there, and you can always move to Springcast later by importing your RSS feed when the podcast outgrows it.
An honest, line-by-line look. Where Spotify wins, we say so.
| Feature | Springcast | Spotify for Creators |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From €9/mo (Business from €195/mo) | Free |
| Unlimited hosting & downloads | ✓ | ✓ |
| Distribution to Spotify, Apple, YouTube Music & 15+ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Your own branded podcast website | ✓ | (a Spotify page) |
| You own the RSS feed | ✓ | Partial |
| Retention curves (where listeners drop off) | ✓ | |
| Cross-platform listener data (not just Spotify) | ✓ | (Spotify-centric) |
| Social attribution (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook) | ✓ | |
| Native video hosting on your own branded player | ✓ (Business) | In-app only |
| EU data residency | ✓ | (US) |
| ISO 27001:2022 | ✓ | |
| Data processing agreement (DPA / AVG) | ✓ (Business) | |
| Public sub-processor register | ✓ | |
| Multi-workspace & team roles (RBAC) | ✓ (Business) | |
| SAML SSO | ✓ (Business) | |
| AI tools (transcripts, show notes, social) | ✓ | Partial |
| API + MCP integration | ✓ | |
| Built-in monetization marketplace | ✓ (50/50 split, thresholds) | |
| Human email support | ✓ | Limited |
Last verified: May 2026.
Spotify will host your video, but only inside Spotify. Springcast streams the same video from your own branded player, on your own podcast website and embeds, with an adaptive HLS stream that matches every screen. The viewer, the branding and the data stay yours, not Spotify's.
See video hosting →On Spotify for Creators, your "website" is a Spotify page. Your branding is Spotify's branding. Your call-to-action competes with a play button for the next show. Springcast gives you a real, branded podcast website on your own domain, the place you send people from your newsletter, your LinkedIn, your business cards. When the podcast is part of your brand, the wrapper matters.
See hosting & your website →Spotify shows you aggregate trends inside Spotify. Useful, but it stops at the edge of one app. Springcast gives you retention curves (the exact second listeners drop off), cross-platform data, and download detail across every directory, so you can change the next episode, not just admire a chart.
See listener analytics →You posted the episode on LinkedIn, Instagram and in the newsletter. Which one worked? Spotify can't tell you. Springcast's social attribution connects the click on a specific post to the listen that followed, so you stop guessing where to spend your effort.
See social attribution →If a compliance officer ever asks "where does our podcast data live and can we get a DPA?", "it's on Spotify in the US" is not the answer they want. Springcast is EU-hosted, ISO 27001:2022 certified, and ships a data processing agreement plus a public sub-processor register on Business plans. The paperwork that gets you through procurement is already done.
See EU compliance →If those three things describe you, stay on Spotify with our blessing. The day your podcast becomes part of a business, a brand, a team, a compliance conversation, that's the day Springcast starts paying for itself.
Spotify costs €0 in money. The cost is in ownership and insight. Here's the honest trade.
| What you pay | Springcast | Spotify for Creators |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | From €9 (Business from €195) | €0 |
| Your own website & brand | Included | Not available |
| Deep analytics & attribution | Included | Not available |
| EU data residency & DPA | Included (Business) | Not available |
| Revenue share on monetization | You keep 100% (no marketplace) | 50% to Spotify |
| Cost to leave | Export anytime, you own the feed | Migrate via RSS redirect |
Springcast Professional is €19/month. That's the price of one lunch for your own website, real analytics, and data that stays in Europe. See all plans →
Three steps. No downtime for your listeners. Your subscribers come with you.
Create your Springcast account and paste your existing feed URL. We pull in every episode, your artwork, descriptions and publish dates, your full history, intact.
Point your old feed's redirect at your new Springcast feed. Apple, Spotify and the other directories follow the redirect automatically, your subscribers don't have to do a thing.
Your next episode goes out from Springcast, lands on every platform as usual, and now you've got your own website and real analytics behind it. Done.
"As a storyteller and content maker, you want to work as seamlessly as possible. Springcast makes that easy — so you can focus on your real work: telling stories."
Publishing without technical hassle, so all the attention goes to the story.
"Our podcasts are now far easier to find on Spotify — and they’re being listened to more as a result."
The move to Springcast PRO was clearly guided, with transparent communication at every step. The PRO environment is clear and easy to use.
"With Springcast PRO, all our employees can listen to our internal podcasts even more easily."
Thanks to the migration service, our existing podcasts were converted quickly, so we could go live right away.
Try Springcast free for 14 days. Import your show, keep your Spotify reach, and finally get your own website and real analytics behind it.
No credit card required · Keep your Spotify reach · EU-hosted · ISO 27001
The simple hobby host vs. the platform you grow into.
Read the comparison →Enterprise ad-tech vs. an EU platform that serves your audience.
Read the comparison →See every Springcast plan side by side, no hidden fees.
View pricing →