Looking for Anchor? You’re in the right place. It’s been renamed twice since it launched, and today it’s called Spotify for Creators. Hosting is still free.
This Anchor podcast hosting review is updated for 2026. We pulled Spotify’s rules straight from its own support pages, because a lot of reviews are still repeating old numbers. Including, we’ll admit, an earlier version of this one.
Whether you work with a full-service podcast production agency or you’re going solo, these rules decide if free hosting is a bargain or a future headache.
From Anchor to Spotify for Creators
Quick history lesson. Spotify bought Anchor in 2019 and later renamed it Spotify for Podcasters. Then on November 13, 2024, Spotify announced another rename: Spotify for Creators.
Plenty of people still search the old names. That’s why “anchor podcast” and “anchor.fm” still get so much search traffic.
What Spotify for Creators is today
Spotify for Creators is a free tool for hosting and distributing your podcast. You upload audio or video, and it creates an RSS feed that other podcast apps pull your episodes from.
The 2024 relaunch leaned hard into video. Spotify says video podcast use rose 88% in a year, and that more than 250 million users have watched a podcast on Spotify. Those are Spotify’s own numbers, so read them as a sign of where the platform is heading. They don’t prove video will help your show.
For a business, the appeal is easy to see. It’s free, it’s simple and it’s owned by the biggest audio app around. That’s exactly why the fine print matters before you move a real brand there.
What free hosting gets you
The basics work well. You can publish in a few minutes, send episodes to the major directories and see your Spotify listener data in one dashboard. Audio and video hosting both come with no monthly fee.
Ways to make money
Spotify’s monetization page lists five options:
- The Spotify Partner Program
- Host-read sponsorships on video episodes
- Memberships
- Partner subscriptions, like Patreon
- Enterprise sales through Megaphone
What the Partner Program requires
With the Partner Program, you earn 50% of the recognized revenue when Spotify-sold ads play in your episodes, on Spotify or anywhere else. Each episode needs at least one ad break. In some markets, you can also earn Premium video revenue when Spotify Premium members watch your video episodes.
To apply, you need to meet all of these:
- A legal address in an eligible market (currently countries across Europe, the Americas and Oceania)
- At least 3 published episodes
- At least 2,000 consumption hours on Spotify in the last 30 days
- At least 1,000 audience on Spotify in the last 30 days
Spotify notes that these criteria can change at any time.
Here’s the math nobody mentions. If you have exactly 1,000 listeners and need 2,000 hours, each person has to spend about two hours with your show in a month. That’s four half-hour episodes per person. Many new shows hit 1,000 people long before they hit 2,000 hours.
Staying in has rules too. You need to publish an episode and earn at least $10 in any six-month stretch. Payouts require bank details, and two-step verification kicks in once you earn $1,000 in a month.
Memberships have a lower bar
Spotify Memberships need 3 episodes, 100 unique listeners and 100 listening hours in the last 30 days, plus a supported country. That’s a much easier bar, so a niche professional audience can clear it.
We haven’t confirmed the fee Spotify takes on memberships. Check its fee schedule before you plan revenue around it.
Where free hosting costs you
The real price of free shows up when you try to leave.
Spotify’s own guide to switching hosts says your analytics won’t transfer when you move a show into Spotify. Its guide for leaving doesn’t say what happens to your Spotify history. Our advice: assume it won’t follow you, and download what you need first.
Leaving also takes some manual work. You can’t set the redirect from the mobile app, and it can take up to seven days to finish. If you use subscriptions, you’ll need to turn them off during the redirect.
Spotify doesn’t say how long the redirect stays active, either. Ask your next host how they handle it.
We use the same rule for hosts that we use for agencies: you should own your RSS feed from day one. Before you pick any host, make sure you:
- Control your RSS feed address
- Know the steps to redirect if you leave
- Can export your numbers
Spotify for Creators covers the first two, with some limits. We couldn’t confirm it covers the third in a format you can take with you.
Two other mistakes come up a lot:
- Assuming a free tool will keep its terms. Spotify itself says its programs and markets can change.
- Treating one platform’s numbers as your total reach. Your Spotify dashboard doesn’t see listeners on Apple Podcasts or in car apps, so it’s only a slice of your audience.
This is where free hosting runs into business goals. If your show has to prove it influenced pipeline, you need data you own. Curious what a business show costs when it’s done right? Our guide to how much a B2B podcast costs breaks it down.
Anchor login, the Anchor app and old links
Lots of people still search for the Anchor podcast login or the Anchor FM login. Old Anchor links now redirect, and shows moved over to Spotify logins. You sign in through Spotify for Creators, and there’s no separate Anchor account anymore.
Same story with the Anchor app. Its mobile recording tools now live inside the Spotify for Creators app.
One old issue is worth a quick look. A 2023 review by The Podcast Host found that the RSS feed still displayed the email address used to sign up. We haven’t retested it, so check your own feed before you share it.
Free podcast hosting for a business: what to check
Search for free podcast hosting or Spotify podcast hosting and you’ll find lots of pages comparing features. Very few explain how to export your analytics or how to leave.
A Spotify for Creators podcast hosting account is easy to open. Closing it cleanly takes more work. For a brand, that’s the gap to watch, so run the three checks above on any free host.
Be careful with stream counts, too. Spotify’s Partner Program page counts a stream when someone listens for 60 seconds or more. Some third-party reviews report a shorter threshold, so check Spotify’s page before you compare numbers.
How it compares with paid hosts
Paid hosts sell what free hosting leaves out: stats you can export, real support and plans built for brands. Prices change often, so double-check before you buy.
| Host | Entry price | What to check | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify for Creators | Free | Analytics export, redirect steps, market rules | Hobby shows, tests and video-first creators |
| Buzzsprout | Free plan with 2 hours of uploads a month; episodes stay up for 90 days. Paid plans from $15 a month | Episode retention on the free plan, upload hours | Solo creators who want simple paid hosting |
| Captivate | From $17 a month, billed yearly | Download limits per plan, growth tools | Teams that publish often |
| Private or gated host | Quoted by scope | Access control, login options, reporting | Internal, client or member-only shows |
For a deeper ranking by use case, see our guide to the best podcast hosting platforms.
Quick rule of thumb: the cheapest plan is rarely the cheapest outcome. A low-cost plan with clean exports costs less than a free plan that has you rebuilding your history after a move.
Who should use it (and who shouldn’t)
| Your situation | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Testing an idea before you invest | Spotify for Creators | Free, fast to set up and easy to start over |
| Hobby show with a video focus | Spotify for Creators | Audio and video in one place |
| Business show that needs to show leads | Paid host with exports | You own the data and the history |
| Client show with 10+ planned episodes | Paid host, from day one | Moving later means a redirect and lost analytics |
| Internal or members-only show | Private hosting | Access control matters more than reach |
Our take: it’s a good place to start, with a cost that grows as your show does. The more episodes you publish, the more history you leave behind if you switch.
And in the first 90 days, recording quality matters more than your host. If the audio is rough, no platform will save it. Our guide on how to record a podcast walks you through the setup.
If you decide to leave
Plan the move so no listener misses an episode. These steps follow Spotify’s switching guides.
- Download any analytics you want to keep. Assume they won’t come with you.
- Sign up with your new host and import your episodes. Wait until the import is done.
- Log in to Spotify for Creators on the web (the mobile app won’t work for this), open Settings and choose the option to redirect your podcast. Paste in your new RSS feed.
- If you use subscriptions, turn them off during the redirect step.
- Give the redirect time to take effect. It can take up to seven days.
- Only then close your old account. If you plan to delete it, wait at least a week after redirecting.
Moving shows into Spotify instead? You can only switch one show at a time, so plan your moves in batches if you manage several.
What a business show needs beyond hosting
Hosting is the smallest part of a business show. Strategy, guests, editing and reporting decide whether it pays off.
If your team wants a show that supports sales, our podcast production services cover editing, mixing, mastering and delivery to every major directory.
Already publishing and want steady help? Podcast management takes the weekly work off your team’s plate. For shows that need to stay behind a login, like client briefings or internal training, there’s private podcast hosting.
Thinking about hiring help? Our list of questions to ask a podcast agency covers ownership, reporting and exit terms, the same checks we walked through here.
The bottom line
Spotify for Creators is a fair place to start. It costs nothing up front. The catch is what you leave behind when you switch, so own your feed, know the redirect steps and keep your numbers.
Free hosting is a loan, and the interest is your listener history. Want a second set of eyes on your setup? Book a call and we’ll take a look.
