Auphonic vs Castos

Auphonic is an automatic audio post-production service from Graz, Austria. You upload a recording, pick a preset, and its algorithms level loudness between speakers, normalize to broadcast and podcast targets such as -16 LUFS, remove noise and hum, filter out low rumble and balance multitrack recordings so every voice sits at the same level. It then encodes the result in the formats you need and can publish straight to podcast hosts, YouTube, Dropbox or an FTP server.

Beyond cleanup, Auphonic adds speech recognition for transcripts and subtitles, automatic chapter marks, cut detection for fillers and silences, and ID3 metadata with cover art. Pricing is based on processing hours: a free tier gives two hours a month, recurring plans add more hours each month, and one-time credits never expire, which suits shows that publish irregularly. A REST API and desktop apps let teams automate the whole pipeline.

It is ideal for podcasters, radio stations, universities and video producers who want consistent, professional sound without learning mixing. It is not an editor: you cannot cut a story or rearrange segments, so it is usually paired with Audacity, Descript or a DAW. Compared with Adobe Podcast Enhance, Auphonic gives more control over loudness targets and output formats; compared with manual processing in iZotope RX, it is faster and far cheaper but less precise on difficult recordings.

Castos is a podcast hosting platform for creators, businesses and organizations, founded in 2017 by Craig Hewitt. It grew out of Seriously Simple Podcasting, a free WordPress plugin Hewitt acquired at the end of 2016, which is still active on more than 30,000 sites. Castos hosts audio, distributes shows to podcast apps and is best known for private podcasts used for internal communications and paid content.

Every plan includes unlimited podcasts, episodes and downloads, one-click submission to directories such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music, a podcast website, IAB-compliant analytics and dynamic ad insertion. Public, private and hybrid feeds are available on all plans, with private subscriber caps of 100, 250 and 500. Higher tiers add YouTube republishing, video file hosting, a branded mobile app for private listeners, team seats and SSO. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

It suits companies that want internal or members-only podcasts and WordPress publishers who want episodes managed from their dashboard. Transistor offers similar private podcasting with plans based on downloads; Buzzsprout is friendlier for beginners; Captivate leans into marketing and growth tools.

Castos reports more than 42,000 hosted podcasts. Monetization now includes Castos Ads with no minimum audience, Campaigns for inserting sponsor reads into back catalogs and Castos Commerce for paid subscriptions through Stripe. Annual billing gives two months free, and extra private subscribers cost 50 dollars a month per 500.