18 Best WordPress Plugins for Podcasters (2023) [Updated]

Covering the Explosion of Podcasting – WordPress Emerges as the Platform of Choice for Leading Podcasters.

As the interest for on demand audio content explodes, podcasting has gone from a declining niche to a rapidly evolving media format projected to [reach over 150 million Americans by 2023](https://www.emarketer.com/content/podcasting-explodes-us– audience-surpasses-100-million). But the rising opportunity also brings rising complexity around launching and growing a podcast.

This is exactly why WordPress has emerged as the content management system (CMS) of choice for podcasters including leading influencers like Joe Rogan, Gary Vee and Tim Ferriss among many others.

The flexibility of WordPress coupled with the over 55,000 free and premium plugins has resulted in a vibrant ecosystem for the modern podcaster offering options tailored to any need including core media handling, audience growth, analytics, distribution and more.

To that tune, we have compiled this definitive guide on the absolute bests WordPress podcasting plugins and solutions for 2023 based on in depth research into user trends and platform capabilities:

Leading podcasters overwhelmingly choose WordPress paired with specialized plugins that enhance the core platform offering solutions tailored for emerging needs in the rapidly evolving podcasting landscape of 2023.

Below we have categorized the best podcast plugins based on core needs:

Workhorse Plugins – (Media management, feeds, publishing and more)
Growth Plugins – (List building, promotion and community)
Analytics Plugins – (Track downloads, traffic, etc)
Enhancement Plugins – (Sermons, players and more)

1. Workhorse Podcast Plugins

This foundational set of plugins empower you to easily create, manage, publish and distribute episodes as a world class WordPress podcast in 2023.

★ PowerPress – Most Versatile & Extendable

PowerPress plugin continues its reign at the most widely used WordPress podcasting plugin. In 2022, podcast hosted via PowerPress amounted for over 1 Billion downloads via 225 million episodes demonstrating strong adoption.

The newly released PowerPress 8 brings additions like:

✔️ Full Spotify podcast distribution support.
✔️ Dynamic audio insertion for ads/messages per user.
✔️ Advanced permissions to allow outside contributors.
✔️ Scheduled media embeds using URL playlists.

We recommend PowerPress as a resilient podcast management companion for WordPress sites because of features like:

• Cross platform distribution support covers Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify and 50 more to publish your podcast everywhere.

• SEO friendly tools for episodes aid in discovery including transcript support, excerpts and search optimization.

• Support different media types beyond MP3 covering video and document podcast media.

• Granular access control for permissions when allowing guest contributors.

• Extendable code is open for developers to customize feeds, data or integrate premium add-ons.

For an extensible, battle tested plugin by Blubrry powering 25%+ of all WordPress podcasts, PowerPress handles the heavy podcast lifting across feed creation, publishing, distribution and beyond.

★ Libsyn Publisher – Robust Commercial Platform

Liberated Syndication (Libsyn) operates the largest podcast hosting network serving over 10 billion downloads annually.

For podcasters wanting reliable enterprise grade hosting scaling to millions of listeners, Libsyn is unmatched especially when paired with their WordPress Libsyn Publisher plugin:

"Libsyn has always been pushing podcasting distribution and monetization forward. This new partnership sets us both up for mutual success delivering what podcasters need." ~ Syed Balkhi, CEO of WPBeginner about partnership with Libsyn.

The Libsyn Publisher Platform brings seamless WordPress – Libsyn integration:

Key highlights:

✔️ Native WordPress workflow to create and upload episodes.
✔️ Scalable media handling and global CDN by Libsyn.
✔️ Full analytics suite equaling standalone Libsyn experience.
✔️ Monetization support through Libsyn‘s tools and partners.
✔️ Enterprise grade infrastructure and reliability.

For unmatched scalability, reliability and monetization capabilities in addition to tight WordPress integration, Libsyn dominates enterprise podcast hosting making their Publisher WordPress solution ideal for established shows investing in rapid growth.

★ Fusebox Podcast Player – Design Driven Player

Beyond built-in players, if you want complete control over player design tied to your brand, Fusebox Podcast Player is unmatched in the customization department while retaining key functions.

Used by leading media brands like Vox Media and Texas Monthly, elements like continuous playback, sharing tools and episode scrubbing set it apart beyond just looks.

Standout features podcasters seem to universally appreciate:

✔️ Visually customize every element from colors and opacity to fonts ensuring brand consistency.

✔️ Episode meta overrides allowing changing of artwork, titles and descriptions.

✔️ Continuous playback across episodes keeping users engaged.

✔️ Full width responsive player sizing for increased engagement on mobile.