Anchor is a podcast creation, hosting, analytics, monetization and distribution service that offers all of their services for free.

According to https://anchor.fm/features, you own the rights to all of your content.

One of the big concerns some podcasters have about Anchor is their services are free. Some podcasters believe the lure of free features entice you to use their service so they can control your feed. On their features page, they say you can “reach a wider audience instantly with one-step distribution or manage your RSS feed and distribute your podcast yourself”.

As a podcaster that’s been in the space since 2006, I’ll admit I am leery of the offer of free services when it comes to media hosting as it has proven track record of being a “paid for” service.

I have spoken with many podcasting friends and their responses to Anchor remain consistent with mine: very skeptical. I did speak with one podcaster, who is much younger than the majority of my friends in the space, and he said he appreciates Anchor’s free approach. When asked to elaborate, he stated Anchor is essentially the YouTube of podcasting, which is a viewpoint I hadn’t thought of. If Anchor is modeled after YouTube, the possibility of the service getting to scale, creating a viable monetization strategy for the budding podcaster and becoming a content kingmaker could be exactly what prompted Spotify to acquire them.

In the end, when thinking about the overall perception of Anchor, maybe it’s a generational thing. Perhaps Anchor is exactly what the younger generation of podcasters want and need.

PROS:

  • Anchor is a free service.
  • Anchor claims IAB certified stats.
  • Anchor offers ways for your podcast to make money.
  • They offer in app recording and production tools.
  • The podcast cover art setup allows you to add text which is pretty cool.
  • Their Music + Talk offering is very alluring.
  • They do offer a way to move to another podcast host (301 redirect).

CONS:

  • Free isn’t always a good business model (trust me, the hypocrisy of this statement isn’t lost on me). 😉
  • Their acquisition by Spotify makes me leery. Will Spotify shutter them at some point?
  • Anchor is a one-and-done podcast graveyard. Lots and lots of dead shows emanate from Anchor.
  • With Anchor’s easy submission process, they have made stealing podcasts easy.
  • How they entered the space has earned Anchor a negative connotation.
  • Anchor imposes recording limits when using their Record with Friends feature.
  • Their automated vs. manual distribution process is murky at best so navigate with caution.
  • All branding, embed and share links lead users to Anchor (away from your website – if you have one).

*Here’s what the distribution opt-in page currently looks like. If you want to control where you submit your podcast and the email address associated with it, select “I’ll do this myself (advanced)”. I hid the logo I used for the podcast I created for this review with a red speech bubble.*

My take: There are other free podcast hosting options out there that come with less baggage, but if you think Anchor’s pros out weigh its cons then

Is Anchor the right place for you to host your podcast? Only you can decide. Check out Anchor’s offerings by heading to https://anchor.fm/.

This post reflects the opinion of its author and not intended to endorse or discourage use of the service.