A professionally produced podcast costs between £100 and £600 per episode in 2026, depending on episode length, editing quality, and additional services like show notes and transcripts. A typical weekly 30-minute show with standard editing costs £450–£550 per month. Use the free calculator below to estimate your exact podcast production costs based on your specific requirements.
Key Takeaways
- Basic editing: £30–£50 per episode for noise removal and simple cuts. Best for solo commentary shows.
- Standard editing: £75–£150 per episode for full mixing, sound design, and intro/outro production.
- Premium editing: £200–£400 per episode for broadcast-quality audio with music and effects.
- Weekly show annual cost: A standard weekly 30-minute podcast costs £5,400–£6,600 per year all-in.
- Hosting: £12–£20 per month for podcast hosting on platforms like Buzzsprout, Podbean, or Transistor.
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How Much Does Podcast Editing Cost Per Episode?
Podcast editing costs £30–£400 per episode depending on the level of production quality you require.
Basic editing covers noise removal, trimming dead air, removing filler words, and adding a pre-made intro and outro. This level suits solo shows and simple interview formats. Expect to pay £30–£50 for a 30-minute episode.
Standard editing includes everything in basic plus full audio mixing, EQ balancing between speakers, compression, sound design elements, and custom transitions. This is the most popular tier for professional-sounding podcasts. Costs range from £75 to £150 per 30-minute episode. Premium editing adds broadcast-quality mastering, original music scoring, advanced sound effects, and multi-track mixing for panel shows. Prices reach £200–£400 per episode. Longer episodes cost more because editing time scales with runtime. A 60-minute episode typically costs 1.25x a 30-minute episode at the same quality tier.
What Equipment Do You Need to Start a Podcast?
A complete starter podcast setup costs £200–£500 for equipment that produces professional-quality audio.
The essential equipment list includes a USB condenser microphone (£70–£150), closed-back headphones (£40–£80), a pop filter (£10–£20), and a desk-mounted boom arm (£25–£50). The Audio-Technica ATR2100x at £89 and Rode PodMic at £99 are the two most recommended starter microphones in 2026.
Skip the expensive audio interface initially if you choose a USB microphone. It connects directly to your computer. Free recording software like Audacity or GarageBand handles recording and basic editing without cost. Upgrade to an XLR microphone and audio interface (£150–£300) once you pass 25 episodes and confirm the podcast has traction. Acoustic treatment with foam panels (£30–£60) makes a bigger quality difference than upgrading from a £100 microphone to a £300 one.
How Much Does Podcast Hosting Cost?
Podcast hosting costs £12–£20 per month for plans that cover most independent shows with unlimited episodes.
Podcast hosting platforms store your audio files and distribute them to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other directories. Buzzsprout costs £12/month for 3 hours of uploads. Transistor charges £15/month for unlimited episodes. Podbean offers an unlimited plan at £14/month.
Free hosting exists on platforms like Anchor (now Spotify for Podcasters) and Acast, but they insert their own ads or limit analytics. Paid hosting provides detailed download statistics, episode-level analytics, custom websites, and reliable distribution to all major platforms. For shows producing 4–8 episodes monthly, £15/month hosting is a negligible cost compared to production, yet it ensures your content reaches every listener on every platform without interruption. Most hosts also include embeddable players for your website and social media audiograms.
What Are the Hidden Costs Most Podcasters Miss?
Show notes, transcripts, artwork, and marketing add £50–£150 per episode on top of editing and hosting fees.
Professional show notes cost £20–£30 per episode. They include an episode summary, timestamped highlights, guest bios, and resource links. These notes improve SEO discoverability and give listeners a reason to visit your website.
Transcription costs £15–£25 per episode for human-edited transcripts. Automated services are cheaper at £5–£10 but require manual correction. Episode artwork for social media promotion runs £15–£25 per episode if you use a designer, or zero if you create templates in Canva. Marketing costs vary widely: paid social promotion at £30–£100 per episode, newsletter management at £20–£50 per month, and guest coordination at £20–£40 per episode if outsourced. Most podcasters underbudget by 30–40% because they only account for editing and hosting in their initial planning.
Is DIY Podcast Production Worth the Savings?
DIY saves £2,000–£8,000 per year but costs 8–15 hours of your time per episode in production and editing work.
Recording takes 1–2 hours per episode including setup and the actual session. Editing requires 3–5 hours for basic cleanup and 6–10 hours for polished production. Writing show notes, creating social clips, and publishing adds another 2–3 hours. Total time per episode: 8–15 hours depending on quality standards.
Calculate your effective hourly rate. If outsourcing saves you 10 hours at £100 per episode, that costs you £10/hour in production time. If your professional hourly rate exceeds £10, outsourcing delivers positive ROI. Most business podcast hosts find that outsourcing editing and show notes by episode 10 is the break-even point. The time saved goes into content planning, guest relationships, and promotion, which actually grow the audience. A polished podcast with 500 listeners attracts more sponsors than a rough-sounding show with 2,000 listeners.
How Do Podcast Costs Scale with Episode Length?
Longer episodes cost 25–75% more than 30-minute episodes because editing time increases proportionally with runtime.
The cost scaling is not perfectly linear. A 15-minute episode costs roughly 50% of a 30-minute episode because minimum editing setup and export time stays constant. A 45-minute episode costs the full base rate. A 60-minute episode costs 1.25x the base. A 90-minute episode reaches 1.75x due to increased editing complexity and file handling.
Episode length also affects hosting costs indirectly. Longer episodes consume more upload bandwidth and storage. A 90-minute episode at 128 kbps mono produces roughly 82 MB compared to 27 MB for a 30-minute episode. At 8 episodes monthly, the difference is 660 MB versus 220 MB in monthly uploads. This rarely pushes you into a higher hosting tier, but it affects download bandwidth costs on high-traffic shows exceeding 50,000 monthly downloads. For cost efficiency, 30–45 minute episodes deliver the best balance of production cost, listener completion rate, and content depth.
When Should You Invest in Premium Podcast Production?
Upgrade to premium production when you consistently exceed 1,000 downloads per episode or when the podcast generates revenue.
Podcasts in their first 20 episodes should use basic or standard editing. Investing £400 per episode before you have confirmed audience traction wastes budget that serves you better in marketing and guest booking.
The upgrade triggers are clear. Once you hit 1,000 downloads per episode, you qualify for most advertising networks where CPM rates of £15–£25 per 1,000 listens generate £15–£25 per episode. At 5,000 downloads, a single mid-roll ad spot generates £75–£125. That revenue justifies premium production costs. Sponsorship also favours production quality. Brands evaluating podcast sponsorships listen to audio quality within the first 30 seconds. Premium editing, professional intros, and clean transitions signal credibility that commands higher sponsorship rates of £500–£2,000 per episode at the 10,000+ download level.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to start a podcast from zero?
Starting a podcast from zero costs £250–£600 in one-off equipment purchases (microphone, headphones, accessories) plus £100–£500 for your first month of production and hosting. The total first-month investment ranges from £350 to £1,100. After the initial equipment purchase, ongoing monthly costs drop to £100–£500 depending on your production choices.
Can you podcast for free?
Yes. Record with your smartphone or laptop microphone, edit in free software like Audacity, and host on Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor) at no cost. Audio quality will be noticeably lower than shows using proper equipment, but it works for testing whether podcasting suits your content and audience before investing money.
How much do podcast editors charge per hour?
Freelance podcast editors in the UK charge £20–£50 per hour depending on experience and turnaround speed. A 30-minute episode takes 2–4 hours to edit at a standard level, making hourly rates roughly equivalent to per-episode pricing of £75–£150. Per-episode pricing is more common because it provides cost predictability for both parties.
Is Spotify for Podcasters (Anchor) really free?
Yes, Spotify for Podcasters offers free hosting with unlimited uploads and distribution to all major platforms. The trade-off is limited analytics compared to paid hosts, Spotify branding on your player, and occasional Spotify-inserted ads on your free-tier episodes. For shows under 500 downloads per episode, it is a reasonable starting point.
How much does podcast artwork cost?
Professional podcast cover artwork costs £50–£200 as a one-time design fee. Platforms like Fiverr offer budget options at £20–£50. Your cover art must be 3000×3000 pixels in JPEG or PNG format for Apple Podcasts. Invest in good artwork because it is the first thing potential listeners see when browsing podcast directories.
What is the most expensive part of podcast production?
Editing is the single largest ongoing cost, accounting for 60–70% of total production expenses. For premium shows, editing alone can reach £400 per episode. The second largest cost is your time: recording, preparation, and guest coordination consume 4–8 hours per episode, even when all post-production is outsourced.
How do podcast costs compare to video production?
Audio-only podcasts cost 50–70% less than video podcasts. Adding video requires cameras (£500–£2,000), lighting (£100–£300), and video editing (£100–£300 extra per episode). A standard audio podcast costs £100–£200 per episode; the same show with video costs £250–£500. Video does increase discoverability on YouTube and social media clips.
Should I pay monthly or per episode for editing?
Monthly retainers typically cost 10–20% less than per-episode pricing and guarantee your editor’s availability. A retainer makes sense at 4+ episodes monthly. Per-episode pricing suits irregular publishing schedules or shows in their first 10 episodes where you may adjust frequency based on audience response.
Budget Your Podcast Production Accurately
Podcast production costs vary by 500% between the cheapest and most expensive configurations. A solo show with basic editing costs £50 per episode. A premium multi-host show with full production, show notes, and transcripts reaches £500+ per episode. Most successful independent podcasts sit in the middle at £100–£200 per episode for standard editing with selective extras.
Use the calculator above to model your exact costs before committing to a production schedule. Start with the minimum viable setup, prove your concept over 10–15 episodes, then scale production quality as your audience and revenue grow. The most common mistake is over-investing in production before confirming audience demand. Spend 70% of your early budget on content quality and guest booking. Invest in premium production once your download numbers justify the expense.
Free tool by: John Isaacson, Digital Marketing Strategist at JI Digital
Last Updated: January 2026
