Captivate.fm Reviews 93

I had a disappointing experience with Captivate.fm and will be moving my podcast.

They ran a Black Friday promotion claiming four months of podcast hosting free, with no payment due until March. Based on that claim, I signed up. Shortly after, they attempted to charge my card in December, saying my free trial had ended.

When I contacted support and referenced the Black Friday ad, I was told the four free months only applied after paying and would be credited much later. I was then told the benefit would not apply until 16 months out. That was not what the ad communicated and defeats the purpose of a Black Friday promotion.

When I explained that this was misleading and not a reasonable offer as presented, communication stopped. I received no further response.

This experience broke trust. Clear and honest communication matters, especially for creators who plan budgets months in advance. I expected transparency and follow-through. I did not receive either.

I will be moving my podcast to another hosting platform.

I’ve been hosting several podcasts on Captivate.fm since May, with Fathernetics as my main show. Recently, I had a major scare when all my podcasts were accidentally deleted due to a technical issue. It happened over a weekend, which made it even more stressful.

Support did what they could until the UK team came online, and once I reached out to a few people at the top, they responded quickly. Everything was restored and my subscription was credited for the trouble.

Every platform can have issues—it’s how they handle them that matters. Captivate.fm proved they care about their creators and moved fast to make things right. I recommend them without hesitation.

I deleted my podcast, regretted it, but luckily they were able to recover it. Super responsive and forgiving support team. I recommend trying Captivate out!

Great product, built by people who love and see the value in podcasting and matched by wickedly good customer service. Stop searching and signup.

PS - keep up the great work!

AVOID CAPTIVATE AT ALL COSTS
It took me weeks to work out why the traffic to my website dropped off a cliff.
Finally discovered that an update to the Captivate Wordpress plugin had added 'noindex' to ALL of my website posts. Search engines stopped crawling my site as a result and I literally lost all my business overnight. I am still fighting to get it back.

What's worse, Captivate don't care at all. They know about the 'noindex' issue but have not been quick to fix it and have not warned customers about it.

They are very good at marketing their podcast hosting service, but their tech support is shocking.

Regret the day I ever signed up with Captivate.

I recently came over from another hosting provider after they had to shut down.

I had been checking out Captivate from a distance unsure if they were worth the hype, well after a slipup on my part, I contacted their support and Danny came to my request, with in less time it takes to update COD every week my problem was solved.

I am a lifetime user of Captivate and recommend you give them a go asap!

Phil Better

I rarely write reviews for companies but I have rarely had such a great experience with one. I reached out to Captivate for some help with my podcast and they were incredible! Really quick to reply and gave me step by step instructions to resolve issues even though some were on other websites. They helped me resolve it really quickly and all their messages were very helpful and friendly and they reply so quickly too. I’m so impressed. Somebody had told me about other hosting websites to look into but I will absolutely be sticking with Captivate and also highly recommending them.

I've been in podcasting a long time and have used a lot of different hosting companies across the something like 100 plus shows I've been involved with. So when I tell you that there's nobody that can compete with Captivate on price, service, features and even training for newbies, I hope that goes someway to giving you confidence in using them.

In 12+ years in Podcasting, Captivate.fm is best company (by far) that I’ve worked with.

Everything from the platform itself, to the incredible Support Team, Captivate is the only Podcast Hosting Company that I can recommend without reservation.

After reviewing all major independent podcast platforms we choose Captivate and are so happy we did. Their backend tools, ability to customize pre/end rolls and insertions, overall support and monetization tools have really helped us launch our podcasting business successfully @ Velocity-Studios.com. Their service is most definitely worth the price.

I've been with captivate.FM with my podcast Stillness in the Storms for over 2 years. My podcast has grown steadily. What is incredible about the team and captivate.FM is that they keep adding features that are not token features. They are huge upgrades, sometimes meaning we don't even need to use another website for say donations. Yes, I am a fan boy. And I tried so many before I settled with these guys.

I love working with this very easy to use and powerful app. Guys on captivate support are very helpful !

The absolute best podcast hosting service because it's so much more than just hosting. High quality people with drive, deep knowledge and passion about the podcast industry. Highly suggest!

Amazing customer service - I really appreciate how fast Captivate gets back to you with a response and they are also so helpful. I highly recommend Captivate to anyone who is looking to podcast!

I like the statistics of how many listeners we have.

I couldn't be more happy with my experience with Captivate. Previously, I was using Simplecast, but there was a lot I wasn't able to do easily with that platform. A colleague told me about Captivate and I have to say, I am blown away. This software was clearly designed by podcasters, for podcasters. My favorite feature is the AMIE assistant, which allows me to insert pre and post roll content. I use this to add the intro and outro, meaning if I ever want to change them, I can bulk update with a few clicks, rather than having to actually go in and edit every single audio file. That alone will save me countless hours and frustration. Don't hesitate - Captivate is great!

Hello!
I'm still new here and I can tell, that as a Hosting platform, Captivate has a many good qualities and it is still in development. That's why, I have some recommendations:
- loading podcast image: please, make this moment automatic (like on Anchor! because now, we need to adjust the image with other program - measuring, cutting, and this takes a lot of precious time, by slowing the process down)!
- please, add more options for customizing the website and the player, because now it's too simple
- please, add hidden option for tagging "#" (inside the description of the episode)
I believe, this can be done in the nearest future!...
Thank you, for the possibility to work with you!...

Best Regards: Natalie

Really great service with easy learning curve for use. Helpful knowledge base.

Really good service, I like all the podcast growth and pre production tools available to you. I have had a few teething issues with setup, but the support staff were quite helpful and very responsive

So far Captivate have been very helpful, I will definitely sign up with them! So much to learn as a new podcaster. They know so much! Lots to take in! They gave lots to offer. Looking forward to joining this platform! First class!