Create a podcast

A podcast is a series of audio episodes that people can listen to and follow. In this guide, you will learn how to host your podcast on your WordPress.com site and submit it to major podcasting platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, and Podcast Index.

This feature is available on sites with our WordPress.com Premium, Business, and Commerce plans. For free sites and sites on the Personal plan, upgrade your plan to access this feature.

Jetpack Podcast is built into every WordPress.com plan. The Free plan covers the basics so you can publish a feed alongside your blog. Premium and above include audio hosting on WordPress.com, listener stats, and an episode dashboard.

To set up your podcast, complete each of the following sections of this guide.

1. From your site’s dashboard, go to Jetpack → Podcast.
2. Click the blue “Enable podcasting” button.
3. A “Set up your podcast” modal opens. Pick a category from the dropdown. Posts in this category become episodes in your podcast feed. You can change this later from Settings.
4. Click Confirm.

The Settings tab opens with the rest of the setup. The tab has three sections (Podcast category, Show details, and Feed settings), plus a “Disable podcasting” option at the bottom.

A yellow “Finish setting up your podcast” callout appears at the top of the Settings tab. It lists what you still need to add before you can submit your podcast to directories:

• Write a short summary so listeners know what your show is about.
• Set the host or talent name.
• Add an owner email so podcast directories can reach you.
• Pick at least one Apple Podcasts category.
• Upload a cover image (1400×1400 to 3000×3000 pixels).

Work through the sections below to fill these in. The callout disappears once every item is set.

The Podcast category section sets which posts on your site become episodes. The category you picked when you enabled podcasting is already selected. To change it, pick a different one from the dropdown, or create a new category first and then come back.

Every post you publish in this category appears in your podcast feed, in order. Posts in other categories do not appear in your feed. On WordPress.com, an episode is a post with a Podcast Episode block, published in your podcast category. This is different from podcast hosts where each episode is a separate object.

Note: If you change your podcast category after submitting to platforms, the feed URL changes too, so you will need to resubmit the new feed URL to each directory.

The “Show details” section is the information that appears in podcast apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify:

• Cover image: Upload artwork between 1400×1400 and 3000×3000 pixels (JPG or PNG).
• Title: Your podcast name (defaults to your site title).
• Summary / Description: A short description of your podcast.
• Host or talent name: The people behind your podcast.
• Copyright: Copyright information for your podcast.

Click the “Save settings” button to confirm these details.

The Feed settings section controls how your podcast appears in podcast directories and apps:

• Apple Podcasts category: Pick at least one category to classify your show in Apple Podcasts.
• Explicit content: Many platforms require you to disclose if your podcast contains explicit content.
• Owner email: This email address is displayed in the feed and is used by directories to reach you. Spotify and others send verification codes here when you submit your show.

At the bottom of the Settings tab, the “Disable podcasting” option stops publishing your podcast feed. Your show details stay saved, so you can set it up again later. Click the red Disable button to turn off the feed.

An episode is a post with a Podcast Episode block, published in your podcast category. The Podcast Episode block is available on the WordPress.com Premium plan and above. To create and publish your first episode:

1. From your site’s dashboard, go to Posts → Add Post.
2. Type a post title. This becomes the episode title in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and other podcast apps.
3. Add the Podcast Episode block. Type /podcast episode in a new paragraph, or use the + block inserter and search for “podcast episode.” The episode title in the block populates from your post title automatically.

4. Click Upload to add the episode audio file, or Media Library to pick one you have already uploaded to your site.

5. Write your show notes in the body of the post. This is what listeners see when they tap the episode in their podcast app.
6. In the Post Settings menu on the right, assign the post to the podcast category you chose on the Settings tab. The post will not show up as a podcast unless you add the podcast category.

7. Optional: Add an excerpt to describe the episode.
8. Click the Publish button on your new post.

Your episode appears in your podcast feed within a few minutes. Podcast apps that have subscribed pick it up on their next refresh.

WordPress.com supports .mp3, .m4a, .ogg, and .wav audio files. However, different podcasting platforms accept different formats:

• .mp3: Works with all platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and others)
• .m4a: Works with most platforms except Spotify
• .ogg and .wav: Not accepted by Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Note: Upload audio files directly to your WordPress.com site using the Podcast Episode block. Do not embed audio from SoundCloud or Audiomack, as Apple Podcasts cannot download files from external hosting services.

This section of the guide applies to sites with our WordPress.com Premium, Business, and Commerce plans. For free sites and sites on the Personal plan, upgrade your plan to access this feature.

The Podcast Episode block accepts a video file in place of an audio file. Click Upload in the block and pick your video. For best results, upload the video directly to your WordPress.com site rather than using YouTube or Vimeo links, as those may not work properly in podcast apps.

Open the Episodes tab at Jetpack → Podcast to see every post in your podcast category. Each row shows the title, duration, play count, publish date, status, and a row actions menu.

From the Episodes tab you can:

• Search and filter episodes from the toolbar at the top.
• Click a play count to see the per-episode stats.
• Click an episode title to edit the post.
• Use the row actions menu in the Actions column to manage the episode.

To remove an episode from your podcast feed without deleting the post, open the post in the editor and uncheck the podcast category. The post stays published on your site but is no longer in your feed. To delete the post entirely, open it in the editor and use Post → Move to trash.

Once you have published your first episode, submit your podcast to directories so listeners can find it in their podcast app, then check your stats.

• To submit to Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, and Podcast Index, see our guide to submitting your podcast to directories.
• To see download counts, top episodes, listener apps, and locations, see our guide to viewing your podcast stats.

Apple Podcasts and Spotify both require a square image (equal width and height), between 1400×1400 and 3000×3000 pixels, in JPG or PNG format, using a standard RGB color space (not CMYK). The Distribution tab shows a warning at the top if your cover image does not meet these requirements. Open your image in any image editor, confirm the dimensions and color mode, then re-upload it from the Settings tab.

Check that the post is published, that it has a Podcast Episode block with an audio (or video) file uploaded, and that the post is assigned to the podcast category you chose on the Settings tab. Posts saved as drafts, posts without an uploaded file, and posts in other categories do not appear in the feed.

The Podcast page appears under Jetpack → Podcast on every WordPress.com plan, including Free. If you do not see it, confirm you are logged in to the same account that owns the site, then refresh the page.

If your show is already hosted somewhere else (Substack, Buzzsprout, Spotify for Creators, and most other hosts), you can bring subscribers across by setting a redirect. Copy your feed URL from the Distribution tab and share it with your old host.

Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and other apps follow the redirect within a few hours. Spotify and Amazon Music do not honor redirects automatically, so update those directly using the steps in Submit your podcast to directories.

The back catalog is different. Each episode you republish on WordPress.com becomes a new post with a new ID, so podcast apps treat the reposts as new episodes rather than the same episodes on a new host.

In most apps, the reposts appear in the listener’s feed. To keep this from surprising listeners, publish a short “we’ve moved” episode on WordPress.com before you trigger the redirect, and keep your old host live for at least four weeks so every app has time to refresh.