Transistor vs Captivate: Podcast Hosting Comparison (2026)

An independent side-by-side comparison of Transistor and Captivate for podcast hosting buyers — pricing, features, integrations, and how often each is cited by major AI engines.

AI Citation Scorecard

How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask podcast hosting questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.

Tied overall — both at 100% cited across 10 probes.
ChatGPT
Transistor
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Captivate
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Perplexity
Transistor
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Captivate
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Gemini
Transistor
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Captivate
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Claude
Transistor
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Captivate
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Copilot
Transistor
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Captivate
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.

Pricing

Transistor
Starting price
$19/mo
Free tier
Yes
transistor.fm ↗
Captivate
Starting price
$17/user/month
Free tier
—
captivate.fm ↗

Key Features

Transistor
  • ✓Unlimited podcasts
  • ✓Unlimited team members
  • ✓50 Private subscribers
  • ✓20K Monthly downloads
  • ✓Live customer support
  • ✓Advanced analytics
  • ✓API Access
  • ✓Built-in podcast website
Captivate
  • ✓Unlimited Podcasts
  • ✓Unlimited Uploads/Storage
  • ✓Extensive Distribution List
  • ✓IAB certified analytics
  • ✓Podcast Promotion
  • ✓Dynamic content insertion
  • ✓Private podcasting
  • ✓Podcast Website

When to choose Transistor

Choose Transistor if your team prioritizes its strengths over Captivate's. Full guidance populates as Transistor's feature data is indexed.

When to choose Captivate

Choose Captivate if your team prioritizes its strengths over Transistor's. Full guidance populates as Captivate's feature data is indexed.

AI visibility profiles

Is one of these your brand?

Get the full report by email: every podcast hosting buyer question we ask, which engines name you, and who gets named instead.

Transistor

transistor.fm

Captivate

captivate.fm

Free check

Check any brand's AI visibility — free

We ask the buyer questions in this market across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, and show you who gets named.

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