Anchor, by Spotify, is a podcasting platform, enabling the user to create, distribute, and monetize a podcast. It is available via a free plan. It features built-in uploading, recording, and editing tools so the can easily create and publish episodes.
We selected Anchor because of the known branding with Spotify and the built-in audience. It was also one of the first search results when trying to learn about producing a podcast, which made it easy to find and get started. We don't even need to use GarageBand to capture audio …
Anchor is less expensive and, in my opinion, much easier to use than SoundCloud for podcasting. Anchor makes syndication easy, and their recording and editing interfaces are clean and intuitive. SoundCloud seemed somewhat cumbersome to use, and I didn't care for its UI. …
Anchor gets the job done. It's free and with the direct ownership of Spotify, there is the ability to have the backing of that large stable organization. Anchor also supports video podcasts - not many of the other podcast platforms support this functionality just yet - a HUGE …
We only tested Applause a bit but it did not cover what we were looking for, we actually are not using a lot of options for digital releases. We only use it for in-house support, and our audio files are not available for the general public and we do not use any releasing options.