Do I need to switch podcast hosts to use Benecaster?

No — with one exception worth knowing about.

Benecaster gates the RSS feed, not the audio. Your audio files stay wherever they are. Benecaster generates an RSS feed pointing directly at your existing hosted audio URLs. No migration, no bandwidth cost to your WordPress server.

The exception: Spotify. Spotify creates two separate problems for private podcast setups:

• Spotify for Podcasters as your audio host — If your audio is currently hosted through Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor), moving to a private subscriber model requires switching audio hosts first. Spotify for Podcasters bundles hosting and distribution in a closed platform; the audio URLs it generates aren’t designed to be used independently in another feed.

• Spotify as a distribution platform — Spotify only accepts open, public RSS feeds. Private subscriber feeds — Benecaster’s or anyone else’s — can’t be submitted to Spotify. Your public free episodes can still be listed on Spotify; your private subscriber content can’t. This is a Spotify platform decision, not a Benecaster limitation, but it’s worth knowing before you commit to a subscriber model.

Every other major podcast host (Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Transistor, Captivate, Podbean, S3, etc.) works without changes.