Plan: Launch
$0 — No credit card required.
Start with up to 10 paying subscribers. No platform fee, ever.
The right place to start.
Launch is for podcasters who are just getting their private feed set up, or who are still building toward their first paying subscribers. You get the full Benecaster feature set — private feeds, tier management, subscriber dashboard, everything — with zero cost until you have more than 10 paying subscribers. No credit card required to get started.
When you reach 10 paying subscribers and are ready to add an 11th, Benecaster prompts you to upgrade to Starter ($9/month or $79/year). You add a payment method at that point — not before. No service interruption. Your subscribers, feeds, and URLs don’t change.
Important distinction: Launch is not the same as the free WordPress.org version. The WordPress.org plugin handles public RSS feeds and Listener Support donations without any account. Launch is a $0 licensed account — no payment method required — and unlocks private subscriber feeds.
Everything you need to run a private podcast.
- Private subscriber RSS feeds with token authentication
- Up to 10 paying subscribers
- Up to 250 total tokens (paying + free listener tier combined)
- 1 show
- Multiple subscription tiers — set different release dates per tier for the same episode
- Episode management with full podcast RSS metadata
- MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, and Restrict Content Pro bridges
- Subscriber management dashboard
- Welcome email with personal RSS URL and deep links to podcast apps
- Token reset — admin and subscriber-initiated
- Subscriber self-service account dashboard with QR code
- Basic subscriber analytics
- Full data export
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Not the same as the free download.
WordPress.org (free download)
No account required. Install directly from wordpress.org.
- Public RSS feed only
- Episode management and full podcast RSS
- Listener Support (one-time listener donations via your own Stripe account)
- No private subscriber feeds
- No token system
- No subscriber management
- No Benecaster account
Launch ($0 licensed account)
A free Benecaster account. No credit card required.
- Everything in the WordPress.org version
- Private subscriber RSS feeds
- Token generation and management
- Multiple subscription tiers with per-tier availability dates
- Subscriber management dashboard
- Welcome email with RSS URL
- Subscriber self-service account
The WordPress.org version is a complete public podcast manager. Launch is what you need when you’re ready to add paying subscribers.
Two limits, two different things.
Launch has two independent limits.
Paying subscriber limit — 10
This is the threshold before billing kicks in. When your paying subscriber count reaches 10, Benecaster will prompt you to upgrade to Starter the next time you try to add a subscriber. You complete checkout at that point — adding your payment method for the first time. Nothing happens automatically, and nothing is charged before you confirm.
At 8 paying subscribers (at $10/month), Starter pays for itself versus Patreon’s 10% fee. By the time you hit the limit, Benecaster is already saving you money.
Total token cap — 250
This is the combined ceiling for all active RSS feed tokens on your account — paying subscribers, free-tier listeners, and anyone else with a private feed URL. A podcaster with 5 paying subscribers and 245 free-tier listeners is at the cap.
The token cap exists because a large free listener tier generates the same platform load as a paid one. 250 total tokens is generous for where most podcasters are when they’re just getting started — but if your free tier is growing faster than your paying tier, that’s a good signal you’re ready to move to Starter.
Paying subscribers count toward both limits. Free-tier listeners count toward the token cap only.
At 80% of either limit, you’ll see an early heads-up so you’re never caught off-guard.
