Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions we hear most often. Every question links directly — copy the link on any answer to share it.
Pricing and Plans
Is the free tier a real product or just a limited demo?
It’s a real product. The free tier gives you up to 10 paying subscribers — plus up to 250 total subscribers (paying + free combined) — with the full premium feature set: token-based private RSS feeds, per-tier episode scheduling, subscriber management, deep links to podcast apps, the subscriber account dashboard, everything. No time limit. No “free trial” expiry. No hidden capability restrictions.
The only limits are subscriber counts. When you hit 10 paying subscribers, you’re ready for Starter.
What counts as a “paying subscriber”?
Only subscribers with an active token on a paid tier count toward your plan’s paying subscriber limit. Free-tier listeners — subscribers on a free membership level — do not count toward this limit. Subscribers in a free trial period count — they’re on a paid tier with an active token and a scheduled first payment.
Each plan also has a total subscriber cap covering all active tokens, paying and free combined (Free: 250, Starter: 500, Growth: 2,500, Pro and above: unlimited). Free-tier subscribers count toward this secondary cap but not the primary paying limit. The total cap exists to keep free-tier usage proportionate to the plan — a podcaster with hundreds of free marketing-list subscribers and a handful of paying ones is getting real value and should be on an appropriate plan.
Churned subscribers are removed from both counts immediately on cancellation. Both counts are based on currently active tokens, not your historical high watermark.
Do subscribers on a free trial count toward my plan limit?
Yes. Free trial subscribers are on a paid tier — they have an active feed token and a first payment scheduled at the end of the trial. They count toward your plan limit. What doesn’t count is a genuinely free membership level (a tier with no payment required at any point). Free trial ≠ free tier.
How does Benecaster know which of my subscribers are paying?
When you map your membership tiers in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping, Benecaster reads the price of each tier from your membership plugin and marks it paid or free accordingly. A daily background sync re-checks tier prices so that if you change a paid tier to free in your membership plugin, Benecaster reflects that within 24 hours.
This works automatically for all supported bridges — WooCommerce Subscriptions, MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, and Restrict Content Pro.
What happens when I outgrow the free tier?
At 8 subscribers you’ll get a friendly heads-up: a celebratory notification that you’re close to your limit, with a one-click path to upgrade.
At 10, you’ve hit the free tier cap. Your existing subscribers keep their private feeds unaffected. Subscribers who join after the cap is reached get the public feed instead — their private access activates automatically as soon as you upgrade to Starter.
Starter is $79/year. At 10 paying subscribers charging $10/month, it pays for itself in the first month.
What happens if I go over my subscriber limit on a paid plan?
At 80% of your cap you’ll see a notification in your Benecaster dashboard — a milestone callout, not an alarm.
What happens next depends on how you’ve set your upgrade preference (configurable during onboarding and in Settings → Account):
Auto-upgrade (default): When your paying subscriber count exceeds your limit, a 30-day grace period begins — you’ll receive a notification with a one-click upgrade path. If you haven’t upgraded by the end of the grace period, Benecaster schedules an automatic upgrade to the next tier and sends a confirmation before it fires.
Cap: No automatic upgrade. Subscribers who join while you’re at your limit still receive a feed — it’s the public feed rather than their private subscriber feed. When you upgrade manually, their private access restores automatically with no RSS URL change needed.
Can I choose what happens when I exceed my limit?
Yes. Benecaster has two independent limits — paying subscribers and total tokens (paying subscribers + free-tier subscribers combined) — and you set an enforcement preference for each during onboarding. You can change both in Settings → Account at any time.
Free-tier subscribers are people who have signed up through your membership plugin with a free access tier — they have a feed token, so they count toward the total token cap. They are distinct from anonymous listeners to your public feed, who have no token and are not counted toward any limit.
Paying subscriber limit — default: auto-upgrade.
When your count exceeds the limit, you have a 30-day grace period before any restrictions take effect — all subscribers continue receiving their private feed during that window. If you haven’t upgraded when the grace period ends, Benecaster schedules an automatic upgrade to the next tier and notifies you before it fires.
Token cap — default: cap.
When your total active tokens exceed the plan cap, you have the same 30-day grace period with no change to feed access. After that, over-limit tokens receive the public feed instead of private subscriber content — no automatic billing event. You upgrade manually when you’re ready.
See How Subscriber Limits Work → for a full explanation of what counts, what doesn’t, and how cap mode behaves for your subscribers.
What do subscribers see if they join while I’m at my limit in cap mode?
They complete signup and their membership plugin subscription activates normally — they’re billed by your membership plugin as usual. Benecaster issues them a feed token, but the feed serves your public episode content rather than private subscriber content until you upgrade your plan.
Their RSS URL works in any podcast app. When you upgrade, their token automatically starts serving private content — no URL change, no action needed from them or you.
Important: in cap mode, your membership plugin bills those subscribers regardless of their feed access level. The admin warning in Benecaster makes this explicit. If you choose cap mode and reach your limit, check your subscriber list regularly — anyone shown with an amber indicator is receiving the public feed and has been billed for private access.
What does an automatic upgrade cost on an annual plan?
When an automatic upgrade fires on an annual plan, SureCart charges a prorated amount for the remaining period at the new plan’s rate. For example: if you’re on annual Starter ($79/year) and are upgraded to Growth ($149/year) six months into your subscription, you’d be charged roughly half the difference ($35) for the remaining six months. Your subscription then renews at the full Growth annual rate ($149) on your existing renewal date.
The upgrade email includes the prorated charge amount, what period it covers, and when your next full renewal will be — so there’s no ambiguity about what was charged or why.
Can I downgrade my plan?
Downgrade between paid tiers is available when your subscriber count has been below the lower tier’s limit for two consecutive calendar months. Benecaster will notify you when you’re eligible — you don’t have to check.
Same-month downgrade: if your count drops back below the previous limit within the same calendar month an auto-upgrade fired, you’ll receive an email and admin notification immediately — you don’t need to wait two more months. The downgrade is your choice to initiate; Benecaster won’t reverse an upgrade automatically on a brief fluctuation.
Downgrade is always prorated on annual plans — you receive a credit for the unused portion of the higher-tier rate.
Downgrade from Starter back to Launch is available after a one-billing-period lock following the Launch → Starter upgrade — one month if you’re on monthly billing, twelve months if you’re on an annual plan. This prevents a temporary subscriber spike from triggering a charge that immediately reverts. When the lock expires and your count is at or below 10, you’ll receive an email with a downgrade link.
Benecaster never automatically downgrades you to Launch — downgrade is always your choice.
Why does Benecaster serve the public feed for over-limit subscribers rather than blocking access?
A broken RSS URL in a podcast app is invisible. The app stops refreshing silently — no error message, no notification. The subscriber doesn’t know what happened, and you’d need to track them down individually with a new URL. At any real subscriber count, that’s an operational headache and a churn risk.
By serving the public feed instead of blocking access entirely, over-limit subscribers still have a working feed in their app. When you upgrade your plan, every affected subscriber automatically gets their private feed restored — no URL change, no email to every subscriber, no action required from anyone.
The trade-off in cap mode (for paying subscribers using a third-party membership plugin) is that they’re billed by that plugin during this window. Benecaster can’t intercept a separate plugin’s billing on your behalf. That’s why the admin warning is prominent and why auto-upgrade is the default — most podcasters want the situation resolved automatically rather than managing it manually.
What’s the difference between Multi-Show and Studio?
Multi-Show supports up to 3 shows and unlimited subscribers. Studio supports unlimited shows and unlimited subscribers, includes all current and future add-ons, priority support, and Migration + Setup Service.
Choose Multi-Show if you’re running 2–3 shows and want to select your add-ons individually.
Choose Studio if you need more than 3 shows, want every add-on without managing purchases, or want the setup and support included.
Is Migration Wizard included in my plan?
Growth, Pro, Multi-Show, and Studio all include Migration Wizard at no extra cost. For Starter, it’s available as a one-time add-on purchase ($79). Migration Wizard is a one-time-use tool — you pay once for the migration event, not annually.
Do add-ons cost more on lower-tier plans?
No. Add-on pricing is the same regardless of which core plan you’re on. A Starter podcaster pays the same for the Analytics Dashboard add-on as a Pro podcaster. Your core plan governs subscriber count and show count, not which tools you can access.
Do I need a paid plan to use add-ons?
No — but you do need a benecaster.com account with a connected license. The Launch plan is $0 and is all you need to purchase and activate add-ons. The WordPress.org free plugin without a benecaster.com account cannot use add-ons — add-on entitlements are tied to your account and validated through your site’s connection to benecaster.com.
If you’re already using the free plugin from WordPress.org and want to start using add-ons, sign up for a free Launch account at benecaster.com and connect your site. There’s no charge to create the account.
Can I share my Multi-Show or Studio license with another podcaster?
No. Multi-Show and Studio are multi-site licenses for your own shows — not to share with collaborators, friends, or colleagues. Every site activated under your license must be a podcast you own and operate.
If someone else wants to use Benecaster, they need their own license. The free tier supports up to 10 paying subscribers at no cost — it’s a real starting point, not a demo.
Sharing your license key for use on a show you don’t own and operate violates the acceptable use terms. Benecaster may terminate all shows on your license if a violation is confirmed, including the shows that are legitimately yours. See Running Multiple Shows for more on how show management works.
Can I use the same add-on on more than one site?
Each add-on is tied to a specific Benecaster license and is available across all shows on that license — 1 show for Launch through Pro, up to 3 for Multi-Show, unlimited for Studio.
If you run two separate shows on two separate WordPress sites and want the same add-on on both, you have two options:
Multi-Show (simplest): Upgrade to Multi-Show — one license, one add-on purchase, up to 3 shows. One login, one bill, everything in one place.
Two licenses on one account: Stay on two separate plans (e.g. Launch for each show) and purchase the add-on twice — once per license. At checkout, you’ll enter the Show UUID for each show (found in Benecaster → Settings → Show info) to direct the purchase to the right license. This works well when the two shows are at very different stages and you want to manage them independently.
Both paths are supported. Multi-Show is the better fit as your operation grows.
Do you offer agency or multi-site licensing?
Multi-Show (up to 3 shows) and Studio (unlimited shows) support multiple shows — but all shows must be ones you own and operate, not client shows. Every show under one license must be a podcast operation run by the license holder.
Agency licensing — where you activate Benecaster on sites owned by your clients — is not available. Each client needs their own license purchased by or for that client. Benecaster’s model is built around the podcast operator owning the subscriber relationship; sub-licensing undermines that for both you and your client.
If you’re a developer or agency setting up Benecaster for a client, purchase the license under the client’s account so they own it and can manage it independently going forward.
Is there a free trial?
No free trial, but there’s a genuine free tier (up to 10 paying subscribers, no time limit) and a 30-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans. A trial period isn’t long enough to set up, migrate subscribers, and evaluate real performance. The guarantee removes purchase risk without the complexity of managing trial accounts.
Why are there no lifetime licenses?
Benecaster is ongoing infrastructure your subscribers depend on — feed delivery, token validation, license checks. Lifetime licenses create customers with every incentive to file support requests and no incentive to stay current. Annual billing keeps the relationship honest: you renew because the tool is worth it, not because you’re locked in.
Do followers count against my token cap?
Yes. Each follower occupies one slot in your plan’s total token pool — the same pool shared with paying subscribers and free-tier members.
Benecaster tracks two separate limits:
Paying subscriber limit — the headline number on your plan (10 for Launch, 50 for Starter, etc.). Only paying subscribers count toward this limit. Followers and free-tier members do not.
Total token cap — all active tokens combined: paying subscribers, free-tier members, and followers. This secondary cap exists to keep the token pool proportionate to your plan.
Token caps by plan:
| Plan | Total token cap |
|---|---|
| WordPress.org (no account) | 100 followers |
| Launch (free account) | 250 |
| Starter | 500 |
| Growth | 2,500 |
| Pro, Multi-Show, Studio | Unlimited |
When you reach the WP.org follower cap (100), the [benecaster_follower_signup] shortcode renders an upgrade prompt. Creating a free Launch account at benecaster.com raises the cap to 250 at no cost — no card required.
See How Subscriber Limits Work → for a full explanation of what counts toward each limit.
Getting Started
Will Benecaster put extra load on my WordPress server?
Some, yes — and it’s worth understanding before you choose a hosting plan. Here’s the honest picture.
Feed requests are cheaper than they look. Benecaster’s feed cache is per tier, not per subscriber. If you have 500 subscribers across 3 tiers, there are 3 cached RSS documents — not 500. A subscriber’s podcast app polling their private feed URL hits token validation (one database query), then the cache. With a warm cache, the entire request resolves in a handful of milliseconds and never touches the feed compilation logic. This is substantially lighter than a typical WordPress page load.
Object caching makes a big difference. If your host provides Redis or Memcached (most managed WordPress hosts do), the cache lives in memory rather than the database. At that point, feed requests at scale are close to negligible — token validation plus a memory read.
The download proxy is where load actually compounds. If you enable the optional download proxy for analytics, every time a subscriber downloads an episode, the request passes through WordPress before redirecting to your hosted audio file. For a show with frequent releases and a large active subscriber base, this can add up. The proxy is opt-in — if server load is a concern, you can get full feed analytics without it. See Download Tracking → for a full explanation of what the proxy does and when to enable it.
Hosting guidance by plan:
- Free and Starter (up to 50 subscribers): shared hosting is generally fine.
- Growth (up to 250 subscribers): a VPS or entry-level managed WordPress host (Kinsta, WP Engine, SiteGround) is worth the investment.
- Pro and above: managed WordPress hosting with Redis and PHP-FPM is the right baseline. Most hosts at this tier include Redis as standard.
Podcast app polling is not as aggressive as it sounds. Apps typically poll feeds when the user opens the app, not on a fixed interval. A subscriber who checks their app once a day generates one feed request per day. 500 subscribers does not mean 500 requests per hour.
How much disk space does Benecaster need?
It depends primarily on whether you use the download proxy, but the core footprint is very small.
Core tables — a few megabytes:
Subscriber tokens, availability rules, email queue, sync logs, and similar tables add up to a few megabytes even at the Pro tier with hundreds of subscribers.
Analytics data — negligible:
Benecaster records subscriber lifecycle events (subscribe, cancel, tier change) and nightly per-tier snapshots from day one. Even a busy show with 1,000 subscribers generates less than 5MB of analytics data over five years — this is not a disk space concern.
Download proxy log — the one that grows:
If you enable the optional download proxy for episode analytics, every download generates a log row. Actual growth depends on subscriber count, episode frequency, and download behavior:
- 100 subscribers, 2 downloads/week: ~200 rows/week → ~1–2MB per year
- 1,000 subscribers, 4 downloads/week: ~4,000 rows/week → ~20–30MB per year
- 5,000 subscribers, 4 downloads/week: ~1M rows/year → ~100–150MB per year
For most shows the download proxy log is measured in megabytes, not gigabytes. At large scale (5,000+ active subscribers) it becomes worth monitoring.
When to set a retention window:
If you have abundant storage and want full analytics history, leave the retention at Forever (the default) — nothing is ever deleted. If you’re on shared hosting or have been running the proxy for years at scale, set a retention window (5 years, 2 years, 1 year, or custom) in Settings → Tools → Analytics Data. Once set, Benecaster enforces it automatically with a nightly cleanup job. The “Prune now” button handles on-demand cleanup at any time, with a row-count and disk-space preview before you confirm.
Backups:
Benecaster’s scoped backup files (migration backups and manual backups) are stored in your WordPress uploads folder. These are listed in the Tools screen with their file sizes, and you can delete them once you no longer need them. Backups are never deleted automatically — a gentle reminder appears 30 days after each migration backup in case you’ve forgotten one.
For a full guide to managing disk usage — retention settings, disabling the proxy, removing the GeoIP database, and more — see Reducing Disk Usage →.
What do I need before I can use Benecaster?
A self-hosted WordPress site. Benecaster is a WordPress plugin — it doesn’t work with WordPress.com hosted sites or other platforms.
Audio hosting. Benecaster manages your RSS feed and subscriber access; it doesn’t store or serve audio files. You’ll need an existing podcast host (Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Transistor, Captivate, S3, etc.) or file storage that produces a stable URL per episode.
Membership management. Benecaster includes a built-in membership system for subscriber billing and access control. If you already use MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro, Benecaster connects to it directly — your existing setup carries over. If you’re starting fresh, the built-in system handles everything with no additional plugin required.
Hosting with room to grow. Benecaster is lightweight for most shows, but a few hosting choices make a meaningful difference:
- Object caching (Redis or Memcached) — strongly recommended for any show with active subscribers. Most managed WordPress hosts include it. Feed requests with a warm cache add minimal server load; without it, each request hits the database.
- A host that allows PHP-FPM — important at Growth tier and above where concurrent feed requests compound.
- Adequate disk space — minimal for most shows, but the optional download proxy generates log data that grows with subscriber count and episode frequency. See How much disk space does Benecaster need? →
Shared hosting works fine for Launch and Starter. A managed WordPress host (Kinsta, WP Engine, SiteGround) is worth the investment from Growth onward.
Can I install Benecaster on my existing WordPress site?
Yes — Benecaster is a standard WordPress plugin and installs on any self-hosted WordPress site running PHP 8.2+ and WordPress 6.4+.
What you may need to rework depends on how you’re currently managing podcast episodes:
If you’re using another podcast plugin (Seriously Simple Podcasting, PowerPress, etc.), those plugins manage episodes in their own format. Benecaster uses its own Episode post type — episodes need to be in Benecaster’s system to appear in Benecaster’s feeds. Benecaster’s setup wizard includes a one-time import step that reads your existing episodes and converts them automatically. You review the results, fill in any Benecaster-specific fields (like per-tier availability), and go.
Running both plugins at the same time works briefly as a transition buffer — your existing public listeners are unaffected and keep receiving episodes while you set up and test Benecaster. But it isn’t a permanent setup. Both plugins manage episodes separately, so any new episode you publish has to go into one system or the other, not both. The typical transition takes a few days: import, test, set up a feed URL redirect, then deactivate the old plugin. After that, Benecaster is the single place you create and manage episodes.
If your episodes are WordPress posts or pages with a player embedded — same situation. The importer handles the conversion. You’d also need to replace any podcast plugin shortcodes in your episode content with Benecaster equivalents; the importer flags these for you.
If you have no podcast management plugin — Benecaster installs cleanly. Create episodes from scratch and you’re set.
If you already have a membership plugin (MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro) — that’s a head start. Benecaster connects to it rather than replacing it, so your existing members, billing setup, and subscription products stay exactly as they are.
If you’d rather not handle the transition yourself, the Setup Service covers the full configuration including episode import.
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.
How long does setup take?
For a podcaster who already has WordPress and a supported membership plugin, a straightforward setup — install the plugin, configure the bridge to your membership plugin, create your first episode — takes an hour or two. Setting up email templates, subscriber account pages, and tier mappings adds time but is not required to start.
If you’re migrating from Patreon or Supercast, the Migration Wizard automates the heavy lifting. A basic migration with a small subscriber list can be completed in an afternoon. A large migration with custom email sequences and a grace period takes longer to plan, not necessarily longer to run.
If you’d rather skip the technical setup entirely, the Setup Service covers all of it.
What if I don’t want to configure it myself?
The Setup Service is a personal, hands-on service where we configure everything on your WordPress installation — plugin install, membership plugin bridge, feed setup, email templates, subscriber account page. For migrations, it includes the full Patreon or Supercast CSV import, subscriber notification sequence, and post-migration monitoring.
Studio customers receive a Setup Service discount. See the Setup Service page → for tiers and pricing.
Can I run multiple shows?
Free through Pro each support a single show. Multi-Show supports up to 3 shows. Studio supports unlimited shows.
Shows can live on the same WordPress installation, on separate sites at separate domains, or any combination — there’s no limit on how many WordPress sites your license can be installed on.
Each subscriber’s token is show-specific — access to Show A doesn’t carry over to Show B. The admin UI includes a show switcher to navigate between shows on the same installation.
See Running Multiple Shows for configuration details.
Does Benecaster replace my membership plugin?
It depends on your situation.
Benecaster includes a built-in membership system — subscription tiers, Stripe billing, monthly and annual pricing, and failed payment handling. For most podcasters running a straightforward subscription model, that’s everything you need. No separate membership plugin required.
If you already use MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro, Benecaster integrates with all four. Your membership plugin continues to handle billing and subscriber management, and Benecaster handles private feed generation, token management, per-tier episode scheduling, and subscriber access. This path makes sense if your existing plugin handles complex billing scenarios — custom discount logic, site memberships that bundle podcast access alongside other content, or integrations with other WordPress tools you depend on.
Both paths produce the same subscriber experience: a private RSS feed URL that works in any podcast app.
Does Benecaster replace my podcast host?
No. Benecaster doesn’t host audio files. It generates authenticated RSS feeds that point at audio URLs on your existing hosting provider. Your episode files stay at Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Transistor, S3, or wherever they are today.
Can I use WooCommerce product variations with Benecaster?
Yes, with one important constraint: all variations of a variable subscription product map to the same Benecaster tier. Benecaster maps tiers by the parent product, not the individual variation. A subscriber who buys the monthly variation and one who buys the annual variation are treated identically — they both get the tier assigned to the parent product.
This is the correct setup for the common use cases: offering monthly and annual billing options, or selling the same subscription in multiple currencies or regions. One parent product, one tier mapping, all variations covered automatically.
If you need different variations to unlock different access levels — for example a Basic plan and a Pro plan — those need to be separate subscription products, not variations of one product. Variations of the same parent product cannot map to different tiers.
How do I offer monthly and annual billing options for the same subscription tier?
Create a single variable subscription product in WooCommerce with two variations — one for monthly billing, one for annual. Then map the parent product to your Benecaster tier once in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping.
Because Benecaster maps by parent product ID, both billing variations grant the same feed access automatically. You don’t need to create separate products or separate tier mappings for different billing intervals.
How do I sell the same subscription tier in multiple currencies or regions?
Create a variable subscription product with one variation per currency or region (USD, GBP, EUR, etc.). Map the parent product to your Benecaster tier once in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping.
Benecaster ignores variation details — price, currency, and region make no difference to tier resolution. All variations of the same parent product map to the same tier automatically. No additional Benecaster configuration is needed per region.
The WooCommerce side is a different story. Multi-currency support requires a compatible currency switcher plugin, per-variation pricing, and potentially payment gateway configuration for each currency. That setup lives entirely in WooCommerce and is outside Benecaster’s scope — once a subscriber is active, Benecaster only sees which parent product they purchased and grants the mapped tier accordingly.
My WooCommerce product variation isn’t showing up in Benecaster’s tier mapping. Why?
This is by design. Benecaster maps tiers by the parent subscription product, not individual variations. In Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping, you’ll see one entry per subscription product — the parent — not one entry per variation.
Find the parent product in the list and map it to the appropriate Benecaster tier. All variations of that product will then grant that tier’s access, regardless of which variation the subscriber purchased.
This means you can offer multiple pricing patterns for the same membership level — monthly and annual billing, regional pricing, a discounted rate for students, a founding member price — all as variations of one product, all mapping to the same Benecaster tier. One tier mapping entry covers all of them.
How do I offer monthly and annual billing options for the same subscription tier in Paid Memberships Pro?
Create a separate PMPro membership level for each billing option — for example, “Premium — Monthly” and “Premium — Annual.” Then map both levels to the same Benecaster tier in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping.
Benecaster checks all of a subscriber’s active membership levels. Whichever option they purchased, if it maps to a tier, they get that tier’s feed access. There is no limit on how many PMPro levels can map to the same Benecaster tier.
How do I offer monthly and annual billing options for the same subscription tier in Restrict Content Pro?
Create a separate RCP subscription level for each billing option — for example, “Premium — Monthly” and “Premium — Annual.” Then map both levels to the same Benecaster tier in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping.
Benecaster checks all of a subscriber’s active subscription levels. Whichever option they purchased, if it maps to a tier, they get that tier’s feed access.
Create one membership plan for the access level. Map it to a Benecaster tier once in Benecaster → Settings → Subscription → Tier Mapping. All billing options for that plan grant the same feed access automatically.
What hosting do I need to run Benecaster?
Benecaster requires PHP 8.2 or higher and WordPress 6.4 or higher. For small shows (under 50 active subscribers), any shared hosting plan that meets these requirements is sufficient. As your subscriber count grows, server needs change:
- 50–250 subscribers — VPS or managed WordPress hosting (SiteGround, Cloudways, WP Engine entry plans). Object caching (Redis or Memcached) is recommended.
- 250–1,000 subscribers — Managed WordPress hosting with Redis or Memcached enabled as a baseline. PHP-FPM and OPcache required.
- 1,000+ subscribers — Redis or Memcached should be considered a requirement at this scale.
See Server Requirements for the full specification.
Do I need Redis or Memcached?
Not immediately, but you will want it as you grow. Benecaster caches your podcast feeds by tier — 1,000 subscribers across 4 tiers produces 4 cached documents, not 1,000. With Redis or Memcached, those cache reads happen in memory with no database query at all.
Without an object cache, feed requests still work but every request involves a database query — more load on your server. Under 500 subscribers most hosts handle this without issue. Above 500, the database load from concurrent feed polls — particularly around episode releases — can noticeably affect site performance.
Most managed WordPress hosts (WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways) offer Redis as a one-click feature. LiteSpeed-based hosts (A2 Hosting, Namecheap) can use LiteSpeed Cache’s built-in object cache. No Benecaster configuration is needed — it uses the standard WordPress object cache API and picks up any compatible backend automatically.
Does Benecaster cache my subscribers’ podcast feeds?
Yes. Benecaster caches feed content by tier, not by subscriber. All subscribers at the same tier see identical episode content, so only one cached document per tier per show is needed — not one per subscriber. A show with 2,000 subscribers across 3 tiers stores 3 cached feeds, not 2,000. This saves the space and work needed from your server.
The cache is automatically refreshed when you publish or update an episode, when an episode’s scheduled release date arrives, when you change your show’s metadata, or when you manually clear it in Benecaster → Settings → Advanced → Clear Feed Cache.
With Redis or Memcached, cache reads happen in memory. Without an object cache, reads come from the database — still fast, but a bit more load on your server for each request.
Will my subscribers’ feed URL change if they upgrade or downgrade their plan?
No. A subscriber’s private feed URL stays the same regardless of plan changes — including when they move from a paid tier to a free one. Upgrading from Basic to Premium, switching billing from monthly to annual, or downgrading from a paid plan to the free listener tier: none of these change the URL or require re-adding the feed in a podcast app.
This is different from platforms that issue separate feed URLs per tier, or that treat free-tier members as a separate subscriber class with a different feed endpoint. On Benecaster, the token is tied to the person, not the plan. Their podcast app just sees updated episode availability on the next poll — no action required on their end.
The feed URL only changes if a subscriber’s token is explicitly reset (by them or by you), or if their access is revoked and they later resubscribe.
My subscribers are reporting slow feeds or feed loading errors — what should I do?
Slow or failing feed requests are almost always a server capacity issue, not a Benecaster configuration problem. The most common causes:
1. No object cache at a large subscriber count. At 500+ subscribers, feed poll volume can strain a shared or entry-level VPS database. Adding Redis or Memcached is usually the fix. See Server Requirements.
2. Stale cache causing unexpected content. If subscribers are seeing episodes they shouldn’t (or not seeing new ones), try a manual cache clear: Benecaster → Settings → Advanced → Clear Feed Cache. If the issue resolves immediately after clearing, the feed cache wasn’t being invalidated correctly — contact support with the details.
3. PHP memory limit too low. Feed compilation for large episode archives requires adequate PHP memory. Minimum 128MB; 256MB recommended for shows with 100+ episodes.
4. A plugin conflict on the feed request path. Some caching plugins (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache) aggressively cache all URLs including authenticated feed URLs. Your feed URL must be excluded from full-page caching. Benecaster sets Cache-Control: no-store on feed responses, but some plugins ignore this. Add your feed URL pattern to the caching plugin’s exclusion list.
If feed requests are timing out entirely, enable WordPress debug logging (WP_DEBUG_LOG = true) and check wp-content/debug.log during a failed feed poll for PHP errors or slow query warnings.
What languages is Benecaster available in?
Benecaster is currently available in English. Spanish is next — the plugin is built for translation from the ground up and the architecture is in place. If you’d like to be notified when your language is available, [contact us →].
When a language ships, here’s how it works: during setup you choose which languages you want to support. If you run an English-only podcast and aren’t comfortable managing content in another language, you pick English — your subscribers always get English. If you support multiple languages, subscribers can set their own preference on their account page and receive emails and subscriber-facing pages in their language when you support it.
Features
What is per-tier episode scheduling and why does it matter?
Per-tier episode scheduling lets you set different release dates for the same episode across different subscriber tiers. Premium subscribers get it Tuesday. Your free tier gets it Friday. The public never gets it. Each rule is set per episode, with show-wide defaults so most episodes just work automatically.
No other podcast platform or WordPress plugin offers this. Patreon, Supercast, and Castos all treat episode access as all-or-nothing per tier — you can gate an episode to premium subscribers, but you can’t schedule it to drip down to the free tier on a specific date without manual intervention.
How do private RSS feeds work?
When a subscriber signs up, Benecaster generates a unique, cryptographically random URL for them:
yoursite.com/podcast-feed/?token=abc123xyz
That URL is theirs alone — and it never changes. Their podcast app polls it like any other podcast feed. In the background, every request is validated: is this token active? What tier is this subscriber on? What episodes are they entitled to today? The RSS XML returned is compiled on the fly based on those answers.
For you as the podcaster: there is one feed per subscriber, not one feed per tier. You don’t manage a “Premium feed” and a “Basic feed” as separate URLs. You don’t turn off a subscriber’s access to a feed when they downgrade — the same URL continues to work, it just returns the episodes their new tier is entitled to. There’s no churn to manage when someone moves from one paid tier to another, or from paid to free. The subscriber keeps their URL regardless of where they sit.
For your listeners: because the URL never changes, their podcast app never loses track of what they’ve already heard. Podcast apps record played status, download history, and in-progress timestamps against the feed URL. If the URL changed — as it does on platforms that issue a separate feed per tier — the app would treat it as a brand new podcast and lose that history entirely. With Benecaster, a subscriber who upgrades from free to premium sees new episodes appear in the same feed they’re already subscribed to. They don’t need to re-add anything, and they won’t be re-prompted to listen to episodes they’ve already heard.
What is a token and why does it matter that each subscriber has their own?
A token is the unique identifier embedded in each subscriber’s private feed URL. Because each subscriber has a different URL, you can:
- Track exactly who is accessing their feed and when
- Revoke a specific subscriber’s access without affecting anyone else
- Reset a compromised URL for one subscriber without changing feeds for everyone
- See which subscribers haven’t polled their feed recently
On competing platforms (including Patreon), there is no per-subscriber feed URL — tokens don’t exist, and this level of individual control isn’t possible.
Can subscribers reset their own RSS feed URL?
Yes. Subscribers can reset their feed URL from their account dashboard on your site. This generates a new token and invalidates the old URL — useful if they believe their feed URL has been shared or compromised. Admins can also reset any subscriber’s token from the Benecaster subscriber management dashboard.
This will reset their listening history in their podcast app. Because the URL changes, the app treats the new feed as a brand new podcast — played status, downloaded episodes, and in-progress timestamps are all lost. The subscriber will need to re-add the new URL, and their app won’t remember what they’ve already heard. This is worth communicating to subscribers before they reset, so they’re not surprised when their app shows every episode as unplayed.
What analytics does Benecaster provide?
The core plugin includes a subscriber count stat card, a 90-day growth sparkline, and a tier breakdown panel — active count, new subscribers, and churned per tier for the last 30 days — in the admin dashboard from day one.
The Analytics Dashboard add-on adds: subscriber growth over time (by tier, with date-range controls and prior-period comparison), tier movement tracking (upgrades, downgrades), episode download counts (requires the download proxy to be enabled), downloads by episode and date range, podcast app breakdown, feed engagement per tier, cohort analysis, and CSV export of any panel.
Because Benecaster collects analytics data from the moment it’s installed — not from when you purchase the add-on — buying the Analytics Dashboard six months in gives you six months of charts immediately. There’s no retroactive gap.
What are benchmark analytics?
Benchmark analytics show how your show performs relative to other Benecaster-powered podcasts. For example: “Your churn rate (3.2%) is below the platform median (5.8%)” or “Your episode reach (74%) is in the top quartile.”
This data is aggregated anonymously across all Benecaster installs. No individual subscriber data from any other show is ever visible to you — only statistical benchmarks (p25, p50, p75) drawn from the aggregate. Benchmarks are only shown when at least 10 sites contribute to a given metric, to prevent any site’s data from being reverse-engineered.
What is the download proxy and do I need it?
The download proxy is an optional feature that routes audio download requests through your WordPress site via HTTP 302 redirect before sending the subscriber to your actual hosted file. WordPress logs the request (subscriber identity, episode, timestamp, podcast app) and immediately redirects — no audio is served from your server, no bandwidth cost.
This enables true per-episode, per-subscriber download analytics, podcast app identification, and exact last-access timestamps. Without it, feed polling data is available but per-episode download counts aren’t.
You don’t need to enable it to use Benecaster. It’s a trade-off: slightly more infrastructure complexity for significantly richer analytics.
Can I transcribe non-English podcasts?
Yes — but language support depends on which transcription provider you choose. Benecaster works with four providers, each with different multilingual coverage:
| Provider | Languages |
|---|---|
| OpenAI Whisper | 99 languages — auto-detects language, no configuration needed |
| AssemblyAI | ~99 languages — accuracy varies significantly by language |
| Deepgram (Nova-3) | 60+ languages |
| Rev.ai | 57+ languages |
OpenAI Whisper is the most capable choice for non-English content. It auto-detects the language from the audio itself, so a Spanish or Portuguese podcast transcribes correctly without any additional setup on your end. AssemblyAI and Deepgram have broad language coverage, but their accuracy is highest for English and a handful of major European languages — check each provider’s documentation for specifics on your language.
Benecaster currently passes audio to your chosen provider without a language hint — the provider handles detection automatically.
Does Benecaster identify who’s speaking in transcripts?
Yes — this is called speaker diarization, and Benecaster supports it for multi-speaker shows like interviews and co-hosted podcasts. When enabled, the transcript labels each speaker throughout (“Speaker 1,” “Speaker 2,” etc.) rather than presenting a single unbroken block of text.
You enable diarization per show — it’s off by default, since solo shows don’t need it and it adds a small amount of processing time. An optional speaker count hint (set it to 2 for a standard host + guest format) keeps the labeling clean on long recordings.
Speaker support by provider:
| Provider | Diarization |
|---|---|
| AssemblyAI | ✓ Native |
| Deepgram | ✓ Native |
| Rev.ai | ✓ Native |
| OpenAI (gpt-4o-transcribe) | ✓ Native |
| OpenAI Whisper (original) | ✗ Not supported — upgrade to the gpt-4o-transcribe model to enable it |
Named speakers with Guest Manager: If you have the Guest Manager add-on installed, you can map speaker labels to real names directly in the transcript editor — “Speaker 1” becomes your name and “Speaker 2” becomes your guest’s name. Those names then appear in the displayed transcript, in SRT/VTT exports, and in the <podcast:transcript> RSS tag that Podcasting 2.0 apps display.
Do different shows need separate email accounts or SMTP setups?
No. All Benecaster emails — across every show on your site — go through WordPress’s mail system, which uses a single SMTP connection configured once for the whole site. You configure SMTP once using a plugin like WP Mail SMTP or Fluent SMTP, and every show uses it.
Each show has its own From name and From address. A subscriber to “Crypto Curious Podcast” sees that show’s name and address in their inbox; a subscriber to “Daily Tech Brief” sees that show’s. These are email headers set per message — not separate accounts or sending credentials.
The one exception: if your shows use From addresses on different domains (e.g., one show sends from hello@cryptopodcast.com and another from hello@techbrief.fm), each domain needs to be authorized in your SMTP provider and have SPF and DKIM records set up. If both shows use the same domain, no extra configuration is needed.
Can I add a signature or credits block to my episodes?
Yes — Benecaster calls this feature Episode Credits. You write reusable text templates at the show level (a credits block, a sponsor note, a recurring call to action, whatever fits your show), then apply one to an episode with a single click. The resolved text is appended to your episode notes and appears in your podcast app’s show notes.
Credits support shortcodes. A template with [benecaster_recent_members] captures who your current subscribers are the moment you apply it — not a live-updating list, but a snapshot that stays accurate for when listeners hear the episode.
You can define as many templates as you like per show and set one as the default. The default is pre-selected in the episode editor so applying it to every episode takes one click.
Will my credits update if I edit the template later?
No — and that’s intentional. When you apply a credit to an episode, Benecaster resolves all the shortcodes at that moment and bakes the result into the episode permanently. Editing the template afterward doesn’t touch past episodes. Only new episodes (or episodes where you click Apply again) pick up the changes.
This matters for anything time-sensitive: a sponsor note is accurate to when the episode was created; a new-member recognition block names who had joined at that point. These shouldn’t silently update months later.
If you want to update the credit on a specific episode, open the episode editor, select the revised template, and click Apply again. Benecaster will ask you to confirm before overwriting the existing credit.
Can I edit the credit text after applying it to an episode?
Yes. The stamped text is fully editable in the episode editor. Changing it doesn’t affect the template or any other episode — it’s just text on that episode. If you need to tweak wording, fix a typo, or add something specific to a particular episode, edit it directly.
What shortcodes work inside an Episode Credits template?
Any shortcode you can use in episode content works in a credits template. Shortcodes are resolved at the moment you click Apply — the result is what gets saved, not the shortcode itself.
This means dynamic shortcodes like [benecaster_recent_members] capture current data at stamp time. Listeners who hear the episode six months later will see who was subscribed when the episode was created — which is usually exactly what you want for recognition copy. If you want a live-updating list, put the shortcode directly in the episode body instead, where it renders dynamically on page load.
What are Episode Credits actually useful for?
Credits are intentionally flexible — they’re a text template applied at creation time, so the use case is anything you’d want to say consistently at the bottom of every episode, or anything where “current as of this episode” matters:
- True credits — “Hosted by… Produced by… Edited by…” — the literal credits meaning
- Sponsor copy — the advertiser’s message as it was when you published, not silently updated if the deal changes later
- New member recognition — name the subscribers who joined this week; the list stays accurate to when you published
- Recurring calls to action — “Subscribe for full access at…” applied consistently without retyping
- Show notes scaffold — a structural template that keeps the format consistent across episodes
- Legal or disclaimer text — boilerplate that needs to appear on every episode
How are Episode Credits different from Feed Credits?
They’re completely separate features that solve different problems.
Feed Credits (in the Guests tab of the episode editor) add structured <podcast:person> tags to your RSS feed. Podcast apps that support Podcasting 2.0 — like Pocket Casts and Podcast Addict — use these tags to display guest and host attribution. They’re data for apps, not text for listeners.
Episode Credits are free-form text — a template you write and apply to individual episodes. The text appears in your episode notes and in podcast app show notes. They’re for your listeners, not for app metadata.
Both can be used on the same episode. A guest episode might have Feed Credits listing the guest’s name and role for Podcasting 2.0 apps, and an Episode Credits block thanking the guest and including a sponsor note for listeners.
Can I have more than one credits template per show?
Yes. You can create as many templates as your show needs and designate one as the default. The default is pre-selected in the episode editor, so applying it requires one click. For episodes that need a different template — a guest interview template instead of the standard solo episode template, for example — just pick the right one from the dropdown before clicking Apply.
Can I apply more than one credits template to the same episode?
One episode, one credit block. Applying a second template replaces the first — you’ll be asked to confirm before it overwrites.
If you need content from two templates on one episode, the practical approach is to combine them: either create a template that covers both (a guest episode template that includes both standard credits and the sponsor note, for example), or apply one template and edit the stamped text to add whatever the other would have contributed. The stamped text is fully editable after applying — editing it doesn’t affect the template or other episodes.
Do Episode Credits appear in my podcast’s RSS feed?
Yes. Credits appear at the bottom of your episode’s show notes — in the podcast app, just like on the episode page on your site. Any app that displays show notes will show them.
What listeners see is exactly what was locked in when you clicked Apply. The credit is saved as plain text at that point, so there’s nothing to change afterward — no dynamic updates, no re-processing. What you applied is what they get.
Do my subscription prices update automatically on my site when I change them?
It depends on how you’re displaying the price.
If you’re using [benecaster_tier_price] or [benecaster_pricing_table], yes — both pull the price live from your subscription bridge on each page load, so a price change in MemberPress, RCP, or whichever plugin you use is reflected on your site immediately. No page editing required.
Same for tier names: [benecaster_tier_name] always outputs the current name from your membership plugin. If you rename a tier, the shortcode picks it up automatically.
If you’ve hardcoded a price or tier name into your page content — typed directly into a block or text widget — that text stays as-is until you manually update it.
Is Benecaster compatible with dynamic ad insertion?
Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) is a way of swapping different ads into an episode’s audio depending on when and where a listener downloads it — so a listener in Chicago hears a different ad than one in Austin, and an ad campaign that ended last Tuesday is replaced automatically rather than living forever in the file.
There are two main ways this is implemented, and they work differently with Benecaster.
Redirect-prefix tracking (Podtrac, Chartable, Spotify prefix, and similar): These services wrap your audio file URL with a short redirect — your episode’s URL in the RSS feed points to their server first, which logs the download and immediately sends the listener’s app to the actual audio file. Because Benecaster uses the URL you enter in the episode’s audio field as-is, this works transparently: enter the prefix-wrapped URL, and Benecaster includes it in every private subscriber feed. Your listeners’ apps follow the redirect chain normally and the ad service sees their real location for targeting.
Platform-level audio stitching (Megaphone, Acast, Omny, and similar hosting platforms): These services stitch ads directly into the audio at the moment of download, based on the listener’s location and the current ad inventory. The audio URL in your feed is their ad server’s endpoint, and that part works — your listeners’ apps hit the platform’s server and get the stitched audio. What doesn’t carry over is anything tied to the platform’s own RSS feed: per-subscriber engagement data, frequency capping, and download attribution in their reporting dashboard all depend on the platform serving the feed itself. Because Benecaster serves the private subscriber feeds instead, those platform-level analytics are unavailable. You’d be managing two separate download counts — Benecaster’s subscriber count and the platform’s audio request count — with no automatic reconciliation between them.
For most shows, Podtrac-style prefix tracking is the right tool and works without any special configuration. If you’re running a larger show with a direct ad sales relationship on Megaphone or a similar platform, reach out to support@benecaster.com before you set things up — the specifics depend on how your hosting provider handles audio delivery.
Your Subscribers
What does my subscriber’s experience look like?
When a subscriber signs up and pays, they receive a welcome email with their personal RSS feed URL. The email includes one-tap deep links to add the feed directly in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castro, and other common podcast apps. From their perspective, it’s a normal podcast subscription that appears in their existing app alongside their other shows.
They can also access their feed URL, a QR code, and account management from a subscriber account page on your WordPress site.
Which podcast apps work with Benecaster’s private feeds?
Any podcast app that supports custom RSS feed URLs works. That includes Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Castro, Podcast Addict, AntennaPod, and most others.
For the most popular apps, your welcome email includes a one-tap button to open the feed directly in the app — no copying and pasting a URL. The same buttons are on your subscriber account page if you need them later.
Does Benecaster work with Spotify?
Public podcast feeds work normally on Spotify. Private token-based feeds — the ones Benecaster generates for paying subscribers — cannot be delivered to Spotify. Spotify does not support custom RSS feed URLs for private podcasts in the same way other podcast apps do.
If you need Spotify distribution for your public feed, that works fine. Your paying subscribers use their personal RSS URL in a standard podcast app.
Spotify also can’t be used as your audio host. When you distribute to Spotify, they re-host your audio internally — those files don’t have URLs you can link to from your own feed or site. Your audio files need to live on a standard podcast host or your own server.
Can a subscriber use their feed on multiple devices?
Yes. A subscriber’s RSS feed URL can be added to their podcast app on any number of their own devices. The feed URL is a URL — there’s no device limit. If a subscriber believes their URL has been shared with someone else, they can reset it from their account dashboard.
What happens to my subscribers’ feeds if I upgrade or downgrade my plan?
Your subscribers’ feeds are never affected by a plan change — their token URLs continue working regardless of what plan you’re on.
Upgrading works immediately with no restrictions. If you’re on Growth and move to Pro, all your existing subscribers keep their feeds and you can add more.
Downgrading has two conditions that must both be met. First, if you upgraded from Launch, a one-billing-period lock applies — one month on monthly billing, twelve months on annual — and you can’t downgrade until that period has passed. Second, you can only downgrade to a plan that supports your current subscriber count. If you’re on Starter with 48 subscribers, you can’t downgrade to Launch (which supports up to 10 paying subscribers) until you’re back under that limit. The option simply won’t be available to you until both conditions are satisfied.
What happens if a subscriber cancels?
It depends on whether you offer a free membership tier — and this is one of the better reasons to have one.
If you offer a free membership tier: A subscriber who no longer wants to pay can downgrade to free instead of cancelling outright. Their token stays active, their feed URL doesn’t change, and the show keeps updating in their podcast app exactly as before — they just start receiving free-tier content. No action required on their end. If you want to retain cancelled subscribers on your list, prompting them to downgrade via your membership plugin’s cancellation flow is more effective than any re-add step.
If they cancel entirely (or you don’t offer a free tier): Their token is revoked and they lose access to premium episodes. By default, their existing feed URL continues to work — it just serves your public feed instead of their private one, so the show keeps updating in their app. Nothing breaks from their perspective; they simply stop receiving paid content.
If they want to regain access to premium episodes, they resubscribe through your normal sign-up flow and receive a new private feed URL to add in their podcast app.
Do subscribers have to re-subscribe to keep following the show after cancelling?
It depends on whether you offer a free membership tier — and this distinction is one of the more compelling reasons to have one.
If you have a free membership tier: A subscriber who no longer wants to pay can downgrade to the free tier instead of cancelling outright. Because their feed URL doesn’t change — it just starts serving free-tier content — the show stays in their podcast app exactly as it was. Nothing to re-add, no URL to update. They remain on your list, receiving free-tier episodes and your broadcast emails.
If you don’t have a free tier (or they cancel entirely): Their private feed URL stops working when their token is revoked. Your public podcast feed is still live at a separate URL, but their podcast app still has the old private feed URL — not the public one. To keep following the show on the public feed, they’d need to manually subscribe to the public feed URL in their app. It’s not complicated, but it is a step.
On Patreon, cancellation is a hard exit regardless: the patron’s private feed URL goes dark with no fallback, and if they want to come back later, they’re starting from scratch — finding the Patreon page, resubscribing, receiving a new feed URL, re-adding it to their app. The show effectively disappears until they do all of that.
The free-tier downgrade path is why many podcasters offer a free tier even when they don’t actively promote it — it’s an invisible off-ramp that keeps cancelled subscribers in the app rather than losing them to attrition.
What is a follower versus a free member?
They look similar from a listener’s perspective — both get your public RSS feed and can receive your broadcast emails — but they come from different infrastructure and require different things from you.
A follower signs up through the [benecaster_follower_signup] shortcode with just an email address. No membership plugin required. No payment of any kind. No Benecaster account required on your end. This shortcode works on a plain WordPress.org install with no license at all.
Use follower signup when you want the lowest possible friction for listeners to join your list — before you’ve set up subscription infrastructure, or alongside a paid tier as a “stay in touch” option that doesn’t require anyone to create a membership account.
A free member is someone who joins through your membership plugin at a free tier — a level you’ve configured with no payment required. Free members require a supported membership plugin (MemberPress, WooCommerce Subscriptions, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro) and an active Benecaster license. Unlike followers, free members can be given access to a custom subscriber feed with specific episode visibility rules — content gated separately from your public feed.
Use free membership tiers when you want to offer structured gated content at no cost alongside your paid tiers, and you already have membership infrastructure in place.
Both followers and free-tier members count toward your plan’s total token cap but not toward your paying subscriber limit. See Do followers count against my token cap? →
Migration
Can I move my Patreon subscribers to Benecaster?
Yes. The Migration Wizard imports your Patreon patron CSV, maps your tier names to Benecaster subscription levels, creates WordPress user accounts, generates private feed URLs, and sends your patrons a configurable migration email sequence. A grace period (30, 60, or 90 days) keeps their access intact while they complete payment setup on your site — no one loses their feed during the transition.
The wizard includes a migration dashboard showing the full funnel: imported → emailed → clicked → subscribed → dropped off. You can resend to non-completers at any time.
Migration Wizard is included free with Growth, Pro, Multi-Show, and Studio. For Starter, it’s available as a one-time add-on purchase ($79).
Do I have to migrate my existing Patreon subscribers to use Benecaster?
No. Migration is an option, not a requirement.
You can start Benecaster for new subscribers today while your Patreon keeps running exactly as it is. Existing patrons aren’t asked to do anything. Their access is uninterrupted. Your Patreon revenue doesn’t move.
The reason most podcasters hesitate on migration isn’t the technical steps — it’s income risk. Ask 200 subscribers to switch platforms and some percentage won’t get around to it. Not because they’ve stopped valuing your show, but because people don’t always complete tasks that require effort, even easy ones. A well-run migration with a good email sequence and a 90-day grace period will still see some attrition. That attrition is real money, and the fear of it is a reasonable reason to pause.
Running both removes that risk entirely. Your Patreon revenue is untouched. New subscribers come in on Benecaster from day one. When your Benecaster base has grown enough that migration feels low-stakes rather than bet-the-income — you can move your Patreon patrons then, on your timeline. Or let the Patreon side wind down naturally as subscribers lapse and don’t renew there. Or keep running both indefinitely. Benecaster works either way.
To see your full picture while running both: export your Patreon patron list and upload it at Benecaster → Settings → Visibility. Your subscriber dashboard shows Patreon patrons alongside your Benecaster subscribers — separate counts, combined total. Re-upload any time you want a current snapshot.
Analytics while running both: Uploading your Patreon patron list is a manual step and gives you headcount visibility, not the full analytics picture. Benecaster’s Analytics Dashboard tracks growth trends, churn, tier movement, episode downloads, and cohort retention — but only for subscribers in Benecaster. Your Patreon patrons’ data lives in Patreon’s dashboard, not yours. As long as you’re running both, you’re reading two separate dashboards to understand one audience. The cleanest analytics picture — a single place to see all subscriber growth, engagement, and revenue trends — comes from having everyone in Benecaster.
Your Patreon patrons don’t count toward your Benecaster plan. You’re billed on your Benecaster subscribers only, so the Launch plan ($0, up to 10 paying subscribers) stays free until the Benecaster side of your audience crosses that threshold on its own.
I host my episode audio directly on Patreon. What do I need to do before migrating?
Move your audio files to a podcast hosting provider first. Benecaster doesn’t host audio — it generates RSS feeds that point at audio URLs on your existing host. If your audio lives on Patreon’s servers, your feed will break the moment your Patreon account is closed.
The Migration Wizard includes a pre-migration checklist step that surfaces this requirement before subscriber import begins. Recommended hosts for podcasters moving from Patreon: Buzzsprout, Transistor, Libsyn, Captivate, or S3. Most offer import tools to bring episodes over from another host.
How long does a Patreon migration take?
The technical steps — importing the CSV, creating accounts, generating feeds, sending the first migration email — take minutes. The migration completes over the grace period you choose (30, 60, or 90 days), as patrons receive their email, click through, and set up payment on your site.
Plan for a 4–6 week active migration window for most shows. The Migration Wizard tracks completion in real time so you know exactly where everyone is.
Can I move from Supercast?
Yes. The Migration Wizard accepts Supercast CSV exports and auto-detects the format from the column structure. Upload your Supercast subscriber export, map your plan names to Benecaster subscription tiers, set a grace period, and the wizard creates private feed URLs and sends your subscribers a migration email sequence.
Feed URL continuity is a priority for the Supercast migration path — migrated subscribers should be able to keep listening without re-adding their feed in their podcast app.
Will my subscribers’ current feed URLs break when I migrate?
If you’re migrating from Patreon: your subscribers currently have Patreon-issued feed URLs. Those will stop working when your Patreon account closes regardless — there’s no continuity possible since Patreon controls those URLs. The Migration Wizard generates new Benecaster feed URLs and sends them to your patrons. The grace period gives patrons time to add the new URL before their old one stops working.
If you’re migrating from Supercast: the Supercast migration wizard (when available) will prioritize feed URL continuity — migrated subscribers should be able to keep listening without re-adding their feed. This is a hard requirement for the Supercast migration mode.
Can Benecaster import my Castos subscriber list?
Yes. The Migration Wizard accepts Castos CSV exports using the same import flow as Patreon migrations. Upload your Castos subscriber export, map your plan names to Benecaster subscription tiers, set a grace period, and the wizard creates private feed URLs and sends your subscribers a migration email sequence. Their access stays intact throughout the transition.
Castos users already have audio hosting separate from the platform — there’s no audio hosting complication to resolve before migration, which makes this one of the cleanest migration paths Benecaster supports.
Migration Wizard is included free with Growth, Pro, Multi-Show, and Studio. For Starter, it’s available as a one-time add-on purchase ($79).
Do I need to cancel Castos before switching to Benecaster?
No — and you shouldn’t, at least not immediately.
Run both during your migration’s grace period. Your subscribers receive their new Benecaster feed URL in the migration welcome email; as they switch to it, you can watch completion rates in the Migration Dashboard. Cancel Castos when migration completion has plateaued — typically after the grace period ends and you’ve re-sent to non-completers.
Some podcasters prefer a slower transition: keep Castos running, let new subscribers come in through Benecaster, and let existing subscribers migrate on their own timeline without a hard cutoff. This works, but it comes with tradeoffs — your subscriber list is split across two platforms, and your analytics are too. You won’t get a unified view of engagement or churn until everyone is on Benecaster.
If unified analytics matter to you before you’ve fully cancelled Castos, you can import your Castos subscriber CSV into Benecaster using the same process as a Patreon migration — the Migration Wizard supports it. This lets Benecaster build a historical picture of your subscriber base even if those subscribers are still technically active on Castos. See Can Benecaster import my Castos subscriber list? for details.
What happens to my subscribers’ feed URLs when I switch from Castos?
Castos-issued feed URLs are controlled by Castos — they stop resolving when your Castos account closes. There is no way to preserve them.
The Migration Wizard generates new Benecaster feed URLs and sends them to each subscriber in the migration welcome email, along with one-tap deep links for Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and Castro. The email walks subscribers through updating their app — most podcast apps make this a simple re-add.
The grace period (30, 60, or 90 days) keeps their Castos access alive while they make the switch. Subscribers who complete the migration during the grace period experience no gap in access. Those who miss the deadline and need to re-subscribe go through your normal sign-up flow.
Do I lose my Castos transcripts when I migrate?
Castos exports transcripts as PDF only, and PDFs don’t preserve timestamps in a way that transfers to another platform.
What you can do: Download your Castos transcripts as PDFs and upload them directly into Benecaster’s transcript import panel — it accepts PDF files and extracts the text automatically. The transcript is stored, published to your episode page, and indexed for search. Interactive click-to-jump playback won’t work — that requires timestamps — but the transcript content is there.
For timestamped transcripts: Re-transcribe via the Transcription add-on. At roughly $0.18 per 30-minute episode, 100 back-catalog episodes costs about $18 in API fees. Benecaster has no monthly cap, so you can run the full batch at once rather than waiting for Castos’s per-month quota to reset.
Benecaster exports transcripts as SRT, VTT, plain text, or PDF — standard formats you can take anywhere. The Transcription add-on also imports from services that do export properly — Rev, Descript, Sonix, or any provider that outputs SRT or VTT with timestamps intact. If your previous host emits <podcast:transcript> tags in their RSS feed (Buzzsprout, Transistor, Captivate, and others support Podcasting 2.0), the Migration Wizard can import transcripts for every episode automatically as part of migration — no per-file upload required. Castos does not currently emit these tags, so automatic import is not available for Castos migrants.
What file formats does the Migration Wizard accept?
The Migration Wizard accepts CSV files (.csv). Excel files (.xlsx, .xls) are not supported — if your subscriber list is in a spreadsheet, you’ll need to export or save it as a CSV first. Most spreadsheet apps make this a one-step export. See how to export a spreadsheet to CSV →
For known platforms, the wizard auto-detects the source from the CSV column structure and pre-fills the field mappings — no manual setup required. Supported platforms at launch: Patreon, Supercast, Hello Audio, Memberful, Castos.
For any other CSV format — or a custom subscriber spreadsheet — the visual field mapper lets you assign columns manually. As long as your file has an email address column, the import will work.
Data and Privacy
Who owns my subscriber data?
You do — and Benecaster never has access to it. Every subscriber token, email address, feed access log, and billing relationship lives in your WordPress database on your server. It never leaves. Benecaster’s license server handles activation and license validation; it has no connection to your subscriber data and no way to reach it.
Export it anytime. Migrate to a different membership plugin, move hosts, shut down your Patreon — your subscriber list goes with you and no one else has a copy of it.
What data does Benecaster send to the license server?
The daily license validation ping sends: your license key, your site URL, plugin and WordPress versions, and — if you’ve opted in to telemetry — anonymized aggregate usage statistics.
What “aggregate” means: subscriber counts by tier, geographic distribution as country/region totals (e.g., “45 subscribers in Texas”), listening pattern distributions by hour-of-day and day-of-week, subscriber tenure in buckets, and churn rate. No subscriber emails, names, tokens, feed URLs, or any personally identifying information is ever transmitted. The license server cannot identify any individual subscriber from the data it receives.
Telemetry is opt-in. The minimum validation payload (license key, site URL, version numbers) is always sent for license validation. Everything else is only transmitted with your consent.
Does Benecaster collect location data from my subscribers?
Benecaster looks up the country and region (state/province) of each feed access request using a locally-installed geographic database (MaxMind GeoLite2-City). The raw IP address is discarded immediately after the lookup — only the country code and region code are stored on your server. City, postal code, and precise coordinates are never extracted.
IP-based geolocation has inherent limitations worth knowing about. Country-level accuracy is generally reliable, but region/state accuracy is lower. Subscribers using a VPN will show the VPN server’s location rather than their own. Mobile subscribers may show a location tied to their carrier’s regional hub rather than where they actually are. These are constraints of the approach, not gaps in how Benecaster implements it — any tool that infers location from IP addresses faces the same limitations.
This geographic data stays on your server. If you’ve opted in to telemetry, aggregate country/region counts are included in the telemetry payload — not individual subscriber locations, just totals by region.
Can I export my subscriber list?
Yes. Your subscriber data lives in your WordPress database. You can export it directly from the database at any time, or use the export tools in your membership plugin (MemberPress, WooCommerce, etc.). Benecaster does not add any restriction or lock-in to your own data.
Can I control how long Benecaster keeps analytics history?
Yes, and Benecaster uses two separate retention systems depending on what’s being stored.
Analytics data (Settings → Tools → Analytics Data) — controls download proxy records, subscriber lifecycle events, and daily analytics snapshots. The default is Forever — nothing is deleted until you set a window or use “Prune now” manually. Options: Forever, 5 years, 2 years, 1 year, or a custom number of months. The subscriber events and snapshots stay small even over many years; download proxy records are the one that grows meaningfully at scale.
One important consequence: if you purchase the Analytics Dashboard add-on after months of running core, your full history is available immediately in every chart. But if you prune data while the add-on is active, the pruned period is gone permanently — those charts go blank for the affected dates. If you want full long-term analytics history, keep the retention at Forever.
Feed request log (Settings → GDPR / Privacy) — a separate, higher-volume data set. Every feed access request is logged with a status (valid subscriber, revoked token, unrecognized token, or over-limit) along with a timestamp, hashed IP, and country/region. Because this is a per-request log, it can grow quickly on active shows. The default retention is 30 days, and Benecaster purges it automatically each night — no action required on your part. You can shorten or lengthen the window, or disable logging entirely, from the GDPR / Privacy settings panel.
The raw feed request log is kept deliberately short-lived. Each night, Benecaster purges rows older than your configured window. Separately, the daily analytics snapshots (governed by the Analytics Data retention above) accumulate pre-aggregated summaries from the raw log — those are what power longer-term analytics charts and stay compact regardless of traffic volume. Once the raw rows have been summarized into the daily snapshot, they don’t need to be kept long-term.
What happens to my data if I cancel my Benecaster license?
Nothing is deleted. Your subscriber data, episode content, and all Benecaster records remain in your WordPress database after cancellation. The plugin continues to function in a limited capacity — new token generation stops, but existing feeds continue working. Your data is yours regardless of license status.
Billing and Account
What payment methods do you accept?
Credit and debit cards via Stripe.
What is your refund policy?
30-day money-back guarantee on all paid plans. No questions asked. Contact support within 30 days of your purchase or renewal.
Can I switch between monthly and annual billing?
Yes. You can switch in either direction from your account dashboard — the change takes effect at your next renewal date. Annual billing saves approximately 30% compared to monthly.
What happens if my payment fails?
If a renewal payment fails, Benecaster shows an admin notice on your WordPress site prompting you to update your billing information. Your account is on hold until payment is resolved — your membership plugin or billing provider handles the retry schedule.
While on hold, existing subscriber feeds continue working normally. New token generation stops, so new subscribers can’t be added during this period. If payment isn’t resolved within 30 days, existing private feeds drop to the public feed — subscribers stay in a working state in their podcast app but receive the public episode set instead of their private content. Once payment clears, private access restores automatically for all existing subscribers.
What happens when I cancel?
Cancel anytime from your account dashboard. For SureCart-billed plans, cancellation is scheduled for the end of your current billing period — your access continues normally until then, and so do your subscribers’ private feeds. When the billing period ends, the same 30-day grace period applies: private feeds remain active for 30 days, then drop to the public feed until you reactivate. New token generation stops immediately on cancellation, so no new subscribers can be added during the remaining period.
If you’re within the 30-day refund window, requesting a refund cancels your account immediately rather than at period end.
All your data remains in your WordPress database. Reactivate at any time by resubscribing — existing subscriber tokens restore automatically.
How do I manage my shows across my Benecaster account?
Your Benecaster plan determines how many shows you can run — 1 for Launch through Pro, up to 3 for Multi-Show, and unlimited for Studio.
Shows can be on any combination of WordPress sites. A Multi-Show license, for example, can support one site with all 3 shows, three separate sites each running one show, or anything in between. There is no separate limit on how many WordPress installations your license can be installed on.
You manage shows from the Benecaster admin dashboard on each WordPress site where the plugin is installed. The show switcher in the Benecaster top bar lets you move between shows on the same installation.
When you reach your plan’s show limit, the Add Show button is disabled and an upgrade prompt appears. To add another show, upgrade to Multi-Show (up to 3 shows) or Studio (unlimited shows) from your account at benecaster.com.
To reassign a license slot to a different show, remove the existing show from your account on benecaster.com. Removal takes effect immediately — the removed show loses access at that moment and you’ll receive a confirmation email. The freed slot is then available to assign to a new show.
My subscriber count dropped suddenly — will I be auto-downgraded?
A drop of more than 80% from your all-time subscriber high, or a count falling below 5 on a license that previously reported more than 10 subscribers, is flagged as a suspicious drop rather than treated as normal churn. Instead of applying downgrade logic, Benecaster sends an immediate alert: “We noticed your subscriber count dropped — is everything okay? This could indicate a technical issue.” All tier change logic is paused while the flag is active. If your count recovers within one billing period the flag clears automatically with no plan change. If the low count persists, Benecaster resumes normal downgrade evaluation from that point.
Gradual subscriber loss follows a different path. If your count falls below a lower tier threshold and stays there for two consecutive billing periods, Benecaster schedules an automatic downgrade. You get advance notice at each step: a warning email after the first period (“[X] subscribers — if this continues next billing period, your plan will move to [tier]”), then a confirmed date before the change fires.
There’s also a time limit on manual downgrades. If you upgraded from the Launch tier, a one-billing-period lock applies — one month on monthly billing, twelve months on annual — and you won’t be able to manually request a downgrade during that window, even if your subscriber count is below the target tier’s limit. After the lock expires, downgrade is available from your account at benecaster.com if your count still qualifies.
My site shows a ‘Reconnect to Benecaster’ notice — what do I do?
The “Reconnect to Benecaster” notice appears in your WordPress admin when your site’s connection to your Benecaster account has been interrupted. While disconnected, subscription-gated features for that show are hidden from the front end.
To reconnect: click the Reconnect to Benecaster button in the notice, or go to Benecaster → Settings → Account and click Connect. You’ll be taken to benecaster.com to log in and confirm — the plugin re-establishes the connection automatically. Your subscriber data is not affected.
The notice is per-show: if you have multiple shows on the same WordPress installation, only the show whose connection was interrupted shows the notice. Other shows are unaffected.
If the notice keeps reappearing after reconnecting, contact support.
For Developers
Does Benecaster have hooks and filters?
Yes, throughout. Hooks and filters are a standard WordPress feature, and Benecaster was built to make robust use of them for maximum customization. Action hooks fire with every significant event so you can run your own code at any point in the plugin’s lifecycle. Filters wrap every significant output so you can alter it before it reaches the page or the feed. Data going into the RSS feed is filterable at the field level.
Premium hooks only register when a valid license is active. Free hooks are always available. Developers can extend and customize freely without modifying core.
Full documentation for all available hooks and filters is in the developer documentation.
Can I build custom integrations?
Yes. Benecaster’s hooks and filters give you deep integration points throughout the plugin — subscription events, feed output, episode data, emails, analytics, and more. Action hooks fire on subscription activation, cancellation, tier change, and every other significant event, making it straightforward to connect Zapier, Make, or a custom integration from any plugin or mu-plugin. Filters let you alter output at any point without touching core code.
Can I add support for a membership plugin that isn’t in the supported list?
Yes, but it’s a real development project. Benecaster’s bridge system is built around a documented BridgeInterface contract, and implementing one means writing a PHP class that translates your membership plugin’s subscription model into Benecaster’s — tier lookups, user status, and event callbacks for activation, cancellation, tier changes, renewals, and payment failure. You’ll also need to understand the target plugin’s own API well enough to hook into those events reliably.
Once implemented, your bridge registers via benecaster_boot and Benecaster’s core, token system, and subscription events all route through it automatically — no core modifications needed. The full interface reference and a worked example are in the developer documentation.
Where does Benecaster store its data?
Everything in your WordPress database — nothing anywhere else. Benecaster adds a set of custom tables (prefixed benecaster_) for subscribers, tokens, episodes, analytics, and related data. Settings and configuration live in standard WordPress options (wp_options) under the benecaster_ prefix. The feed cache uses the WordPress object cache (transients as fallback).
No data is stored on our servers, no third-party service receives your subscriber data, and no proprietary format locks you in. Benecaster’s hooks and filters are intentionally comprehensive — most developer customizations can be done without touching the database directly, which is the safer approach. Direct table access bypasses the plugin’s internal logic and is prone to breakage as the schema evolves.
Does Benecaster work with page builders?
The Blocks & Widgets Library add-on (free) provides Gutenberg blocks and Elementor widgets for all Benecaster front-end elements — episode player, subscribe CTA, RSS URL display, QR code, episode list, and more. Shortcode fallbacks are available for every element and work with any page builder or classic editor setup.
Can I override Benecaster’s templates?
Yes. Benecaster follows standard WordPress template override conventions. Copy any template from the plugin’s templates/ directory into a benecaster/ directory in your child theme and it will be used instead. Templates for episode archive, single episode, subscriber account, and feed components are all overrideable. Full developer documentation on the override path, available variables, and template parts is in the Template Overrides developer reference.
Referral Program
How Does the Payout Work?
When someone you referred becomes a paying member, we add a credit to your Benecaster account equal to what they saved on their first month. That credit pays out gradually — up to half your bill each month, until it’s used up. If your credit is larger than half of one renewal, the rest carries forward automatically to the following month. You don’t need to do anything.
For example: you’re on Pro ($25/month). A friend you referred signs up for Pro. You earn $12.50 in credit. Each month, up to $12.50 — half your $25 bill — comes off your renewal. In this case the full credit applies in one month. Refer a Studio customer and you’d earn $74.50, which would reduce your Pro bill by up to $12.50 each month for about six months.
When Will I See My First Payout?
Your credit applies on your next renewal after your referral becomes a paying member. You’ll get an email from us as soon as they sign up on a paid plan so you know it’s coming.
Where Can I See My Referral Credit Balance?
Two places: your Benecaster account at benecaster.com/customer-dashboard/licenses, and in the Benecaster plugin admin under the License & Account section. The balance shows even if it’s $0.
How Do I Get My Referral Code and Link?
Your referral code and link are in your Benecaster account at benecaster.com/customer-dashboard/licenses. If you’re logged in, they’re also shown on the Refer a Friend page. Copy the full link or just the raw code — either works.
What Can I Do with My Referral Code?
Share it however makes sense:
- Direct link — share your referral link and your friend goes straight to checkout with the discount pre-applied
- Just the code — if someone’s already on the pricing page, they can enter your code at checkout manually
- Newsletter or show notes — drop the link in your email list or episode description to reach your whole audience
- Direct message — send it to a specific podcaster you think would be a good fit
How Do I Send My Friend Directly to Checkout with the Discount Applied?
Your referral link does this automatically. When someone clicks benecaster.com/ref/[your-code], they go straight to the checkout page with your discount code already filled in. Nothing extra to set up.
What If My Friend Signs up for the Free Tier First?
No problem. Your referral is tracked the moment they use your link. When they upgrade to a paid plan — even months later — your credit fires then.
Can I Refer More Than One Person?
Yes. There’s no cap. Every person who becomes a paying member earns you a separate credit, and they stack. Refer three people in a month and you might not pay anything for a billing cycle or two.
What Plan Does My Referral Need to Be on for Me to Earn Credit?
Any paid plan — Starter, Growth, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio. Free-tier accounts don’t count until they upgrade.
Does My Credit Expire?
As long as you have an active Benecaster subscription, your credit stays on your account until it’s fully used. If you cancel, any remaining balance is forfeited.
Will My Friend Know I Referred Them?
They’ll see the discount applied at checkout. We don’t send them any message naming who referred them.
Academic Program
Who qualifies for the Benecaster Academic Program?
The Benecaster Academic Program is open to current students, faculty, and staff at accredited educational institutions who are producing podcasts in an institutional context. That means the show is connected to your campus, department, coursework, or role — not a personal project that happens to be made by someone who works at a university.
Eligible shows include: student-run campus podcasts, department and research communications, faculty-produced content affiliated with the institution, and staff productions for institutional departments. Alumni with no current enrollment or employment are not eligible. Personal podcasts by educators unrelated to their university role are not eligible.
What counts as an ‘institutional podcast’?
An institutional podcast is one produced at or for your institution — a show that would appear on your institution’s website, be produced under the institution’s name or logo, or be recognized as an official or affiliated student activity.
That includes student clubs and campus radio shows, journalism and media school productions, research communication podcasts, department public outreach shows, and student union productions. If you’d describe the show as your university’s podcast (or your department’s podcast, or your student newspaper’s podcast), it qualifies.
A professor’s independent podcast on a topic outside their institutional role — one they produce on personal time with no institutional affiliation — does not qualify, even if they’re a faculty member.
What if I don’t have a .edu email address?
Many institutions outside the United States — and some within it — don’t issue .edu addresses. That’s fine. The .edu path is just a faster route: applications with a .edu address and a valid letterhead document are approved automatically.
Without a .edu address, submit your application with a letterhead document and any additional materials that clearly establish your institutional affiliation. We’ll review and be in touch.
What should my letterhead document show?
The document needs to be on official institution letterhead — with the institution’s name, logo, or official header — and it should name the podcast and confirm its connection to the institution.
A generic department letterhead without any mention of the podcast isn’t sufficient. What we’re looking for is something that clearly shows the show is institutionally connected: a letter from a faculty advisor confirming a student show, a department head confirming an official departmental production, a student organization registration document, or similar.
It doesn’t need to be formal — a one-line confirmation on letterhead is fine. We just need to see that the institution knows the podcast exists and considers it affiliated.
How long does approval take?
Applications with a .edu email address and a valid letterhead document are approved automatically. For all other applications, we’ll review and be in touch.
What plan should I apply for?
Apply for the plan that matches your show’s likely subscriber count.
Growth (free) covers up to 250 paying subscribers and 2,500 total tokens (active private feed URLs across all tiers, including any free-listener tier) — more than enough for most campus and community shows. If you’re not sure, start with Growth. You can apply for an upgrade later.
Starter, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio are available at 20% off for shows with larger audiences or multiple productions. Apply for the plan you need — if approved, you’ll receive a coupon code to use at checkout for the discounted price.
If you’re not sure which plan fits, the pricing page has the full subscriber count and feature breakdown.
How does the 20% discount work for plans above Growth?
When your application is approved for Starter, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio, we email you a one-use coupon code for 20% off the standard published price. The coupon is valid for 14 days from the date of your approval email.
You use the coupon at checkout through the normal Benecaster store — use the same email address you applied with, or the discount won’t link to your academic account. SureCart processes the order at the discounted price and your license is provisioned automatically. The coupon applies to the first billing period; renewals are billed at the standard rate unless you re-apply for a new coupon at renewal time.
If your coupon expires before you use it, email us and we’ll issue a new one.
How does annual renewal work?
Academic licenses are reviewed annually. About 30 days before your one-year anniversary, we’ll email you asking you to confirm that your institutional affiliation is still active — a single click is all that’s needed.
If your institutional email address has changed or been deactivated since you applied — common after graduation — email us at support@benecaster.com before your renewal date so we can update your contact information. The renewal reminder goes to the address on your original application.
We don’t auto-revoke licenses if you don’t respond immediately, but ongoing access does require continued affiliation. If you graduate, leave the institution, or the podcast moves outside an institutional context, the right thing to do is let us know — you can transition to a paid plan at the standard rate.
Benecaster also reserves the right to request re-verification at any time. Misrepresentation of eligibility results in immediate license revocation.
Can I use Benecaster while my application is being reviewed?
The free Launch plan is available immediately without an application — no card required, and it covers up to 10 paying subscribers. You can set up Benecaster on Launch while your academic application is under review.
When your application is approved, you’ll receive an email with a link to connect your account via OAuth — your Growth plan (or approved higher plan) activates the moment you authorize, and Launch is replaced automatically. No overlap billing to worry about.
Does the academic discount apply to add-ons?
The Academic Program covers the core plan only — the 20% discount applies to Starter, Pro, Multi-Show, or Studio (the Growth plan is free outright). Individual add-ons are not discounted.
Add-ons are separately available at their standard prices to any Benecaster account, including academic ones. If your institution needs the full add-on stack, the All Add-ons Bundle ($499/year) or Studio tier (which includes all podcaster add-ons) are the most cost-effective paths — with Studio at 20% off for qualifying institutions.
What happens if our podcast grows into a commercial production?
Great problem to have. If your show moves beyond an institutional context — graduates into a full commercial production, starts generating sponsorship revenue as an independent show, or otherwise stops being an institutional podcast — the right move is to transition to a paid plan at the standard rate.
Email us and we’ll walk you through the transition. Your existing license, subscribers, and data carry over — it’s just a billing change. There’s no migration required.
Can multiple people at the same institution each apply?
Yes, for different shows. Each application is for a specific podcast — if your institution has three separate podcasts produced by different teams, each team can apply individually. One license per show, each on its own academic plan.
If one person or team is producing multiple shows under a single Benecaster account, apply for the Multi-Show plan rather than applying separately for each show.
What if my email address has changed since I applied?
Email us at support@benecaster.com with “Academic program” in the subject line. We’ll update the address on your application so your annual renewal reminder and any other program communications reach you at the right address.
If your institutional email has been deactivated — common after graduation — it’s worth getting this updated before your renewal date. The reminder is sent to the address on your original application, so if that address no longer works, you won’t receive it.
