Firstory

Overview

Firstory is a podcast hosting platform for creators who want to publish, promote and earn from a show in one service. It suits creators building an audience across audio and video, especially those who value built-in analytics and membership tools. Its breadth is appealing, but show counts and AI extraction quotas make plan choice important.

Key features

Upload once to distribute to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, KKBOX and more than 10 platforms. Spotify, KKBOX and Pocket Casts support one-click distribution; Apple Podcasts and several other destinations require manual distribution. That distinction matters if you want a hands-off launch across directories. Firstory supports video and audio together in one upload, although video upload early access is the stated allowance on Free, Lite and Pro; Enterprise includes unlimited video upload early access.

AI Studio can produce transcripts, summaries, highlights, newsletter drafts, questions and answers, keywords and topic tags after an upload. These tools can help turn an episode into follow-up material, but quotas are modest on lower tiers: one extraction episode per month on Free, three on Lite and six on Pro. Enterprise allows 25 per month, so heavy repurposing needs a paid plan.

Analytics cover plays, audience profiles and episode performance, combining Apple and other RSS data with official Spotify data. Daily Spotify charts and Spotify listeners and followers metrics are exclusive to Pro and above; Lite users who need those Spotify figures must step up. Firstory also offers an automatically generated show website, an embeddable player and FLink, which brings listening-platform and social-profile destinations together in one shareable link.

Monetization options include dynamic ads, one-time donations, recurring subscriptions and cross-platform membership payments, with creators retaining member data. Integrations include Apple Podcast subscriptions, Discord, Zapier auto-email and corporate bank payout. Creators can manage Apple subscriber-exclusive content from Firstory Studio using an Apple Podcast Connect API key. Mobile Studio apps for Android and iOS provide analytics, notifications, FLink sharing and customer service.

Firstory says it offers 5,000 free monthly downloads and requires an upgrade after a plan limit is exceeded for two consecutive billing cycles. It says all users receive a support reply within two business days, while paid users receive one within one business day. Its privacy policy allows personal data processing in Taiwan or other locations where its owned or outsourced processing centers are based, and it does not guarantee 100% security.

Pricing

Firstory is freemium, with a 14-day trial on paid plans and annual billing that saves 22%. The free plan is useful for a single show: it costs nothing, billed $0/yr, and allows unlimited episodes, video upload early access, analytics, reports, an episode-level universal link and one AI extraction episode per month. Its one-show cap and small AI allowance make it better for starting out than for running several shows or regularly repurposing episodes.

Firstory Lite costs $7 a month, billed $84/yr, and includes a 14-day free trial. Its two-show limit and three AI extraction episodes per month suit a small operation that needs more than one show but not Pro’s Spotify metrics. Pro costs $15 a month, billed $180/yr, with a 14-day free trial; it supports five shows, four video upload early access episodes and six AI extraction episodes per month, and unlocks the restricted Spotify metrics. The higher tier is the more relevant choice for creators who depend on those figures.

Firstory Enterprise costs $159 a month, billed $1,908/yr, with a 14-day free trial. It allows unlimited shows, unlimited video upload early access and 25 AI extraction episodes per month. That show capacity is the clear distinction for larger portfolios, though the AI extraction allowance remains capped. Firstory Free, Lite and Pro all include unlimited episodes; the listed plan limits focus instead on shows, video upload early access and AI extraction.

Platforms

Firstory is available on Android, iOS and the web. Its distribution destinations include Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, KKBOX, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts, among others.

Who it's for

Firstory is a good fit for creators who want a single place to publish audio and video, distribute across directories, track audience performance and collect payments. Free can work for one show with occasional AI-assisted repurposing. Lite suits a small multi-show setup; Pro is the practical step for Spotify-specific metrics; Enterprise is aimed at creators managing many shows. It is less compelling if you expect every directory submission to be one-click or need more AI extraction than the plan quotas allow.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Distribution spans more than 10 platforms, and video and audio can go out together in one upload.
• Pros: AI Studio generates several kinds of episode material, while FLink, a show website and an embeddable player support promotion.
• Pros: Ads, donations and recurring or cross-platform memberships provide multiple earning routes, with creators owning member data.
• Cons: Free is limited to one show and one AI extraction episode monthly; Lite allows only three.
• Cons: Some directory distribution requires manual setup, and key Spotify metrics require Pro or above.
• Cons: Enterprise raises show and video capacity substantially, but its AI extraction limit is still 25 episodes per month.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison of services focused on earning from podcasts, see Podcast Monetization Platforms.

• Spreaker is worth considering if you want a free plan with one podcast, unlimited episodes, six months of statistics and a Supporters Club with a 20% fee.
• Apple Podcasts may suit creators focused on Apple’s ecosystem, with free shows and creator-set monthly or annual premium subscription pricing.
• Acast is an option for multiple shows and unlimited episodes on Essential, which costs $14.99 a month billed yearly and includes ads and sponsorships.
• Patreon is another option for creators with paying fans who want up to 100 hours per month of video hosting on Standard.
• Disctopia is an alternative with a free plan and a free trial.
• Podbean is an alternative with a free plan that sets storage, bandwidth, episode-per-day, file-size and RSS-feed limits.
• Podimo is an alternative with audiobook plans priced at €4.99 a month and €9.99 a month.
• Buzzsprout is an alternative for web users who can work within a free plan capped at two upload hours and 90-day episode hosting.

Verdict

Choose Firstory if you want publishing, promotion, analytics and monetization tools together, particularly for a show that spans audio and video. Its strongest case is the range of creator workflows around each episode; the main reasons to look elsewhere are limited AI quotas on lower plans, manual setup for some directories and Pro-only Spotify metrics.