Podcasting Communities Report

Executive Summary

We analyzed 24 podcasting communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.

The big picture: podcasting communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.

Source: Hive Index community database · Updated periodically

Communities
24
Platforms
7
Avg members
59K
Median members
5K

Where Podcasting Communities Are Hosted

  • Facebook: 6 communities (25%)
  • Independent Platforms: 5 communities (21%)
  • Slack: 4 communities (17%)
  • X / Twitter: 3 communities (13%)
  • Skool: 3 communities (13%)
  • Discord: 1 communities (4%)
  • Reddit: 1 communities (4%)
  • Facebook
    6(25%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    5(21%)
  • Slack
    4(17%)
  • X / Twitter
    3(13%)
  • Skool
    3(13%)
  • Discord
    1(4%)
  • Reddit
    1(4%)

Format mix

  • Forum / feed-based
    12(50%)
  • Chat communities
    5(21%)
  • Other platforms
    4(17%)
  • Private membership
    3(13%)

Forum / feed-based is most common (50%), but chat communities is also well represented (21%).

Facebook leads, but Independent Platforms and Slack also represent meaningful shares.

Audience Size & Access

Community size

  • Tiny: 0 communities (0%)
  • Small: 0 communities (0%)
  • Medium: 4 communities (17%)
  • Large: 8 communities (33%)
  • Huge: 7 communities (29%)
  • Massive: 1 communities (4%)
  • Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    0(0%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    0(0%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    4(17%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    8(33%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    7(29%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    1(4%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    0(0%)

4 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 16 communities (67%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 8 communities (33%)

The average is much higher than the median (59K vs 5K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.

How Podcasting Differs From Other Categories

Podcasting is less free-to-join, smaller, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.

MetricPodcastingHive Index average
Free to join67%84%
Median members5K25K
Average members59K662K
Paid or apply-to-join33%16%
Live chat42%41%
Discord share4%18%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Forum: 13 communities (54%)
  • Live Chat: 10 communities (42%)
  • Paid Community: 8 communities (33%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 5 communities (21%)
  • Newsletter: 4 communities (17%)
  • Forum
    54%
  • Live Chat
    42%
  • Paid Community
    33%
  • Online/Offline Events
    21%
  • Newsletter
    17%

Niche Features

  • Member Perks: 1 communities (4%)
  • Tools: 1 communities (4%)
  • Member Perks
    4%
  • Tools
    4%

Forum appears on 54% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
51

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Facebook625%
48%
Independent Platforms521%
1937%
Slack417%
510%
X / Twitter313%
24%
Skool313%
36%
Discord14%
918%
Reddit14%
918%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Independent Platforms gets 37% of clicks but only 21% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Forum / feed-based
    32(63%)
  • Chat communities
    14(27%)
  • Private membership
    3(6%)
  • Other platforms
    2(4%)

Most-clicked features

  • Forum
    32(63%)
  • Live Chat
    17(33%)
  • Paid Community
    6(12%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    5(10%)
  • Newsletter
    3(6%)
  • Tools
    2(4%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    15(29%)
  • Massive
    9(18%)
  • Huge
    8(16%)
  • Medium
    3(6%)

Top-clicked listings

  • True Crime Obsessed
    16(31%)
  • The Podcasters Community
    9(18%)
  • r/TrueCrimePodcasts
    9(18%)

Most clicks go to forum / feed-based and chat communities communities.

Methodology & FAQ

Methodology

This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Podcasting. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.

  • •This is a smaller slice of Hive Index's database, so read trends as directional.

FAQ