Podcasting Communities Report

Executive Summary

We analyzed 25 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
25
Platforms
8
Avg members
56K
Median members
4K

Where Podcasting Communities Are Hosted

  • Facebook: 6 communities (24%)
  • Independent Platforms: 5 communities (20%)
  • Slack: 4 communities (16%)
  • X / Twitter: 3 communities (12%)
  • Skool: 3 communities (12%)
  • Discord: 1 communities (4%)
  • Discourse: 1 communities (4%)
  • Reddit: 1 communities (4%)
  • Facebook
    6(24%)
  • Independent Platforms
    Independent Platforms
    5(20%)
  • Slack
    4(16%)
  • X / Twitter
    3(12%)
  • Skool
    3(12%)
  • Discord
    1(4%)
  • Discourse
    1(4%)
  • Reddit
    1(4%)

Format mix

  • Forum / feed-based
    13(52%)
  • Chat communities
    5(20%)
  • Other platforms
    4(16%)
  • Private membership
    3(12%)

Forum / feed-based is most common (52%), but chat communities is also well represented (20%).

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: 5 communities (20%)
  • Large: 8 communities (32%)
  • Huge: 7 communities (28%)
  • Massive: 1 communities (4%)
  • Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
  • Tiny
    <20 members
    0(0%)
  • Small
    20-100 members
    0(0%)
  • Medium
    100-1,000 members
    5(20%)
  • Large
    1,000-10,000 members
    8(32%)
  • Huge
    10,000-100,000 members
    7(28%)
  • Massive
    100,000-1M members
    1(4%)
  • Gigantic
    1M+ members
    0(0%)

4 communities have unknown member counts.

Free vs paid

  • Free to join: 17 communities (68%)
  • Paid or apply-to-join: 8 communities (32%)

The average is much higher than the median (56K vs 4K), 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, more platform-diverse, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.

MetricPodcastingHive Index average
Free to join68%84%
Median members4K25K
Average members56K668K
Paid or apply-to-join32%16%
Live chat40%41%
Discord share4%17%

Feature Mix

Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.

Common Features

  • Forum: 14 communities (56%)
  • Live Chat: 10 communities (40%)
  • Paid Community: 8 communities (32%)
  • Online/Offline Events: 6 communities (24%)
  • Newsletter: 4 communities (16%)
  • Forum
    56%
  • Live Chat
    40%
  • Paid Community
    32%
  • Online/Offline Events
    24%
  • Newsletter
    16%

Niche Features

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

Forum appears on 56% of listings.

What Visitors Click

Outbound clicks / mo
23

Platform supply vs. clicks

PlatformCommunitiesShare of communitiesOutbound clicksShare of clicks
Facebook624%
626%
Independent Platforms520%
1043%
Slack416%
29%
X / Twitter312%
14%
Discord14%
417%

Share is calculated within this topic.

Independent Platforms gets 43% of clicks but only 20% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.

Most-clicked formats

  • Forum / feed-based
    16(70%)
  • Chat communities
    6(26%)
  • Other platforms
    1(4%)

Most-clicked features

  • Forum
    14(61%)
  • Live Chat
    9(39%)
  • Online/Offline Events
    8(35%)
  • Paid Community
    4(17%)

Most-clicked size ranges

  • Large
    6(26%)
  • Huge
    6(26%)
  • Medium
    1(4%)

Top-clicked listings

  • True Crime Obsessed
    6(26%)
  • Podcasters' Support Group
    5(22%)
  • The Podcasters Community
    4(17%)

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