How many downloads do I need to join a podcast sponsorship marketplace?

It depends entirely on the marketplace and the spread is wide. Libsyn Ads publishes a minimum of 20,000 downloads per episode, which excludes most independent shows. Spreaker's ad exchange publishes no download minimum and only requires that your podcast has an ad slot configured and a $10 balance before it pays out.

What revenue share should I expect from a podcast ad marketplace?

Where it is published, expect to keep 60 to 70 percent. Libsyn Ads states a 70/30 split with the podcaster keeping 70 percent, and Spreaker's ad exchange states 60 percent of CPM with variation by ad provider. Several marketplaces publish no figure at all, which is worth asking about before you sign.

Is a marketplace better than finding sponsors myself?

No, on rate. A direct sponsor pays you the whole CPM instead of 60 or 70 percent of it, and a host-read spot you sold yourself commands a higher rate than programmatic inventory. Marketplaces win on effort, because they fill slots you would otherwise leave empty.

Best sponsorship marketplaces for podcasters

The best sponsorship marketplaces for podcasters are the ones that will actually accept your show, and that is a shorter list than the category suggests. Download floors do most of the deciding, and the gap between them is enormous: Libsyn Ads publishes a 20,000 downloads per episode minimum, while Spreaker's ad exchange publishes none at all.

Revenue share matters second, and where it is published it lands between 60 and 70 percent to the podcaster. Several marketplaces in this category publish neither figure, which is a useful signal in itself.

How we selected these sponsorship marketplaces

We read each provider's current published terms, help documentation and pricing pages, and judged them on what determines whether a show can use them at all.

Published download floor: Whether there is a stated minimum, and what it is.
Published revenue share: Whether you can find the split without a sales call.
Payout terms: How long until money arrives, and whether there is a minimum balance.
Hosting lock-in: Whether you have to move your show to use it.
Ad type: Host-read, programmatic, or both, since the rate difference between them is large.

Browse the sponsorship marketplaces directory for the wider category.

Quick comparison

Marketplace	Published download floor	Published revenue share	Payout terms
Libsyn Ads	20,000 per episode	70/30, podcaster keeps 70%	30 to 60 days typical, within 90 days
Spreaker ad exchange	None published	60% of CPM, varies by provider	Within 60 days of month end, $10 threshold
Spreaker Prime sponsorship	Not published	Not published	Guaranteed 60 days
RedCircle	None published	Not published	Instant payouts on Growth tier and above
Gumball	Not published	Not published	Not published

1. Libsyn Ads

Best for: shows already past 20,000 downloads an episode.

Libsyn Ads, which is where AdvertiseCast now lives, publishes the clearest terms in the category. The revenue split is stated as 70/30 with the podcaster keeping 70 percent. Earnings are released once the advertiser has paid, which it states typically takes 30 to 60 days, with all payouts happening within 90 days.

It also states the requirement plainly: a minimum of 20,000 downloads per episode to join. For the independent show doing 1,000 to 10,000 downloads a month in total, that is not a near miss, it is a different tier of the market. Knowing the number saves you an application.

The same operation publishes the category CPM rates worth knowing whatever marketplace you end up on, which we cover in podcast CPM benchmarks.

2. Spreaker's ad exchange

Best for: a small show that wants programmatic revenue starting now.

Spreaker's ad exchange documentation states 60 percent of the CPM to the podcaster, varying by ad provider. Earnings accrue in US dollars and are deposited to PayPal no later than 60 days after the end of the month in which the impressions were processed, with a payment only made once you reach a $10 threshold. It is available to Spreaker users worldwide.

The eligibility terms are the notable part. There is no published download minimum. The requirements are that the exchange is enabled with terms accepted and that your podcast is configured with at least one pre-roll, mid-roll or post-roll slot. That makes it one of the few routes where a show of a few hundred downloads an episode can start earning something.

Set expectations accordingly. Programmatic inventory sits at the bottom of the rate card, so 60 percent of a programmatic CPM on a small audience is a small number. It is real money arriving on schedule rather than a revenue stream.

Spreaker's separate Prime network handles managed sponsorship sales instead, and states an average CPM range of $20 to $30 and a guaranteed 60-day payment whether or not the agency has paid Spreaker. It publishes neither an eligibility floor nor a revenue share, so both are questions for the sales conversation.

3. RedCircle

Best for: combining monetization with hosting and a cross-promotion swap market.

RedCircle's pricing runs a free Core plan with one podcast and standard analytics, Growth at $14.99 a month with unlimited podcasts and instant payouts, Pro at $29.99 a month, and Enterprise at $99.99 a month.

The monetization features are tier-gated. Host-read and programmatic ads through its RAP programme sit on Pro and Enterprise, while the cross-promotion marketplace and instant payouts start at Growth. Subscriptions and exclusive content are also available.

What the pricing page does not publish is the revenue share, the download floor, or the payout mechanics beyond the instant payouts label. For a decision that turns on what percentage you keep, that is a gap you should close before subscribing to Pro. The cross-promotion marketplace may be the more immediately valuable part for a small show, and our cross-promotion guide covers how to judge a swap partner.

4. Gumball

Best for: host-read inventory sold to brands buying at scale.

Gumball was launched in 2020 by the team behind the Headgum network, and it sells host-read ads directly from podcasters to advertisers. Its March 2023 announcement describes marketers identifying and buying inventory across multiple podcasts and managing campaigns in minutes rather than weeks, and extends the same model to on-screen integrations for video creators. During that YouTube beta it covered more than 50 channels with a combined 37.5 million subscribers.

Host-read is the right side of the rate card to be on, which makes this worth an enquiry. It publishes no download floor, no revenue share and no payout terms, so treat all three as unknowns going in.

5. Podcorn, and why it is here

Podcorn appears on most lists of podcast sponsorship marketplaces, including our own directory. As of this writing its podcaster page redirects to Audacy's Creator Lab Marketplace, and that destination publishes no terms we could read.

It is on this list as a caution rather than a recommendation. This category consolidates and rebrands constantly, AdvertiseCast becoming Libsyn Ads being the tidier example, so confirm a marketplace still operates under the terms you read about before you plan revenue around it.

What to do if the floors exclude you

Most shows reading this will not clear 20,000 downloads an episode, which leaves three routes that do not depend on anyone's eligibility rules.

Sell one direct sponsor yourself. At a $20 CPM and 5,000 downloads an episode, a direct deal bills $100 where a 60 percent marketplace share on the same audience would return $60, and that is before the format difference between a host read and a programmatic fill. Our sponsorship pricing guide covers setting the rate, and how to pitch podcast sponsors covers the approach.

Turn on programmatic underneath it. Spreaker's exchange has no floor, so unsold inventory can earn something rather than nothing while you look for a direct deal.

Fix the number the floors are measuring. Twenty thousand downloads an episode is an audience problem before it is a monetization problem, and every marketplace on this list becomes available once that number moves.

Podder reports per-episode downloads and unique listeners from the prefix, which is the evidence a direct sponsor asks for and the number every marketplace floor is set against. Start on the Analytics plan and install the prefix on your next episode.