PodVault supports both public podcasts (distributed to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.) and private podcasts (shared directly with your audience). Watch this short explainer to understand which is right for you.
Private podcasts let you share audio directly with the people you want to reach — clients, teams, students, members, or paid subscribers — without publishing your podcast on public directories.
To share your podcast, open it and click the Share button in the Distribution row to open its subscribe page. You can then send that page to listeners.
Open your podcast settings using the cog icon, then choose how listeners can access your content.
Your subscribe page makes it easy for listeners to get started. It includes:
In your podcast settings, you can choose one of three access modes for each podcast.
Public
Anyone with the link can subscribe. This is the simplest option, and the only mode suitable for submitting to public directories like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It does not identify individual listeners.
Private — Free
Listeners enter their email address and receive their own private access link. You can see each listener in your dashboard and manage their access at any time. No payment is required.
Private — Paid
Listeners pay through Stripe before they get access. This is covered in the Paid Podcasts section.
On Private podcasts (Free or Paid), always share the subscribe page, not a raw RSS URL.
Why it matters: the subscribe page takes each new listener through the email (or payment) step and gives them their own private link. If you share a raw RSS URL instead, everyone ends up on the same shared link, and removing one person's access no longer cuts them off.
If a listener forwards their private link to someone else, both people share one access slot. Remove access once and you cut off both — there's no runaway spread.
The Listener Access panel lists every listener on your podcast, marked Free, Paid, or Cancelled. From there you can:
Removing a paid listener cancels their Stripe subscription automatically. Removing an email-only listener just invalidates their link. Either way, cutoffs take effect within about a minute.
About episodes already downloaded: removing access prevents a listener's podcast app from fetching new episodes or re-downloading old ones. Episodes they've already downloaded to their phone or laptop will still play from their device — no podcast platform can unplay audio that's already on someone's phone. That would require DRM, which standard podcast apps don't support.
By default, changing your access settings does not remove existing listeners. Current listeners keep their access, paid subscribers keep their billing, and new listeners subscribe under the new settings.
If you switch away from a Private mode — for example Private – Paid → Public, Private – Paid → Private – Free, or Private – Free → Public — and there are active listeners, you’ll be asked how to handle them:
CANCEL to confirm. Cannot be undone.Switching into a Private mode doesn’t prompt — a Public podcast has no listener records to migrate.
Listeners can recover access from your podcast's subscribe page:
Private — Free
They enter their email again on the access page. If it matches an active listener, the same link is re-sent.
Private — Paid
They click Already paid? Send me my link, enter their email, and receive a fresh email with access to their existing subscription.
From your dashboard
Use Send recovery email in the Listener Access panel to resend access to any active listener.
In your podcast settings you can turn on Email listeners when a new episode is published. When this is on, every listener with active access gets an email automatically each time you publish.
Sends are delayed by about 5 minutes after publish so a batch upload turns into one email, not fifty. If you publish three episodes in a row inside that window, listeners receive a single email covering all three.
If you delete an episode inside that 5-minute window (or delete the whole podcast), the queued email is automatically cancelled — no email goes out for vanished episodes.
For Private and Paid podcasts, the Analytics page shows a Listeners tab with per-listener engagement — total plays, episodes started, last activity, and a per-episode breakdown when you expand a row.
This is separate from the Listener Access panel (which is about who has access and managing it). The Listeners analytics tab is about how those people are actually using the show.
Public podcasts don't have this tab — public listening doesn't tie back to a specific person, so there's nothing to break down by listener.
Paid podcasts use the same sharing and delivery options as private podcasts (see the Private Podcasts tab), with a payment step added before listeners get access. Payments are processed securely through Stripe.
When a listener visits your subscribe page, they enter their email address and complete payment. After payment they get immediate access to your content.
If they need to access on another device or lose access, they can use the "Already paid?" option on your subscribe page to receive a fresh access link via email.
The Listener Access panel in your podcast settings shows every paid listener with their payment details, subscription status, and last access date. If you ever switched this podcast out of Paid mode without cancelling existing subscriptions, those grandfathered listeners still show here.
See One private link per listener in the Private Podcasts section for how per-listener access works.
Switching away from Paid: by default, existing Stripe subscriptions keep billing so no one loses access by surprise. If you want to cancel every subscription at once, choose that option when saving and type CANCEL to confirm.
Paid access only applies to your PodVault subscribe page. If you also distribute your podcast publicly to Apple Podcasts or Spotify, episodes will be freely available there. To charge exclusively through PodVault, keep your podcast private and share the subscribe link directly with your audience.
Payments go directly to your connected Stripe account. PodVault handles the payment flow — you receive the funds.
After submitting to platforms, PodVault becomes your single control center for managing your podcast everywhere. You only need to make changes once in PodVault, and your RSS feed automatically updates all connected platforms with:
This means no more logging into multiple platforms to keep your podcast consistent! PodVault handles all the technical aspects of RSS management behind the scenes, ensuring your listeners always get the latest content no matter where they subscribe.
Note: Sync times vary by platform – some update within hours, others may take 1-3 days. Be patient if changes don't appear immediately.