Raspberry Pi Podcast Server: Host and Stream Podcasts

Self-Hosted Podcasts with Raspberry Pi

A podcast server on Raspberry Pi lets you host, organise, and stream your podcast collection locally or over the internet without depending on commercial services. You can also use it to subscribe to RSS podcast feeds and download episodes automatically for offline listening. For Indian podcast listeners who want to manage their library independently, the Pi offers a private, ad-free podcasting experience.

Two common use cases: first, hosting your own podcast that listeners can subscribe to via RSS — ideal for college radio projects, community podcasts, or internal corporate training audio. Second, running a podcast aggregator that downloads your subscribed podcasts and serves them to your devices over your home network — essentially a self-hosted Pocket Casts alternative.

Why Self-Host Podcasts?

Commercial podcast hosting costs ₹500 to ₹3,000 per month. A Raspberry Pi costs ₹2,000 once and uses ₹50 of electricity per month. For independent Indian podcasters with modest audience sizes (under 10,000 downloads per episode), the Pi handles the load comfortably while eliminating monthly hosting fees.

For podcast listeners, self-hosting means privacy (no tracking), automatic downloads (never buffer on slow connections), and centralised management of your podcast library that any device on your network can access.

Podcast Server Software

For hosting your podcast: Use PodTrac alternatives like a simple Nginx static file server with an RSS feed generator. Place your MP3 files in a directory, generate an RSS XML feed with episode metadata, and share the feed URL with listeners. Tools like jekyll-podcast or Python scripts can auto-generate the RSS feed from your MP3 file metadata.

For podcast aggregation: gPodder is a lightweight podcast client that runs on the Pi, subscribes to feeds, and downloads episodes automatically. Access your library via its web interface from any device. AntennaPod Sync can also sync with a self-hosted gPodder server.

For a full-featured solution: Audiobookshelf (despite the name) handles podcasts excellently. It provides a polished web and mobile app interface for managing, streaming, and syncing podcast subscriptions. It runs well on Pi 4 with Docker.

Installation and Configuration

Here is a quick gPodder setup on Raspberry Pi OS:

# Install gPodder
sudo apt install -y gpodder

# For headless operation, use the gPodder CLI
gpo subscribe "https://feeds.simplecast.com/your-podcast-feed"
gpo update
gpo download

For Audiobookshelf (recommended for a polished experience):

# Install Docker
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker pi

# Run Audiobookshelf
docker run -d --name audiobookshelf 
  -p 13378:80 
  -v /home/pi/podcasts:/podcasts 
  -v /home/pi/abs-config:/config 
  ghcr.io/advplyr/audiobookshelf

Access the web interface at http://your-pi-ip:13378. Add podcast feeds, and Audiobookshelf downloads and organises episodes automatically. The mobile app (available for Android and iOS) syncs your listening progress across devices.

Accessing from Anywhere

For local network access, use the Pi’s local IP address. For remote access (listening while commuting), options include:

• Tailscale VPN: Free tier covers personal use. Install Tailscale on the Pi and your phone, and access your podcast server from anywhere through a secure tunnel. No port forwarding needed.
• Cloudflare Tunnel: Free tier provides HTTPS access to your Pi without exposing ports. Ideal for sharing a hosted podcast with external listeners.
• Port forwarding: Forward port 13378 on your router to the Pi. Less secure but simpler. Use dynamic DNS if your ISP assigns a changing IP address.

FAQ

How many concurrent listeners can the Pi handle?

For podcast hosting, a Pi 4 can serve 50+ simultaneous MP3 streams over a decent internet connection. The bottleneck is usually your upload bandwidth, not the Pi’s processing power. For a typical Indian broadband connection with 10 Mbps upload, expect to serve 5-10 concurrent 128 kbps streams comfortably.

How much storage do podcasts need?

A typical 1-hour podcast episode at 128 kbps is about 58 MB. If you subscribe to 20 podcasts with weekly episodes and keep the last 10 episodes each, that is approximately 116 GB. A 256 GB micro SD card or a USB hard drive handles this easily.

Can I use this for audiobook hosting too?

Yes. Audiobookshelf is designed for both podcasts and audiobooks. It tracks your listening position, supports chapter navigation, and syncs progress across devices — perfect for managing your audiobook collection alongside podcasts.

Conclusion

A Raspberry Pi podcast server gives Indian listeners privacy, offline access, and independence from commercial podcast platforms. For podcasters, it eliminates monthly hosting fees while providing full control over your content distribution. The setup takes under 30 minutes with Docker and Audiobookshelf, and the total hardware cost is under ₹3,000 — a one-time investment that pays for itself within months of saved hosting fees.