Of course you could self host your podcast audio files, but if your podcast is popular you are going to run in to issues with concurrent downloads eventually.

Of course you could self host your podcast audio files, but if your podcast is popular you are going to run in to issues with concurrent downloads eventually. Paid podcast hosting just makes it where you don't have to worry about a CDN, concurrent downloads, submitting to iTunes/Spotify. If you're just getting started self hosting is probably ok, but I would look at going with paid hosting once you gain a following. I do not have a podcast but I hear great things about transistor.fm. You can host unlimited podcasts so there wouldn't be a storage issue. Tiers are based on downloads per month. (That's expected to pay for bandwidth) Good luck with your podcast.