Podcast Ad Rate Calculator

How are Podcast Ads Priced?

Unlike YouTube where Google automatically inserts ads and pays you a fraction of a penny per view, podcast advertising is largely direct-sales. You negotiate directly with brands, and the pricing model used is almost universally CPM (Cost Per Mille / Cost Per 1,000 Listens).

The Industry Standard: The 60-Second Mid-Roll

The baseline for all podcast advertising is a 60-second host-read ad placed in the middle of the episode (a Mid-roll). For a general audience podcast, the industry standard rate is roughly $25 CPM. This means if your podcast gets 10,000 downloads per episode, you should charge $250 for a mid-roll ad.

Ad Placement Types

• Mid-roll (100% Value): The most valuable ad space. Listeners are already engaged with the content and are less likely to skip.
• Pre-roll (75% Value): Placed at the very beginning of the episode. Listeners often hit the "+15 sec" skip button before the show even starts.
• Post-roll (50% Value): Placed at the end of the episode. The vast majority of listeners close the app before the post-roll plays.

Niche Matters (A Lot)

Not all audiences are created equal in the eyes of advertisers. If your podcast is about general comedy, your audience could be anyone. But if your podcast is about B2B SaaS Growth, your audience is filled with startup founders and marketing executives.

Brands are willing to pay massive premiums (sometimes up to $50 CPM or higher) for hyper-targeted, affluent niches like Business, Finance, and Technology.