Castopod
Castopod is available in the NetActuate Marketplace as a one-click, open-source appliance you can deploy into any NetActuate PoP. Self-hosted podcast hosting with the fediverse built in, plus audio and analytics. It is grouped under the Media & Streaming category.
What It Does
Castopod is an open-source, self-hosted podcast hosting platform built for independence and reach. Publish and manage podcasts, host your audio and cover art, serve standards-compliant RSS feeds, and follow your audience with built-in analytics, all from a server you control.
Key features
- Full podcast hosting: episodes, seasons, audio and cover art, and RSS feeds
- Fediverse (ActivityPub) built in: listeners follow, like, and comment from Mastodon and the wider fediverse
- Built-in analytics that respect listener privacy
- Podcasting 2.0 features (transcripts, chapters, funding, and more)
- Web admin for shows, episodes, contributors, and settings
- Co-located MariaDB bundled inside the appliance, no external database to run
Use cases
- Independent podcasters who want to own their hosting and their audience
- Organizations running branded or internal podcasts
- Federated audio that plugs into Mastodon and the fediverse
Why run it on the NetActuate edge Hosting Castopod in a PoP near your listeners shortens the delivery path for audio downloads and the web experience, and keeps ownership of your feeds, analytics, and audience data with you.
Deployed from the NetActuate marketplace, Castopod boots pre-configured from your seeded values: the superadmin account is created headlessly at first boot so the web installer is already finished, and the database password and analytics salt are generated and persisted. Sign in at /cp-admin and start publishing. Federation and public sharing need a real domain name and TLS termination in front of the appliance (a documented follow-up); the single-VM appliance serves the full web UI over HTTP on the instance IP out of the box.
Vendor and Project
Castopod is an open-source project, offered here under the Open Source listing with best-effort community support.
- Project home: castopod.org
NetActuate supports the underlying infrastructure. Application-level support follows the listing SLA class (open-source, best effort).
Sizing
| vCPU | RAM | Disk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 1 | 2 GB | 20 GB |
| Recommended | 2 | 4 GB | 50 GB |
No VPU (hardware acceleration) is required for this appliance. Choose a size at deploy based on your expected load.
Configuration Fields
When you deploy, you provide these fields. They are written into the appliance at first boot.
| Field | Required | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin password | No | generated | Password for the superadmin account. Generated for you and stored in your secret list if not provided; never echoed back. Allowed characters: letters, digits, . _ - (8 to 72 chars). Stored write-only in your account secret list |
| Admin username | No | admin | Username for the superadmin account (default admin). |
| Admin email | No | admin@example.com | Email address for the superadmin account (default admin@example.com). |
| Instance base URL | No | none | Public base URL used for feeds, links and federation (e.g. https://podcast.example.com). Leave blank to use http://<instance-ip> until you put a real hostname in front. |
Using the Appliance
Deploy in minutes
- Open the admin. Browse to http://YOUR_VM_IP/cp-admin and sign in with username admin and the admin password from your secret list.
- Create your podcast. Add a show, then upload episodes with audio and cover art.
- Share your feed. Your public site and RSS feed are served at http://YOUR_VM_IP/ .
Exposure posture: the appliance serves plain HTTP on port 80. Fediverse federation and public podcast directories require HTTPS on a real domain; put a TLS-terminating proxy in front (or a real hostname with a certificate) before going public.
FAQ
Is there a software license fee? No. Castopod is open source and free to run. You pay only for the NetActuate infrastructure and bandwidth.
Where is the web interface?
On port 80 at path /cp-admin by default.
Who supports it? NetActuate operates the underlying infrastructure. The application itself is community-supported open source (best-effort SLA class).
Version and Changelog
| Version | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|
| 1.15.5 | Current (default) | 2026-07-11 |
Deploy
- Deploy in the portal: Deploy Castopod
- View the listing: portal.netactuate.com/platform/marketplace/l/castopod
- Public listing: netactuate.com/marketplace/castopod
Need Help?
Contact support@netactuate.com or open a support ticket from the portal.