Buyer's guide · 2026
Radio automation platforms compared:
what you really get per dollar
We put RadioHost Studio next to eight popular radio hosting and automation platforms — Radio.co, RadioKing, Live365, Zeno.FM, Caster.fm, Airtime Pro, Radiojar and SAM Broadcaster Cloud. For each one we picked the plan that comes closest to a serious single-station setup: 10 GB of audio, 192 kbps streaming, hundreds of concurrent listeners and a team of DJs.
Prices read from each platform's official pricing page — last verified August 8, 2026
Price and hard limits
Effective yearly cost (annual billing where offered — most platforms give two months free), against the numbers that actually cap your station. Sorted by price.
| Platform · plan | Per year | Audio storage | Max bitrate | Listener capacity | Listening hours / mo | DJ seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RadioHost StudioThat's usStudio Pro | $199or $25 / mo · + tax | 10 GB | 192 kbps | 500 concurrent | 30,000 | 5 |
| SAM Broadcaster CloudSilver | $330$30 / mo | 30 GB | 128 kbps | 120 concurrent | Not published | 5 |
| RadiojarProfessional | €500€50 / mo | 50 GB | 128 kbps1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 20 |
| Radio.coStandard | ≈ $590$59 / mo2 | 20 GB | 192 kbps | 20,000 concurrent | ≈ 360,000 (20 TB) | 20 |
| Live365Broadcast 1 · with ads | $590$59 / mo · licensing included3 | 30 GB | 192 kbps | No cap (TLH-metered) | 1,500 | Not published |
| RadioKingPro | $640$64 / mo | 10 GB | 192 kbps | Unlimited | 150,000 | Unlimited |
| Airtime ProPlus | ≈ $650$64.95 / mo | 30 GB | 192 kbps | 1,000 concurrent | Bandwidth-capped (10 TB) | Unlimited staff |
| Zeno.FMPrime · ad-free | $720$60 / mo · no annual discount4 | 50 GB | 192 kbps | 25,000 concurrent | 1,000,000 | Not published |
| Caster.fmPro Medium | $960$80 / mo5 | 2 GB AutoDJ | 320 kbps | Unlimited | Unmetered | Not published |
- 1. Radiojar streams at a fixed 128 kbps by default; higher bitrates are adjusted on request, not self-serve.
- 2. Radio.co's annual total is derived from its terms (months 11–12 free on annual billing); the pricing page lists monthly rates.
- 3. Live365 includes US/Canada/Mexico music licensing, in exchange for a hard total-listening-hours cap and ad breaks on this tier (ad-free is $79/mo). Listed prices take effect September 1, 2026. 1,500 TLH ≈ two listeners around the clock.
- 4. Zeno.FM's free ad-supported tier closed to new signups in January 2025; paid tiers include advertising credits. Pricing varies by country.
- 5. Caster.fm's 10 GB AutoDJ tier is Pro Extra at $280/mo; Pro Medium includes 2 GB AutoDJ (+2 GB recordings, +2 GB podcasts).
Programming & broadcast features
Same plans as above. "—" means the feature is not advertised on the platform's official pages.
| Platform | Clockwheel hours | Voice tracking | Live DJ takeover | Royalty reports | Podcasts | API | Station website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RadioHost StudioThat's us | ✓ Full clockwheels | ✓ In the browser | ✓ 5 seats, auto-resume | ✓ SoundExchange-ready | ✓ From show recordings | ✓ + webhooks | ✓ Radio Site Maker, native |
| SAM Broadcaster Cloud | Scheduling only | — | ✓ Desktop app | — | — | — | — |
| Radiojar | Scheduling only | — | ✓ | Play reports | — | ✓ | — Widgets only |
| Radio.co | Calendar scheduling | ✓ + AI voices | ✓ | ✓ CSV exports | Via Podcast.co | ✓ | +$12 / mo add-on |
| Live365 | Scheduling only | — | ✓ | ✓ Licensing included | — | — | — Player pages |
| RadioKing | Day templates | — | ✓ | Track reports | — | Widget API | Paid add-on |
| Airtime Pro | Calendar + smart blocks | — | ✓ | — | ✓ Metered downloads | — | ✓ Radio page |
| Zeno.FM | Scheduling only | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ Up to 50 | — | — |
| Caster.fm | Scheduling only | — | ✓ + Web DJ | ✓ SoundExchange-compatible | ✓ | — | ✓ CMS + free apps |
See it for real
See what you would actually be switching to.
A comparison table is one row per platform. The tour is the whole product, screen by screen, on a station that is running right now — so you can judge it against whatever you use today.
- About 12 minutes
- No account, no credit card
- Real screens, not mockups
24 screens of a working station, walked through one click at a time
What the numbers say
💸 The mid-tier costs 3× more
The plans that match a serious single-station spec — Radio.co Standard, RadioKing Pro, Airtime Pro Plus, Zeno Prime — cluster around $590–720 per year. RadioHost Studio Pro covers the same spec, with more programming tools, for $199 — or $25 a month if you would rather spread it.
🎚️ Cheap plans cut where it hurts
The one offer priced near ours gives up things you'll feel on air: SAM Cloud Silver ($330/yr) caps you at 120 listeners and 128 kbps, with no published royalty reporting, podcasts or voice tracking — and its desktop software hasn't shipped an update in over a year.
🎙️ Voice tracking is rare
Only two platforms in this comparison advertise built-in voice tracking: Radio.co (from $59/mo) and RadioHost Studio ($25/mo, or $199/yr). If sounding live around the clock matters, that narrows the field fast — and one of the two costs a third of the other.
⏱️ Watch the listening-hours math
Live365's licensing-included model is genuinely useful for US broadcasters, but its $59/mo tier includes 1,500 listening hours a month — about two listeners around the clock — plus ad breaks in your stream. Studio Pro includes 30,000 hours.
🧩 "From $X" rarely means all-in
A station website is a paid add-on at Radio.co (+$12/mo) and RadioKing (separate product), and higher bitrates are a support ticket at Radiojar. Studio Pro's price includes the website link (native Radio Site Maker integration), widgets, API and 192 kbps.
📻 Clockwheels are our home turf
Every platform here schedules playlists on a calendar. Building each hour like a program director — rotations, jingle slots, anchored top-of-hour IDs, talk breaks with back-timing — is where RadioHost Studio stands alone in this group.
More station, less invoice.
Everything in these tables — 10 GB, 192 kbps, 500 listeners, 30,000 listening hours, 5 DJ seats, clockwheels, voice tracking, royalty exports, podcasts, API and a native website connection — for $25 a month, or $199 a year.
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Methodology & fair-play notes
Where do these prices come from?
Every figure was read directly from each platform's official public pricing page on August 8, 2026. Where annual billing earns a discount (typically two months free), we show the effective yearly total. Radiojar prices in euros; we left it in euros rather than guess an exchange rate. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.
How did you pick which plan to compare?
For each platform we chose the cheapest plan that gets closest to a serious single-station spec: around 10 GB of audio storage, 192 kbps streaming, hundreds of concurrent listeners and multiple DJ accounts. Where no plan reaches that spec (SAM Broadcaster Cloud's listener cap, Caster.fm's AutoDJ storage), we compared the nearest tier and said so in the footnotes.
Does "—" mean a platform definitely lacks a feature?
It means the feature is not advertised on the platform's official pricing or feature pages as of the verification date. Platforms ship new features; check with them for anything load-bearing to your decision.
What about music licensing?
Live365 is the only platform here that bundles US/Canada/Mexico music licensing into its fee — a real advantage for small US stations, paid for with a strict listening-hours cap and (on the cheaper tiers) ad breaks. Everyone else, including RadioHost Studio, leaves licensing with you; Studio gives you SoundExchange-ready play logs and TTSL summaries so the filing itself is painless.
All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification and comparison only.