A podcast needs exactly three things to exist: a script, a voice, and somewhere for people to find it. Everything else that shows up in a "podcast starter kit," a $200 microphone, a pop filter, an audio interface, a subscription to editing software, is optional.
That distinction matters more now than it did five years ago. Jellypod writes the script, casts an AI voice, mixes the audio, and builds the RSS feed automatically, which means the three traditional bottlenecks, recording, editing, and publishing, mostly disappear. Across more than 20,000 published episodes on the platform, half go from created to live in under 15 minutes. A quarter are live in under 10. That is faster than it takes to get microphone levels right in a traditional setup. This guide walks through both paths to start a podcast: record it yourself, or let AI handle production while you focus on what the show is actually about.
What you actually need to start a podcast
Strip away the equipment lists and affiliate links, and starting a podcast comes down to three decisions:
- A script. What you say, in what order. Even conversational shows benefit from a loose structure.
- A voice. Yours, a co-host's, a cloned version of yours, or a fully AI-generated one.
- A distribution path. An RSS feed and listings on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever else your audience listens.
Everything below is a step inside one of those three categories. Skip to the step you need if you already have pieces of this figured out.
Step 1: Pick a name and a format
Your show's name and format decide almost everything downstream, including how the cover art reads and what the first episode needs to accomplish. Three to four words is the most common length across successful podcast names, long enough to signal the topic, short enough to fit on a thumbnail. The podcast naming guide covers the patterns that hold up and the ones that create problems later (mainly: names so clever they don't say what the show is about).
Format matters just as much as the name. A solo narrated show, a two-host conversation, and an interview series each need different scripts, different pacing, and different production choices. Decide this before writing anything, because the format changes what "episode one" needs to be.
Step 2: Write the first episode
A podcast script is a production document, not an essay adapted for audio. It tells whoever (or whatever) is speaking exactly what to say and where the episode turns. The guide to writing a podcast script covers the format in full: intro, hook, segment blocks, and an outro that ends with a specific call to action instead of a vague "thanks for listening."
Writing the first script is usually where a podcast idea stalls, because a blank page is a worse obstacle than any piece of equipment. Jellypod generates a complete, editable script from a topic, a prompt, a PDF, or a URL, so you start from a draft instead of nothing. You can rewrite every line or publish it close to as-is. Either way, the editing session becomes about refining a script rather than creating one from scratch.
Step 3: Decide how the show will sound
This is the step where the traditional and AI-native paths actually diverge.
Recording it yourself means a USB microphone (the Shure MV7 and Rode NT-USB+ are common starting points), a quiet room, and recording software like Audacity or Riverside. Budget $150 to $300 for a setup that sounds professional, plus real time learning to record clean audio and edit out mistakes.
Cloning your voice lets you keep your actual voice and delivery without opening a microphone for every episode. You record a short reference sample once, and the AI generates new episodes in that voice from a script. The AI voice cloning guide covers how the process works, the ethics and consent requirements, and what the output actually sounds like today.
Using a fully AI-generated voice skips recording entirely. You pick a voice from a library, assign it to a host persona, and every episode renders from the script without you saying a word. This is the fastest path from idea to published episode, and it is also the option that made the 15-minute median above possible.
None of these is objectively correct. A true-crime narrator might want their own cloned voice for consistency and authenticity. A company publishing a weekly internal update might prefer a fully synthetic host so the show survives staff turnover. Pick based on what the show needs, not what feels most "legitimate."
Step 4: Produce the audio
If you're recording yourself, this step is where most first-time podcasters lose the most time: multiple takes, editing out filler words, leveling audio, adding music. Budget several hours per episode until you have a rhythm.
If you're generating with AI, this step takes as long as it takes to render, typically a few minutes. Jellypod produces the full mix, including any intro music, transitions, and multi-host dialogue, directly from the script. This is the step responsible for most of the time difference between the two paths: not the writing, the production.
Step 5: Design your cover art
Every directory requires a square image, and the real design constraint is not the 3000x3000 pixel canvas, it's the roughly 80-pixel thumbnail size a listener actually sees while scrolling a search result on their phone. The podcast cover art guide covers exact platform dimensions, the design mistakes that make covers disappear at that size, and how to generate art from a text prompt instead of opening a design tool.
Step 6: Set up your RSS feed
An RSS feed is what makes a podcast a podcast instead of a folder of audio files. It is the machine-readable index that Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and every podcast app read to know your show exists and to check for new episodes. The RSS feed guide explains how the feed works and why it updates automatically once new episodes publish. Jellypod generates and hosts this feed for you the moment you create a show, so there is no separate hosting provider to sign up for.
Step 7: Submit to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and the rest
Once the RSS feed exists, submission is a one-time form on each platform pointing to that feed URL. After approval, every new episode you publish appears automatically, no resubmission required. The complete podcast directory list covers Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, and the smaller directories worth the five minutes it takes to submit.
Step 8: Build a release schedule you can actually keep
The most common reason podcasts die isn't a bad first episode. It's an unsustainable production schedule that collapses by episode six. Pick a cadence you can maintain for a year, not the cadence that sounds impressive in an announcement post. Weekly is standard; biweekly is completely respectable if the alternative is quitting.
If a source, an RSS feed you follow, or a recurring topic feeds your show on a schedule (a weekly industry roundup, a recurring internal update), automations can generate and publish new episodes without a person starting each one manually. That removes the point where most shows quietly stop.
How much does starting a podcast actually cost
Traditional path: $150 to $300 for a microphone and basic recording setup, plus either your own editing time or $20 to $50 a month for editing and hosting software.
AI-native path: Jellypod's free AI podcast generator turns a topic into a sample episode in seconds, and a full account is free to start. Credits are only spent when you publish or download the finished audio, calculated on the final episode length, so cost scales with what you actually put out instead of a flat monthly fee.
Neither path requires the $1,000-plus studio setups that show up in some "professional podcasting" guides. That level of investment makes sense for a video podcast with a production team, not for episode one.
Should you try to make money from your podcast
Not right away, and that's fine. Most shows spend the first several months building a format and an audience before monetization is realistic. Once you have a consistent release schedule and a real listener base, the guide to making money podcasting covers sponsorships, listener support, and the download numbers that actually attract advertisers, rather than the vague "grow your audience" advice most guides stop at.
FAQ
Do I need a microphone to start a podcast?
No. You need a microphone only if you're recording your own voice. If you use a cloned or AI-generated voice, the script becomes the input and no recording happens at all. Both approaches produce a normal podcast episode that plays the same way in Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
How much does it cost to start a podcast?
A traditional setup runs $150 to $300 for a microphone plus monthly software costs. An AI-native setup can start free, with paid usage scaling to how many episodes you actually generate rather than a fixed monthly hosting fee.
How long should my first episode be?
Match your format, not an arbitrary number. Interview shows commonly run 30 to 45 minutes; solo or narrated shows often work better at 15 to 25. Your first episode should be as long as it takes to deliver on what the title promises, then stop.
How often should I publish?
Whatever cadence you can sustain for a year. Weekly is the most common schedule among shows that are still active after twelve months. A schedule that looks ambitious in month one and collapses by month three does more damage than a modest but consistent one.
Can I start a podcast without any technical setup?
Yes. An AI-native workflow needs a topic or a source document, not a technical setup. You supply what the episode should cover, review the generated script, and publish. No audio software, no RSS configuration, no separate hosting account.
Do I need to sound like a professional broadcaster?
No. Listeners tolerate a wide range of vocal styles and audio quality as long as the content delivers. Clarity matters more than polish: a clean recording (or a well-generated AI voice) with a specific, well-organized script outperforms a technically pristine recording of a rambling one.
What's the fastest way to get a podcast online?
Write or generate a script, choose a voice, produce the audio, and submit the resulting RSS feed to Spotify and Apple Podcasts. On Jellypod, that full sequence, script through a live episode, runs under 15 minutes for half of all published episodes on the platform.