Creating a gated premium podcast on beehiiv

You can use beehiiv to create a premium podcast that is available only to subscribers on specific paid subscription tiers.

This guide covers how to create a gated podcast and control which subscribers can access it.

If you're creating a podcast that will be available publicly to everyone, see Creating a podcast on beehiiv. 

Before you can create a premium podcast, your publication must have at least one active paid subscription tier. Premium podcast access is tied to these tiers, allowing you to choose which subscribers should receive access. See How to set up and use paid subscription tiers on beehiiv for more information. 

The number of private subscription RSS feeds (premium feeds) you can create depends on your beehiiv plan:

Some of the common ways you can use gated access are: 

• Fully gated podcast: all episodes in the podcast are only available to subscribers. 
• Bonus episodes: select episodes in the podcast feed available only to subscribers on specific paid tiers.
• Ad-free podcast: Create a separate premium show containing ad-free episodes while maintaining a public show containing the standard versions.

There are three paths to creating gated podcast content: 

• Creating a fully gated premium feed 
• Only gating select episodes
• Create a separate premium feed containing ad-free versions of your public episodes.

Gating at the show feed-level restricts the entire show to paid subscribers. Use this approach if your podcast is a subscriber-only benefit with no free episodes.

1. From the left panel, go to Podcasts.
2. If this is your first show, click Create new podcast. If you already have an existing show, click Create show. To gate an existing show instead, open the show and click Edit details.
   
   
3. The podcast details will open for you to fill in. Required fields are marked with an asterisk*
   
   
   
   Add the basic details:
   
   Show title: Enter a title for your show. This is the name listeners will see in podcast apps.
   Show URL: Enter the URL for your show using lowercase letters, numbers, and underscores. This must be unique and can be edited later.
   Description: Enter a short summary of what your podcast is about.
   Cover art: Upload a square image in JPEG or PNG format, ideally between 1400 x 1400 px and 3000 x 3000 px.
   Author: Your publication name loads here automatically. You can replace it with something else if needed.
   Copyright: Your publication name loads here automatically. You can replace it with something else if needed.
   Language: Select the language your podcast is in.
   Show type: Select Episodic for standalone episodes or Serial for episodes meant to be listened to in order.
   Explicit content warning: Toggle this on if your show contains explicit content. This will mark your show as explicit on your beehiiv website and across Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.
    
4. In the Categories section, start with the Primary category and select the category that best fits your show. You can optionally add a Secondary and Tertiary category to improve discoverability.
   
   

5. In the Premium podcast section, toggle on Premium podcast to restrict access to paid subscribers only, then select which subscription tiers have access. 
   
   

   
   Tech Note: This section is only available if you have at least one active paid subscription tier set up in your publication.
6. Review your podcast show selections and click Save show in the top right corner. 
   
   
   
7. You'll return to your Podcasts dashboard where your new show will be listed. Your show's Premium RSS Feed URL is available under the Distribution tab, alongside your public feed.

If you’re mixing free and premium episodes, we recommend that you set access on each episode instead of at the feed level. That way listeners can find your free episodes while premium ones stay gated. 

1. From the left panel, go to Podcast and open your show.
2. Click New episode. To gate an existing episode instead, open the episode's edit page and skip to step 5. 
3. You'll be prompted to upload an audio file in MP3 or WAV format (500 MB max file size). After your file upload is successful, click the Next button in the top right corner. 
4. The episode details will appear alongside a preview of how the page will look. Fill in the episode details:
   
   
   
   
   
   Episode title: Enter the title for your episode. This is shown in podcast apps and on your website.
   Show notes: Enter a description for your episode. Rich text formatting is supported, including bold, italic, and links. However, headers are not currently supported in show notes.
   Cover art (optional): Upload a square image for this episode. If none is uploaded, your show artwork is used by default.
   Episode type: Select Full, Trailer, or Bonus. Only one trailer episode is allowed per show.
   Explicit content warning (optional): Toggle this on if your episode contains explicit content.
   Show transcript and captions (optional): Toggle this on to allow subscribers to view an auto-generated transcript and closed captions on the episode page.
   Season number and Episode number (optional): Used by podcast apps that support seasons.
   Custom display date (optional): Shows a different date on your website and in podcast directories without changing the actual publish time.
   Audio preview (optional) Add an audio preview so prospective subscribers can sample the gated episode before subscribing. Previews must be at least 15 seconds and no more than 10 minutes long, and can be a selected segment of the episode's audio or a separately uploaded file.
    
5. Premium episode: Toggle this on to gate the episode so only paid subscribers can listen. You’ll have the ability to toggle between three options for episodes: 
   
   Same as show: The episode inherits the access settings applied at the show level. Use this when all episodes follow the same premium settings.
   Specific tiers: The episode is available only to subscribers on the tiers you select. This is useful when different subscription tiers include different podcast benefits.
   Free: Anyone can listen to the episode.
   
   
6. When your episode is ready, click Schedule in the top right corner. 
7. Choose how to publish it: either Publish now or Schedule for later.
   
   Publish now: The episode goes live immediately. Your RSS feed updates and podcast apps will pick it up on their next sync.
   Schedule for later: Click the calendar icon and select a future date and time for the episode to publish automatically, then click Schedule.
    
8. After publishing or scheduling, you'll return to your Podcasts dashboard, where your episode will be listed under the Episodes tab. 
9. (Optional) Navigate to the ‘Distribution’ tab to submit your public feed to make your free episodes available on other podcast apps 
   
   
   

If you want to offer subscribers an ad-free version of an otherwise public podcast, we recommend creating two separate shows:

• A public show containing the standard versions of your episodes.
• A fully gated premium show containing the ad-free versions.

Follow the steps in Option 1 to create the premium show and select which subscription tiers should have access. Consider adding 'Ad-Free' or 'Premium' to the show title so subscribers can easily distinguish it from the public version.

Each time you publish a new episode, upload the standard version to your public show and the ad-free version to your premium show. The two feeds are managed separately, so episodes are not automatically copied from one show to the other.

If you distribute your premium podcast through Spotify, you can use Spotify’s Synced Feeds feature to connect the public and premium versions on a single Spotify podcast page.

When a subscriber purchases a tier that grants access to a premium podcast, an automated transactional email is sent to them containing their private RSS URL and setup instructions.

Subscribers can also find their private RSS URL on their subscriber management page, which includes an Set up podcast app option with platform-specific deep links and QR codes:

1. On mobile: platform-specific deep links open the subscriber's podcast app directly.
2. On desktop: QR codes encode the private RSS URL, so subscribers can scan with their phone to add the feed to their podcast app.
3. Manually add RSS feed: subscribers can copy their private RSS URL and paste it into any podcast app that supports RSS feeds.
   
   
   

Spotify is the one listening platform where you distribute your premium feed directly. beehiiv is a Spotify Open Access Partner Platform, which means your paid subscribers can access premium episodes right inside Spotify. Using Spotify's Synced Feeds feature, your public and premium feeds are merged into a single podcast page: non-subscribers see your free episodes plus locked premium episodes with an upsell prompt, while subscribers see everything.

For the full setup walkthrough, see How to sync your premium podcast feeds with Spotify.

On your beehiiv website, listeners who are not logged in as paid subscribers are prompted to subscribe to unlock a gated episode. If you've added an audio preview, they can play the preview on the episode's page before being prompted to subscribe.