Add-ons Overview

Add-ons extend Benecaster with features that not every podcaster needs. The Benecaster plugin handles episode management, subscriber authentication, and feed delivery. Add-ons build on top of that foundation — a visual email editor, a migration wizard for Patreon and Supercast emigrants, deeper analytics, transcription, and more.

Browse and purchase add-ons at benecaster.com/add-ons/.

To see which add-ons you already have, sign in at benecaster.com/my-account/ and open the Shows & add-ons tab, then Your add-ons. It lists each one with how you got it — included with your plan, purchased, or added by support — and the date it is paid through. Your active add-ons also appear on the Account tab in your WordPress admin. See Billing and Renewals for what the “Paid through” date does and does not tell you.

Who Can Use Add-ons

All add-ons require a Benecaster account — including free Launch users. WordPress.org installs without a benecaster.com account cannot use add-ons.

Studio tier customers get every current and future podcaster add-on included automatically, with no separate purchases. The CRM Sync add-ons (HubSpot, Zoho and Salesforce) are the exception: they are sold separately on every plan, Studio included, so on a Studio plan Settings → Add-ons shows them with a Purchase link. A CRM Sync add-on installed without being purchased is reported there as not covered by your license.

Inclusion ends with the plan. An add-on that comes with your plan is included for as long as you are on that plan. If you move down to a plan that doesn’t include it, it stops when the change takes effect — you’ll be told which ones on the plan panel, in the confirmation dialog, and in the email confirming the change. Nothing you set up inside the add-on is deleted, and you can carry on using any of them by adding them to your subscription; they’re simply billed separately at your new plan’s pricing.

Moving up to a plan that includes an add-on you bought makes it part of the plan. We stop billing it separately and credit the unused part of what you paid for it to your account. From then on it comes with your plan like any other included add-on, so moving back down later releases it. Add-ons your plan doesn’t include, such as a CRM Sync add-on on Studio, are never affected by a plan change.

There is also an All Add-ons Bundle — approximately 41% off versus buying annual add-ons individually. The bundle automatically includes new annual add-ons as they launch. One-time add-ons (like the Migration Wizard) are purchased separately.

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Migration Wizard

One-time purchase ($79) · Included free with Growth, Pro, and Multi-Show

Moves your existing subscriber base from Patreon or Supercast to Benecaster with minimal disruption. Accepts a CSV export from any supported platform, creates WordPress user accounts, generates tokens, and sends a configurable email sequence guiding each subscriber through completing their payment setup.

Supported platforms: Any platform that gives you a CSV of your supporters. Patreon and Supercast exports are recognised automatically and the field mappings pre-filled. For Hello Audio, Memberful and Castos, choose your platform for its export instructions and audio advice, then map your columns yourself, which takes about a minute. Anything else goes through Somewhere else, the same way.

Key features: tier mapping, configurable grace periods (30/60/90 days) so subscribers retain access while transitioning, a migration dashboard showing the full funnel from imported to subscribed, and resend capability for subscribers who haven’t completed setup.

Important prerequisite: If your audio files are hosted directly on Patreon, you must move them to a podcast hosting provider before migrating. Benecaster does not host audio — it points RSS feeds at hosted URLs. The Migration Wizard checks for this and won’t proceed until you confirm audio hosting is in place.

See Migration Overview for the full setup walkthrough. Get it →

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Email Editor

$49/year · Available to all license tiers

A visual drag-and-drop template editor for all Benecaster emails — welcome messages, token reset notifications, tier change notices, and the full migration sequence.

Without the Email Editor, Benecaster sends its default templates, which you can change with a theme file or filter hooks. With the Email Editor, you get a visual editor: add your branding, change the layout, insert merge tags from a library, preview the result, and send test emails. Switching it on changes no email until you save a design.

Key features: per-show designs and branding, the last 20 versions of each design with restore, merge tag autocomplete, preview and test send, import and export of designs, and a broadcast tool for sending one-off messages to your listeners.

See Email Editor Overview for setup and usage. Get it →

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Blocks & Widgets Library

Free · Available to all license tiers

Gutenberg blocks and Elementor widgets for embedding Benecaster content anywhere on your site, with point-and-click settings instead of typed shortcodes: episode players and lists, episode cards, navigation and sharing, subscribe prompts and pricing tables, feed addresses, QR codes, Listener Support and the donor wall, subscriber and episode counts, and social, platform and RSS links.

This add-on is free because widespread adoption benefits everyone: it makes Benecaster-powered subscriber experiences easier to build regardless of which page builder a podcaster uses.

It is free and runs across your whole site, so its card has no per-show switch. Every block stands for one of Benecaster’s shortcodes and saves it, so block-editor pages keep working if the add-on is removed. Elementor widgets need the add-on active.

See Blocks & Widgets Overview and Available Blocks. Get it →

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Guest Manager

$49/year · Available to all license tiers

Extends the basic guest name and website fields in Benecaster into a full Guest CPT with profile pages, episode archives, cross-episode history, and search.

The Benecaster plugin includes basic guest fields (name, website) per episode. Guest Manager adds full guest profiles with bios, photos, social links, and dedicated archive pages. Episode template integration is automatic — no custom coding needed to display guest information. Get it →

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Analytics Dashboard

$79/year · Requires paid license

Extends the basic subscriber count visible in the Benecaster dashboard into a full analytics interface: subscriber growth over time, tier distribution, churn rate, episode download counts (with download tracking on), podcast app breakdown, cohort analysis, revenue by tier on built-in membership, Listener Support donations, who cancelled but is still checking their feed, digest emails, and export to CSV or PDF.

Platform benchmarks are included — your stats shown in context of anonymized aggregate data from other Benecaster installs, so you can see how your churn rate, episode reach, and geographic distribution compare to similar shows. Get it →

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Transcription Service

$79/year · Available on all plans including Launch · Bring your own API key

AI-powered episode transcription with timestamped output and no monthly caps. Connect your own API key from one of four supported providers — OpenAI Whisper, AssemblyAI, Deepgram, or Rev.ai — and Benecaster passes transcription jobs directly to your account.

No markup, no limits, no monthly reset. You pay your provider directly at their published rates. Benecaster doesn’t take a cut and doesn’t impose a monthly quota.

Provider comparison at a glance:

Transcripts display on episode pages with interactive playback: clicking a timestamp jumps the player. Export as SRT, VTT, plain text, or PDF. Already have transcripts from another service? Import them directly — SRT, VTT, plain text, and Whisper JSON are supported, and transcripts can be pulled straight from an RSS feed that carries <podcast:transcript> tags. PDF is an export format, not an import one — a PDF has no timestamps to recover, so re-transcribing gives you a better result for a few dollars. See Transcription Overview. Get it →

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AI Search

$79/year · Available to all license tiers

Semantic search across episode titles, descriptions, show notes, and transcripts (if Transcription is installed). Natural language queries like “episodes about remote work” work correctly alongside keyword searches. Results are tier-aware — subscribers only see episodes they have access to. Get it →

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Content Calendar

Available to all license tiers

Visual calendar for episode release schedules and tier availability dates. Month/week/list views, color-coded by tier and publish status, drag-and-drop to reschedule, export to Google Calendar and iCal. Get it →

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Podcast Workflow

Available to all license tiers

Production tools for professional podcast operations: guest preview tokens (share unpublished episodes with guests or sponsors before publish), timestamped feedback forms, editorial checklists, episode status workflow, production notes, and co-host collaboration. Get it →

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Sponsor Manager

Available to all license tiers

Sponsor CPT with per-episode sponsor assignment and ad position markers (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll). Includes sponsor reporting and an analytics panel (requires Analytics Dashboard) with downloads per sponsor, campaign timeline, and sponsor report export. Get it →

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Email Marketing Integrations

Free · Available to all license tiers

Coming soon. Connect Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, MailerLite, or Beehiiv, then pick a list for each show. New subscribers are automatically tagged by tier; tier changes and cancellations update tags automatically. Details →

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Choosing Which Shows an Add-on Runs On

You pay once, and every show on that license is covered. You choose which of them the add-on appears on. Those are two separate things, and the second is yours to change at any time.

Every entitled card on Benecaster → Settings → Add-ons carries an Active on list — one entry per show, each with its own switch. Turning a show off hides the add-on there and leaves it running everywhere else. Turning it back on restores it; nothing you set up inside the add-on is deleted while it is switched off.

A few free add-ons — ones every Benecaster license includes at no charge — run across the whole site instead. Their card has no Active on list and no per-show switch: they work on every connected show whose license includes them. Paid add-ons always keep the per-show switch.

Some add-ons put their own settings in a tab of each show’s settings, below Templates, marked with a puzzle-piece icon. That tab follows the same switch: it disappears from a show when you turn the add-on off there and comes back when you turn it on again.

Shows that your license does not cover are still listed, marked “Not on this show’s license” rather than hidden. That is deliberate: a show missing from the list with no explanation reads as a bug, when in fact it is a license boundary. If you see that on a show you expected to be covered, check that the show is connected to your license — see Which license an add-on applies to.

A show that isn’t connected to a license has no add-ons at all, whatever other shows on the same site hold. Add-ons follow the license a show is connected to, so connect the show and its license’s add-ons appear on it. Switching an add-on on can only narrow what your license already grants; it never extends the add-on to a show the license does not cover.

When Benecaster Asks Why You Switched an Add-on Off

If you share anonymous usage data (Settings → Account → Telemetry), switching an add-on off on its last show may open a short question: “Why did you switch off {add-on}?” Pick one of six reasons:

• I’m only switching it off for now
• It didn’t work as expected
• It was hard to set up or use
• It’s missing something I need
• I don’t need it any more
• Something else

There is an optional comment box below the reasons. Then choose Send or Skip.

It’s optional, and it never stands in the way of the switch. The add-on is already off by the time the question appears, so skipping or closing it changes nothing.

It asks rarely, by design:

• Only when the add-on is now off everywhere. Switching it off on one show while another still runs it is just configuration, so nothing is asked.
• At most once every 90 days per add-on. Skipping counts, so if you close the question you won’t be asked about that add-on again the next time you flip the same switch.
• Only on sites that share usage data. If telemetry is off, you are never asked, because the answer would have no way to reach us.

Where the answer goes. It’s sent to Benecaster once, with your site’s next daily usage-data check-in, however many shows your site has, and then deleted from your site. It contains the add-on, the reason you picked, your comment and when you answered. It doesn’t name you, your email address or your show, but it arrives with your license’s check-in like the rest of your usage data. The comment is sent exactly as you typed it, so leave out names, email addresses and other personal details. See Sharing Anonymous Usage Data for the rest of what’s shared.

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Managing Add-ons

You install, buy and switch add-ons on and off from Benecaster → Settings → Add-ons. An add-on’s own settings may live elsewhere: on its own page under Benecaster → Settings, or in a tab of each show’s settings when they differ from show to show. The Add-ons screen groups your add-ons into up to four sections, each shown only when it has something in it: Installed (active add-ons on this site), Ready to install (owned but not yet installed), Installed — no license (an add-on plugin is present but your license no longer entitles it — most often a copied installation or a lapsed license), and Available (not yet purchased).

Some add-ons add their own item to the Benecaster menu, below Benecaster’s own. The item appears while the add-on is switched on for at least one show. On a show it isn’t switched on for, its screen says so rather than showing the add-on. A change on Settings → Add-ons reaches the menu the next time the page loads. If an add-on runs into a problem while drawing its screen, Benecaster shows a short message naming it and the rest of the admin keeps working.

An add-on that has not been released yet says Coming soon. Its card stays in the section it would normally sit in and still shows its price, but it has no Purchase or Download link, because there is nothing to buy or download until it ships. That applies in every section: an unreleased add-on you already own — through the All Add-ons Bundle, for example — sits in Ready to install marked Coming soon rather than offering a download. The card is never hidden. The screen reads the add-on list from benecaster.com at most once a day, so an add-on released today can keep saying Coming soon for up to 24 hours.

After purchasing an add-on on benecaster.com, it appears in the Ready to install section automatically. With the free Benecaster Add-on Manager installed, press Install on the card; without it, the screen opens with a box offering Download the Add-on Manager, and the card’s Download → opens the Downloads panel of your account. A card for an add-on you own never links to its sales page, free add-ons such as Blocks & Widgets included; only Installed — no license and Available cards carry Purchase →. See Installing Add-ons for the full flow.

If an add-on moves to “Installed — no license,” its files stay on your site but its functionality stops working until entitlement is restored — nothing is uninstalled or deleted. This is the most common cause: your license lapsed and the add-on isn’t included in your current plan, or the add-on’s files were copied to this site from another installation. Restoring or renewing the entitlement moves the card back to Installed automatically on the next license check.

If an add-on you own says Paused, your site has not been able to reach Benecaster’s license server for 30 days in a row, and your add-ons have stopped along with your other paid features. Nothing is removed and your settings are kept. Every add-on your license covers starts again on its own at the next successful license check. See License Status and Plan.