Castos
👤 Craig Hewitt (Ran a podcast + a $100K/yr editing service first — he knew podcasters' pain and had cash to buy the plugin behind Castos.)🌐 sitecraighewitt.com𝕏LinkedIn
Castos hosts podcasts, but it grew by buying a free WordPress plugin and upselling its users paid hosting.
Will it work? · our read
Bought his funnel. Smart entry, but podcast hosting is a commodity — Spotify and Buzzsprout bundle it, and the plugin only converts a slice. Growth now depends on content, not the one trick.
01How the money moves
Free WordPress plugin runs 30K+ podcasts
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Plugin funnels those users into Castos hosting
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They subscribe at $19-$499/mo to host + analyze
02The numbers
just under $1.5MStatedARR (2021, stated)
2021
ARR disclosed at $1.5M in 2021; the $3.6M is a third-party estimate. Mixergy (2021)
$1.5M ARR stated in 2021; about $3.6M estimated by 2024 (Latka).
🔒
You have the verdict. Members get the work behind it.
- The CENTS scorecard — where it's strong, where it's soft
- The founder's key move, and the counter-move
- How it could die — the evidence, and how sure we are
- The case against our own call
- A 🚀 launchpad prompt — the case, as a plan for your business
We rate our own confidence — and argue against ourselves. Nobody else in this category does.
Sources always public on all 560 cases · cancel anytime · 14-day refund
See a full teardown, free → ImportYetiSourcesSources last checked 25 August 2026
Mixergy — Craig Hewitt states 'just under $1.5M ARR' (2021)Castos press — '$120K TinySeed' and '$10K MRR in 12 months' from the bought pluginWordPress.org — Seriously Simple Podcasting, 30K+ podcasts, by CastosLatka — Castos about $3.6M ARR estimate (2024)
Revenue is first-party where it counts: Craig Hewitt stated 'just under $1.5M ARR' on Mixergy (2021), and Castos's own press page documents the $120K TinySeed round and the '$10K MRR in 12 months' from the bought plugin. The current about $3.6M ARR (2024) is a Latka third-party estimate, not confirmed — treat it as directional. Not a pure bootstrap: Castos took the TinySeed check (some sources report up to $750K raised total). The 30K+ plugin figure is from WordPress.org. Drama is real and documented — the plugin acquisition is the crux, not a narrative imposed after the fact. We never score you.