53% Of New Podcasters Planning A Solo Show

The Independent Podcaster Survey 2025 shows that the three most popular formats among active creators are solo, co-hosted, and interview shows – with no single format dominating the field.

The data showed interview and solo podcasts neck-and-neck at 31%, while 24% said they create with a co-host.

But the above data doesn’t include responses from podcasters who were still at the planning stage when they took the survey. When I looked at that pre-launcher data separately, a different trend emerged.

You can see from the graph that solo shows were a lot more popular among the pre-launchers. A substaintial 53% of respondents from this group told us they’re planning to host a solo show. This is also up from 43% of new podcasters from a similar survey we ran back in 2022.

Among new podcasters, interviews were the second most popular choice, selected by 28% of respondents, almost the same as in 2022. Only 14% planned to co-host, down from 23% in 2022.

Are Solo Shows The Best Podcasting Format For Beginners?

With so many new podcasters choosing solo shows, it got me thinking about whether this is the most accessible format for new creators. But what’s really interesting about this data is that, in practice, running a solo is probably the most intimidating format a new podcaster could choose.

Getting over the feeling that you’re “talking to yourself” can be a major challenge for new creators. And then of course there’s the knowledge that you’re the “single point of failure”. It’s easy to take a lack of traction personally when you’re the only one involved.

On the other hand, the interview format is often seen as a faster route to growth. The idea is that you “borrow” someone else’s expertise, so they bring the knowledge and value. Then, they promote the episode to their audience, which can help you grow yours.

Granted, there’s a lot more to it than that, and any good interviewer will have spent years honing their craft. But you can see why these assumptions might make the interview format more appealing to new creators.

Added to this, remote recording tools have never been better. Nowadays, it’s so easy to record shows with guests and co-hosts all over the world. It’s not just easy – it will also sound as good as if you were in the same room.

So why are so many podcasters choosing to fly solo rather than create shows with other people? 

Why Are Creators Choosing Solo Podcasting?

There are a number of reasons someone might choose to run their show alone rather than with others.

For a start, maybe as creators, they just prefer to do things alone.  Working alone means you build your reputation as an authority in your niche, you own your content 100% (including any income you make through it), and you have all the creative autonomy you could want.

It also means you don’t need to rely on anyone but yourself when recording and can be as flexible as you need to be. If life gets in the way of your schedule, you can always record your show at 2 am the next day, and no one will know the difference. 

Interestingly, 71% of new podcasters who took our survey also said they plan to do everything alone, suggesting this flexibility might be a major draw for them.

Solo podcasters own their schedule, income, and direction. You can see why that’s a huge draw for many.

3 Insights About the Next Wave of Indie Podcasters

Here are a few more top-level insights about the next wave of independent podcasters, according to our data:

They’re starting a podcast as a branding tool

When we asked new podcasters what their ultimate goal was with creating their podcast, ‘To help and support others’ took the top spot (as it did with existing podcasters).

But interestingly, ‘Promoting a brand or business’ was the 2nd most popular goal for new podcasters. For existing podcasters, this option was much less popular – it came 6th in the list. This suggests that podcasting is becoming a popular branding tool amongst business owners and leaders.

The majority are considering video as well as audio

As much as 64% of new podcasters told us they’re considering making a video component to their podcast. Our data also revealed that in practice, making video podcasts requires a totally different approach and mindset.

57% identify as female, and only 33% as male

You only need to look at the charts to see that podcasting is disproportionately white and male. So to see this data imply that the next wave of creators is potentially more female-heavy than male is encouraging.

Our data also raised some concerns about how female creators are disproportionately experiencing burnout during the creation process – but thankfully, this doesn’t seem to be putting women off the idea of launching a show.

If you’re in the very early days of planning your podcast, our free podcast planner will help you get started. Invest 5 minutes answering simple questions and get yourself a personalised step-by-step plan to launch your podcast that will save you days. No guesswork, and no browser tab overload. All you need is an idea and the will to bring it to life!