Online radio station
cost calculator
Most small online stations cost from $33 a month to run, plus music licensing if you play copyrighted music, and between $0 and $400 to get started. Tell us about your station and we'll work out your own budget: hosting, hardware, music licensing, a website and an app.
Your station
Averaged across the whole day, not your busiest show. Most new stations average under 5.
Your station on RadioCult
Your setup
We recommend RadioCult Starter
Starter covers your team, library and listeners.
Hosting
- RadioCult Starter plan
Billed yearly, with two months free.
$330a year
Music licensing
- Licence fees
Based on 17,520 listener hours a year. An estimate from our royalty calculator. Not legal advice.
$1,250 to $1,800a year
Website
- Embedded RadioCult player
Included with every RadioCult plan.
$0a month
Mobile app
- RadioCult listener app
Your station is listed in the free RadioCult app.
$0a month
Ways to cut costs
Playing royalty-free music, your own music or talk means no music licence to pay for.
What it really costs to run a radio station
Most of the cost of starting an online station is optional. If you already own a computer, you can be on air for the price of a hosting plan. Microphones, mixers, a website and an app can all come later, once you know what your station needs.
The cost that catches most new stations out is music licensing. It depends on your country, whether you run as a business and how many people listen, and for a commercial station it can be bigger than everything else combined. Talk shows and stations playing royalty-free or their own music avoid it completely.
Related tools & resources
For the reasoning behind each figure, read our guide to what a station costs. To dig into licensing, try the royalty calculator, and when you're ready to plan the rest, our business plan template has space for your costs and revenue.
FAQs
How much does it cost to start an online radio station?
A small station that already owns a computer can be on air for the price of a hosting plan, from $33 a month on RadioCult. A microphone, headphones and a mixer add around $250 for entry-level kit and up to $950 for advanced kit, and you should budget for music licensing if you play copyrighted music. The calculator above adds it up for your own station.
Read the full cost breakdownWhat is the biggest ongoing cost of running a radio station?
For most stations that play copyrighted music, it is music licensing. In the US every webcaster pays SoundExchange a minimum of $1,000 a year per station, and in the UK a small station needs PRS for Music and PPL licences that start at around £400 a year. Talk stations and stations playing royalty-free or their own music pay nothing for licensing.
Estimate your royalties in detailWhich RadioCult plan do I need?
It depends on the size of your team, your music library and your audience. Starter covers 3 users and 5GB of storage, Growth 20 users and 25GB, Premium 50 users and 80GB, and Business unlimited users and 200GB, all with unlimited concurrent listeners and a monthly bandwidth allowance of 5TB, 20TB, 30TB and 60TB. Running your station with AI agents over MCP is included from Premium. The calculator recommends the cheapest plan that fits what you tell it.
Compare plansDo non-profit radio stations get a discount?
Yes. Non-profit, student and educational stations get 20% off any RadioCult plan billed yearly, on top of the two months free that yearly billing already includes. Tick the non-profit box and choose yearly billing above to see the discounted price, then contact us to claim it.
Contact usDo I need a website for my radio station?
Not to start. You can embed the RadioCult player on a site or social profile you already have, and your station is listed in the free RadioCult listener app. A site builder costs around $16 a month plus a domain when you are ready for your own website.
How accurate is this calculator?
RadioCult plan prices are our live prices. Hardware, website and app figures are typical costs from our own guides, and licensing comes from our royalty calculator, which uses each collecting society's published rates. Treat the result as a budget estimate rather than a quote, and check licensing with the relevant bodies in your country.
Ready to start your station?
Explore how RadioCult helps stations broadcast continuously, organize programming clearly, and grow with confidence over time.
Start broadcasting without a complex setup- Review scheduling and collaboration workflows
- Understand listener capacity and growth options
- Ask questions about migration, teams, or programming
