SHOUTcast hosting
Free SHOUTcast hosting on a real DNAS 2.6 server
New stations run Icecast; flip to a real SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 server from the Primcast panel whenever you like, on any plan including Free, and keep its admin pages, a SHOUTcast Directory listing and every panel tool.
Free SHOUTcast hosting here costs a $5 setup fee once and nothing a month, for 1,000 listeners at once on servers Primcast owns in New York and Bucharest.
Switching your station to SHOUTcast
- Where it starts
- Every new station is built on Icecast 2.5.
- The switch
- One setting in your Primcast control panel moves the station to a SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 server, whenever you choose.
- Which plans
- Free, Premium and Platinum. You do not need to upgrade to run SHOUTcast.
- Admin pages
- Your station's own DNAS admin and status pages.
- Directory
- A SHOUTcast Directory listing: paste the authhash from your free SHOUTcast RadioManager account into the panel and your server reports the station, so people browsing the Directory can find it and press play.
- Panel tools
- All of them stay: listener stats, your station page and show line-up, the airplay log and licence records, and Auto DJ on Premium and Platinum.
- Live tools
- Your encoders still connect to the station's Icecast behind DNAS, so every live tool carries on: the list of who is listening now on every plan, talk-over and recording of each live show on Premium and Platinum, and the standby slot on Platinum.
- Where it runs
- New York or Bucharest, on hardware Primcast owns. See our data centers.
New AI Production · Premium and Platinum
Empty playlist? Type what you need and press make.
Ads for your sponsors, station IDs, the weather, a news bulletin, a talk show, even original songs: written for you, recorded with the voice you pick and dropped straight into your Auto DJ library. No studio, no voice actors, no radio experience needed.
- Uses your own OpenAI or ElevenLabs account for voices and music
- Lands in your playlists by itself, ready to air
- Platinum adds an AI DJ that talks between your songs
SHOUTcast encoder settings
Choose SHOUTcast as the server type and fill in three lines. Your own port and password are on the Go live tab, each with a copy button.
- Server
- ny1.radio.primcast.com
- Port
- Your station's port, as the panel shows it
- Password
- Your source password
- Works with BUTT, RadioBOSS, SAM Broadcaster, Mixxx (type Shoutcast 1) and the Winamp SHOUTcast DSP in legacy mode
- Send MP3 at up to 32, 128 or 320 Kbps, depending on your plan; an encoder set higher is disconnected
- No username and no mount point to fill in
- On Platinum, the closest-server settings work too: server ingest.radio.primcast.com, port 14000, and your password with your station's number and a colon in front of it
Step-by-step guides: BUTT, SAM Broadcaster, Mixxx and the SHOUTcast DSP.
Plans for a SHOUTcast station
$0 a month
A $5 setup fee, once. Live shows from your encoder to 1,000 listeners at 32 Kbps; the stream stops when you do.
Closest-server delivery is on Platinum
Open a free station$39 a month
Music keeps playing between your shows: Auto DJ, 20 GB for songs, 2,500 listeners at 128 Kbps. Your shows also become podcasts. Or $390 a year, $78 less.
Free for 14 days Card or PayPal at checkout, first charge on day 15
Closest-server delivery is on Platinum
Choose PremiumGlobal radio CDN: listeners and your encoder on the closest of five cities.
$79 a month
Your best sound at 320 Kbps for 5,000 listeners, 3 streams and 100 GB of music. Podcasting comes with it. Or $790 a year, $158 less.
Free for 14 days Card or PayPal at checkout, first charge on day 15
Choose Platinum| Feature | Free | Premium | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radio CDN · Platinum only | |||
| Listeners hear you from the closest of five cities | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Your encoder connects to the closest city | Not included | Not included | Included |
| If a server fails, the next closest city takes over | Not included | Not included | Included |
| On air | |||
| People listening at the same time | 1,000 | 2,500 | 5,000 |
| Monthly allowance of listener hours | No monthly allowance | 500,000 | 1.5 million |
| Best sound quality you can send | 32 Kbps | 128 Kbps | 320 Kbps |
| Streams (extras are lighter copies for phones) | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Secure https:// link and a player that works in any browser | Included | Included | Included |
| Connect an Icecast or a SHOUTcast encoder | Included | Included | Included |
| Live shows and DJs | |||
| DJ logins, each with its own hours on air | Not included | 5 | 20 |
| Go live from your browser, nothing to install | Not included | Included | Included |
| Live DJs take over and hand back on their own, plus a kill switch | Not included | Included | Included |
| An alert if the station goes silent | Not included | Included | Included |
| A backup encoder, gapless handovers between DJs and a standby slot | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Invite a guest on air with a link | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Talk over the music from a microphone, with the music dipped under you | Not included | Included | Included |
| Every live show saved to your library, ready to turn into a podcast episode | Not included | Included | Included |
| Free trial | |||
| Try it before the first charge | Not included | 14-day trial | 14-day trial |
Auto DJ, audience stats and the licensing tools for each plan are listed on our radio hosting page. Changed your mind about a paid plan? Ask in writing within three days of going live for a pro-rated refund, less 15%, as our refund policy explains.
Radio CDN, on Platinum
Your listeners hear you from the server closest to them
Your station lives in New York or Bucharest. On Platinum, each listener connects to the closest of our five cities instead, and so does your encoder. Every one of those servers pulls a single copy of your stream, however many people are listening there.
One link for every listener
Share your station's CDN link. Whoever opens it is answered by our server closest to where they are, and everybody listening through that city shares a single copy of your stream.
Your encoder stops at the closest server
Use the Nearest server settings and that server relays your show to your station's own server. Your password, your DJs' hours and your show all work exactly as they do now.
A server that goes quiet is skipped
We check every server every 10 seconds. One that misses 2 checks in a row is taken out, and anyone who reconnects is sent to the next closest city.
An audience on several continents? Platinum puts a server near each of them
Nobody has to reach across an ocean to hear you: each listener, and your encoder, connects in or near their own region. When we measured it, sound started 0.25–0.7 seconds after the player connected.
- North America
- New York
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Miami
- Western Europe
- Amsterdam
- Eastern Europe
- Bucharest
- North Africa, and Africa beyond it
- Amsterdam
- The Middle East
- Bucharest
- West Asia: Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan
- Bucharest
- South and Central Asia
- Bucharest
- Asia-Pacific
- San Francisco
On Platinum, your dashboard's Radio section adds your CDN link and your Nearest server details. Free and Premium stations are reached directly, on the server they live on. Every plan keeps the links and settings you have now. How our radio CDN works
Try Premium or Platinum free for 14 days
Add a card or PayPal when you sign up and nothing is charged before day 15. Cancel before then and you pay nothing at all. One trial per new customer, and one more when you move up from Free or Premium.
Free SHOUTcast hosting questions
Is the free SHOUTcast hosting really free?
Yes. The free plan has no monthly charge and does not expire, and you can switch it to a SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 server just like a paid plan. The only charge is a $5 setup fee, once, when your station is built.
How do I turn my station into a SHOUTcast server?
New stations start on Icecast. Turn on SHOUTcast in your Primcast control panel and the station moves to a SHOUTcast DNAS 2.6 server, with its admin and status pages. Add the authhash from your SHOUTcast RadioManager account and listeners can find it in the SHOUTcast Directory and play it from there. There is nothing extra to order.
Do I keep the panel tools after switching?
Every one of them: listener stats, your station page, the show line-up, the airplay log and licence records, and Auto DJ on Premium and Platinum. Live shows work as before too, so you can still talk over the music and record each show on the paid plans, and keep a standby source waiting on Platinum.
Will my SHOUTcast encoder work?
If it is BUTT, RadioBOSS, SAM Broadcaster, Mixxx, Liquidsoap or the Winamp SHOUTcast DSP, yes. Give each one the server, port and password from your panel. They work on Free, Premium and Platinum.
Can I have Auto DJ on a SHOUTcast station?
Yes, on Premium and Platinum. Auto DJ plays your music while nobody is live, and your encoder takes over when it connects. The free plan has no space for music, so it has no Auto DJ.
How many listeners can tune in at once?
1,000 on Free, 2,500 on Premium and 5,000 on Platinum. Premium and Platinum also include 500,000 and 1.5 million listener hours a month. Expecting more? Tell us and we will quote it.
Your own SHOUTcast server, on the free plan
Order the free plan, switch the station to SHOUTcast in your panel, and point your encoder at it. Premium is there when you want music playing while you sleep.