Private podcast with members - Getting started

In one sentence: A members-only show gives every listener you add a personal link to your show website (and, if you want, a personal RSS feed for their podcast app), so you decide exactly who can listen - and you can switch someone off at any moment.

What it does

Most private shows use one shared secret: a password, or a single sign-on. Once it's out, you can't take it back from one person without changing it for everyone.

A members-only show works differently. You add each listener by email address. Springcast creates a personal link for that person and emails it to them. They click it and they're in - no account, no password, no app to install. If you also switch on private RSS, each member gets a personal feed link as well, to follow your show in their favorite podcast app.

Access is yours to control. When you remove a member, or their access date passes, their links stop working within seconds - on the website and in the feed - while everyone else carries on as usual.

Note: Members are not the same as users of the private Springcast PRO app. The app is for Company workspaces; members are listeners of a single show, identified by email only.

Benefits

• Sell or grant access. Connect it to your payment or membership tool and add listeners the moment they pay - or simply invite people by hand.
• Stay in control. You know exactly who has access, when they last listened, and you can end access per person.
• Link access to a subscription. Give a member an end date and access stops by itself when the subscription ends. Extend the date to renew.
• Nothing for listeners to set up. No account, no password, no app. One click on a link.
• Their own podcast app, if you like. With private RSS, members listen where they already listen.
• Fewer shared links. Every link is personal. If one leaks, reset that one link; no one else is affected.
• Keep members in the loop. Members can automatically get an email when you publish a new episode.

Use cases

• Paid courses and masterclasses. Only people who enrolled can listen, for the period they paid for.
• Audiobooks. Sell a book as a private show, one personal link per buyer.
• Paid community or membership. Members-only episodes next to your public content.
• Premium or bonus episodes for supporters. Reward your supporters with a feed the rest of the world doesn't see.
• Coaching programs. Give each client access for the length of the program.
• Internal or partner content. Share updates with a small group - a team, a board, a handful of partners - without a shared password.

Who has access

Members-only shows are included in the Professional plan (up to 250 members per show) and the Scale plan (unlimited members). The plan also decides whether you can use private RSS feeds for members and the Members API.

If members aren't part of your plan, the Members page tells you so and offers a View plans button. The Members only option on the visibility settings is greyed out with a note.

If you reach the limit: Existing members keep their access. You simply can't add or import new members until you free up room or upgrade. The same applies if you move to a plan with a lower limit or without members: nobody loses access, but adding new members is switched off. You can still delete members, reset links, change dates, and so on.

Setting it up in Springcast

1. Make the show members only

1. Open your show and go to Distribute.
2. Open the Visibility tab.
3. Switch on Private show.
4. Choose Members only. (Only listeners you add as members can open the website and private feed, each through a personal link.)
5. Click Save.
6. Publish your changes so the website and feeds pick up the new setting.

[Screenshot: Distribute > Visibility with Private show and Members only switched on]

Important - public listeners lose access. As soon as the show is members only, it is no longer open to the public. Existing listeners without a personal link can't open the website, the RSS feed no longer works for them, and the show's embed code is hidden (see the FAQ). Add your members first - or be ready to - before you publish.

Members only can't be combined with a password or single sign-on. Choosing Members only switches those off, and choosing either of them switches off Members only.

2. Add members

Open Members in your show's menu.

[Screenshot: Members page with Add member]

Add one member

1. Click Add member.
2. Fill in the Email address.
3. Optional: add a Name (optional).
4. Optional: set Access until to give the member an end date. Leave it empty for access without an end date.
5. Leave Send welcome email ticked to email the personal link right away, or untick it if you'd rather send the link yourself.
6. Click Add member.

If you add an email address that is already a member, Springcast updates that member (end date and name) instead of adding a duplicate - and doesn't send another welcome email.

Import many members from a CSV file

1. Click the menu next to Add member (the ⋮ menu) and choose Import CSV.
2. Choose your file and click Import.
3. Optional: untick Send welcome email if you don't want everyone emailed.

Your file needs a header row. The columns are:

What to expect:

• Members who already exist are updated, not duplicated. An empty expires_at never removes an existing end date.
• If your plan has a member limit, new members are added until the limit is reached. The rest are skipped, and the result tells you how many.
• Rows with an invalid email or date are skipped, and the result lists their line numbers (the header is line 1) so you can fix and re-import them.
• An email that appears twice in the file is handled once.

Export your members with Export CSV in the same menu.

3. Manage your members

The members table shows each member's Email, Name, when access Expires, when they were Last accessed, and their Status - Active or Expired. Use the search box (Search by name or email) to find someone. A counter shows how many members you have, and how many of your maximum.

Each member has a ⋮ menu with:

Tick several rows to Resend welcome email or Delete for all of them at once.

Expired members stay in the list as Expired. They can't listen, but you can give them a new date to bring them back.

[Screenshot: Members table with the per-member menu open]

4. Private RSS and new-episode emails

Two settings on the Members page:

• Private RSS feed per member. Only shown when your plan includes private RSS. Gives every member a personal feed link for their podcast app. The feed works only for that member, and stops when their access ends.
• Email members about new episodes. Active members get an email when you publish a new episode. This is on by default.

Good to know: Episodes that a podcast app has already downloaded stay on the device, even after a member loses access. Access to new episodes and updates stops, but we can't remove files from a listener's phone.

Notes on the emails:

• New-episode emails go out for episodes published after you switched to members only. Your back catalog isn't mailed.
• Switching an episode on or off per member isn't possible; the setting applies to the whole show.
• There is no unsubscribe link in these emails. Members stop receiving them when you end their access, or when you switch the setting off.

[Screenshot: Members page settings - Private RSS feed per member and Email members about new episodes]

5. What your members experience

1. The welcome email. When you add a member, they get an email ("Your personal access to your show") with an Open the show button. If private RSS is on, the email also contains their feed link, with instructions to add it to a podcast app. If you set an end date, the email shows it.
2. The personal link. One click opens your show website with every episode. Their browser remembers them, so they don't need to click the link again on that device.
3. Lost the link? If a member opens the show without a valid link, the website says it is for members and offers a form to request the link again. Springcast emails it if the address belongs to an active member. The answer on screen is always the same, so nobody can use it to check who is a member.
4. When access ends. After the end date, or when you delete the member or reset their link, the link stops working. Visitors see that the show is for members. An open player may keep playing for a short while (up to a few hours) before it asks them to reload.

Emails come from Springcast with your show's name as the sender; replies go to the show's email address.

6. Turning members only off

Change the visibility again (for example back to public) and click Save. If your show has members, you'll be asked Turn off members only? The message explains that members lose access to the website and their private feed right away, and that Springcast doesn't notify them. You can either:

• tick Remove all members to delete them for good, or
• leave it unticked to keep them. They're dormant: no access, no emails. If you turn members only on again, they get their access back.

Then click Save visibility to confirm.

Automate with the API and Zapier

If your members come from a payment or membership tool, you don't have to add them by hand. The Members API lets other tools add, update, and remove members for you - and works with Zapier, n8n, or your own code.

Create an API token

1. From the dashboard main page, in the left sidebar, click Settings. Under Developers, choose API Settings.
2. Create a new token and select the Members API scope.
3. Copy the token. Use it in Zapier or your own code.

You can also get there from the Members page: click the ⋮ menu and choose API documentation (the technical reference) or Manage API keys. These two items only appear when your plan includes the Members API.

Example Zaps

• Payment succeeded -> add member. When a customer pays in your shop or billing tool, add their email to your show. They receive their welcome email straight away.
• Subscription cancelled -> remove member. When a subscription ends, remove that email. Access stops immediately.

Adding an email that is already a member updates that member instead of failing, so a repeat purchase or a retried Zap is safe.

Connect Zapier with Webhooks by Zapier

A Springcast Zapier app is coming. Until then, use Webhooks by Zapier.

1. Find your show id: call GET https://work.springcast.app/api/members/v1/projects, or open the API documentation link in the Members page menu.
2. In your Zap, add an action step: Webhooks by Zapier -> Custom Request.
3. Add the headers Authorization: Bearer <your token> and Content-Type: application/json.
4. Add member: method POST, URL https://work.springcast.app/api/members/v1/projects/<show id>/members, body:

{"email": "jane@example.com", "name": "Jane", "expires_at": "2026-12-31", "send_welcome": true}

name, expires_at (format YYYY-MM-DD) and send_welcome are optional.
5. Remove member: method DELETE, URL https://work.springcast.app/api/members/v1/projects/<show id>/members?email=<email>. The answer contains deleted: true or deleted: false, so a cancellation for someone who was never added doesn't make the Zap fail.
6. Optional: trigger a Zap on every new member with Webhooks by Zapier -> Retrieve Poll on GET https://work.springcast.app/api/members/v1/projects/<show id>/members.

The API documentation lists all calls and fields, so we won't repeat them here.

Good to know

• Email only. Members are identified by their email address. Springcast doesn't store passwords for them.
• Treat the link like a key. Anyone with a member's link can listen as that member. The welcome email asks members not to share it.
• Statistics. You see when each member last accessed the show. There are no per-member listening statistics.
• Language of the emails. Member emails use the language of your show website.

Common questions

• "Can I turn it off again?" Yes. Change the show's visibility and save. You choose whether to delete the members or keep them dormant. Nothing is sent to your members.
• "What happens to my existing members if I switch off members only?" They lose access right away. If you keep them (don't tick Remove all members), they come back when you switch members only on again.
• "Does the embed player work?" Not as an open embed. A members-only show can only play inside the show website, for members who opened their personal link. So the embed code is hidden for a members-only show, and a player pasted on another website won't play. Shows with a password or single sign-on can still be embedded.
• "Can members share their link?" They shouldn't - the link is personal. If a link leaks, open the member's ⋮ menu, choose Reset link, and then Resend welcome email. Only that member's links change. You can also set an end date, or delete the member.
• "Someone paid but says they have no email." Check the address in the members list (typos happen). Use Resend welcome email. Also ask them to check their spam folder.
• "I reached my member limit." Delete members who no longer need access, or upgrade your plan. Existing members are never cut off because of a limit.
• "Do members get a warning before their access ends?" No. There are no "expiring soon" emails right now. Extend the date in Edit member to keep someone on board.
• "Why do I still see a member as 'Last accessed: Never'?" They haven't opened their link yet. Try Resend welcome email.