The Best CRM for Podcasters in 2026

I host Hacks and Hobbies. I have recorded more than 700 episodes. That is 700-plus people I booked, prepped, recorded, and then wanted to stay in touch with.

For years I tried to manage all of that with whatever tool was nearby. A spreadsheet. A generic sales CRM. A Notion page I kept promising to clean up.

None of them fit. So I built PodGlue, which I will be honest about up front. It is my product. This post is still an honest one, because I would rather you pick the right tool than the one with my name on it.

Let me explain what I learned.

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What is a podcast CRM, really?

A podcast CRM is relationship management built for a show. It tracks the people connected to your podcast, guests, prospects, past guests, and the threads between them, so you can tend those relationships over time.

That is different from a sales CRM. A sales CRM exists to move a contact through a pipeline toward a purchase. Lead, opportunity, close.

A podcaster is not closing a deal. You are building a network. The shape of the work is different, so the shape of the tool should be different too.

That single distinction is why most "best CRM" lists steer podcasters wrong.

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The options, ranked by how well they fit a show

Here is how I would group the realistic choices in 2026.

A general sales CRM (like HubSpot)

Best for: Teams running an actual sales pipeline with deals and revenue stages.

These tools are powerful and well built. The problem is fit. They are designed around deals, stages, and conversion. You will spend your energy bending guest relationships into a sales funnel that was never meant to hold them. For a podcaster, that is a lot of machinery pointed at the wrong job.

Notion or Airtable (DIY)

Best for: Tinkerers who enjoy building their own system and want full control.

I love both of these tools. They are flexible and they can become almost anything. That is also the catch. You are the one who has to design the database, build the views, and maintain it. The tool gives you a blank canvas, and a blank canvas is work. If you like building, this is great. If you want to record episodes, it becomes one more thing to keep up.

A spreadsheet

Best for: Brand new shows and anyone testing whether they will stick with podcasting.

Free, simple, and right in front of you. Honestly, a spreadsheet is where I started, and there is no shame in it. It breaks at scale though. Around episode fifty or so, the rows blur, the follow-ups slip, and you cannot remember who you already thanked. It works until it quietly stops working.

PodGlue

Best for: Active podcasters who want relationship management built for a show, not a sales funnel.

This is mine, so weigh that. I built PodGlue because I wanted the guest relationship to be the center of the tool, not a deal value. It tracks the people around your show and the threads between them in the shape podcasting actually takes. I made it because nothing else fit my own 700 episodes. You should still try the others and see what fits yours.

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A quick comparison

Option	Best for	Trade-off
General sales CRM (e.g. HubSpot)	Teams with a real sales pipeline	Built for deals, not guest relationships
Notion or Airtable	Tinkerers who want full control	You design and maintain the whole system yourself
Spreadsheet	Brand new shows	Free and simple, but breaks as you scale
PodGlue	Active podcasters tending guest relationships	Newer tool, and yes, it is mine

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So what is the best CRM for podcasters in 2026?

The honest answer is that it depends on where you are.

Just starting out? A spreadsheet is fine, and free beats fancy. Love building systems and want total control? Notion or Airtable will reward the time you put in. Running a sales team alongside your show? A general CRM might already make sense for you.

But if you are an active podcaster who keeps losing track of guests, follow-ups, and the relationships that make a show worth doing, you want a tool built for that exact job. That is the gap I kept hitting, and it is the gap PodGlue is meant to fill.

Pick the tool that matches your work, not the one with the longest feature list.

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Junaid Ahmed hosts Hacks and Hobbies, has recorded 700-plus episodes, and spent 30 years in video and AV before founding PodGlue.

PodGlue is in beta. If purpose-built podcast relationship management sounds like what you have been missing, you can join at podglue.com/join.