Sync an Existing Feed to Patreon

  • Updated

You can automatically sync podcast episodes from your existing host to Patreon. This is useful if you publish free episodes elsewhere and paid ones on Patreon—syncing lets you show all your episodes in one place. Visitors can sample your work before subscribing, and members can access everything easily.

Looking to move your full back catalog to Patreon in one go? Try our RSS Migration feature.

Key Things to Know

  • Your podcast stays hosted and distributed through your hosting platform
  • This is an ongoing sync, not a one-time migration. Once you sync your podcast, Patreon will continuously check for new episodes on your original hosting platform
  • New episodes will automatically sync to Patreon. You can choose whether they’re published right away or saved as drafts in your Library for review before publishing
  • Only audio posts will be synced — video posts in your RSS feed won't be imported

How to Set Up Podcast Sync

  • Make sure you're using the desktop web experience and have switched to your creator profile. You can do this by clicking your profile image in the bottom-left corner and selecting Switch to creator profile.

    1. Go to Settings in the left sidebar
    2. Select Podcast and audio from the top menu
    3. Click + New podcast

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    4. Select Sync with another platform
    5. Paste your RSS feed from your podcast host into the sync field.
      • Please note that only audio posts will be imported
      • Most hosting platforms provide your RSS feed under Settings, Sharing, or Distribution
      • This is usually the same feed your listeners use on Spotify, and other apps
    6. Click Next
    7. Verify your email with your podcast host.
      • Make sure the correct email is linked to your hosting account
    8. Click Next to continue
    9. After syncing your podcast, you can choose how new episodes are handled:
      • Save as drafts in Library – Episodes will appear in your Library as drafts, giving you time to review and customize them before publishing
      • Publish automatically – Episodes will be published as soon as they sync
    10. On the same page, choose the default settings for your synced episodes. You can change these for individual episodes in your Library.
      • Public – Available to everyone
      • Paid members only – Only accessible to paying members
      • Selected tiers – Select which tiers should have access
      • Hide from paid members – Choose this if paid members already have access to other versions of these episodes. This prevents paid members from seeing both the free and paid version of the same episode.
      • Send notifications when publishing – Enable this if you want members to get a notification when an episode is published. To avoid sending lots of notifications at the same time, members won’t get notified about episodes you've already published.
      • Allow comments – Allow or turn off comments for your episodes
    11. Click Next
    12. Fill in your podcast details and save. Only description and copyright details are optional, the rest must be filled out to continue.
    13. You can choose where members can listen to your podcast. The Patreon RSS will be turned on by default — this ensures your episodes appear in members' RSS feeds. If you’re using Patreon RSS, you can also turn on Spotify integration and enable Synced Feeds, which allows your members to listen to your paid episodes on Spotify, and non-members will have the option to join your Patreon to unlock your exclusive episodes
    14. Your podcast will sync automatically

  • Make sure you're using the desktop web experience and have switched to your creator profile. You can do this by clicking your profile image in the bottom-left corner and selecting Switch to creator profile.

    1. Go to Settings in the left sidebar
    2. Click Podcast and audio from the top menu
    3. Click Import next to the podcast you want to sync

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    4. Select Sync with another platform
    5. Paste your RSS feed from your podcast host into the sync field.
      • Please note that only audio posts will be imported
      • Most hosting platforms provide your RSS feed under Settings, Sharing, or Distribution
      • This is usually the same your listeners use on Spotify, and other apps
    6. Click Next
    7. Verify your email with your podcast host.
      • Make sure the correct email is linked to your hosting account
    8. Click Next to continue
    9. After syncing your podcast, you can choose how new episodes are handled:
      • Save as drafts in Library – Episodes will appear in your Library as drafts, giving you time to review and customize them before publishing
      • Publish automatically – Episodes will be published as soon as they sync
    10. On the same page, choose the settings for your synced episodes:
      • Public – Available to everyone
      • Paid members only – Only accessible to paying members
      • Specific tiers – Select which tiers should have access
      • Hide from paid members – Choose this if paid members already have access to other versions of these episodes.
      • Send notifications when publishing – Enable this if you want members to get a notification when an episode is published
      • Allow comments – Allow or turn off comments for your episodes
    11. Click Next to start syncing

    Make sure you have RSS feed enabled for your members so your episodes appear in their RSS apps. If you’re using Patreon RSS, you can also turn on the Spotify integration, which allows non-members to join directly on Spotify to unlock episodes.

Once you start syncing, any episodes you’ve already published will be synced first. You can track the progress in your Library. When syncing is complete, you’ll receive both a notification and an email confirmation.

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From then on, you’ll get a notification and an email each time a synced episode is successfully published or added to your drafts.

Going forward, any changes you make to your podcast will sync hourly, but you can manually trigger a sync by going to Podcast and audio settings and clicking Sync now.

Manage and publish your synced episodes

Once syncing begins, you can track progress in your Library. If you're syncing a large number of episodes, it may take a few minutes to start. When the sync is complete, refresh the page to view your synced episodes.

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You can take several actions in your Library—like updating access settings, editing titles, and publishing episodes—depending on the sync option you selected:

If you choose Save as drafts in Library:

Episodes will appear in the Drafts tab. From here you can:

  • Click on a draft to review its details and confirm everything synced correctly
  • Edit who can see your episodes by selecting multiple episodes and clicking Edit access
  • Click Publish to publish selected episodes when you’re ready

If you choose Publish automatically:

Episodes will appear in the Posts tab once published and will be available to your fans on Patreon. From here, you can:

  • Click on an episode to check details like the title, access settings, or pricing (if applicable)
  • Edit who can see your episodes by selecting multiple episodes and clicking Edit access
  • Move episodes to a different podcast or season by selecting them and clicking Edit

If you want to update things like audio or description, make changes to those episodes on the original platform—those updates will be synced to Patreon automatically.

Published episodes keep their original publish dates, so they’ll appear in the correct order for your fans. Whether fans receive notifications depends on your notification settings.

Update your sync settings

You can update your sync settings at any time in your Podcast and audio settings. This is useful if you want to change how episodes are handled, adjust who gets access, or pause syncing.

  1. Go to Settings in the left sidebar
  2. Click Podcast and audio from the top menu
  3. Look for the podcast you synced
  4. Click on the pencil Pencil.svg in the Sync Sync.png section

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From here, you can:

  • Pause syncing to temporarily stop importing new episodes from your podcast host
  • Sync now to manually trigger a sync. Changes made to your podcast sync automatically every hour, but you can use this option to sync updates right away
  • Switch between Publish automatically or Save as drafts in Library, depending on how you want new episodes to be handled
  • Update access to choose whether all episodes are Public, available to Paid members only, or limited to Specific tiers
  • Choose whether to send notifications when new synced episodes are published
  • Hide episodes from paid members if they already have access to a different version of the episode
  • Allow or turn off comments on synced episodes

Changes made here will apply to all existing and future synced episodes.

Want to make changes to individual episodes? You can always edit individual episodes directly in your Library.

FAQ

  • Syncing keeps your podcast connected to your original host. New episodes are automatically imported to Patreon as you publish them, and any changes you make are reflected on Patreon.

    Migrating is a one-time import of your existing back catalog. It's ideal if you want to bring over past episodes in one go and start publishing directly on Patreon moving forward. Learn more about our RSS Migration feature.

  • Yes, you can pause syncing in your Podcast and audio settings at any time.

    • No new episodes will be imported from your podcast host
    • Already-synced episodes will remain in your Library and won’t be affected
    • You can still edit, publish, or manage any previously synced episodes as usual
    • Syncing will resume where it left off if you decide to turn it back on later
    • Edits made to episodes on your external host while syncing is paused won’t appear on Patreon

  • No, we do not import analytics or listener data from your existing platform. Metrics such as total listens, geographic audience distribution, and other insights will start fresh on Patreon.

  • Yes, you can set access permissions for synced episodes just like any other post on Patreon. You can choose which membership tiers have access, allowing you to control who can listen.

  • No, you have control over this. When publishing a free episode, you can choose to hide it from paying members to avoid cluttering their feeds. This helps ensure your paid content stays front and center for subscribers.

  • Yes. When you sync your free episodes to Patreon, members can receive a combined feed that includes both free and paid episodes. By default, anyone already subscribed to your paid feed will automatically receive this unified feed—no extra setup required.

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