Podcast starter kit: Everything you need to launch your podcasting empire

While your friends and family love your passion for say, Icelandic pop music or the history of breakfast cereal, they might be tired of your endless streams of knowledge. Hey, that’s okay, it just means it’s time to take your monologues and curiosity to the masses with a podcast.

Yes, we know, everyone has a podcast these days, but that’s because you don’t need to be an audio engineering mastermind to do so. While creating a podcast isn’t as simple as recording in your phone’s voice memos, you also don’t need to start renting out studio space. All you need are a few pieces of equipment to get you started, and we're here to help you assemble your podcast starter kit.

To get the details on how to kickstart your own podcast, we spoke with Lindsey Weber, co-host of the podcast Who? Weekly, and Brooke Solomon, screenwriter and co-host of The Queer Quadrant podcast. Plus, Mashable lead shopping reporter Bethany Allard, who produces and edits podcasts, also lent us her expertise.

While it's easy to feel overwhelmed when embarking on a new creative venture, take a breath and start slow. While you'll see a long list of products here, you don't need to go all in and add all of this podcast gear to your shopping cart. While we're here to recommend the equipment and software to get you started, there is a plethora of online resources that can provide guidance once you get going. "The podcasting world is pretty user-friendly," Solomon tells us.

How much does it cost to start podcasting?

You could start podcasting today for $0. Record using the mic on your favorite headphones, edit on free software like Audacity, upload to a free hosting site, and voilà, you're a podcaster! Of course, that won't produce the highest-quality content and might result in much more work than necessary. But you can start small and stay on budget. "Now that podcasting has become more popular, there is an array of equipment at very different price points," says Weber.

Suppose you're going to invest in a single item on this list. In that case, Solomon says that it should be "a very good mic, preferably a dynamic mic that is professional-grade." Whether you use a USB or an XLR, a good microphone costs around $100. You can stop there, as Weber recommends a USB mic paired with recording software already on your computer (like Garageband). In addition, a pair of nice studio headphones helps with recording and editing, which will cost you about $50. Together, that's $150 for startup costs.

However, if you want to level up, swing for an XLR mic that costs about $100 paired with an audio recorder, which will cost around $150. Those two items, plus the headphones, will cost you about $300.

If you're ready for the world to hear you, here's the best podcast equipment for beginners.