{
    "products": [
        {
            "slug": "castro",
            "name": "Castro",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://castro.fm/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/castro",
            "tagline": "iPhone podcast player with a queue, auto-queue and custom speeds",
            "summary": "Castro is a podcast app for iPhone that manages subscriptions with one shared queue, auto-queue for favorite shows and episode limits for frequent publishers. It is free to download, and the Castro Plus subscription at $24.99 a year adds advanced playback features.",
            "platforms": [
                "ios"
            ],
            "pricing": "freemium",
            "price_note": "Free app; Castro Plus subscription at $24.99 a year",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": false,
            "strengths": [
                "Queue and auto-queue for favorite shows",
                "Episode limits for frequent publishers"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "iPhone only, per the site",
                "Advanced playback needs Castro Plus"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Castro organizes a listener's podcasts around a single queue, so new and chosen episodes sit in one place. Favorite shows can be set to add new episodes to the queue automatically, and shows that publish often can be limited to a set number of episodes. The player supports custom playback speeds, and the app offers 18 icon choices.\n\nCastro is an iPhone app, and the site describes it as the iPhone podcast player. Castro Plus costs $24.99 a year and adds advanced playback features. For iPhone users who want hands-on queue control, Castro is the more detailed option. Apple Podcasts in this list is the built-in choice."
        },
        {
            "slug": "pocket-casts",
            "name": "Pocket Casts",
            "kind": "app",
            "website": "https://pocketcasts.com/",
            "page": "https://listme.name/software/pocket-casts",
            "tagline": "Podcast app from Automattic for iOS, Android and the web",
            "summary": "Pocket Casts is a free podcast app from Automattic for iOS, Android and the web, with search, curated recommendations and private RSS feeds added by URL. The app code is published on GitHub under MPL-2.0, and the apps offer in-app purchases.",
            "developer": "Automattic, Inc.",
            "platforms": [
                "ios",
                "ipados",
                "android",
                "web"
            ],
            "pricing": "freemium",
            "price_note": "Free app with in-app purchases",
            "free_to_use": true,
            "open_source": true,
            "license": "MPL-2.0",
            "source": "https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-android",
            "strengths": [
                "Free app with search and curated recommendations",
                "Adds private and paid RSS feeds by pasting the URL",
                "App code published under MPL-2.0"
            ],
            "limits": [
                "Extras are sold as in-app purchases",
                "Only the app code is published; the service behind it is not described"
            ],
            "checked": "2026-10-10",
            "connected_to_publisher": false,
            "overview": "Pocket Casts is a podcast player made by Automattic. It offers search, discovery tools and hand-curated recommendations, and it runs as apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, as well as in a web browser. Private, paid and members-only feeds can be added by pasting their RSS feed URL, and the support center describes this for network subscriptions such as NPR Plus.\n\nThe apps are free to download and offer in-app purchases. Automattic publishes the code of the Android and iOS apps on GitHub under the MPL-2.0 license; the service behind the apps is not described there. Pocket Casts suits listeners who want a free app across phones and the web with RSS support. Among the focused players in this list, Overcast is free with ads and Castro sells a paid tier, so Pocket Casts is the free alternative to those two."
        }
    ],
    "differences": [
        "Only Pocket Casts runs on Android.",
        "Only Pocket Casts runs on Web.",
        "Pocket Casts is open source; Castro is not."
    ],
    "shared_rankings": [
        {
            "list": "podcast-apps",
            "name": "Podcast apps",
            "page": "https://listme.name/best/podcast-apps",
            "of": 10,
            "results": [
                {
                    "product": "castro",
                    "rank": 6,
                    "score": 81,
                    "verdict": "An iPhone podcast app with one shared queue, auto-queue for favorite shows, episode limits for frequent publishers and custom playback speeds. Castro Plus at $24.99 a year adds advanced playback, and the app is iPhone-only.",
                    "best_for": "iPhone listeners who manage many shows with a queue",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "iOS",
                        "rss": true,
                        "open_source": false,
                        "cost": "Free app; Castro Plus $24.99 a year"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "product": "pocket-casts",
                    "rank": 3,
                    "score": 85,
                    "verdict": "A free podcast player for iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, with curated recommendations and private RSS feed support. Its app code is published under MPL-2.0, and its paid extras are in-app purchases.",
                    "best_for": "Free cross-platform listening with RSS feeds",
                    "spec": {
                        "platforms": "iOS, iPadOS, Android, Web",
                        "rss": true,
                        "open_source": true,
                        "cost": "Free, with in-app purchases"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "ranks_higher_in_closest_shared_list": "pocket-casts",
    "page": "https://listme.name/compare/castro-vs-pocket-casts",
    "json": "https://listme.name/api/v1/compare/castro-vs-pocket-casts.json",
    "notes": [
        "Scores are editorial and only comparable inside one list. Products with connected_to_publisher true receive a disclosed ranking lift: https://listme.name/methodology"
    ],
    "source": "https://listme.name",
    "license": "Free to read and cite with attribution to listme.name.",
    "docs": "https://listme.name/developers"
}