Pocket Casts
Podcast app from Automattic for iOS, Android and the web
- #3 of 10 in best podcast apps
- Free plan, paid upgrades
- Free to use
- Open source
- iOS, iPadOSAndroidWeb
Ranked 3 of 10 in best podcast apps
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
About Pocket Casts
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.
The 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.
Key features
- Free podcast app
- Search and curated recommendations
- Private RSS feed support
- Listen on the web
- Apps for iOS and Android
- App code under MPL-2.0
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
Where Pocket Casts ranks
How Pocket Casts compares
| Product | Score | Price | Platforms | Any RSS feed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 Apple Podcasts | 90.0 | Free | iOS, iPadOSmacOSWeb | No |
#2 Spotify | 85.5 | Free plan, paid upgrades | WebWindowsmacOSiOSAndroid | No |
| #3Pocket Casts | 85.0 | Free plan, paid upgrades | iOS, iPadOSAndroidWeb | Yes |
#4 Overcast | 84.0 | Free plan, paid upgrades | iOS, iPadOS | No |
#5 AntennaPod | 82.5 | Free and open source | Android | Yes |
The full comparison table for best podcast apps has all 10 products.
Alternatives to Pocket Casts
All 9 alternatives- Apple PodcastsAlso runs on macOS.
- SpotifyAlso runs on Windows, macOS.
- OvercastPodcast player for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with Smart Speed
- AntennaPodOpen-source podcast player for Android that subscribes to any RSS feed
CastroiPhone podcast player with a queue, auto-queue and custom speeds
Podcast AddictAndroid podcast app with a podcast directory and top charts
Questions about Pocket Casts
- Is Pocket Casts free?
- Pocket Casts can be used without paying: Free app with in-app purchases. Check the vendor’s pricing page for current limits.
- Is Pocket Casts open source?
- Yes. Pocket Casts publishes its source code under the MPL-2.0 license.
- Which platforms does Pocket Casts support?
- Pocket Casts is available on: iOS, iPadOS, Android, Web.
- What is Pocket Casts best for?
- Free cross-platform listening with RSS feeds. In our ranking of podcast apps it is number 3 of 10 with a score of 85.0.
- What are the best alternatives to Pocket Casts?
- The highest-ranked alternatives on listme.name are Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, AntennaPod.
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