List of podcast clients

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

A podcast client, or podcatcher, is a computer program used to stream or download podcasts, usually via an RSS or XML feed.^[1][2][3]

While podcast clients are best known for streaming and downloading podcasts, many are also capable of downloading video, newsfeeds, text, and pictures. Some of these podcast clients can also automate the transfer of received audio files to a portable media player. Although many include a directory of high-profile podcasts, they generally allow users to manually subscribe directly to a feed by providing the URL.

The core concepts had been developing since 2000, the first commercial podcast client software was developed in 2001.^[4][5]

Podcasts were made popular when Apple added podcatching to its iTunes software and iPod portable media player in June 2005.^[6] Apple Podcasts is currently included in all Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad and Mac computers.

Podcast clients

Title	Description	License	Operating system
Amarok	Music player and podcast client	GPL	FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Windows
AntennaPod	Podcast manager for Android	MIT	Android
Apple Podcasts	Podcast software developed by Apple, built into Apple devices	Proprietary	iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Windows
Audacy	Broadcast, Internet radio and podcast platform	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
Audible	Audiobook and podcast app	Proprietary	Android, iOS, macOS, Windows
Breaker^[7]	Social podcast app	Proprietary	iOS
Castbox	A podcast distribution network and player	Proprietary	Android, iOS, watchOS
Clementine	A cross-platform fork of Amarok	GPL	Linux, macOS, Windows
CPod	A multi-platform desktop podcast player	Apache	Linux, macOS, Windows
Deezer	Streaming music and podcast app	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Windows, Web
doubleTwist	Android music player with podcast directory and podcast support.	Proprietary	Android
Escapepod	A simple, lightweight minimalistic podcast app	MIT	Android
Gnome Podcasts^[8]	Simple podcast client developed for GNOME desktop environment	GPL	Linux
Google Podcasts	Podcast app developed by Google	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
gPodder^[9]	Open source podcast client written in Python using GTK+	GPL	FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Windows
Hypercatcher	An interactive podcast app	Proprietary	iOS
iHeartRadio	Broadcast, podcast and streaming radio platform developed by iHeartMedia	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
Liferea^[10]	News aggregator for online news feeds, features podcast support	GPL	FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris
MediaMonkey	Media organizers with integrated podcast client	Proprietary	Android, Windows
MusicBee	Music player with integrated podcast client	Proprietary	Windows
NetNewsWire	An RSS and Atom newsreader	MIT	iOS, macOS
Overcast^[11]	Freemium podcast client for Apple Watch, iPad, and iPhone	Proprietary	iOS, watchOS, Web
Player FM	A podcast discovery and offline player	Proprietary	Android, iOS, watchOS, Web
Pocket Casts^[12]^[13]	A cross-platform podcast client	Proprietary	Android, iOS, macOS, watchOS, Web, Windows
Podcast Addict	Android podcast, audiobook and radio app	Proprietary	Android
Podcast Guru	A mobile and web podcast player	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
Poddr	A free desktop podcast player	GPL	Linux, macOS, Windows
Podfriend	A desktop and browser podcast player	Proprietary	Web, Windows
PodLP^[14]	A free KaiOS podcast player	Proprietary	KaiOS
Podurama	Free podcast player for mobile, desktop and web	Proprietary	Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web
Rhythmbox	Default music management application for GNOME	GPL	Linux
Stitcher	Radio station and podcast client	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
Trebble	A free mobile application podcast client	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Web
TuneIn	An online radio and podcasts app	Proprietary	Android, iOS, Windows, Web, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
VLC	Cross-platform multimedia player and framework, includes podcast functionality	GPL	Linux, macOS, Windows
Vocal^[15]	A podcast client designed for Elementary OS	GPL	Linux, Elementary OS
Winamp	Commercial audio player with free Lite option, supports podcasts	Proprietary	Windows

See also

• Comparison of audio player software

References

1. Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7.
2. Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7.
3. O'Sullivan, Bryan; Goerzen, John; Stewart, Donald Bruce (15 November 2008). Real World Haskell. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 505. ISBN 978-0-596-55430-9. from the original on 26 June 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2016. The idea of a podcast client is simple. It is given a list of URLs to process. Downloading each of these URLs results in an XML file in the RSS format. Inside this ...
4. Ciccarelli, Stephanie. "History of Podcasting". Voices.com. Interactive Voices, Inc. from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
5. Macnamara, Jim (2010). The 21st Century Media (r)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices. Lang, Peter. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4331-0936-2. from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
6. Braun, Linda W. (January 2007). Listen Up!: Podcasting for Schools and Libraries. Information Today, Inc. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-57387-304-8. from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
7. "Podcast app Breaker to be acquired by Twitter". Reuters. 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
8. "Apps/Podcasts - GNOME Wiki!". wiki.gnome.org. from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
9. cybernetnews.com. "gPodder – A Full Featured Podcast Client for Linux". cybernetnews.com. from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
10. "Liferea – the Free News Aggregator on your Linux desktop". lzone.de. from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
11. Summers, Nick. "Meet Overcast, a new iPhone podcast app from Instapaper founder Marco Arment". The Next Web. from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
12. Pierce, David. "Pocket Casts Is the Podcast App Every iPhone User Needs". Wired. from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
13. Welch, Chris. "One of the best podcast apps, Pocket Casts, just got a big redesign". The Verge. from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
14. "PodLP–Podcasts for KaiOS and the JioPhone". PodLP. from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
15. "Vocal - Podcast client for the free desktop". vocalproject.net. from the original on 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-09-08.

External links

• at podcastingnews.com – Archived page
• podcatchermatrix.org compares the features of a number of podcast clients.
• "Podcast Client Feature Comparison Matrix" as a Google Sheets spreadsheet.