Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

List of podcast clients

A podcast client, podcatcher, or podcast app, is a computer program or mobile app used to stream or download podcasts, via an RSS or XML feed.

Last revised
Jun 9, 2026
Read time
≈ 7 min
Length
1,723 w
Citations
52
Source

A podcast client, podcatcher, or podcast app, is a computer program or mobile app used to stream or download podcasts, via an RSS or XML feed.12

While podcast clients are known for streaming and downloading audio podcasts, many can download video podcasts, newsfeeds, text, and pictures. Some of these podcast clients can also automate the transfer of received audio or video files to a portable media player. Although most include a searchable directory of podcasts (usually populated by either Apple Podcasts or Podcast Index), they also allow users to manually subscribe directly to a podcast RSS feed by providing the URL.

The core concepts behind podcasting were developing since 2000 and the first commercial podcast client software was developed in 2001.34

Podcasts were made popular in June 2005, when Apple added podcasts to its iTunes 4.9 software and iPod portable media player.5 Apple Podcasts is currently included on all Apple devices, such as iPhone, iPad and Mac computers.

Podcast clients

Title Description License Operating system Ref
Amarok Music player and podcast client GPL FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Windows 6
AntennaPod Free and open-source podcast manager for Android GPL Android 7
Apple Podcasts Podcast software developed by Apple, built into Apple devices Proprietary iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, Windows 8
Audacy Broadcast, Internet radio, and podcast platform Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 9
Audible Audiobook and podcast app Proprietary Android, iOS, macOS, Windows 10
Breaker Social podcast app Proprietary iOS 11
Castbox A podcast distribution network and player Proprietary Android, iOS, watchOS 12
Castamatic Freemium podcast client for Apple Watch, iPad and iPhone Proprietary iOS, watchOS 13
Clementine A cross-platform fork of Amarok GPL Linux, macOS, Windows 14
CPod A multi-platform desktop podcast player Apache Linux, macOS, Windows 15
Deezer Streaming music and podcast app Proprietary Android, iOS, Windows, Web 16
doubleTwist Android music player with podcast directory and podcast support. Proprietary Android 17
Downcast Podcast player for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch and CarPlay. Proprietary iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, watchOS 18
Escapepod A simple, lightweight minimalistic podcast app MIT Android
Gnome Podcasts Simple podcast client developed for GNOME desktop environment GPL Linux 19
Google Podcasts Podcast app developed by Google; discontinued in summer 2024, functionality incorporated into YouTube Music Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 20
gPodder Open source podcast client written in Python using GTK+ GPL FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, Windows 21222324
Hypercatcher An interactive podcast app Proprietary iOS 25
iHeartRadio Broadcast, podcast and streaming radio platform developed by iHeartMedia Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 26
Juice podcast "Media Aggregator"a client GPL macOS, Windows 27
Liferea News aggregator for online news feeds, features podcast support GPL FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris 28
MediaMonkey Media organizers with integrated podcast client Proprietary Android, Windows 29
MusicBee Music player with integrated podcast client Proprietary Windows 30
NetNewsWire An RSS and Atom newsreader MIT iOS, macOS 31
Overcast Freemium podcast client for Apple Watch, iPad and iPhone Proprietary iOS, watchOS, Web 32
Player FM A podcast discovery and offline player Proprietary Android, iOS, watchOS, Web 33
Pocket Casts A cross-platform podcast client MPL Android, iOS, macOS, watchOS, Web, Windows 34
Podcast Addict Android podcast, audiobook and radio app Proprietary Android 35
Podcast Guru A mobile and web podcast player Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 36
Poddr A free desktop podcast player GPL Linux, macOS, Windows 37
Podfriend A desktop and browser podcast player Proprietary Web, Windows 37
PodLP A free podcast player for flip phones Proprietary KaiOS, Cloud Phone 3839
Podurama Free podcast player for mobile, desktop and web Proprietary Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web 40
Rhythmbox Default music management application for GNOME GPL Linux 41
Spotify Music streaming service with built in podcast support GPL Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Web, Playstation, Xbox
Stitcher Radio station and podcast client; discontinued August 2023 Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 42
Trebble A free mobile application podcast client Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 43
TuneIn An online radio and podcasts app Proprietary Android, iOS, Windows, Web, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S 44
Up Next A free open source Podcast Client for iOS MIT iOS, watchOS 45
VLC Cross-platform multimedia player and framework, includes podcast functionality GPL Linux, macOS, Windows 46
Vocal A podcast client designed for Elementary OS GPL Linux 47
Winamp Commercial audio player with free Lite option, supports podcasts Proprietary Windows 48
YouTube Music Streaming music app with podcast functionality developed by Google, replaces Google Podcasts. Proprietary Android, iOS, Web 4950
See also

See also

Notes

Notes

  1. downloads media files to your computer
References

References

  1. Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. https://archive.org/details/podcastinghackst0000herr. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7.
  2. 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. Archived 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 ...
  3. Ciccarelli, Stephanie. "History of Podcasting". Voices.com. Interactive Voices, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. Macnamara, Jim (2010). The 21st Century Media (r)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices. Lang, Peter. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4331-0936-2. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  5. Braun, Linda W. (January 2007). Listen Up!: Podcasting for Schools and Libraries. Information Today, Inc. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-57387-304-8. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  6. Hossain, Rubaiat (2021-01-30). "The 15 Best Linux Music Player Apps". MUO. Archived from the original on 2026-02-03. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  7. Henry, Alan (2012-12-28). "AntennaPod Is a Free, Feature-Packed Podcast Manager for Android". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on 2025-06-15. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  8. "Apple leads the next chapter of podcasting with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  9. Venta, Lance (2021-03-30). "Entercom Rebrands As Audacy". RadioInsight. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  10. "Amazon.com Completes Acquisition of Audible". US Press Center. 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  11. "Podcast app Breaker to be acquired by Twitter". Reuters. 2021-01-04. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  12. Robinson, Melia. "An ex-Googler sold her home to fund her startup — and she just got $13 million to build the 'Netflix of podcasting'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2025-07-24. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  13. "Castamatic Podcast Player App Reviews – Features, Pricing & User Ratings". appshunter.io. 2025-10-04. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  14. "Clementine Music Player is Back After 8 Years...Well, Kind of". It's FOSS. 2024-10-22. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  15. "CPod – A Simple Beautiful And Cross-platform Podcast App". IT'S FOSS. 2025-08-16. Archived from the original on 2025-10-19. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  16. "What Is Deezer Music?". iMusician. Archived from the original on 2025-11-09. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  17. Johnson, Bobbie; Francisco, San (2009-06-17). "A fresh twist on gadget compatibility". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  18. "Downcast (for iPhone) Review". PCMAG. 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  19. "Apps/Podcasts - GNOME Wiki!". wiki.gnome.org. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  20. Amadeo, Ron (2023-12-08). "Google announces April 2024 shutdown date for Google Podcasts". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2024-03-30. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  21. cybernetnews.com. "gPodder – A Full Featured Podcast Client for Linux". cybernetnews.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  22. "gPodder". gpodder.org. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2024. : A media aggregator written in Python/GTK
  23. "gPodder". gpodder.github.io. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2024. : Media aggregator and podcast client
  24. "Install gpoddertest on Linux". Snapcraft. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  25. Norman, David. "HyperCatcher: Podcasts Powered by AI Insights". Product Hunt. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  26. Wauters, Robin (2009-12-24). "Clear Channel Radio Debuts Android Version of iheartradio App". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  27. "Juice, cross-platform podcast receiver - Browse /Juice - Python (Win32)/Juice 2.2 at SourceForge.net". sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  28. "Liferea – the Free News Aggregator on your Linux desktop". lzone.de. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  29. Cat Ellis (2017-08-23). "MediaMonkey review". TechRadar. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  30. "Web Browser/ Mp3 Blog File Scanner - Plugins | MusicBee". getmusicbee.com. Archived from the original on 2025-07-18. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  31. Warren, Brian (2005-09-22). "Mac RSS readers". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  32. Summers, Nick (16 July 2014). "Meet Overcast, a new iPhone podcast app from Instapaper founder Marco Arment". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  33. Dial, Minter (2014-08-24). "Interview with Michael Mahemoff, founder of PlayerFM, talking podcasting (MDE110)". Minter Dial. Archived from the original on 2025-11-15. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  34. Welch, Chris (14 November 2018). "One of the best podcast apps, Pocket Casts, just got a big redesign". The Verge. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  35. Friel, Lindsay Harris (2023-10-25). "Podcast Addict Review: Android Listening for the Masses". The Podcast Host. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  36. "Podcast Guru App Reviews – Features, Pricing & User Ratings". appshunter.io. 2025-11-01. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  37. "19 Best Free Podcast Players and Clients". MEDevel.com | Open-source Apps for Healthcare and Enterprise. 2024-02-26. Archived from the original on 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  38. "PodLP Turns 4, Launches on Cloud Phone". PodLP. 16 June 2024. Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  39. "PodLP–Podcasts for KaiOS and the JioPhone". PodLP. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  40. R, Subhash (2023-08-27). "Podcast player: Podurama: Free cross-platform podcast player - mobile, web and desktop". Product Hunt. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  41. "Apps/Rhythmbox – GNOME Wiki Archive". wiki.gnome.org. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  42. Spangler, Todd (2023-06-27). "So Long, Stitcher: SiriusXM to Shut Down Podcast App, Website". Variety. Archived from the original on 2026-01-10. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  43. "Trebble Online Audio & Video Editor Review: Potentially, one of the best podcast editing applications". AppSumo. Archived from the original on 2025-07-24. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  44. "Sony deal agreed for TuneIn streaming app". RadioToday. 2013-10-30. Archived from the original on 2026-01-01. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  45. "Up Next Podcast Client". extremelysuccessfulapps.com. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
  46. "How to Watch TWiT Podcasts on Windows or MacOS | TWiT". TWiT.tv. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  47. "Vocal - Podcast client for the free desktop". vocalproject.net. Archived from the original on 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  48. "Winamp comes to Android, one of our childhood dreams is realized". Engadget. 2010-10-21. Archived from the original on 2025-11-16. Retrieved 2025-11-26.
  49. Li, Abner. "YouTube Music rolls out manually adding podcasts via RSS". 9to5Google. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  50. Malik, Aisha (27 April 2023). "YouTube Music officially rolls out podcasts for listeners in the US". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.