Podcast app Pocket Casts makes its web player free | TechCrunch

Pocket Casts, the podcast app acquired by Automattic in 2021, is now making its web player free. The company says the move offers an alternative to the big platforms’ closed ecosystems, where algorithmic-driven content is prioritized and podcasts are kept behind paywalls.

Podcasts were built on open technology — the open, decentralized standard RSS, which was designed to make online audio as well as other content, like news and blog posts — available to anyone on the web for free. Starting Tuesday, Pocket Casts will honor the open nature of podcasts by making its web player free to use.

That means anyone can visit the Pocket Casts website and stream any episode they want, without having to pay a subscription fee or even creating an account.

However, if users want to personalize their experience, they can create a free account to unlock features like syncing playback across web, mobile, and desktop devices; managing their queue; and saving their subscriptions and other preferences.

Meanwhile, the company’s Pocket Casts Plus paid subscription will offer features that give users additional control over their listening experience, including access to tools and features like folders, smart shuffle, bookmarks, wearable and cloud support, extra themes and icons, and more.

The company also notes that AI-powered discovery is not a part of its offering.

Instead of providing users with algorithmic-driven podcast suggestions, Pocket Casts wants users to decide for themselves what they want to listen to. This message could appeal to people who think that Spotify has gotten too pushy with its own recommendations, making it difficult for users to keep up with the shows they actually wanted to follow.

Support for free streaming on the web could also help the company challenge Apple Podcasts, which rolled out web streaming in August 2024.

Free streaming is coming to Pocket Casts’ Mac and Windows apps, as well, as a part of this update.