Top Podcast Listening Apps for 2023
The most convenient mode to listen to podcasts is using a podcast app. Podcasts can be entertaining, fascinating and engaging. You can use podcast listening apps to listen to music, catch up on the current news, or even for interviews related to your industry. There are many options, but these best podcast listening apps are based on specific features.
Podcast Listening Apps
Best Podcast Listening Apps: Must-Try
Podcasts are top-rated and known for both being entertaining and educational at the same time. A popular way for podcast listeners is to download them onto an app for their computer or phone. There are several options, so here is a list of the best podcast listening apps that you might want to try.
Luminary
Luminary is designed explicitly for overall entertainment and allows making a list of top podcasts you like. The app comes with many features for enjoying the best podcast experience ever with the highest quality.
Luminary helps listeners find the podcasts they love, such as those downloaded from a radio station or episodes of podcasts they want to hear while they’re in traffic. Luminary offers access to over 40 original podcasts that aren’t available anywhere else and includes discoveries you’ll also love to hear.
Luminary had a huge success bringing in $314M in revenue. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau/PwC. In 2004 only 3,000+ podcasts existed in their application. However, in April of 2018, over 550,000 podcasts with over 18.5 million episodes. This astounding difference shows the tremendous growth of their product/service in the industry.
Acast
Acast is a highly recommended audio media player for podcasts and is one of the best podcast listening apps. It’s an app where you can listen to podcasts and find new ones relevant to your interests. The best thing about this podcast app is it lets you discover podcasts by region. If you live in the US, you can choose only American podcasts or choose to see local content and hear what’s popular in your area to have a better chance of finding something that appeals to you specifically.
Acast’s revenue grew 73% to $110.6M in 2021, while its total listens topped 3.7 billion, according to the company’s annual report. It marks impressive growth year-over-year. Acast also reported having 17.6 million monthly unique listeners, which would put it third-biggest on the reach of their product/ service, an increase of 66% from the previous year.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the applications that has become an alternative to traditional radio. It provides its users with information on a wide range of topics, from current tv shows to sports, while comprising channels based on your interests, including things like stories and poetry. Overall, Spotify makes it very convenient for its listeners to enjoy their favourite podcasts whenever and wherever they may be because all this information is in a single place. If, however, you want more features, for example, organising your music library more efficiently on Spotify, this feature lacks and needs an improvement.
In 2021, Spotify earned $9.76B in revenue, $7.88B the previous year. There are roughly 365 million people who use Spotify at least once a month and 165 million subscribers to their platform, making their product/service one of the most successful.
Castbox
Castbox has a powerful AI engine to bring you highly personalised recommendations to keep you satisfied. Castbox is the perfect combination of a simple interface, selected great podcasts, and has a robust podcast audio search. One can sign in using their email address and subscribe to several podcasts that are ideally suited for them through the AI-supported recommendation technology. This way, unlike most other podcast listening apps, users don’t have to worry about filtering through thousands of irrelevant episodes or picking out preferred ones because they don’t have time to go through every single one. It even allows you to stream services like Chromecast and Echo.
Crunchbase reports that CastBox, a global podcast media platform that provides users access to over 100,000 podcasts and 1.5 million episodes worldwide, has raised $16.1M across three investment rounds. The financial backing will serve as the company’s third round of capital raising, bringing their total funding up past the $29.6M mark.
Stitcher
Stitcher is one of the best podcast listening apps; Listening to podcasts on Stitcher allows you to enjoy the shows you love and provides categories that let you search for relevant content so you can easily find it. It offers a wide variety of podcast choices with something for everyone, so whether you’re looking for light entertainment or just want the latest headlines, it has what you need. Stitcher comes equipped with unique features like Sleep Timers, Autoplay, automatic download capabilities, and many other options.
According to an article published by Stitcher on October 25, the number of shows on the app has increased 29% (to hit 462,042 as of October 31)—a considerable jump for their product. Stitcher remains the top to generate a profit from paid membership (42%), ad networks (37%), donations (35%), live events (22%), and merchandise sales (20%).
Apps for podcasts are on the rise, making the podcasting industry even more competitive. Many startups have seized this opportunity to earn a name for themselves by taking advantage of these success stories and creating their apps for podcasts. Along with this, there’s no better time than now to get into podcast listening apps and gain advantages from this growing industry.
If you are obsessed with podcasts like we are, make sure to check out the SOL podcast where we tell the unseen stories of London’s top startups.
