Castro vs PinePods

Castro is a podcast player for Apple devices, centered on a queue for adding, reordering, and automatically playing episodes. Queued episodes download over Wi-Fi, and users can listen offline, read episode transcripts, and sync across devices. Playback speeds are adjustable from 0.8x to 3x; Trim Silence can shorten total listening time by 10–20% without changing audio quality. Other listening tools include private feeds, podcast chapters, episode sharing, and per-podcast settings for auto-queue, audio filters, playback speed, and intro skipping. Users can import their own audio by adding files to iCloud Drive. Castro has a CarPlay app, while Apple Watch users can control playback and browse the queue. The listed platforms are iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Apple Watch. The free plan is available, and Castro Plus adds advanced playback, sideloading, Night Mode, custom icons, and more. Listed subscriptions include $3.99 per month, $9.99 per month billed quarterly, $24.99 per year, and family subscriptions at $39.99 per year. Castro directs questions to [email protected].

PinePods is a free, self-hosted podcast server with clients that synchronize across devices. Users can subscribe to shows, search through Podcast Index and iTunes, or follow YouTube channels and receive audio-only downloads as podcasts. Listening position, settings, themes, and subscriptions sync across devices. Playback and library tools include offline downloads, video podcasts, transcripts, custom RSS feeds, OPML import and export, speed controls, and per-podcast start and end cutoffs. PinePods has its own gpodder server and also supports external gpodder servers and Nextcloud gpodder sync. Separate libraries are available for multiple users, with multi-factor authentication and OpenID Connect integration. The maker documents Docker Compose and Kubernetes deployment with Helm. User settings, podcasts, and episodes are stored in MySQL or Postgres; the database API connects web, desktop, and mobile clients, which authenticate with API keys. A public demo is available, though accounts may be deleted and are not meant for permanent use. Support requests and issue reports are directed to Discord and GitHub.