OP3 vs Podscan.fm

OP3 is a free, open-source podcast prefix analytics service for podcasters and podcast hosting companies. To measure downloads, a host or podcaster places https://op3.dev/e/ before episode URLs in a podcast feed. Each measured show receives a public statistics page with download metrics, detailed breakdowns, and spreadsheet exports covering its history. OP3 also provides an API for collected podcast data; requests require a bearer token linked to a valid API key. The service says it stores basic request attributes, hashes and encrypts listener IP addresses before storage, and does not combine those addresses with third-party data or services. Its privacy policy says no cookies are used and identifies Cloudflare as the sole hosting provider and data store. OP3 says its redirect service uses a global CDN with edge nodes in more than 335 cities across more than 125 countries. API hit-query filtering by URL or hashed IP is limited to the last 90 days.

Podscan.fm is a podcast database and search service for finding and working with episode audio and metadata. Its REST API provides access to more than 72 million episodes from more than 4.9 million podcasts, with full-text transcript search and filters for category, language and date. Podscan says it transcribes and analyzes thousands of new episodes daily. Summaries cover topics, key quotes, guests and sponsors, while topic extraction connects named subjects across the podcast corpus. The service also offers a real-time Firehose API, custom webhooks and a Zapier integration with pre-built triggers for new scan results. Its MCP server works with ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Claude Code and other MCP-enabled clients, using OAuth 2.1 without an API token; REST API requests use API-key authentication. A free plan and 10-day trial are listed. After the trial, alerts pause and API access stops until a paid plan is selected. Premium costs $100 a month. One-time options include Day Pass at $20, paid once and Research Pass at $50, paid once.