Pocket Casts vs YourPods

Pocket Casts is a podcast listening and discovery service from Pocket Casts, a maker founded in 2010. Listeners can search for shows, play episodes and browse recommendations curated by experts. The service supports offline downloads, video podcasts, episode transcripts, private feeds and cross-device sync. It is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows, as well as Apple TV, Apple Watch, Wear OS, CarPlay, Android Auto, Android Automotive, Sonos, Alexa and Chromecast. The free plan includes podcast listening and discovery with web and desktop access; no limits for the free offering are specified. Pocket Casts Plus adds folders, Up Next Shuffle, bookmarks, wearable apps, themes and icons. For new subscribers, Plus costs USD 3.99 per month or USD 39.99 per year. Taxes and fees may apply based on location. Support is available through the help center, forums and direct contact.

YourPods is a podcast player built in Swift and SwiftUI, with offline downloads, episode transcripts, and private feed support. Playback controls include silence trimming, variable speed, smart skip, sleep timers, and per-podcast Listening Profiles. AutoPilot can add new episodes to Up Next, move priority episodes to the top, and apply those profiles. The app supports iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Android, Windows, Linux, and modern web browsers, with Siri and Shortcuts and Handoff in the Apple ecosystem. Sync options include Nextcloud gPodder Sync, NextPod, RePod, custom gpodder.net server addresses, and other compatible servers. The maker says the app has no analytics, ads, or data harvesting. Vault Mode keeps subscriptions, queue, and listening history on-device; P3 removes 39 tracking prefixes across 25 analytics services before playback or downloads. YourPods Sync stores account and listening data on US infrastructure, transmitted over HTTPS/TLS. Sync users can export JSON data or delete accounts through the account portal. The app is listed at $4.99 a month as a one-time purchase; YourPods Pro costs $30 a year after trial. Its optional media proxy is limited to 25 episodes per calendar month.