Just as music streaming has overtaken buying physical music mediums like CDs, and digital streaming services like Netflix have replaced physical rental stores (and slowly replacing television as well), podcasts are well on their way to replacing traditional radio shows. We're in the midst of an internet-centric generation where even games can be played without owning gaming hardware, and it's all thanks to the magic of streaming. So if you're looking for the best Android app of them all for streaming your favorite podcasts, we've rounded up some of the best ones currently available for your smartphone.

From multi-purpose apps, to apps that are exclusively dedicated to podcasts, all the way up to apps that allow you to record your own podcasts, we have pretty much everything here for you.

Spotify

Although primarily a music streaming service, Spotify also excels at podcasts. It's actually best as a one-stop-shop for all your music and podcast needs. It has that sweet suggestion algorithm we've all come to love Spotify for, as well as an immense library of podcasts from a wide range of categories, including news, sports, history, philosophy and more.

Additionally, it has a number of features that make it easy for you to organize and manage your podcasts, including the ability to create playlists and download episodes for offline listening. Spotify has also baked several useful features into its podcast player to enhance the listening experience. These include a night timer, forward/skip buttons, and the ability to change the playback speed.

If you don't like the idea of downloading a separate app for podcasts, Spotify is the best option.

Spotify: Music and Podcasts Developer: Spotify AB
Price: Free
4.4
Download

Pocket Casts

PocketCasts is the OG podcasting app that needs no introduction. It has been around since the old days of Android and has continued to get better over time. The app has a beautiful Material design, which automatically changes its color scheme to match the podcast artwork as well as light and dark themes. The main highlight of PocketCast its powerful media player that offers tons of playback controls, including skip/forward buttons, Trim Silence, Volume Boost, Chapters, sleep timer, Wear OS integration, Chromecast and Sonos support, and more.

It's definitely one of the best podcast apps out there, and one that's definitely worth a look.

Anchor

Anchor is a free podcasting platform owned by Spotify. It offers everything you need to create, distribute, and monetize your own show right from your smartphone. You can record using any device anywhere with up to 4 co-hosts and can import the audio to Anchor to visualize, edit and arrange different segments using the app's built-in episode builder. Anchor offers unlimited free hosting without any monthly fees and makes it super easy to distribute your podcasts to major platforms, including Apple Music, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can monetize your podcasts using Ads by Anchor along with the ability to record your own ads and decide when they occur in episodes.

Spotify for Podcasters Developer: Spotify AB
Price: Free
4.1
Download

Google Podcasts

Google Podcasts is as barebones as it gets, but you don't really need a lot of features if all you're going to do is listen to your favorite podcast, right? Google Podcasts is pretty amazing as a dedicated app, given how it allows you to not only listen to podcasts but also to subscribe to them, get notifications whenever a new episode rolls out, get recommendations for both shows and episodes, customize your listening experience, and listen on multiple devices.

It's really one of the best podcast apps available out there, even if it might be a little bit lacking in features compared to others in the list. It does have an immense library to make up for it, though.

Google Podcasts Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
4.6
Download

Castbox

Other podcast apps like Castbox have had their spot on the podium stolen by more popular options like Pocket Casts and Spotify, but these are also worth a close look. It's far from the best, but at 10 million downloads, it's actually fairly more popular than you'd think. It's ad-supported, so that's something you're going to have to live with, but it also comes with a healthy amount of features such as downloading and uploading your own podcasts, and even something called "Zen Mode" (no, this is not an OnePlus app) which is an "ambient sound player".

Stitcher

Stitcher holds its own as a viable alternative that's also pretty popular, clocking in at five million installations. You can easily search for shows and even individual episodes. You can also create playlists, find new podcasts, listen to the news, and more. It offers a premium subscription service for $4.99/month to remove ads and listen to original Stitcher shows. While the UI can be a little rough around the edges, it's still an amazing resource for downloading and listening to podcasts on your device.

With a vast selection of more than 260,000 podcasts across different genres, you're sure to find something you like on Sticher.

Stitcher - Podcast Player Developer: Stitcher, Inc
Price: Free
4.6
Download

Spreaker Studio

If you're not looking into listening to podcasts and want to make them instead (and Anchor is not your cup of tea for whatever reason), then Spreaker Studio is the option for you. This is a highly recommended podcasting app for how complete it is, both for recording voice and music, with multiple audio options for a professional studio-worthy experience.

The one-tap distribution also ensures that, once your podcast is done and edited, you can easily share it with the world through your platform of choice, be it Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. Spreaker also has their own podcast streaming service, but this app is the one that gets the most attention out of the two.

If you're into podcasting yourself, this is the studio to go for.

Podcast Studio Developer: Spreaker, Inc.
Price: Free
4.5
Download

Podbean

Last but definitely not least, we have Podbean, which is also a pretty popular non-mainstream option clocking in at five million downloads on Google Play. Although this app has limitations regarding space and bandwidth in its free version, it's really very simple and functional.

You may also be interested in its paid version depending on how convenient you find it. It allows you to play hundreds of podcasts and gives you the possibility of recording episodes yourself like other apps in this list, which is actually a rare feature. It's one of the best podcast apps out there.


This pretty much sums it up for the best podcast apps available for Android. While we have plenty of options, my personal favorite is Spotify since it serves as a single-stop-shop for all your audio needs for both music and podcasts, and paying for one single service (Spotify Premium) will get you both a premium music experience as well as a premium podcast experience. If you're looking for a dedicated podcast app, Pocket Cast is our top pick.

If you're going to take on the adventure of recording podcasts yourself, Spreaker Studio and Anchor are as good as they get with several features and the ability to distribute your podcast, however, whenever, and wherever you want. All of the options in this list will give you an amazing overall podcast experience, so what are you waiting for? Make your pick and download now!