Podcast streaming service Pocket Casts has unlocked its doors to make its web player, Windows, and macOS apps free for everyone. In other words, you don't need a Pocket Casts Plus subscription to stream content on these platforms.
It's possible to listen to podcasts and episodes without an account or paying for a subscription. However, you can still rely on a free account to create a listening history, sync playback across devices, manage podcast queues, and save preferences.
For the unversed, Pocket Casts was developed by Australia-based Shifty Jelly in 2011. It was acquired by NPR in 2018 and later purchased by its current owner Automattic, the owner of WordPress.
"The future of podcasting shouldn’t be locked behind walled gardens. It should be free, open, and available to everyone—on any device, without restrictions. That’s why we’re excited to announce that the Pocket Casts Web Player is now accessible to all, no subscription required," Pocket Casts said in a blog post.
The company stresses that podcasts were originally built on an open, decentralized standard, and people shouldn't need a specific platform's approval to create and share content. "Discovery should be organic, not algorithm-driven. Users should decide what to listen to, not an AI that promotes what’s best for the platform."
That said, it still has the $3.99/mo "Plus" tier that unlocks features such as folders, up-next shuffle, preselect chapters, bookmarks, more themes, 20GB cloud storage, and the ability to stream podcasts on Apple Watch and Wear OS. Meanwhile, the $9.99/mo "Patron" tier brings additional benefits.
The update comes at a time when tech giants such as Apple, YouTube, and Spotify are going all in on podcasts. All of these have a web version of their podcast streaming service accessible on most devices.
Apple is a veteran in the podcasting space, as the capability has existed since the early years of iTunes in 2005. Spotify, a relatively newer player on the market, added podcasts almost a decade ago and later expanded it to include videos.
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