23 Podcast Directories: The Complete 2026 List (+ How to Submit)

Updated July 2026: Google Podcasts and RadioPublic removed (both shut down in 2024), YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and Podcast Index added, and every platform stat refreshed for 2026.

This is the most complete guide to publishing your podcast, with an up-to-date list of every directory worth your time and the exact steps to submit to each one.

I’ve helped 200+ podcasters get their shows listed everywhere that matters, and here’s the honest truth: most “list of 50 directories” posts are padded with apps that shut down years ago. This is the curated set that actually moves the needle in 2026, whether you’re publishing episode one or filling gaps in your distribution.

The most impactful way to grow an audience is to publish and upload a podcast across every directory that still matters. From the giants to the niche players, your show should be available anywhere people listen.

To get started, all you need is your podcast’s RSS feed link generated by your podcast hosting service. Submit it to each directory just once. After that, every platform updates automatically each time you publish a new episode.

But if you’re wondering why you can’t just upload a podcast to Spotify directly, let’s start at the beginning.

Jump to Each Podcast Directory

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• YouTube Music
• Amazon Music & Audible
• iHeartRadio
• Podchaser
• TuneIn
• Pandora
• Overcast
• Downcast
• iCatcher
• Podcast Republic & AntennaPod
• Podcast Index
• Pocket Casts
• Castbox
• Listen Notes
• Castro
• Deezer
• Podcast Addict
• Player FM
• Goodpods
• Learn Out Loud
• Acast

Podcast Directories at a Glance

The big four cover the large majority of listeners. Start there, then work down the full list to reach everyone else. Audience figures below are approximate and current for 2026.

Directory	Approx. audience	Cost	How to submit	Best for
Apple Podcasts	Hundreds of millions	Free	RSS via Apple Podcasts Connect	The industry baseline; list here first
Spotify	760M+ users	Free	Spotify for Creators (RSS)	The largest streaming audience
YouTube Music	Billions on YouTube	Free	RSS in YouTube Studio	Google’s audience after Google Podcasts closed
Amazon Music & Audible	80M+ Amazon Music users	Free	Amazon Music for Podcasters (RSS)	Alexa, Audible, and Echo listeners
iHeartRadio	150M+ registered users	Free	iHeartRadio podcast form	Radio-first and older U.S. audiences
Pocket Casts	Millions (NPR-backed)	Free	pocketcasts.com submit page	Power listeners on Android and iOS
Podcast Index	Powers many third-party apps	Free	podcastindex.org	Podcasting 2.0 apps that pull from the open index

What is a Podcast Directory?

For listeners, a podcast directory is one way to discover and consume episodes. Directories are usually organized alphabetically or by genre to help people find new shows. The biggest by listenership are Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music, but dozens of smaller apps pull from the same RSS feeds.

For podcasters, a directory is where you list a show so it can be heard. There are dedicated mobile apps, desktop-only sites, and combinations of both, but all of them help distribute your podcast to more people.

Today, with so many ways to listen, how do you decide which directories to list your show with? Start with the four essentials in the table above, then work down the full list below.

Where Should I List My Podcast?

A common question among podcasters is “Is there a downside to listing my podcast on every possible directory?” Our answer: no!

Think of it this way: say you host a popular true crime podcast and a potential listener prefers discovering content on Pocket Casts. But your show is only listed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. No matter how much you try to reach this listener, they’ll never tune into your show. Why? Because they need to clear multiple hurdles to test out your podcast. Instead, meet your potential audience where they already consume content.

Make it as easy as possible for new people to listen by distributing your show to as many podcast directories as possible. The downside? Taking a few hours setting up the one-time connection between your RSS feed and each platform. The upside? The possibility of being discovered by thousands of loyal fans.

So where should you list your podcast? Here’s our curated list of the directories worth your time in 2026.

Publish Your Episodes to YouTube Automatically

If you want a big audience, your podcast needs to be available everywhere. Reach your audience on YouTube, the largest search engine and #1 podcasting platform on the internet. Even though it isn’t a music platform, more people listen to audio content on YouTube than anywhere else.

How does YouTube Republishing work?

YouTube Republishing is available in your Castos dashboard. Castos will convert your podcast audio files to beautiful-looking videos using an image as the visual component. You can set whatever image you like, such as your cover art. The same image is used for each video.

After the basic setup, Castos will automatically publish your videos to the YouTube channel and/or playlist of your choice. Set it once and forget about it.

Why publish your podcast episodes on YouTube?

• Bigger Reach: Share your content with a wider audience.
• Zero Resources: Automatic republishing happens when you publish.
• Enhanced SEO: Amp up your SEO results publishing on YouTube.
• Available Free: Included FREE with all Growth & Pro accounts.

How do you set up YouTube Republishing?

All you need to do is create a one-time connection between your Castos account and the YouTube channel of your choice. After that, anytime a podcast episode is published, it will be automatically converted to a video file with your thumbnail image as the background, and published to YouTube for you.

What’s the cost of YouTube Republishing?

YouTube republishing comes standard on all Growth and Pro plans. You can upgrade your subscription settings right inside your Castos dashboard in the My Account -> Republishing tab.

Start Publishing on YouTube

Zero setup. Turn on and off any time.

Where to Post a Podcast Show & Distribute Your Content

Beginning with the most popular podcast directories. These are the places the majority of podcast listeners consume content, so it’s extra important to list your show with each.

So let’s get to it. Here are instructions on how to submit your podcast to every single one.

1. Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)

Apple Podcasts is the biggest podcast directory in the world. It’s been a major player since it launched in 2005. It used to be part of iTunes, but Apple rebranded it as a standalone product due to its popularity.

This is the single most important place to list a podcast. Some people go so far as to say that if you aren’t on Apple Podcasts, you aren’t really podcasting. It’s that significant.

2. Spotify

Spotify is now the largest streaming home for podcasts, with more than 760 million monthly active users as of early 2026. That’s a massive, engaged audience you don’t want to miss.

Spotify has invested heavily in the space over the years, acquiring Gimlet Media and the tool formerly known as Anchor, now Spotify for Creators, the free dashboard you use to submit and manage your show.

3. YouTube Music

Google Podcasts was shut down in 2024, and Google moved podcasts to YouTube Music. If you want to reach Google’s audience, this is where you do it now.

Once your RSS feed is added, YouTube Music lists your episodes automatically and surfaces them alongside YouTube’s enormous audience. Google can also show podcast episodes in search results, making your show even more discoverable.

4. Amazon Music & Audible

Amazon Music and Audible share the same podcast catalog, and listing once puts your show in front of Amazon Music, Audible, and every Alexa-powered Echo device. It’s become one of the top places listeners discover shows, and it’s completely free.

Amazon Music has tens of millions of users, so this is one of the highest-leverage additions you can make in 2026.

5. iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is a popular online radio and podcast streaming service, especially for older demographics, with more than 150 million registered users.

With their weekly Top Podcasts chart and personalized listener recommendations, there are ample opportunities for new people to test out your show.

6. Podchaser

Podchaser is a massive database of podcasts, often described as “IMDb for podcasts.” Listeners can review and rate individual episodes to help others discover new content. Each podcast gets a profile showing episodes, information about the creators, reviews, statistics, and more.

Podchaser listeners also love the category and list features. Users can filter for their specific interests to discover shows that suit their needs, then build a list of favorite episodes to share.

7. TuneIn

TuneIn is technically a radio platform, but it’s popular among podcast listeners, especially people who also tune in to talk radio, news, and sports. It has tens of millions of listeners, so you shouldn’t ignore it.

It’s doubly worth listing on TuneIn even if you don’t think your audience overlaps, because this is one of the sources Alexa pulls audio content from.

8. Pandora

Pandora is another popular online streaming service with a powerful recommendation engine.

Through its Podcast Genome Project, Pandora “provides personalized podcast recommendations for each user at the show and episode level based on their likes, dislikes, and other insights from their listening histories.”

Podcast Directories That Connect With Apple Podcasts

Because Apple Podcasts is so central, many other podcast players use its directory too. This means when you submit to Apple Podcasts, your show also becomes available across a range of listening apps that pull from the same catalog.

Here are some of the popular players that surface Apple Podcasts feeds:

9. Overcast

Overcast is a free podcast player for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Listeners love it because, instead of algorithmic or editor-approved charts, fellow Overcast users “star” their favorite shows to fill the Featured Podcast section.

Its standout features keep power listeners loyal and listening longer: Smart Speed trims silence without distorting playback, and Voice Boost normalizes volume across episodes.

10. Downcast

Downcast is another podcast player for Apple products. The app offers advanced options like saving episodes to the cloud and detailed episode categorization, and it supports CarPlay plus streaming through Chromecast.

11. iCatcher

iCatcher is a player for Apple devices. It offers more advanced features than the built-in Apple Podcasts app, making it a popular choice among power listeners.

12. Podcast Republic & AntennaPod

Podcast Republic and AntennaPod are two of the top podcast players for Android users. Podcast Republic offers podcasters the chance to be included in its Featured Podcasts chart, while AntennaPod is a well-loved open-source option that pulls directly from your RSS feed.

The Open Index Behind Modern Podcast Apps

A growing number of apps don’t run their own directory at all; they pull from a shared, open catalog. Getting listed there means you show up across all of them at once.

13. Podcast Index

Podcast Index is the open, free directory at the heart of the Podcasting 2.0 movement. Dozens of independent apps, including Fountain and Podverse, pull their catalogs from it, so a single listing ripples out across the modern podcast ecosystem.

Other Top Podcast Directories To List A Show

While most listening happens on the platforms above, there’s no downside to distributing a podcast to more niche apps. Every one of them is another way for a new listener to find you.

Remember our answer from the top of this post: publishing to every live directory lets new listeners try your show on the platform where they already consume content. We’ve trimmed the apps that have since shut down (Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Stitcher, and a handful of others) so this list only includes directories that are still active.

14. Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts is a free streaming app for Android and iOS. It’s known for a polished experience: automatic downloads, playback-speed options, and strong discovery tools like searching by network or trending shows.

The team also hand-curates lists of the best podcasts across the directory to put new and emerging shows in front of listeners.

15. Castbox

Castbox stands out for how much it has invested in search. With strong SEO and a little help from artificial intelligence, it makes finding new podcasts simple. It’s a favorite among listeners who like to experiment with new shows.

Castbox also comes with a suite of social features. Listeners can comment on and share individual episodes, helping you get noticed and grow your audience.

16. Listen Notes

Listen Notes is dubbed “the best podcast search engine”: like Google, but for podcasts. It indexes millions of podcasts and lets listeners curate playlists and search across shows on a specific topic.

17. Castro

Castro gives users fine-grained control over how they listen: curated queues, download limits for shows that publish frequently, and custom start times to skip repetitive intros. It’s the iPhone podcast player built for podcast fanatics.

18. Deezer

Deezer is a major streaming service, especially strong in Europe. To reach a more global audience, listing your show with Deezer is a step in the right direction; it includes podcasts as part of its streaming catalog.

19. Podcast Addict

Podcast Addict is one of the most popular podcast apps on Android, with millions of downloads. With networks in multiple languages, power users love the additional discovery opportunities within the app.

The app also supports private RSS feeds if your show maintains a Patreon with exclusive episodes.

20. Player FM

Player FM is available for Apple and Android devices plus a web player. Compatible with wearables, CarPlay, and TV streaming devices, it’s a powerful listening platform.

It places a heavy emphasis on discovery, with hundreds of niche categories and fresh daily recommendations, so there’s no shortage of episodes for listeners to find.

21. Goodpods

Goodpods is a fast-growing, community-driven app built around social discovery. Listeners follow friends and tastemakers to see what they’re playing, and its trending charts give newer shows a real shot at being found.

22. Learn Out Loud

If you host an education podcast, Learn Out Loud is a niche directory worth a listing. A popular resource for learning on the go, it maintains one of the internet’s largest catalogs of free audio-first educational content.

23. Acast

Acast is one of the world’s largest independent podcast companies, hosting and distributing a huge catalog of shows. Its app offers free and premium tiers and social sharing features that help listeners pass recommendations to friends.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I publish my podcast to directories? Grab the RSS feed link from your podcast host and submit it once to each directory (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and the rest). After that first submission, every directory automatically pulls in each new episode you publish.

Where should I publish my podcast? At a minimum, list on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music/Audible, which together reach the large majority of listeners. Then submit to secondary directories like iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, Castbox, and Podcast Index to cover every listening app.

Is Google Podcasts still available? No. Google Podcasts was shut down in 2024 and podcasts moved to YouTube Music. To reach Google’s audience, submit your RSS feed to YouTube Music instead.

How do I submit my podcast to Spotify? Sign in to Spotify for Creators (formerly Anchor), add your existing RSS feed, and verify ownership by email. Castos users can submit to Spotify directly from the Castos dashboard.

Is there a downside to listing my podcast on every directory? No. The only cost is the one-time effort of submitting your RSS feed to each platform. Listing everywhere lets new listeners find you on whatever app they already use, with no negative distribution effect.

Summary

There you have it: the major and niche podcast directories worth listing your show with in 2026, minus the ones that have quietly shut down. After publishing episode 0, grab your RSS feed link, block out an afternoon, and start submitting your podcast everywhere people still listen.