People use Spotify in a lot of different ways, and in this post I’ve got you covered for many situations:
You were using Spotify for free and don’t want to pay for a music streaming service
You like Pandora’s radio feature but want to switch
You need an audiobooks alternative
You can’t miss your podcasts (and don’t want to use Apple Podcasts – I don’t blame you)
If you missed it, check out my Spotify alternatives post for paid subscriptions.
Freegal: Freegal works with your local library to provide FREE music streaming without ads. You can also download up to 5 free MP3s per week, depending on your library. Freegal has a pretty decent music selection of over 20 million songs, though it may not have more new and independent artists. Freegal is focused on music, but it does have some audiobooks.
The Details: Owned by Library Ideas LLC, a privately held company. Library Ideas LLC does not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Available On: iOS and Android, but does not have full Apple CarPlay or Android Auto integration
Hoopla: Hoopla partners with libraries to provide free music streaming, audiobooks, eBooks, comics, movies, TV shows and more! Their music selection is smaller than Freegal’s, but they have tons of audiobooks and other content. You can also download MP3s with Hoopla, depending on your library’s setup with them.
The Details: Owned by Midwest Tape, a family-owned company that works exclusively with libraries on media distribution. They do not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Available On: iOS and Android, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire tablets
Libby: Libby partners with your local library to provide free audiobooks, eBooks and magazines. They have thousands of audiobooks and often have popular titles and new releases. Note – if you’re looking to purchase audiobooks, I recommend Libro.fm. They’re 100% employee-owned and you can support your local bookstore!
The Details: Owned by Overdrive, which was acquired by private equity firm KKR in 2019/2020. I’m not going to lie, KKR isn’t great. They spent $6.4 million on lobbying the last two years and they’re private equity. But, since it’s through the library and you don’t have control over the library’s decisions, I think it’s okay to use Libby. I hope though that Libby gets better ownership in the future.
Available On: iOS and Android, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Sonos, newer Amazon Fire tablets
Radio Paradise: Real, human-curated playlists that feature an eclectic mix of genres. They have different “stations” like The Main Mix, The Mellow Mix, Rock, and Global and you can see song details and lyrics for what’s playing. Radio Paradise supports artists through paying royalties and you can buy tracks you like through iTunes.
The Details: Owned and operated by a father/daughter team and based out of Eureka, California.
Available On: iOS and Android, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Sonos, Roku, and BluOS
Radio Garden: Radio Garden streams live radio stations from across the world for free. There are some ads including pop-up display ads and audio ads, but if you want to upgrade to Premium you can remove all ads (besides ones on local radio stations that Radio Garden can’t control). Premium is $2.99/month. I have been playing some Radio Garden and haven’t noticed a ton of ads, but I haven’t been listening for an extended period of time.
The Details: Founded by Jonathan Puckey and now an independent company.
Available On: iOS and Android. The app doesn’t support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto as of now, but Radio Garden is working on it.
Internet Radio in General: There are a lot of independent radio stations that stream online, this Reddit post lists a ton including international options.
Podcast Republic: Podcast app with live radio streaming from all over the world, audiobooks, and RSS news and blog feeds. Podcast Republic has a ton of unique (or if not unique to Podcast Republic, more rare) features. I downloaded Podcast Republic and am in the process of setting it up so can’t speak to the experience yet, but this one seems like the most robust and custom out of the apps I looked at.
The Details: I couldn’t find anything on their ownership except this Reddit thread, which states user “respack” is the sole developer. I think it’s a similar set up to Overcast where it’s a one-person company. They do not have a public diversity policy listed, likely due to the company size, and do not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Unique/Cool Features: Live radio, audiobooks, RSS news & blog feeds. Multiple playlists for better organization, schedule feature to play podcasts or radio at a specific time like an alarm, bookmark positions inside episodes with notes, gesture-operated Car Mode so you can control playback with simple gestures, custom playlists, custom filters, chapter support
Standard Features: Adjustable playback speed, fade-out sleep timer, volume boost, automatic downloads with customization, skip episode intros and custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: iOS and Android, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Apple Watch, Google Wear OS, Chromecast
Cost: Free with an ad banner, or you can remove the banner for a one-time cost of $3.99.
Pocketcast: Pocketcast has a lot of great features, if you’re looking for just podcasts I think this would be a good app for casual and heavy-listening podcast fans.
The Details: Owned since 2021 by Automattic, who also owns WordPress, Tumblr, Longreads, WooCommerce and other companies. Automattic supports DEI and has not spent any money on lobbying in the last two years. Automattic is privately held but also launched an employee-ownership plan last fall!
Unique/Cool Features: Custom filtering, human-curated discovery features, folders, chapter support
Standard Features: Adjustable playback speed, sleep timer, trim silence, volume boost, automatic downloads, skip episode intros and custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: iOS and Android, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Sonos, AirPlay & Chromecast. Apple Watch, Google Wear OS available on Premium
Cost: Free to use, but you can upgrade to +Plus ($3.99/mo) or Patron ($9.99/mo) for additional features.
Castbox: One of the most unique features about Castbox is their commenting feature for community engagement. If you want a place to discuss latest episodes without going to another platform like Reddit, Castbox could be a great fit for you.
The Details: Founded by Renee Wang and headquartered in Beijing with offices in Hong Kong and San Francisco. Castbox is privately-held and venture capital backed.
Unique/Cool Features: Live radio and audiobooks, personalized podcast recommendations, community building through comments on shows and episodes, in-audio search (you can search based on what people are saying in a podcast), Zen mode with white-noise or other ambient sounds, folders
Standard Features: Adjustable playback speed, sleep timer, trim silence, volume boost, automatic downloads, custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: iOS and Android, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Apple Watch, Progressive Web App (PWA), Chromecast, Google Home, Apple HomePod
Cost: Free with ads, though you can only subscribe to up to 100 channels. Premium version available for $0.99/mo or $9.99 per year for ad-free listening and unlimited channel subscriptions.
AntennaPod: Open-source podcast player app that respects your privacy. AntennaPod does not have ads themselves, but if podcasts have built-in ads those are played.
The Details: Run by a loose collective of volunteers from across the world, very cool! Since it’s volunteer-led, they do not have a diversity policy as they’re not hiring anyone. Antenna Pod does not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Unique/Cool Features: Chapter support
Standard Features: Adjustable playback speed, advanced sleep timer, trim silence, volume boost, customized automatic downloads, custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: Only Android and F-Droid
Cost: Free, no premium version
Podcast Addict: Offers podcasts, live radio, and news all in one app. You can add your own audiobooks, but there’s not a discovery feature.
The Details: Founded by Xavier Guillemane and privately held, though not backed by venture capital. They do not have a public diversity policy, but there are only two employees including Guillemane listed on LinkedIn, so likely not large enough to have one yet. They do not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Unique/Cool Features: Live radio, news articles, custom playlists, chapter support, folders
Features: Adjustable playback speed, advanced sleep timer, trim silence, volume boost, customized automatic downloads, custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: Only available on Android
Cost: Free, or you can upgrade to Premium for $1/month or $11/year. The Premium version essentially exists to support the app development, and does not offer significantly different features.
Overcast: Podcast-focused app with user-centric design features and customization.
The Details: Owned and operated by Marco Arment. In the “Prohibited Content” section of this page it’s noted that Overcast is a one-person company, so it’s just Marco! Since it is literally one person, they do not have a diversity policy. Overcast does not have a profile on OpenSecrets.
Unique/Cool Features: Personalized recommendations, smart filtering, smart speed (similar to trim silence)
Standard Features: Adjustable playback speed, sleep timer, volume boost, automatic downloads, skip episode intros and custom skip intervals, up next queue
Available On: iOS only, Apple Carplay and Apple Watch supported
Cost: Free with a small visual ad, or you can pay $14.99/year for an ad-free version
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