20 Open-source Free Self-hosted Podcasting Clients and Players

What is a self-hosted podcast server?

A self-hosted podcast server is a standalone system that hosts and manages podcast files.

It allows the user to have full control and ownership over their content, eliminating the need for a third-party service.

Use-cases

Use cases include content creators who want more control over their content distribution, businesses aiming for a more personalized branding and user experience, or any user interested in decentralization and privacy.

On the other hand, a podcast client is an application or software used to access, download, and listen to podcasts.

It offers functionalities such as play, pause, download, and track management. Use cases can range from casual listeners who want access to their favorite podcasts from any device and location, to power users looking for advanced features such as variable playback speed, custom playlists, and more.

1. Podgrab

Podgrab is a free and open-source self-hosted podcast manager, downloading and archiver. It also includes a built-in player.

Features

Download/Archive complete podcast
Auto-download new episodes
Tag/Label podcasts into groups
Download on demand
Podcast Discovery - Search and Add podcasts using iTunes API
Full-fledged podcast player - Play downloaded files or stream from original source. Play single episodes, full podcasts and podcast groups(tags)
Add using direct RSS feed URL / OMPL import / Search
Basic Authentication
Existing episode file detection - Prevent re-downloading files if already present
Easy OPML import/export
Customizable episode names
Dark Mode
Self Hosted / Open Source
Docker support

Install using Docker

Simple setup without mounted volumes (for testing and evaluation)

  docker run -d -p 8080:8080 --name=podgrab akhilrex/podgrab

Binding local volumes to the container

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 --name=podgrab -v "/host/path/to/assets:/assets" -v "/host/path/to/config:/config"  akhilrex/podgrab

Using Docker-Compose

Modify the docker compose file provided here to update the volume and port binding and run the following command

version: "2.1"
services:
  podgrab:
    image: akhilrex/podgrab
    container_name: podgrab
    environment:
      - CHECK_FREQUENCY=240
     # - PASSWORD=password     ## Uncomment to enable basic authentication, username = podgrab
    volumes:
      - /path/to/config:/config
      - /path/to/data:/assets
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    restart: unless-stopped   docker-compose up -d

2. Audiobookshelf

Audiobookshelf is a free self-hosted audiobook and podcast server.

Features

Fully open-source, including the android & iOS app (in beta)
Stream all audio formats on the fly
Search and add podcasts to download episodes w/ auto-download
Multi-user support w/ custom permissions
Keeps progress per user and syncs across devices
Auto-detects library updates, no need to re-scan
Upload books and podcasts w/ bulk upload drag and drop folders
Backup your metadata + automated daily backups
Progressive Web App (PWA)
Chromecast support on the web app and android app
Fetch metadata and cover art from several sources
Chapter editor and chapter lookup (using Audnexus API)
Merge your audio files into a single m4b
Embed metadata and cover image into your audio files (using Tone)
Basic ebook support and ereader
- Epub, pdf, cbr, cbz
- Send ebook to device (i.e. Kindle)
Open RSS feeds for podcasts and audiobooks

3. Astropod

Astropod is a free, open-source, serverless podcast solution that supports various deployment services and audio hosting options. It includes a customizable, easily deployable website with a personalized domain and a user-friendly CMS for straightforward podcast management.

4- Escapepod

EscapePod is not just another podcast manager, it's a standalone, self-hosted solution that comes with a sleek, modern frontend web interface. It proudly includes a built-in player and a robust API for mobile applications, demonstrating its versatility and adaptability.

5. Castopod

Castopod is a free and open-source solution for podcasting 2.0, allowing users to self-host podcasts, maintain control over their content, and communicate with their audience without intermediaries.

6. Bokskog

Bokskog is a simple self-hosted audiobook streaming service that allows streaming to your favorite podcast app.

7. miniCast

miniCast is a free and open-source web-based podcasts player that is written using PHP, and Clojure.

8. Selfpod

Selfpod is a free, open-source, self-hosted app for podcast owners and authors that automatically duplicates their podcasts to YouTube.

The app receives a webhook from a cast, downloads the audio and cover files, creates a video from these files using ffmpeg, generates a YouTube description from the RSS feed, and uploads the video to YouTube.

9. Tape Drive

Tape Drive is a self-hosted podcast client focused on long-term storage of episodes. It organizes subscribed podcasts on disk with a robust naming scheme and includes available metadata such as shownotes, episode and season numbering.

Note that the app is still in active development.

Features

Aesthetically pleasing presentation of podcasts, episodes, and their metadata
Fully responsive web-UI with distinctively unexcited behavior (no fancy animations, clean look, etc.)
Automatic episode downlodas for subscribed podcasts, including downloading the back catalog
Storage according to a robust and human-readable naming scheme, including shownotes metadata
Manually initiated episode downloads possible
Ability to efficiently fetch multi-page feeds
Easy to deploy using Docker.

10. Podcatcher

This open-source free app is privacy-focused, self-hosted podcatcher.

Features

Self hostable
- Single Tenant SQLite backend.
- Run from a single docker image
Privacy oriented
- No data or usage collection
- Proxy and cache podcast feeds to reduce your traffic to data collecting feed and media servers.
Per episode artwork is supported
Supports streaming audio files (e.g. seek to any part of a podcast)
OPML Import & Export
- Import your current subscriptions from another app
- Export subscriptions to podsumer feeds for use in your mobile or other podcast app.
Single file library (optional)
- Easily move and migrate your library via a single SQLite DB file.
- Avoid file permissions headches in docker
Save media to disk (optional)
- If you prefer to store audio and images on disk instead of in the database.
- Faster backups for very large libraries.
Automatic feed refresh
- Original feeds checked for updates when proxied feeds are queried.
Codebase contains zero 3rd-party dependencies.
Content focused UI

11. Pinepods

PinePods is a Python-based podcast management system that allows users to play, download, and track podcasts. It features a modern UI, multi-user support, and a search function using The Podcast Index. All data, including user settings and podcast episodes, are stored in a MySQL database.

The system is fully self-hosted and dockerized, with options for using a hosted API or a personal one. Multiple themes are also available.

12. Local Podcasts

Local Podcasts is a self-hosted podcast manager that allows you to download and save the full history of a podcast on a local server for quick access. However, it only saves podcasts on the local server and does not provide offline or remote access outside of your home network.

13. Hedgehog

Hedgehog is an authoritative podcast player and organizer, boasting a terminal-based user interface.

Features

Terminal-based user interface
Comprehensive tool for managing RSS feeds
Automatic updates
Episode tracking
Online search for new feeds
Flexible theming
Configurable keybindings
Integration with external programs via MPRIS
Mouse support in the terminal-based UI
Subscription management and automatic feed updates
Resume playback feature
Built-in themes
Status reporting through MPRIS
Mouse actions for playback control, navigation, episode and feed selection

14. Svelte Podcast

Svelte-Podcast is a toolset for building custom podcast sites with Svelte, offering components for creating custom audio players, managing audio state, and tracking user preferences.

It simplifies state management in Svelte apps and will soon provide SSR utilities for consuming RSS podcast feeds.

Features

🔊 Load and play audio files via URL or local files
🔃 Navigate via client-side routing while audio continues to play
🎛️ Simpler control over audio playback:
- Seek to a specific time
- skip forward ﹢ backward
- play ﹢ pause
- mute ﹢ unmute
🛟 Save and load a users progress for each episode in localStorage
💾 Save and load a users preferences (like playback speed) in localStorage
- ﹢ volume
- ﹢ playback speed
🖼️ Inject episode metadata into the audio store for ea

15. PodKatch

PodKatch is a free and open-source podcast app for Windows, macOS, and Linux, with PodKatch currently in development. They allow users to subscribe to, download, and listen to podcasts.

16. Shikwasa

Shikwasa is a web audio player designed specifically for podcasts, offering features common to podcasts that are not supported by traditional music players.

Features

🚀 Ultra lightweight
🐣 Dependency free
🎬 Podcast chapters
🏎 Playback speed control
🎮 Skip forward/backward
👓 Accessibility-aware
🌙 Dark Mode
📻 Audio stream support
💻 SSR compatible

17. Winds

Winds is an open-source RSS and Podcast app built with React & Redux and Express.js. It offers a free hosted version or can be customized on a personal server.

It utilizes Stream for activity feeds and discovery, Algolia for search, AWS for hosting, MongoDB Atlas for a hosted database, and SendGrid for email.

18. Santamonica

The Santamonica app is a simple Zola-based podcast website designed for fans of self-hosting. It features static generation, RSS support, support for static pages like 'About', content in markdown files, a 'Read more' feature, and a native HTML audio player.

Features

Statically generated
RSS support
Support for static pages (eg. About page)
Content in markdown files
"Read more" feature
Native HTML <audio> player
Simple, responsive CSS based only on normalize.css
Easily customisable
No JS
Zola is the only third-party dependency used

19. Simple Podcasting

Simple Podcasting for WordPress allows users to easily set up multiple podcast feeds using built-in WordPress posts. It includes a podcast block and podcast transcript block for the WordPress block editor.

Podcasts can be published on a WordPress site and made available for listeners in Apple Podcasts and through direct feed links for other podcasting apps.

20. VerbaCap

VerbaCap is a Podcast Manager that allows users to download and listen to their favorite podcasts in a centralized manner. It utilizes Django to facilitate easy integration for the platform.

What is a self-hosted podcast server?

Use-cases

1. Podgrab

Features

Install using Docker

Binding local volumes to the container

Using Docker-Compose

2. Audiobookshelf

Features

3. Astropod

4- Escapepod

5. Castopod

6. Bokskog

7. miniCast

8. Selfpod

9. Tape Drive

Features

10. Podcatcher

Features

11. Pinepods

12. Local Podcasts

13. Hedgehog

Features

14. Svelte Podcast

Features

15. PodKatch

16. Shikwasa

Features

17. Winds

18. Santamonica

Features

19. Simple Podcasting

20. VerbaCap

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