6 Best Podchaser Alternatives in 2026
Podchaser Pro has the largest podcast index of any tool we compared, 6.2 million shows, plus reach, demographic and sponsor data. It also has no public price (Podchaser's own explainer says most engagements start around $5,000 a year), and it stops at research: you still write, send and chase every pitch yourself.
Below are the tools we would look at instead, with prices checked on October 21, 2026, and a plain note on where each falls short of Podchaser.
By the PodPitch team. Updated .
PodPitch holds the highest G2 rating of any tool on this page (5.0 of 5), so it is listed first. Every other tool was checked against its own pricing page and public reviews, and where another tool is the better fit for a specific job, we say so. How we picked.
The short version
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | How it differs from Podchaser |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. PodPitch | PR teams that want the podcast list pitched, followed up and tracked for them | Quoted on a free demo | Writes and sends each pitch from your inbox, follows up twice, and covers journalists and Substack as well as podcasts |
| 2. Rephonic | Agencies that want Podchaser-style audience data at a public price | $99/mo | Public prices, a 7-day trial, demographics, and sending from your inbox since 2026 |
| 3. Podseeker | Small PR teams that want outreach built in for a flat $99 a month | $99/mo (3 seats) | Outreach workspace at a flat price with no demo; smaller index and lighter audience data |
| 4. Listen Notes | Developers and researchers who want broad search and an API at a low price | Free search; API PRO $200/mo | Search engine and API only, with no demographics, sending or verified contacts |
| 5. Podscan | Brand and comms teams tracking podcast mentions, and developers building on transcripts | Free for verified brands; paid from $100/mo | Monitoring first, with transcripts, an API and MCP tools; contacts included, outreach not |
| 6. Featured | Founders and boutique agencies who want podcasts, journalists and HARO requests in one cheap tool | Free; paid from $29/mo (annual) | Broader than podcasts, with drafting and sending, but new and capped by daily AI usage |
| Podchaser (for reference) | Agencies, media buyers and networks that need podcast reach and demographic data | Quote only (Podchaser says most engagements start around $5,000/yr) | Podcast database with audience data, verified contacts and a developer API |
Prices checked October 21, 2026 on each vendor's site or, for quote-only vendors, from the public sources listed at the end.
Why people look for Podchaser alternatives
No public price for Podchaser Pro
The Pro page says pricing depends on your team's needs and data usage, and asks you to book a demo. Podchaser's own 2025 explainer says most engagements start around $5,000 a year for independent consultants, G2 tags the product "Expensive", and a 2023 r/podcasting thread complains about needing a demo just to learn the price.
Research ends where the outreach starts
Podchaser Pro gives you reach, demographics and role-specific contacts to export as CSV, XLSX or PDF, and its Tell Me Why feature suggests a pitch angle. It does not send from your inbox, run follow-ups or track replies, so the outreach still lives in your mail client and a spreadsheet.
Contacts need checking, and they are podcast-only
Podchaser Pro holds 4.7 out of 5 on G2 from 73 reviews, but reviewers there call contact data "messy or inaccurate at times" and grade it "B+" on accuracy. It covers podcasts only, so a team that also pitches journalists or Substack writers pays for a second tool.
1. PodPitch
- Best for
- PR teams that want the podcast list pitched, followed up and tracked for them
- Pricing
- Quoted on a free demo call. Plans are billed every 3, 6 or 12 months (longer terms cost less) and include unlimited users. There is no free plan.
- Coverage
- 4 million podcasts, 3 million journalists and Substack writers, drawn from 1.1 billion email addresses that refresh daily. See the database.
Podchaser Pro's job ends at the export. PodPitch starts there. Describe a client or a topic and it searches 4 million podcasts, 3 million journalists and Substack newsletter writers, scores each for fit, and writes a pitch that mentions the show's recent episodes in the voice of your writing samples. The pitch goes out from your Gmail or Outlook with up to two automatic follow-ups, anyone who replies drops out of the sequence, and the replies land sorted in Magic Inbox.
For an agency the money question is seats. Podchaser's own comparison pages describe Pro as an annual subscription with seat-based pricing. Every PodPitch plan includes unlimited users and client profiles, so adding a booker or a client costs nothing extra. Booked Media logs each placement with an estimated earned media value and exports to CSV for client reports.
The tradeoffs are real. PodPitch's public API covers your own campaigns, pitches and replies; it is not a podcast data API like Podchaser's. Pricing is quoted on a free demo call and billed every 3, 6 or 12 months, with no monthly option. In exchange you get the outreach actually done: every pitch written, sent, followed up and answered, which is the part Podchaser Pro leaves in your hands.
Where PodPitch beats Podchaser
- Writes every pitch from the show's recent episodes and your writing samples. Podchaser's Tell Me Why gives a fit score and pitch suggestions; the writing happens somewhere else.
- Sends from your Gmail or Outlook with up to two automatic follow-ups, and stops when a host replies. Podchaser Pro exports a list; it does not send.
- Collects and sorts replies in Magic Inbox. Podchaser has no reply tracking.
- Covers 3 million journalists and Substack writers in the same search as podcasts. Podchaser is podcast-only.
- Unlimited users and client profiles on every plan. Podchaser Pro is sold as an annual, seat-based subscription.
What you get
Describe yourself or a client and PodPitch searches podcasts, journalists and Substack newsletters, scores each one for fit, and shows each podcast's estimated monthly listeners.
Each email mentions the show's or writer's recent work and follows your writing samples, so it reads like you wrote it.
Pitches go out from your Gmail or Outlook. Standard and Pro plans also include warmed sending mailboxes on separate domains.
Up to two follow-ups per contact. Anyone who replies drops out of the sequence automatically.
Replies from hosts and writers land in Magic Inbox, sorted, so you answer everyone from one place.
Booked Media logs every interview and placement with its estimated media value, and exports to CSV for client reports.
Keyword alerts across podcast transcripts, news articles and newsletters, emailed to you.
Unlimited users and client profiles on every plan, plus Slack alerts, single sign-on and an API for your campaign data.
The proof behind those claims
“I have used PodPitch for about 75 days and in that time I have booked just under 100 podcast appearances.”
“The outreach is meaningful since it references actual episodes from each podcast it pitches to. We have literally gotten more responses and booked podcasts than we can keep up with.”
“We've booked so many more podcasts than I was ever able to secure on my own. This is the best tool I've invested in, including Cision and MuckRack!”
“The database is insane. The fact that, when it writes your email, it mentions past episodes is a huge HUGE timesaver for us.”
Pitch, booking and team counts come from PodPitch's own send records, counted on October 21, 2026 (MagicPitch LinkedIn campaigns excluded). G2 figures are from PodPitch's G2 page on the same date, where G2 displays a 5.0 rating from 8 reviews: the highest G2 rating of any PR or podcast outreach tool compared on this site.
PodPitch vs Podchaser
| Feature | PodPitch | Podchaser |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Quoted on a free demo call | Quote only for Pro; Podchaser's explainer says most engagements start around $5,000 a year. API from $30 a month. |
| Contract | Billed every 3, 6 or 12 months; longer terms cost less. Unlimited users. | Annual, seat-based subscription (Podchaser's comparison pages). Renewal terms not published. |
| Podcasts indexed | 4 million, every one searchable and pitchable, plus 3 million journalists and Substack writers | 6.2 million+, with about 150,000 English shows transcribed, podcasts only |
| Journalists and Substack | 3 million journalists plus Substack newsletter writers, in the same tool | None. Podcasts only. |
| Audience data | Estimated monthly listeners per show, Smart Fit scoring, and Booked Media placement logs with estimated earned media value. | Demographics (age, gender, income, geography), first-party reach data on 250,000+ podcasts, Power Score, sponsor history. |
| Pitch writing | Writes each pitch from recent episodes in your voice, with subject-line A/B tests | Tell Me Why fit score and pitch suggestions. You write the email. |
| Sending and follow-ups | From your Gmail or Outlook; up to two follow-ups; stops on reply | No sending. Export contacts to CSV, XLSX or PDF. |
| Reply handling | Magic Inbox collects and sorts replies | None |
| Monitoring | Keyword alerts across podcast transcripts, news and newsletters, by email, plus Booked Media placement logs with estimated earned media value. | Keyword alerts on podcast transcripts; AI brand safety scores. |
| API and export | API for your own campaigns, pitches and replies (not podcast data); Slack alerts, SSO, CSV export of bookings | Podcast data REST API and MCP server from $30 a month (GraphQL on Enterprise); CSV, XLSX and PDF export |
What you gain by switching
- Every pitch written and sent for you from the inbox you already use, with up to two follow-ups that stop when someone replies.
- Journalists and Substack writers in the same search as podcasts.
- No seat fees: unlimited users and client profiles on every plan.
- Replies in Magic Inbox and bookings in Booked Media, with estimated earned media value and a CSV export for client reports.
What you give up
- Podchaser Pro is a research subscription that stops at the export: you still write, send and follow up every pitch yourself, in your mail client and a spreadsheet.
- A podcast data API. PodPitch's public API covers your own campaigns, pitches and replies; it does not serve podcast data the way Podchaser's REST API and MCP server do.
- Public, monthly pricing. Like Podchaser Pro, PodPitch is quoted on a demo call, and it is billed every 3, 6 or 12 months; Rephonic, Podseeker, Podscan and Featured publish monthly prices.
- Hands-off search. Long campaigns can drift off topic without review, so someone should check the list before automatic sending.
How to switch from Podchaser
- 1Export the lists you still need from Podchaser Pro (CSV or XLSX) and mark which contacts you have already pitched, so no host hears from you twice.
- 2Check your renewal date. Pro is sold annually, so time the switch to the end of the term, and keep the API plan if anything you built depends on it.
- 3Book a free PodPitch demo with one client or topic ready. The rep runs a live search, shows the pitches PodPitch would send, and quotes pricing.
- 4Connect your Gmail or Outlook, add writing samples so pitches sound like you, and create a profile for each client. Profiles and users are unlimited.
- 5Review the first campaign's list and pitches before turning automatic sending on, then let the follow-ups run and watch Magic Inbox.
How we picked these alternatives
On October 21, 2026 we read Podchaser's Pro and API pages, its 2025 article on why Pro costs more than other tools, its own comparison pages, the Acast acquisition announcement, its 73 G2 reviews and a search excerpt of a Reddit thread on pricing. For each alternative we read the vendor's pricing page the same day plus the independent reviews that exist (G2, Trustpilot, AppSumo, The Podcast Host, Vidpros, Reletter, Slice Media).
We weighted what matters to an agency, brand or booker leaving Podchaser Pro: whether the tool goes past research into writing, sending and follow-ups; the cost for 3 to 5 people; public pricing; podcast coverage and audience data; and whether journalists and Substack writers are covered. For API users we weighted request limits, data rights and price.
PodPitch is our product and is listed first; it also holds the higher G2 rating (5.0 against Podchaser Pro's 4.7). Where another tool wins we say so: Podchaser on index size and demographics, Listen Notes on free search, Rephonic and Podseeker on public pricing, Podscan on monitoring.
2. Rephonic
Visit site- Best for
- Agencies that want Podchaser-style audience data at a public price
- Pricing
- Light $99 a month (1 user, 100 searches), Standard $149 (5 users, 500 searches), Business $299 (10 users, unlimited); yearly $990, $1,490 and $2,990. The 7-day free trial needs a card. The API is separate at $299 a month for 10,000 requests.
Rephonic is the closest like-for-like replacement for Podchaser Pro: a podcast database (more than four million shows, per its homepage) with listener estimates, demographics by gender, age, location, income and interests, host contacts and transcript alerts. In early 2026 it added Campaigns with inbox sending, sequences, follow-ups that stop on reply and a shared reply inbox, none of which Podchaser offers. Listener numbers are modelled estimates, and we found no AI pitch writing. More on our Rephonic alternatives page.
Strengths
- Public prices and no contract, with a full refund of the last payment within 30 days if unused.
- Listener demographics and 25 filters, the closest match to Podchaser's audience data here.
- Sending and follow-ups since 2026; G2 4.9 out of 5 from 7 reviews (two flagged as incentivized).
Weaknesses
- Listener estimates are rough: The Podcast Host checked 14 shows against real downloads and found 51.6 percent average accuracy.
- No AI pitch writing that we found (templates and variables only), and no journalist or Substack contacts.
- Its own docs flag some contacts as masked hosting addresses that will not be forwarded, and Vidpros calls Light's 100 searches a month too few for serious outreach.
Choose Rephonic if you want a Podchaser Pro replacement with public prices, listener demographics and sending built in, and you will write the pitches yourself.
3. Podseeker
Visit site- Best for
- Small PR teams that want outreach built in for a flat $99 a month
- Pricing
- One plan at $99 a month with 3 seats, billed monthly: 200 client recommendations, 400 personalized pitches, 400 contact enrichments, 100 concierge lookups and 5,000 CSV exports a month. The 3-day free trial needs a card. The API is separate at $99 a month for 2,000 credits.
Podseeker was built by an ex-Meltwater founder for PR teams booking clients. You set up a client profile, get up to 200 ranked Client Fit recommendations a month, draft pitches with optional AI, send from Gmail or Outlook, and let follow-ups run until someone replies. It covers the sending Podchaser leaves out, but its audience data stops at listener estimates plus listener gender and location, and it publishes no podcast count: listings disagree (685,000 on Capterra, over two million on Gartner) and its own blog cites about 200,000 active, pitchable shows.
Strengths
- Flat public price with no demo call, and 3 seats included.
- Drafting, sending, follow-ups and reply tracking in one place; nothing sends until you approve it.
- G2 4.7 out of 5 from 14 reviews; one reviewer says concierge requests find a usable email the majority of the time.
Weaknesses
- Lighter audience data than Podchaser Pro: listener estimates and listener gender and location, with no Power Score or sponsor history listed.
- AppSumo buyers in 2023 found search hit or miss, with well-known shows missing and weak coverage of the German market.
- Campaigns send at most 100 emails a day, and Podseeker itself says not every contact is verified.
Choose Podseeker if you book guests for a few clients, want sending and follow-ups for a flat $99 a month, and can live without Podchaser's reach data.
4. Listen Notes
Visit site- Best for
- Developers and researchers who want broad search and an API at a low price
- Pricing
- Website search is free. Premium (Super Search and Listen Alerts) is billed by the day: a 2-day pass is $26 one time, and page excerpts show a monthly option at $6.90 a day, though the pricing page sat behind a login wall when we checked. The Listen API has a small free tier, then PRO at $200 a month for 5,000 requests with overage at $1.60 per 1,000; Enterprise is custom and the only tier allowed to store API data.
Listen Notes is a podcast search engine covering over 3.7 million podcasts and 190 million episodes, plus the Listen API with 11 official SDKs. Where Podchaser sells research tools and an API, Listen Notes sells mainly search and an API. Contacts are the email in a show's RSS feed, with no verified host or producer details (Reletter), and there is no sending, no demographics and no listener counts.
Strengths
- Over 3.7 million podcasts and 190 million episodes, with a free way to search them.
- Cheap short-term access: $26 for two days of Premium, with no recurring charge.
- An API with 11 SDKs, Zapier and IFTTT for alerts, and a Chrome extension.
Weaknesses
- Contacts are the RSS feed email only, and their accuracy is not published.
- No outreach workflow, demographics or listener estimates.
- The PRO API plan is non-refundable, only Enterprise may store API responses, and Taddy (a rival API) says transcripts exist for under 1 percent of episodes.
Choose Listen Notes if you are replacing the Podchaser API or need cheap, broad search, and you will handle contacts and outreach elsewhere.
5. Podscan
Visit site- Best for
- Brand and comms teams tracking podcast mentions, and developers building on transcripts
- Pricing
- Premium $100 a month or $1,000 a year (50 alerts, 2,000 API requests a day, contact data and demographics), Professional $200 a month or $2,000 a year, Advanced $2,500 a month, Enterprise from $5,000 a month. Verified brands get Premium-level brand monitoring free by adding a DNS record. 10-day free trial, no card; annual plans are prepaid and non-refundable.
Podscan transcribes new episodes as they publish (more than 70,000 a day, per the Audiohook acquisition release), sends keyword alerts typically within 10 minutes, and tracks 5.0 million+ podcasts. Paid plans add host contact data, estimated demographics, Share of Voice, brand safety reports, a REST API, Firehose webhooks and more than 100 MCP tools. It overlaps with Podchaser on alerts, brand safety and API access, but it is not a pitching tool. Audiohook, an audio ad platform, bought it in August 2026.
Strengths
- Public pricing, a free tier for verified brands and a $20 day pass.
- Fast transcript alerts with AI context filtering and sentiment, plus Share of Voice.
- A strong API and MCP toolset; Slice Media calls it surprisingly useful for AI agents.
Weaknesses
- No sending, sequences or reply tracking; PodPosted notes there is no outreach layer.
- Transcription accuracy varies on accented or technical speech, causing missed or false alerts (PodPosted, Slice Media), and API pricing climbs steeply at volume.
- New ownership since August 2026: Audiohook says it is making most of Podscan's data free, so plans may change. We found no G2 or Capterra listing.
Choose Podscan if your main use of Podchaser is transcript alerts, brand safety or API data, and outreach is someone else's job.
6. Featured
Visit site- Best for
- Founders and boutique agencies who want podcasts, journalists and HARO requests in one cheap tool
- Pricing
- A free plan with roughly 2 to 3 opportunities a week and no card. Lite is $29 a month on annual billing or $39 monthly, Pro $79 or $99, Pro+ $239 or $299. Team Lite (up to 25 logins, no per-seat fees) is $159 or $199, Team Pro $399 or $499, Team Pro+ $1,199 or $1,499. Plans differ only in daily AI usage.
Featured relaunched on June 2, 2026 as an AI co-pilot for PR, run by the company that bought HARO from Cision in 2025. A chat interface finds podcasts (814,000 active shows by its count), journalists, Substacks and HARO requests, drafts the pitch and sends it through a connected Gmail or Outlook inbox. Podchaser indexes more shows and sells reach data, which Featured does not list; Featured covers more media types for much less. We also cover it on our HARO alternatives page.
Strengths
- Podcasts, journalists, Substack and HARO requests in one tool, with HARO queries at no extra cost.
- A free plan, low entry prices and team plans with 25 logins.
- Gmail, Outlook and Slack integrations, plus an MCP server.
Weaknesses
- The current product dates from June 2026, with only 5 G2 reviews and no independent complaint record yet.
- An unpublished daily AI budget pauses AI features when hit, and follow-ups and reply tracking are not documented.
- No reach or demographic data listed; sister product Connectively scores 2.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 8 reviews.
Choose Featured if you want cheap, broad coverage across podcasts, journalists and HARO, and you accept a young product with usage caps.
Podchaser alternatives: common questions
How much does Podchaser Pro cost?
Podchaser does not publish Pro prices; the Pro page says pricing depends on your team's needs and data usage and asks you to book a demo. Podchaser's own 2025 explainer says most engagements start around $5,000 a year for independent consultants, and lists Muck Rack at about $5,000 a year and Cision at $10,000 and up. Rephonic, a competitor, reports about $5,000 a year for up to 3 users. The separate Podchaser API is public: Starter $30 a month, Professional $300 a month.
Who owns Podchaser?
Acast, the Swedish podcast company, bought Podchaser in July 2022 for $27.2 million upfront plus an earn-out of up to $6.8 million, and still reports it in its 2026 results. Podchaser runs as a separate brand. It is not owned by Fame; Fame bought a different product, Speak On Podcasts, in 2024.
Is there a free Podchaser alternative?
For search, yes. Listen Notes offers free podcast search across more than 3.7 million shows, and Podchaser's own consumer site is free without Pro's contacts and demographics. Podscan gives verified brands mention monitoring at no charge, and Featured's free plan includes its drafting and sending at about 2 to 3 opportunities a week. PodPitch has no free plan; the demo runs a live search for your topic instead.
What is the best alternative to the Podchaser API?
Listen Notes' Listen API is the usual comparison: a small free tier, then PRO at $200 a month for 5,000 requests with overage at $1.60 per 1,000, and 11 official SDKs. Podscan sells transcript-level data with 2,000 to 10,000 API requests a day on plans from $100 to $2,500 a month. The Podchaser API starts cheaper (Starter is $30 a month for 1,000 requests, demographics included), and its $300 a month Professional tier adds reach, full contacts and sponsor data, so if you depend on those fields it is still the pick.
Does Podchaser Pro send pitches?
No. Podchaser Pro finds shows, scores them, supplies verified contacts and, through Tell Me Why, suggests why a show fits and what to pitch. You export contacts to CSV, XLSX or PDF and send from your own email, with no follow-up sequences and no reply tracking. PodPitch, Rephonic and Podseeker all send from your connected inbox and run follow-ups.
How is PodPitch different from Podchaser Pro?
Podchaser Pro is a research database, and PodPitch is an outreach tool with a database inside it. PodPitch finds podcasts, journalists and Substack writers, writes each pitch from the show's recent episodes, sends it from your Gmail or Outlook, follows up twice and collects replies in Magic Inbox. Podchaser stops at research: it exports contacts and leaves the writing, sending and reply tracking to you.
How much does PodPitch cost, and is there a contract?
PodPitch prices are quoted on a free demo call rather than published. Plans are billed every 3, 6 or 12 months, with longer terms costing less, and every plan includes unlimited users and client profiles. There is no free plan and no monthly option.
Is Podchaser Pro worth it?
For a media buyer who needs listener demographics and sponsor history in one place, Podchaser Pro holds 4.7 out of 5 on G2 from 73 reviews. For booking, G2 reviewers say its contacts can need outside research, and you still need another tool or manual work to write, send and follow up: the job PodPitch does end to end.
Which Podchaser alternative should you choose?
It writes, sends and follows up from your inbox, covers journalists and Substack as well as podcasts, and adds users and client profiles at no extra cost.
Listener estimates, demographics and host contacts from $99 a month, with sending added in 2026; you write the pitches.
A flat $99 a month for 3 seats with client recommendations, drafted pitches, sending and follow-ups, and no demo call.
3.7 million podcasts, 11 SDKs and a free tier, with PRO at $200 a month; keep the Podchaser API only if you need its reach and contact fields.
Transcript alerts within minutes, Share of Voice and a free tier for verified brands; it does not do outreach.
For sponsorship research alone, Podchaser Pro's rate cards and sponsor history do that job; for getting booked, PodPitch writes, sends and follows up on every pitch.
Want to see who PodPitch would pitch for you?
A rep will run a live search for your topic, show you the shows and writers that fit, and walk you through pricing.
Sources
- Podchaser Pro page (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Podchaser: why Podchaser Pro costs more than other podcast tools (Jul 2025)
- Podchaser API pricing (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Podchaser vs Muck Rack (Podchaser's own comparison, annual seat-based pricing)
- Podchaser vs Rephonic (Podchaser's own comparison, contacts and export)
- Podchaser Pro contacts feature page
- Podchaser: Tell Me Why AI vetting announcement
- Podchaser: transcript coverage expansion (May 2026)
- Acast acquires Podchaser (Jul 18, 2022)
- TechCrunch: Acast acquires podcast database Podchaser
- Acast Q2 2026 interim report
- Fame company information (Speak On Podcasts acquisition)
- Podchaser Pro reviews on G2 (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- r/podcasting thread on Podchaser Pro pricing (2023)
- Rephonic pricing page (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Rephonic API pricing
- Rephonic product updates (Campaigns, sending)
- Rephonic on Podchaser Pro pricing
- Rephonic reviews on G2
- The Podcast Host: how accurate are Rephonic's download estimates
- Vidpros Rephonic review
- Podseeker pricing page (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Podseeker FAQ (sending limits)
- Podseeker API pricing
- Podseeker podcast database page (profile metrics)
- Podseeker reviews on G2
- Podseeker reviews on AppSumo
- Listen Notes help center: podcast PR guide
- Listen Notes help center: building a podcast contact list
- Listen Notes Premium page
- Listen API pricing
- Reletter: best podcast databases for PR
- Taddy: Listen Notes vs Taddy podcast API
- Podscan pricing page (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Podscan Brand Console (free for verified brands)
- Podscan homepage (coverage claims)
- Podnews: Audiohook acquires Podscan
- Slice Media Podscan review
- PodPosted on Podscan
- Featured pricing page (checked Oct 21, 2026)
- Featured about page
- Featured terms of service
- PR Newswire: Featured launches the AI co-pilot for PR (Jun 2026)
- Featured reviews on G2
- Connectively reviews on Trustpilot
- PodPitch reviews on G2 (checked Oct 21, 2026)