Castos vs The Confessionals
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Castos
Access all your invited private podcasts in one unified app. Stream company updates, course content, or community information without managing multiple RSS feeds. Enjoy a secure, streamlined listening experience with easy login and playback controls.
- Unified private podcast access
- Magic Link login
- Customizable playback speed
- Skip forward/backward controls
- View episode show notes
- Streaming only (no downloads)
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Listen to all of your favorite private podcasts in one place with the Castos app. Log in once with your email and instantly access all of the Castos private podcasts you've been invited to. Great for internal company podcasts, for membership sites, courses, and online communities, and even local organizations who want to share information only with a select group of listeners. Save yourself the trouble of trying to manage multiple private RSS feeds, and clunky 3rd party listening experiences, and get all your private podcast content in one easy-to-access app. If a private podcast you're subscribed to is hosted on the Castos platform then it will be instantly available to you as soon as you log into the Castos app. With private podcasting, companies can: - Share latest updates from the leadership team - Connect remote employees with the home office - Communicate best practices to sales teams - Improve and sustain employee engagement - Help with the transition to remote work while staying connected Online Communities, membership sites, and courses can use private podcasting to: - Repurpose written or video content into audio format - Share long-form content in an easy-to-consume, mobile, asynchronous manner - Create additional ways to deliver value with their members - Stand out from the competition with higher engagement with students and audience App Features: - Customizable playback speed. - Skip forward 30s and backwards 10s with just a tap. - Easily view episode show notes and resources. - Security focused: streaming only, no download allowed for listeners. - Persistent playback bar in the bottom of the screen for easy access. - Easy to use, Magic Link login - no password to remember (or forget). - View new, unplayed episodes, and ones you've already listened to. Privacy Policy: https://castos.com/privacy
The Confessionals
Connect with fellow listeners of a popular podcast. Stream episodes on demand, engage in live chat, and send private messages. Access exclusive blog content and submit your thoughts directly through the app.
- On-demand episode streaming
- Live chat community boards
- Private messaging
- Exclusive blog access
- Direct email submission
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The Confessionals members app is here to help build community amongst listeners of the show. Here as members, you will be able to listen to all your favorite episodes on demand! You will have access to live chat community boards and private messaging so you can communicate with others and talk about your favorite episodes and topics. You will also have access to The Confessionals blog to read our latest posts as you listen. Have you ever heard something on the show that you wanted to email about but then forget to once you are near a computer? You now can email us your stories and thoughts directly from the app! We hope you enjoy this user experience as we look into the dark to see what is staring back!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Confessionals at 85% against Castos's 24%. The Confessionals also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.8) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
The Confessionals holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Confessionals has 247 ratings behind it against 43, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of Castos's written reviews are positive against 85% of The Confessionals's.
Castos ships an update every 2 months, The Confessionals every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Castos | The Confessionals |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (43 ratings) | 4.7 (247 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.2% of reviews | 85.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 43 | 247 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Castos | Merkel Media LLC |
Customer experience
Castos
The Confessionals
Bugs and requests
Castos
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
The Confessionals
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues
- Playback problems
- Freezing and crashes
- Unresponsive scrubbing
Requested features
6 requests- Sleep timer
- Simplified category buttons
- Larger text for mobile
- Cleaner episode layout
- Ability to track progress
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- Integrated podcast feed
In-app purchases
Castos
No in-app purchases
The Confessionals
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Castos free?
Is The Confessionals free?
Which has better reviews, Castos or The Confessionals?
Do Castos or The Confessionals have ads?
Which is updated more often, Castos or The Confessionals?
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