Comparison

Next Podcast vs Castria

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Next Podcast

This app uses AI to create a personalized, continuous stream of popular podcasts based on your interests. Simply swipe to discover new content without the need for manual searching or browsing.

Highlights
  • AI-curated personalized podcast stream
  • Swipe-based discovery and skipping
  • Daily updates across 17 categories
  • No manual searching required
  • Learns user interests over time
Features
Read full description

Stop searching. Start listening. Deciding what to listen to next shouldn’t feel like work. Next Podcast builds a continuous, personalized stream of fresh episodes from more than 1,000 top podcasts, selected around your interests and updated daily. Swipe to skip. Swipe to discover. The more you listen, the better Next Podcast gets at finding what you want to hear. Why Next Podcast: - Personalized recommendations that learn from what you listen to - More than 1,000 top podcasts across 17 categories - Fresh episodes added daily - Your favorite shows incorporated into your stream - No searching, browsing, or deciding — just press play Discover episodes and shows you might never have found on your own. Your next favorite is one swipe away.

About

Castria

This podcast app automatically removes ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks from episodes. It also offers AI-powered summaries, searchable transcripts, and chapter navigation for a seamless listening experience. Enjoy offline playback and cross-device syncing for free.

Highlights
  • Automatic ad skipping
  • AI episode summaries
  • Searchable transcripts
  • Tap-to-jump topics
  • Offline downloads
  • Cross-device syncing
Features
Read full description

Castria is the podcast app that skips the ads for you. Press play and the ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks skip themselves. No fast-forwarding, no guessing where the show comes back. Just the show. Premium subscriptions remove an app's own ads, but not the ones inside the episode. Castria skips those, and skipping ads on your phone is free. Around the skip is a full podcast player: playlists, offline downloads, AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and sync across your devices. TOP FEATURES • Ads skip themselves: on every episode, hands-free, from the moment you press play • You stay in control: see every ad Castria found and why, keep a sponsor you want to hear, or turn skipping off in one tap • AI episode summaries: see what an episode covers before you commit • Tap-to-jump topics: go straight to the part you came for • Searchable transcripts: read along, search any word, tap to jump to that moment • Offline downloads: ad-skipping still works with no signal, and each show can auto-download, keep the newest few, or delete after playing • Playlists: build your own, in any order you like • Bring your shows: import from another app with an OPML file, or preview a show before you follow it • Sleep timer, speed up to 5×, and trim silences • Resume on any device: iPhone, iPad, and the web on one account • See your time saved: the minutes and ads Castria has skipped for you, by day, week, and month For serious podcast listeners: the more you listen, the more time you get back. The core is free: ad-skipping, the full player, and the AI features. And Castria shows no ads of its own. CASTRIA PREMIUM (optional, with a free trial) • Faster ad-skip: ads are found on our servers before you download, so your phone does none of the work • CarPlay: a dedicated app with Listen Now, Up Next, Playlists, and Shows (iOS 26.4 or later) • Apple Watch: your queue and Now Playing on your wrist, with ads skipped • Smart playlists that fill themselves • 20 GB of cloud storage for your saved episodes FAIR TO CREATORS Castria plays the publisher's own episode file and skips the ad segments as you listen, the same as fast-forwarding by hand. We never modify or re-host the audio. Don't interrupt what you're doing just to fast-forward through an ad. Castria skips them for you. Castria Premium is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly to your Apple Account. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://castria.app/privacy

Screenshots

Next Podcast4 screens
Castria4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Next Podcast at none against Castria's 2. Next Podcast also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Castria sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Next Podcast asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Next Podcast against 5.0 for Castria. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Next Podcast's written reviews are positive against 67% of Castria's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Next Podcast ships an update every 3 days, Castria weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Next Podcast versus Castria: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNext PodcastCastria
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.416.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB49 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperRemind Me Limited Liability CorporationExtroverted Developer, LLC

Customer experience

Next Podcast

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Castria

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

None

Next Podcast

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Castria

Subscriptions2
  • Castria Premium Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • Castria Premium Yearly1 Month trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Next Podcast free?
Next Podcast is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Castria free?
Castria is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Next Podcast or Castria?
Next Podcast and Castria are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Next Podcast or Castria have ads?
Neither Next Podcast nor Castria shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Next Podcast or Castria?
Next Podcast ships an update every 3 days, and Castria weekly. Most recently, Next Podcast was updated on October 7, 2026 and Castria on October 28, 2026.

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