Yes, the free version doesn't let you organize podcasts into folders for example. The paid version has a browser accessible version(so one can access from PC) , some gigs(10 GB?) of cloud storage and some extra theme able icons.

It used to be a one time purchase back in the day. Then they moved to a yearly subscription model. I think I used their paid variant for one year or so.

I recently moved to AntennaPod, which is available on F Droid. It is more or less at feature parity with the free version of Pocketcasts. It technically has gPodder integration to sync your podcasts online but honestly that service breaks down a lot and is unreliable multiple times.

[–] VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Oh, yeah, wait, I am using AntennaPod too. The subscription stuff was actually the reason I switched from Pocket Casts. Mixed up the names. I'd claim old age, but I'm not that old yet, really.

[–] DiagonalHorse@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I'm using antennapod because I had suspicions based on the ads I was getting that PocketCasts was selling the info of podcasts in my queue/listening history. After that I read their privacy policy to confirm that's something they do and deleted my account/the app

edit: important to add, I had a paid subscription account and they still appeared to be selling data on me

[–] VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 months ago

If I remember correctly, the app was originally built by an Australian public broadcaster and then sold to WordPress Matt, so yeah.

[–] kratoz29@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Subscription only mode I think.... A huge nope for me.

[–] kirk781@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 months ago

I used it for one year(yes, I paid sigh) but ultimately didn't see value in it. Subscription model doesn't make sense for a podcast app and I mostly listened to on mobile eitherways, so I switched to Antennapod recently. I tried a couple of other alternatives including Podcast Republic but those seem a little too bloated in terms of features.