Castro review

Castro treats your subscriptions like an email inbox. New episodes land in the Inbox, you read the description, then add the ones you want to a single Queue and clear the rest. Favorite shows can skip the Inbox and go straight to the Queue, and queued episodes download automatically on wifi to save mobile data. This is the most efficient setup in this list for someone who follows dozens of shows but only listens to a few episodes from each. The free app includes the Inbox, Queue, CarPlay, Apple Watch, notifications with summaries and a sleep timer. Castro Plus, at $24.99 a year, adds Trim Silence, Enhance Voices, cross-device sync, sideloading through iCloud Drive, chapter support, per-podcast settings and Mono-Mix, which helps listeners who hear better in one ear. A family plan covers up to five other members. It is iPhone only, and the Queue habit takes a little time to learn.

Who it is for

iPhone listeners who follow many shows but only want some of their episodes.

Price

Free app; Castro Plus $24.99 per year (about $2.08 per month); monthly and family plans in the App Store.

$24.99/year Castro Plus
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 9, 2026.

Key features

• Inbox for new episodes and one Queue for what you plan to hear
• Automatic downloads of queued episodes on wifi
• Plus adds Trim Silence, Enhance Voices and Mono-Mix
• Sideloading of your own audio files through iCloud Drive
• Per-podcast settings for speed, intro skip and episode limits

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: The Inbox and Queue model keeps big subscription lists under control
• Strength: Plus is cheaper per year than Pocket Casts Plus
• Strength: Mono-Mix helps when guests are panned to one ear
• Weakness: iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch only
• Weakness: Sync and audio tools need Plus
• Weakness: The workflow takes a few days to get used to

Key facts

• Free plan: Yes
• US price: Castro Plus $24.99 a year
• Family plan: Castro Plus Family Plan $39.99 in the App Store
• Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
• Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 from 9.2K ratings on the US App Store

Where it ranks

Castro is No. 5 in our Best Podcast Apps verdict.