I started listening to podcasts (like the TED Talk, Ellen deGeneres Show, NPR etc.) to listen to something other than country music on my way back home every day. On the iPhone, the Podcasts app (from Apple) is a standard affair – and it’s hardly necessary for most purposes to switch to something else (like InstaCast or OverCast). On Android, as always, there are a ton of options (most of them plainly bad, some really good).

Paid podcasts app are generally well-designed, thoughtful, feature-rich and well-supported. Cue: Pocket Casts. Beyond this, you have a lot of free podcast apps and it gets hard to find the one that can compete with Pocket Casts.

When looking for a podcast app, I’m mostly looking at how easily I can subscribe to a podcast (the start), how easy it is to stream or download episodes, how much customization there is and how all these are packaged (the UI). We’ve rounded up 5 best free podcasts app for Android. Check these out and let us know your favorites.

Podkicker

What’s in it:

– Simple UI
– Easy to subscribe, access episodes etc.
– Quick access to epsidoes, playlists
– Seamless user-experience
– Customization

My fetish for an uber-simple interface that’s easy to use, intuitive and very seamless made me place Podkicker at #1 even though you wouldn’t find this app at this spot on most lists. The idea behind Podkicker is simplicity: you have three sections (Podcasts, Episodes, Downloads). Podcasts is where you discover, import, add / subscribe to podcasts. Episodes is a running list from all your subscriptions. Downloads works both ways: as a place where you can access downloaded podcasts and a playlist of all podcasts that you’re yet to listen.

Download Podkicker

Player FM

What’s in it:

– Material Design UI
– Simple but powerful
– Tons of podcasts to subscribe to
– Sync with desktop

While Podkicker built on the ICS interface, Player FM comes close to Lollypop’s material design (although it’s not quite Material Desing per se). Player FM is as simple, beautiful and elegant as Podkicker. Discovering and subscribing to podcasts is easy as a cinch. You can manage your subscriptions and episodes easily too. And this is probably the only app from this list which offers more meta information (as in frequency of the podcast, average length etc.) With a Player FM account, you can sync your data across devices and platforms.

Download Player FM

BeyondPod

What’s in it:

– Quick access to playlist
– SmartPlay builder to smartly queue up episodes
– Lots of podcasts, categories etc.
– Import

BeyondPod is the only app that relieved me from a problem that all other apps on this list pose: a quick access to the playlist. Not only this but it also features a SmartPlay builder which lets you build a customized playlist based on a set of rules you can customize. The app has all the required features that make for a great podcasts app (including a ton of podcasts, lot of categories, import etc.) The interface, needless to mention, is great too.

Download BeyondPod

Podcast Addict

What’s in it:

– Tons of customization
– Great selection of popular podcasts

Most free podcasts app lists rank Podcast Addict at the top but I don’t really know why. It’s a great app – no doubt – what with a huge collection of podcasts ready to be subscribed to, and a ton of customization that’s hard to find in any other app. As stated before, what I try to find is the ease of access and that’s something I found missing in this app.

Download Podcast Addict

Double Pod

What’s in it:

– Extremely simple interface
– Ads ruin the UX sometimes
– Quick playlist controls

Don’t let an old-looking interface fool you in this app. The ads tarnish an otherwise simple and easy interface. Unfortunately, you can’t add custom podcast URLs (you get to select from the existing list only). Besides the regular features, there’s nothing more to add here. But if you’re looking for something very simple in terms of features, Double Pod is a good choice.

Download Double Pod

Podcast Republic

What’s in it:

– Simple, feature-rich
– Dated interface but easy to download and queue episodes

I like Podcast Republic and I dislike Podcast Republic. It’s a dichotomy that comes out of an app that’s designed for simplicity (and features some useful ideas like Car Play) but lacks in execution. It’s like the intention has been great but somewhere, the app lacks. Nevertheless, I find myself using Podcast Republic for some of my podcasts occasionally for its quick shortcuts (for downloading, saving, favoriting an episode).

Download Podcast Republic

I mentioned PocketCasts when talking about paid podcasts apps. Doggcatcher is another that has a reputation of being one of the better podcasts app for Android. Amongst the free apps, while most people suggest Podcast Addict, I’d go with BeyondPod and Podkicker.