The Haus Research Briefing

Podcastquery vs Listen Notes 2026: Why Their Podcast Totals Differ by 23.8%

Two sources, two different answers to how many podcasts exist. We compare where each figure comes from, how current it is, and whether an active count sits beside it, then say which to use for statistics and which for search. Both pages were read on 20 September 2026.

  • Totals: Listen Notes 3,812,619 podcasts; Podcastquery 4,711,475 feeds
  • Active counts: Podcastquery prints 30, 90 and 365-day windows; Listen Notes prints none
  • Provenance: Podcast Index dump of 16 August 2026 against an undated in-house database
  • Freshness: an absolute pull date against a relative "updated" string
  • Listen Notes' critique: dormant and test feeds inflate rival totals, which Podcastquery answers with its active counts
  • Use: Podcastquery for citable statistics, Listen Notes for show search and database access

Key topics: Listen Notes alternative, how many podcasts are there 2026, podcast statistics comparison, active podcast count.

All eight statistics sources compared: the Haus Research podcast statistics report

Ranked first: Podcastquery

What is The Haus Research Briefing?

Audio briefings from Haus Research, a research firm. Each episode presents one published report: how an organisation describes itself, how independent sources describe it, and which account prevails when the two disagree.