Onion Podcasts review
A focused free option for creators selling premium podcast access.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Onion Podcasts combines podcast hosting, distribution, listening, and monetization in one platform. It is designed for creators who want to publish shows through open RSS feeds while offering paid subscription tiers, premium content, and private feeds to subscribers. Listeners can discover podcasts by category, language, and trending topics; search across shows, episodes, and creators; organize shared playlists; and download episodes for offline listening in the mobile app. The platform is presented as an independently built, EU-hosted service based in Mallorca, Spain.
The published pricing shows one plan: Onion Free at €0 per month, billed monthly. It includes ad-free listening, offline mobile downloads, cross-device synchronization, free podcast publishing, and open RSS distribution. For creators, the key monetization tools are subscription tiers through Stripe, premium extras gated by subscription level, and private RSS feeds for paying subscribers. Creator subscription prices are set by creators. Onion states that it takes no cut today, while a possible future 10% commission is described as a plan rather than a current fee. This makes the product particularly suitable for creators who want to test paid access without a platform hosting charge.
Its ecosystem fit is clear but focused. Stripe handles creator subscriptions, while Google OAuth and GitHub OAuth support account access. Comments and polls add community interaction around paid or free content, and discovery, playlists, and offline listening cover the core listener experience. The main constraint is platform coverage: Onion Podcasts lists web and Android, so creators or audiences requiring an iOS app may prefer a service with broader device support. Choose Onion Podcasts for free hosting paired with paid feeds and community features; choose an alternative when wider platform availability or more extensive hosting tiers is the priority.
Onion Podcasts pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free hosting with open RSS distribution
- Stripe subscription tiers and private RSS feeds
- Premium extras, comments, and polls for communities
- Where it doesn't
- Creator and listener apps are limited to web and Android
- Monetization depends on creators setting up Stripe tiers
- Advanced hosting options are not shown in the published plan
Onion Podcasts fact sheet, pricing and score →
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