shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

CoRecursive Podcast Review

Worth it

Should I use CoRecursive Podcast?

Each episode someone shares the fascinating story behind a piece of software being built. Hosted by Adam Gordon Bell. - corecursive.com

· 1 month ago

It is a free, widely praised podcast about software engineering stories — subscribe if you are a developer who enjoys long-form narratives. Skip it if you are shopping for software; there is nothing to deploy, integrate, or buy.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources. Note: this is a podcast, not software — the report judges fit as content, not as a tool to buy.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of useNot disclosed
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNot disclosed
  • Security postureNot disclosed

Pricing

Free

Podcast

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Patreon supporterDonation-based

Best for

  • Developers who love origin stories
  • Commute listening for engineers
  • Open source history fans
  • Long-form interview fans

Not for

  • Anyone shopping for a tool — nothing to deploy or buy
  • Listeners wanting short, actionable how-tos
  • Non-technical audiences
  • Teams seeking structured training content

Gotchas - check before you buy

low

No pricing to trap you, but Patreon supporter tiers fund the show

low

Long episodes (50-63 min) — check length before queueing

low

Donation-funded; longevity depends on listener support

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Consistently praised as the best podcast listeners follow
  • High production value yet personal, per Hacker News users
  • Host is a working programmer, not a journalist
  • Frequently featured in Ruby Weekly, JavaScript Weekly, React Status
  • 100+ episodes and several million downloads since 2018

Cons

  • Not software — nothing to integrate, license, or deploy
  • Episodes run 50-63 minutes; big time commitment
  • Funded by listener donations, not a durable business

Sources & method

- 9 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x3review x2news x4

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 9

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free; Patreon donations optional
  • Feature depth: 4/5. 100+ episodes, long-form deep dives
  • 100+ Episodes hosting since Jan 2018
  • Several million Downloads per host's own site
  • $0 Starting price free to listen
  • 2018 Founded Adam Gordon Bell, host

Pricing

Podcast

Free

  • All 100+ episodes
  • Multiple million downloads

Patreon supporter

Donation-based

  • 37 posts
  • Supports production

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Listeners consistently praise it as one of the best software engineering podcasts, citing production quality and personal storytelling.

“The consistently best podcast I listen to is CoRecursive Podcast with Adam Gordon Bell. So far, every single episode I've heard has been excellent: engaging, ...”
Testimonial, corecursive.com
“"CoRecursive: Coding Stories" (from Adam Gordon Bell) is one of the Podcasts I look forward to the most. Incredible high production value, yet very personal ...”
Hacker News
“I highly recommend CoRecursive - The Stories Behind The Code: https://corecursive.com/. Basically, the host (Adam Gordon Bell, himself a programmer) is ...”
Hacker News

Companies that could

  • Red Hat⁹ Uses Their own in-house podcast instead
  • Stack Overflow⁹ Uses Their own in-house podcast instead
  • Linux Foundation⁹ Uses Their own in-house podcast instead
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources. Note: this is a podcast, not software — the report judges fit as content, not as a tool to buy.

Free, critically loved podcast on how software gets built. Not a product — just subscribe and listen.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources. Note: this is a podcast, not software — the report judges fit as content, not as a tool to buy.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. CoRecursive Podcast homepage with listener testimonialcorecursive.com
    official
  2. Adam Gordon Bell — host bio, 100+ episodes, several million downloadsadamgordonbell.com
    official
  3. Hacker News thread praising CoRecursivenews.ycombinator.com
    review
  4. Hacker News recommendation threadnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  5. Patreon — 37 supporter postspatreon.com
    official
  6. Blog noting donations fund the podcast's open source developmentreinout.vanrees.org
    news
  7. Ruby Weekly feature (63-minute episode)rubyweekly.com
    news
  8. JavaScript Weekly feature (50-minute episode)javascriptweekly.com
    news
  9. Facebook post noting competing developer podcasts by Red Hat, Stack Overflow, Linux Foundationfacebook.com
    news

Add this review to your site

CoRecursive Podcast earned a Worth it check.

Put the badge on your site, pricing page, or docs.

Visitors see an independent review.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Worth it CoRecursive Podcast Independent review on Should I Use It

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.