shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Listennotes?

Podcast search engine and podcast API - listennotes.com

Depends. Buy it if you research podcasts professionally or need a podcast API — the database depth is real. Skip it if you're a casual listener; free podcast apps cover that, and a solo-founded product won't give enterprise support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~30 public sources; most review snippets were truncated, so exact prices and star ratings were not extractable.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not shown in sources

Web premium membership

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Podcast APITiered, usage-based plans

Best for

  • Journalists researching podcasts
  • Developers needing a podcast API
  • PR teams hunting guest slots
  • Power listeners who deep-search

Not for

  • Casual listeners — free podcast apps suffice
  • Teams wanting enterprise support or SLAs
  • Procurement requiring a vendor security page
  • Podcast hosting or analytics needs

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

No security page; may stall vendor security reviews at larger companies

medium

Solo founder: support, uptime, and roadmap all depend on one person

medium

API plans are metered — heavy search/transcript usage scales costs; check the pricing page first

medium

Reddit users questioned whether premium membership is worth it — trial before committing

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Claims the most comprehensive podcast database; deep search
  • Official Podcast API used by developers and companies
  • Sister tool Listen411 offers fast, affordable transcripts
  • ChatGPT plugin for AI-driven podcast discovery
  • Search results can be subscribed to as feeds

Cons

  • One-man company: key-person risk on support and roadmap
  • Pricing drives longtime users to seek alternatives
  • No public security page found on the site
  • Vulnerable Axios dependency flagged in official JS SDK
  • Some users publicly cancel ('Bye listennotes')

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/24/2026 - 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; site lacks a security page and its open-source JS SDK had a flagged Axios dependency issue.

official x4review x6security x2
  • Axios dependency vulnerability in podcast-api-js SDK, GitHub issue #3 on ListenNotes' official podcast-api-js repo flags a vulnerability in the Axios dependency used by the SDK.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 3/5

    Rating

  • Not shown in sources

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 3/5. Reddit users hunt cheaper alternatives
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Users praise the search experience
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Search, API, transcripts, AI integrations
  • Support quality: 3/5. Solo founder; support capacity limited
  • Security posture: 2/5. No security page; SDK dependency flag
  • 1 Team size Solo-developer company, per Buzzsprout review
  • 2017 Founded Wikidata inception: Sept 16
  • 484 LinkedIn presence Company page followers

Pricing

Web premium membership

Not shown in sources

  • Premium tier confirmed by user discussions
  • Check site for current price

Podcast API

Tiered, usage-based plans

  • Metered pricing per plan
  • See official pricing page

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed; site lacks a security page and its open-source JS SDK had a flagged Axios dependency issue.

  • Axios dependency vulnerability in podcast-api-js SDKGitHub issue #3 on ListenNotes' official podcast-api-js repo flags a vulnerability in the Axios dependency used by the SDK.⁸

What users say

Chatter praises the search depth and API, but Reddit threads about leaving and finding cheaper alternatives signal pricing friction.

“Short answer is YES”
Reddit, r/podcasts
Full analysis

Based on ~30 public sources; most review snippets were truncated, so exact prices and star ratings were not extractable.

Great podcast search + API for journalists, researchers, devs. Solo-founded with thin security posture — casual listeners don't need it.

Methodology

Based on ~30 public sources; most review snippets were truncated, so exact prices and star ratings were not extractable.

Sources

  1. Listen Notes homepagelistennotes.com
    official
  2. Podcast API Pricing and Planslistennotes.com
    official
  3. Listen Notes Review & Walkthrough (Buzzsprout)buzzsprout.com
    review
  4. Is Listen Notes premium membership legit? (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  5. Bye listennotes (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  6. Free (or fairly priced) alternatives to Listen Notes (Reddit)reddit.com
    review
  7. 5 Top Listen Notes Alternatives (talks.co)talks.co
    review
  8. Vulnerability in Axios dependency (GitHub issue #3)github.com
    security
  9. Listen Notes security page crawllistennotes.com
    security
  10. Listen Notes Reviews (Trustpilot)trustpilot.com
    review
  11. Launched Listen411 (beta)changelog.listennotes.com
    official
  12. Listen Notes — Wikidatawikidata.org
    official

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