PodAnalyst
Help Center
Learn how to get the most out of PodAnalyst — from connecting your Apple, Spotify and YouTube accounts to reading the metrics behind every screen.
What PodAnalyst is
PodAnalyst pulls your Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube numbers into one place, so you can see how your show is actually growing without bouncing between three dashboards. On top of that sits Iris, an AI analyst that reads your real data and answers questions about your show in plain English.
The four numbers
Everything in PodAnalyst is built on four metrics. They appear across the Dashboard, Episodes, and your show's home page:
| metric | what it counts |
|---|---|
| Unique listeners | How many different people listened. The closest thing to an audience size. |
| Listening hours | Total time spent listening — the strongest signal that people stick around. |
| Plays | How many times episodes were started. Higher than listeners, since one person can play several episodes. |
| Followers | People who've subscribed, so new episodes arrive automatically. |
Every page lets you filter these by platform (Apple, Spotify, YouTube) and by time period.
How your data gets in
PodAnalyst doesn't ask for your passwords. Instead, you invite our data account as a read-only team member on Apple Podcasts Connect, Spotify for Creators, and YouTube Studio, and we pull your analytics from there. You can revoke access at any time from those same settings pages.
Because the platforms report on their own schedule, your first data can take a couple of hours to appear. That's normal — see Connecting your data.
Getting around
Every page in the app is covered by its own guide:
- Radar — your show's home page. Iris reads your latest numbers and writes up what's worth your attention. Start here. See Radar.
- Dashboard — the four metrics over time, plus your recent episodes and reviews. See Dashboard.
- Episodes — how each episode performed and how well it held its audience. See Episodes.
- Explore — Keywords, Charts, and Reviews: how people find your show, where it's charting, and what listeners are saying. See Keywords, Charts, Reviews.
- Readouts — turn a period into a branded document you can hand to someone else: the numbers, plus written commentary on each section, exported as a PDF or a slide deck. See Readouts.
Your plan
PodAnalyst comes in three plans — Community (free), Pro, and Network. The free plan tracks one podcast and shows your headline numbers from Apple and Spotify; Pro unlocks retention data, YouTube analytics, a longer episode history, CSV exports, the Network Roll-Up that shows every podcast in one view, and Readouts — branded PDF and slide deck exports of any period. Network adds custom roll-ups, where you group specific podcasts into sub-networks of your own. Above Network there's Enterprise — custom pricing and custom features, arranged by emailing support@podanalyst.com. See Plans and billing for the full comparison.
If you get stuck
Email support@podanalyst.com. For anything about a specific number on screen, ask Iris first — it can explain what it's looking at.
Browse all guides
Getting started
Connecting your data →
Invite PodAnalyst to your Apple Podcasts Connect, Spotify for Creators, and YouTube Studio accounts so your analytics start flowing.
Your podcasts →
Your Podcasts lists every show your account tracks. Switch between podcasts, open any one at its Radar page, and add more shows on the Pro and Network plans.
Your show
Dashboard →
Your Apple, Spotify, and YouTube numbers together — how the four metrics are trending, plus your latest episodes and reviews.
Episodes →
Compare how every episode performed and how well it held its audience, with reach, plays, listening hours and retention quartiles side by side in one table.
Episode detail →
One episode in depth: its reach, plays, listening hours and retention curve, with Apple, Spotify and YouTube side by side to see where listeners drop off.
Radar →
Radar is your show's home page: Iris reads your latest podcast numbers and writes up the findings worth your attention, so you know what to look at today.
Ask Iris →
Ask Iris, PodAnalyst's AI analyst, questions about your show in plain English. It reads your listener, retention, review and keyword data before answering.
Explore
Keywords →
Track where your show ranks in Apple Podcasts search for the terms that matter, follow each keyword's rank history, and find the searches worth targeting next.
Keyword detail →
One keyword in full: its rank history in Apple Podcasts search, the shows competing for it, related terms to track, and where each of your podcasts sits.
Charts →
See every Apple Podcasts chart your show appears in, worldwide — country by country, category by category — with your current rank and how it has changed.
Chart rankings →
Your full rank history in a single Apple Podcasts chart: current rank, all-time best, and the release bumps, climbs and drops that explain how you got there.
Reviews →
Every Apple Podcasts review of your show in one place: ratings, star distribution, review trends over time, and the words listeners use that are worth quoting.
Competition →
See who your podcast is up against: similar shows, the search terms you both rank for, ratings volume as a proxy for audience size, and how often they release.
Readouts →
Build a branded, presentation-ready Readout on a show or your whole network, and export it as a PDF or slide deck.
Account & team
Signing in and invites →
Sign in to PodAnalyst, reset a password, accept a team invitation, or sign in with an API key for developer and integration use — plus staying secure.
Team and access →
Invite co-hosts, producers and agencies to your account, set Admin or Standard roles, and grant access to individual podcasts without sharing a login.
Plans and billing →
Compare PodAnalyst's Community, Pro and Network plans, see what each unlocks — retention, YouTube, CSV export — and upgrade, change or cancel any time.
MCP connection →
Connect your podcast to Claude or ChatGPT and ask PodAnalyst's grounded questions from your own assistant — the same data as Ask Iris, set up in about a minute.
Reference
How to read the CSVs →
A column-by-column guide to the data PodAnalyst exports. Every export button downloads a plain .csv file that opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
API reference →
Every endpoint in the PodAnalyst Analytics API — authentication, parameters, and a copy-paste example for each.