Podhoc FAQ — Discover, Credits, Embeds, Privacy
Everything you need to know about Podhoc Discover: preview audio, credit costs for listening and downloading, embed grants for podcast owners, and how playback completion is tracked.
Discover, credits, embeds, privacy — everything in one place
This page is the customer-facing FAQ for Podhoc Discover. It covers the new credit matrix introduced with the Discover preview + embed overhaul (2026-05-18), the embed-grant ownership model, the 30-second preview behaviour for anonymous listeners, and the playback-completion tracking we use for aggregate analytics.
The pages this FAQ links to are the authoritative sources — the Pricing page holds the full credit matrix, the Terms hold the legal grandfathering and playback-tracking clauses, and the Embed documentation walks through how to generate an embed snippet for one of your own podcasts.
Credits — listening and downloading
How many credits does it cost to listen to a Discover podcast?
| Your tier | Credits per full listen | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 5 | Same charge whether or not you own the podcast |
| CREATOR | 2 | Standard rate for community podcasts |
| PRO | 2 | Standard rate for community podcasts |
| You own the podcast | 0 | Free — your own podcasts never cost credits to listen |
Anonymous and signed-out visitors always hear a 30-second preview free; the credits only apply once a signed-in user opts into the full listen.
How many credits does it cost to download a Discover podcast?
Downloads are reserved for signed-in CREATOR or PRO subscribers — the Free tier does not see the download button.
| Your tier | Credits per download | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | — | Download CTA hidden for Free tier |
| CREATOR | 10 | Standard rate for community podcasts |
| PRO | 10 | Standard rate for community podcasts |
| You own + CREATOR/PRO | 0 | Free — own-podcast downloads are unbilled when subscribed |
| You own + Free | 5 | Discounted rate when downloading your own podcast on Free tier |
See the Pricing page for the full matrix and rationale.
Preview vs. full audio
What is the preview audio I hear when I am not signed in?
It is a 30-second clip generated automatically when the podcast first goes public on Discover. The preview is always free, requires no account, and is the same clip every visitor hears — there is no degraded or watermarked variant. Press play, decide if the podcast is worth your time, and sign in to listen to the full episode (credits applied per your tier).
Can anonymous listeners play the full podcast?
No. Anonymous listeners only hear the 30-second preview. To listen to a full episode they must sign in to a Podhoc account, and credits are debited per the tier matrix above. The preview is fully free and requires no account.
Embeds — owner-only
Can I embed any Podhoc podcast on my site?
No. You can only generate an embed snippet for podcasts you own, because embed grants are tied to the podcast author. The Embed button is server-gated against the podcast owner_id; on Discover detail pages for podcasts you did not author, the Embed CTA is hidden. This keeps the embed grant attached to the author for analytics, takedowns, and revenue attribution.
Listen plays from your embeds are absorbed by Podhoc and do not consume listener credits. See the embed documentation for the step-by-step on generating and pasting an embed snippet.
Grandfathered pricing
What does grandfathered pricing mean?
Existing CREATOR subscribers (those who subscribed before 2026-05-18) keep the previous credit-consumption rates on every Discover play:
- 1 credit per full listen on the Free tier.
- 0 credits per full listen on CREATOR / PRO / owner.
- 10 credits per download on the Free tier (where applicable).
- 0 credits per download on CREATOR / PRO / owner.
The flag is set automatically and persists as long as your subscription remains continuous — you do not need to opt in, and there is no public badge in the UI. If you cancel and later resubscribe, the new pricing applies to the new period. See Terms §8a for the full grandfathering policy.
Playback tracking and privacy
What playback data does Podhoc record?
For every podcast played on Discover, the embed widget, or the Podhoc mobile and web apps, Podhoc records a playback completion event at the earlier of:
- the listener reaching the end of the audio, or
- the listener reaching 90% of the audio duration.
The event captures the podcast identifier, the playback surface (discover, embed, share, mobile, webapp), the mode (preview or full), the completion percentage and position in seconds, the user identifier (NULL for anonymous listeners), and the embed-grant identifier when the surface is embed.
Completion events for anonymous listeners are stored as fully anonymous aggregate signal — they are not later joined to any identifier. Completion events for signed-in listeners are governed by the Privacy Policy as personal data; you can request export or deletion at any time. See Terms §8b for the full disclosure.
Related
- Pricing — credit packs and subscription tiers with the full Discover credit matrix.
- Terms — legal text for the grandfathering policy and playback-completion tracking.
- Embed documentation — step-by-step on generating an embed snippet for your own podcasts.
- Privacy — what we log, how long we keep it, and how to exercise your data rights.
Frequently asked questions
- How many credits does it cost to listen to a Discover podcast?
- Free tier costs 5 credits per full listen, CREATOR and PRO cost 2 credits, and listening to a podcast you own is always free (0 credits). The 30-second preview is free for everyone, signed-in or not.
- How many credits does it cost to download a Discover podcast?
- Downloads are reserved for signed-in CREATOR and PRO subscribers — Free-tier accounts do not see the download button. CREATOR and PRO subscribers pay 10 credits per download of a community podcast and 0 credits when downloading their own podcasts. Free-tier owners pay 5 credits to download their own podcasts on the rare occasions the download surface is exposed to them.
- What is the preview audio I hear when I am not signed in?
- It is a 30-second clip of the podcast generated automatically when the podcast first goes public on Discover. The preview is always free, requires no account, and is the same preview anyone hears — there is no degraded or watermarked variant. Press play, decide, and sign in to listen to the full episode.
- What does grandfathered pricing mean?
- Existing CREATOR subscribers (those who subscribed before 2026-05-18) keep the previous credit-consumption rates on every Discover play: 1 credit per full listen for Free, 0 for CREATOR/PRO/owner, and 10 credits per download for Free with 0 for CREATOR/PRO/owner. The flag is set automatically and persists as long as your subscription remains continuous — you do not need to opt in.
- Can I embed any Podhoc podcast on my site?
- No. You can only generate an embed snippet for podcasts you own, because embed grants are tied to the podcast author. The Embed button is server-gated against the podcast owner_id; on Discover detail pages for podcasts you did not author, the Embed CTA is hidden. Listen plays from embeds are absorbed by Podhoc and do not consume listener credits.
- What playback data does Podhoc record?
- For every podcast played on Discover, the embed widget, or the mobile/web apps, Podhoc records a playback completion event at the earlier of the listener pressing through to the end OR reaching 90% of the audio. The event captures the podcast id, the playback surface, the mode (preview or full), the completion percentage, and the user id (NULL for anonymous listeners). Completion events are used for aggregate analytics, creator insights, and anomaly detection. See the Terms for the full disclosure.
- Can anonymous listeners play the full podcast?
- Anonymous listeners only hear the 30-second preview. To listen to a full episode they must sign in to a Podhoc account, and credits are debited per the tier matrix above. The preview is fully free and requires no account.
- Are downloads available on Free tier?
- No. The download button is shown only to signed-in CREATOR and PRO subscribers. The Free tier is preview-and-stream only. If you want to download podcasts for offline use, upgrade to CREATOR or PRO.