The #1 podcast right now is The Joe Rogan Experience, which remains the leader in total audience reach and has topped Edison's US survey every quarter since tracking began in 2019. No single chart agrees for long, though. On November 1, 2026, Rogan led Spotify, The Daily led Apple Podcasts, and Financial Audit led YouTube's weekly chart.
Right now on Apple Podcasts, the US top 10 below comes straight from Apple's own feed, and this page reads it every hour. Apple warns that its charts "are not a measure of the largest podcasts by listenership", because they blend listening, follows and completion rate. That is why a news show can top it on a busy morning.
Apple Podcasts, US top shows. Last read Nov 1, 2026.
Who is #1 on each podcast chart depends on what that chart counts, so the same day gives you different winners. All of these were read on November 1, 2026, and YouTube's chart covers the week of October 19 to 25.
| Chart | Number one | Joe Rogan | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edison Podcast Metrics, Q3 2026 | The Joe Rogan Experience | 1 | Survey reach across every platform |
| Spotify US Top Podcasts | The Joe Rogan Experience | 1 | Weekly unique audience on Spotify |
| Apple Podcasts US Top Shows | The Daily | 2 | Listening, follows and completion rate on Apple |
| YouTube US Weekly Top Shows | Financial Audit | 6 | Total watch time on YouTube |
YouTube's chart rewards long, frequent shows, which explains Financial Audit and KILL TONY near the top, and why Crime Junkie and The Daily miss its top 100 altogether. It updates on Wednesdays.
| Rank | Spotify US | Apple Podcasts US | YouTube US |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Joe Rogan Experience | The Daily | Financial Audit |
| 2 | Good Hang with Amy Poehler | The Joe Rogan Experience | Shawn Ryan Show |
| 3 | The Shawn Ryan Show | Crime Junkie | KILL TONY |
| 4 | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von | Pod Save America | Good Mythical Morning |
| 5 | Crime Junkie | Dateline NBC | The Diary Of A CEO |
Joe Rogan is still the #1 podcast on the broad measures, and he has slipped on two live charts. He leads Edison's US survey, Edison's UK survey for Q2 2026 and Triton's US survey. Spotify named him its top podcast worldwide for the sixth year running in December 2025, and Apple and YouTube both had him first for the US in 2025.
Spotify renewed his deal on October 8, 2026, and Reuters put him at more than 18 million Spotify followers. The claim that he leads on downloads is harder to back up. Spotify publishes no download count, and the download rankers from Triton and Podtrac only include shows that opt in, which his doesn't.
Podcast charts actually measure popularity on one platform, each in its own way. Apple uses a mix of listening, follows and completion rate, and says ratings, reviews and shares aren't in it, automatic downloads don't count and rankings can't be bought. Spotify says its Top Podcasts chart is the top 200 in each country by weekly unique audience, updated daily. Plenty of blogs still repeat an older follower formula that Spotify no longer describes. YouTube ranks podcast playlists by total watch time, leaves out clips and Shorts, and covers only the US, Canada and Mexico.
The most trending podcast right now is a different question again, and Spotify runs a separate chart for it. Its Trending chart ranks shows gaining popularity, and on November 1 it was led by We're Out of Time, ahead of Mick Unplugged. Low-profile shows can top a momentum list for a week, so it tells you what is rising, not what is biggest. Apple ties momentum to its Trending Episodes chart in the same way.
The world's number 1 podcaster is Joe Rogan on the best evidence available, with one honest limit: no audited worldwide ranking exists. Spotify has no live global chart, YouTube's chart covers three countries, Apple publishes by storefront and Edison runs separate US and UK surveys. None of them measures Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian or Spanish audiences at the same scale, and those shows hold some of the most viewed podcast episodes on YouTube. The fair way to put it is that he is the most-streamed podcaster on Spotify worldwide and the top show in US and UK surveys.
Podcast charts change on very different clocks, which is why two people can quote two honest answers on the same day. Spotify updates daily, Apple refreshes through the day, YouTube moves every Wednesday and Edison publishes once a quarter. Spotify and YouTube offer no feed other sites may use, so those rows on this page are checked by hand, while the Apple list above updates itself.
The answer also changes at the border. On the same read, the UK's top Spotify show was The Romesh Ranganathan Show with Rogan second, while Australia had Rogan first. YouTube's chart for Canada was led by The MeidasTouch Podcast, and Mexico by Extra Anormal Podcast.
The #1 podcast on SEO is its own question, because no SEO show appears in the top 10 of any chart on this page. That is normal for a trade subject. The shows worth your time are listed under the best podcast on SEO, and the full list by reach has the wider picture. How much a show at that level earns is covered on how podcasts make money.
Sources for this answer were checked on Nov 1, 2026.
More SEO and podcast questions from the same counter.