How to choose your podcast category in Apple Podcasts [full updated list]

When you launch a new podcast, you’ll be asked to list it under one or more podcast categories. In this post, I’ve included the updated list of all the Apple Podcasts categories to help you choose the right categories for your podcast.

But more than that, I’m going to explain why your podcast category matters so much, and how it can affect your chances to hit the top 200 charts. 

Apple Podcasts categories, explained

Per this Apple support article, “The primary category is used to display your show in each category page, Top Charts, and personalized recommendations on Home, Search, and within Categories in Library.

The secondary category also helps your show appear in select category pages, personalized recommendations on Home and Search and editorially curated collections on Browse.

You can choose up to two categories per show — primary and secondary — plus subcategories for each, if available. If they’re relevant to your show, you’re encouraged to fill those slots, as it increases organic discoverability on Apple Podcasts and beyond.”

Full list of Apple Podcasts categories

Here is the most recent list of podcast categories listed in Apple, as of January 2025:

Arts

• Books
• Design
• Fashion & Beauty
• Food
• Performing Arts
• Visual Arts

Business

• Careers
• Entrepreneurship
• Investing
• Management
• Marketing
• Non-Profit

Comedy

• Comedy Interviews
• Improv
• Stand-Up

Education

• Courses
• How To
• Language Learning
• Self-Improvement

Fiction

• Comedy Fiction
• Drama
• Science Fiction

Government

History

Health & Fitness

• Alternative Health
• Fitness
• Medicine
• Mental Health
• Nutrition
• Sexuality

Kids & Family

• Education for Kids
• Parenting
• Pets & Animals
• Stories for Kids

Leisure

• Animation & Manga
• Automotive
• Aviation
• Crafts
• Games
• Hobbies
• Home & Garden
• Video Games

Music

• Music Commentary
• Music History
• Music Interviews

News

• Business News
• Daily News
• Entertainment News
• News Commentary
• Politics
• Sports News
• Tech News

Religion & Spirituality

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Religion
• Spirituality

Science

• Astronomy
• Chemistry
• Earth Sciences
• Life Sciences
• Mathematics
• Natural Sciences
• Nature
• Physics
• Social Sciences

Society & Culture

• Documentary
• Personal Journals
• Philosophy
• Places & Travel
• Relationships

Sports

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cricket
• Fantasy Sports
• Football
• Golf
• Hockey
• Rugby
• Running
• Soccer
• Swimming
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Wilderness
• Wrestling

Technology

True Crime

TV & Film

• After Shows
• Film History
• Film Interviews
• Film Reviews
• TV Reviews

How to choose your podcast category

1. Go with the obvious choice

When in doubt, it’s always best to choose the category where most listeners would expect to find you. They may be browsing in their app looking for new shows, and if your podcast is about motherhood, you shouldn’t choose swimming just because you have one episode on the subject.

2. If possible, it’s better to choose a subcategory (rather than a parent podcast category)

You may notice that there are parent categories – like “Business” – and subcategories – like “Marketing.” In almost every case, it’s better to choose a subcategory rather than a parent category.

Why? The parent categories will be the most crowded, because they’re an umbrella category for everything underneath. For example, a podcast in “Business > Marketing” is actually in the “Business” parent category, too.

So if you do have the option, it’s better to choose a subcategory, which is both more descriptive and less crowded than the parents. Which means your chances of hitting the charts could be slightly higher.

(Some categories, like True Crime or Technology, have no subcategories.)

3. You can only chart in your primary podcast category

When you publish your podcast using your podcast hosting platform, most hosts will give you the opportunity to choose up to three categories for your show.

However, what most new hosts don’t realize is that the “First Category” – sometimes called the “Primary Category” – is the only one that you’re eligible to chart in for Apple Podcasts.

What are the most popular podcast categories?

In 2020, Dan Misener from Pacific Content analyzed the Apple Podcast categories to see which were the most crowded. At the time of his study (Feb 2020), the #1 category was Religion & Spirituality, and you can see the full breakdown visualized here:

Summary: which Apple Podcasts category should you choose?

Overall, I recommend choosing the subcategory that most closely matches your podcast’s topic as the first (primary) category for your podcast. If there’s not a fitting subcategory, then you’ll choose the best-fitting parent category.

However, if your podcast could fit equally in two different categories, it’s worth asking, “Which category is the least crowded?” To break the tie, I recommend setting the less popular category as your #1 choice, and the more popular option as #2.