
It's always been free with only an optional ad removal payment for $10/year, Pocket Casts was paid only until recently and just like above, if it works, people see no reason to switch even if other possibly better alternatives exist. They were the first app to add Silence Trimming (they call it Smart Speed) and was the only one for a while, many might have switched for that and never looked back even with most alternatives supporting it now. Some prefer to choose native experiences as they feel it's better integrated into their device (vs Pocket Casts being cross-platform) Many are still pissed at Pocket Casts for their redesign (which they claim made the app worse) and introduction of a paid subscription People like supporting smaller Indie devs
