AI guest matching. Only shows that actually take guests.
Most guest pitches die because the show never books outside guests. CastFox reads each podcast's recent episodes, keeps only the shows that interview guests, scores how well each one fits you or your client, and drafts the pitch email. Built for booking agencies, founders, authors, coaches, and experts who need to be heard.
The fastest way to get booked on podcasts in 2026
Getting booked on podcasts is the highest-leverage distribution play of the decade. One 45-minute interview on the right show can do more for a founder, author, coach, or expert than a month of LinkedIn posts. But finding podcasts to guest on the manual way is brutal: hours Googling "top [your topic] podcasts", open twenty tabs, eyeball show art, pray the host still publishes, write a generic pitch email from a template, send it into the void. Reply rate: 4%. Half the replies are from shows that died in 2022.
CastFox AI guest matching solves it. The AI reads your expertise, finds active shows on the topic, then does the step nothing else does: it reads each show's recent episodes and verifies it actually books guests, badging every match with how many guests it features and how recently. Matches rank by Pitch Score (audience + activity + fit), or by Fit Score against a saved client profile, and each comes with an AI-drafted pitch email. Ship 20 high-quality, show-specific pitches in the time it used to take to research one.
Perfect for founders building thought leadership ahead of a raise or launch, authors running a podcast book tour, coaches and consultants building inbound pipeline, executives on a press push, and PR professionals booking clients on shows. The AI does the research. You write the 20% that only you can write. The booking happens.
No PodMatch marketplace limits. No MatchMaker.fm tiny roster. No podcast booking agency at $500/show taking weeks. Just every podcast in the world, intelligently ranked, ready to pitch.
Why guest bookers switch to CastFox
Higher reply rates. Zero agency fees. More appearances per quarter.
Only pitch shows that take guests
The AI reads each show's recent episodes and verifies it books outside guests: how many, how varied, and how recently. Solo shows never waste your pitch.
Never pitch a dead podcast
Results default to active shows, and dormant feeds sink automatically. Pitches land in live inboxes of hosts who are still booking.
One profile per client
Agencies save a profile per client and match shows against that person: Fit Score, a why, and a suggested episode angle on every card. Each client's results are saved and waiting.
Skip the blank-page moment
AI drafts a subject line plus a 120-160 word pitch email for every show, referencing the actual podcast, not a template.
Zero booking agency fees
Skip the $100-$500/show cost of traditional podcast booking services. Same quality targeting, built into your workflow.
Every podcast, not a walled garden
Unlike PodMatch or MatchMaker.fm, which only show you shows that joined their marketplace, CastFox searches all 5M+ podcasts in existence.
Inside the Pitch Score
A composite 0–100 signal that balances audience, activity, and depth.
Popularity score (0–10) derived from chart position across 100+ Apple Podcasts storefronts plus our independent listener-signal index.
Recency of last episode. Weekly = 1.0, monthly = 0.85, within 90 days = 0.5, 180+ days = decay toward 0. Dormant shows drop out of top ranks regardless of past audience.
Episode count on a log scale. Adds a small weight favoring established shows over brand-new launches, without over-penalizing young high-quality podcasts.
With a client selected, it becomes a Fit Score
Pick who you're matching for and every show is re-scored against that person: 55% AI relevancy (does the show's audience contain the client's ideal buyers, do its interview topics match, does it book guests of this type, does it reach the client's target market), 30% audience, and 15% activity. Each card shows the score, a one-line rationale, and a concrete episode angle to pitch. Switch clients and the whole list re-ranks.
Geography is handled by AI too: the model predicts each show's likely audience countries from its episodes (a show can serve several), and matches them against the client's target market as a soft boost, never a hard cutoff.
From expertise to pitch email in three steps
Type your specialty. Get ranked matches. Draft the pitch.
Describe your expertise
Enter your specialty in plain English — "climate finance", "early-stage SaaS founder", "longevity research", "Gen Z marketing". Optionally add a short bio and a proposed angle; both feed into the pitch email generator later.
Shows verified to take guests, ranked by fit
The AI checks each show's recent episodes and keeps only podcasts that actually book guests, with a badge showing how many guests and how recently ("Takes guests · 53 guests · last 1d"). Results rank by Pitch Score, or by Fit Score against your selected client. Stack category, language, listener-range, and episode-count filters for surgical targeting.
AI drafts your pitch email
Click "Draft pitch" on any show. The AI reads the podcast's title, host, description, and categories, combines them with your expertise and angle, and returns a subject line plus a 120–160 word email referencing the actual show. Edit, copy, send.
Built for people who need to be heard
Whatever you're building, the right podcast audience moves it faster.
Founders & executives
Build thought leadership ahead of a raise, launch, hiring push, or IPO. Scope to top business, tech, or leadership podcasts in your category and country.
Authors & creators
Replace the traditional book tour. Target high-activity shows whose audience overlaps your readers — by chart category, language, and market.
Coaches, consultants & experts
Build pipeline on autopilot. Pitch niche shows in your field on repeat — every appearance compounds authority, SEO, and inbound leads.
Every way to get booked on more podcasts
From founder press tours to author book launches — one AI, every campaign.
Find podcasts to guest on for founders
Founders use CastFox to run a founder podcast tour before a raise, a launch, or a hiring push. Scope by business, tech, SaaS, fintech, or leadership — filter to top-tier shows in your target market — and book the appearances that build investor and customer trust.
Build an author podcast tour for a book launch
Author podcast tours outperform old-school book-tour travel. CastFox builds the list: filter by your book's topic (business, self-help, memoir, fiction, parenting, health), scope to your reader market's country and language, and the AI drafts a specific pitch email for every show. Perfect for book launch podcast PR.
Guest podcasting for coaches and consultants
Coaches, consultants, and fractional executives use guest podcasting as ongoing pipeline. CastFox filters for active shows in your niche, ranks by Pitch Score, and drafts fresh pitches — so you can send five personalized emails a week and compound authority over twelve months.
Executive thought leadership & press tours
In-house comms teams and PR agencies use CastFox to run executive podcast press tours — CEO interview pushes, keynote promo, research-report rollouts. Filter by industry-specific podcasts whose audience is the exact buyer, investor, or peer you're trying to influence.
PR agencies booking clients on podcasts
PR and comms agencies use CastFox as their podcast booking software. Save a profile per client (expertise, proof, goal, ideal audience, target market), pick who you're matching for, and every show is scored against that client with a Fit Score, a rationale, and a suggested episode angle. Each client's results are saved: come back tomorrow, click the client, and their vetted list is waiting. Build client-specific guest lists in minutes and ship deliverables faster than any booking retainer can.
International podcast guesting
Guest on Canadian podcasts, UK podcasts, Australian podcasts, Spanish-language podcasts, or podcasts in dozens of other markets. The AI predicts each show's likely audience countries from its episodes (many shows serve more than one), and your client's target market boosts the shows that actually reach it. Language filters keep the shortlist in the right language.
Replace PodMatch, MatchMaker.fm, and booking agencies
CastFox is a comprehensive PodMatch alternative, MatchMaker.fm alternative, and podcast booking agency alternative in one tool. 5M+ shows instead of a tiny marketplace roster. Real audience data instead of self-reported listener counts. AI-drafted emails instead of blank templates. Free instead of $500/show.
Guest Finder vs. the alternatives
What changes when guest research is AI-ranked and pitches are AI-drafted.
| What you need | CastFox | Manual research | Booking agency | PodMatch / MatchMaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podcast coverage | 5M+ shows, every platform | One directory at a time | Agency-only contacts | Marketplace opt-ins only |
| Verifies a show takes guests | Yes, from its recent episodes | Episode-by-episode listening | Agency knowledge | Self-reported |
| Per-client fit scoring | Fit Score + pitch angle | No | Manual judgment | No |
| Audience-weighted ranking | Pitch Score | Manual cross-check | Opaque | Self-reported |
| Dead-show filter | Automatic | Manual | Limited | No |
| AI-drafted pitch emails | Yes, every show | From scratch | Agency writes | No |
| Speed (20 vetted shows) | Minutes | 1-3 days | Weeks | Variable |
| Cost | Free to search | Time-only | $100-500/show | $40+/month |
How AI-drafted pitch emails work
A good cold pitch is short, specific, and references the show. Most guests fail at step one — they write a template that reads generic to any experienced host. Our pitch generator is specifically prompted to reference one concrete detail about the target show, drawn from its description or category hierarchy.
The prompt instructs GPT-4o-mini to (1) open with a genuine reference to the podcast, (2) introduce the guest in 2–3 sentences, (3)propose 1–2 concrete episode angles tailored to the host's audience, and (4)close with a soft ask and a [Your name] placeholder. Temperature is 0.6 — creative enough to vary between shows, disciplined enough to stay on-brief.
Every draft is editable. The goal isn't to send the AI's email verbatim — it's to eliminate the blank-page moment and give you a strong 80% starting point. Your job is the final 20%: a personal anecdote, a specific episode reference, and your own voice.
Every AI guest matching feature
AI guest matching questions
What is AI guest matching and how does it work?+
How do you know a podcast actually accepts guests?+
Can agencies manage multiple clients?+
Who should use AI guest matching?+
How is this different from PodMatch, MatchMaker.fm, or a podcast booking agency?+
What are the Pitch Score and Fit Score, and how are they calculated?+
How does the AI pitch email generator work?+
Can I filter by category, language, audience size, or geography?+
Does it filter out dead, dormant, and no-guest podcasts?+
Can I use this for a book tour, product launch, or fundraising push?+
How many pitch emails can I generate?+
Is it free?+
Your next podcast appearance is one search away
Free. AI-ranked. Pitch emails drafted. Zero agency fees.