Best True Crime Podcasts on Spotify (2026)
Spotify has become one of the most important platforms for true crime podcast listeners, hosting both free and premium content from the world's leading producers. With exclusive deals, high-quality audio, and a recommendation algorithm that knows what you like, Spotify has transformed how people discover crime podcasts.
Many of the best-reviewed shows on ListenTrueCrime are available on Spotify, including both Spotify-exclusive productions and shows available across all platforms. Our community's highest-rated Spotify true crime podcasts are listed below.
48 podcasts available on Spotify
Top True Crime Podcasts on Spotify
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In the Dark
Listeners who want journalism-grade investigation into wrongful convictions, systemic racism, and institutional failures — more 60 Minutes than true crime thriller.
Serial
Anyone interested in journalism, legal procedure, and deep investigative dives into morally ambiguous cases with no easy answers.
West Cork
True crime fans who love atmospheric investigative journalism, Anglo-Irish tensions, and cases that remain unresolved and fiercely contested decades later.
Murdaugh Murders Podcast
Journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell broke the Murdaugh family saga before it became a national story, and kept reporting it deeper than anyone else.
The Trial of Erin Patterson
The Crime Desk's courtroom coverage of the Erin Patterson 'mushroom murders' trial — one of the biggest cases of the decade.
Your Own Backyard
Listeners who want investigative true crime with real-world consequence and single-minded, passionate focus from a creator who refused to let a case die.
Sweet Bobby
Tortoise Media's definitive account of a years-long catfishing scheme — one of the most-discussed UK true crime podcasts of the decade.
Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
CBC's Connie Walker investigates the Sixties Scoop through the disappearance of Cleo Semaganis Nicotine.
The Retrievals
True crime fans interested in medical crime, systemic bias, and the treatment of women in healthcare; essential for anyone who has ever been dismissed by a doctor.
S-Town
From Serial Productions: a man convinced his Alabama town is covering up a murder pulls host Brian Reed into a story that becomes something else entirely.
Bone Valley
True crime fans who care deeply about wrongful conviction, prosecutorial failure, and the fight to free innocent people; fans of In the Dark will find this essential.
The Teacher's Pet
True crime fans who like journalism-driven investigations with massive real-world impact; anyone fascinated by domestic crime and institutional failure.
Spotlight: Snitch City
The Boston Globe Spotlight Team exposes one police department's rampant abuse of confidential informants — a top critical pick of 2025.
Pipeline
The Crime Desk's investigation into four professional divers sucked hundreds of feet into a Caribbean oil pipeline in 2022 — and the failing safety standards that put them there.
Believed
Listeners who want to understand systemic institutional failure, survivor stories, and how Nassar's abuse was enabled so long; essential for anyone working in safeguarding or sports.
You Didn't See Nothin
Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award-winning series in which Yohance Lacour revisits a violent Chicago incident from 25 years earlier that shaped his path into journalism.
Hunting Warhead
CBC/Vice's award-winning investigation into the international hunt for a dark web child abuse network.
Bear Brook
True crime fans fascinated by forensic science, DNA technology, and cold cases with a genuine scientific payoff.
The Missing Cryptoqueen
BBC journalist Jamie Bartlett tracks down Dr Ruja Ignatova, who persuaded millions to invest in OneCoin before vanishing without a trace.
Forever My Boys
The Irish Sun's 2026 series told by Kathleen Chada, mother of two boys killed by their father in a case that shocked Ireland.
The Nobody Zone
RTÉ's award-winning investigation into Kieran Kelly, believed to be Ireland's first identified serial killer.
Inside Murder Trial: Girl in the River
Journalist Jane MacSorley and advocate Thomas Ross KC unpack each day of the Caroline Glachan murder trial as it happens, live from BBC Radio Scotland.
Suspect (NPR/Embedded)
True crime fans who want journalism-grade investigation into systemic racial injustice; listeners who followed In the Dark and want more journalism-led true crime.
The Coldest Case in Laramie
NYT/Serial Productions investigate a 1985 campus murder closed for decades — and possibly wrongly solved.
Death in Ice Valley
True crime fans who love cold case mysteries with an international dimension; people fascinated by forensic identification and the stories hidden in unidentified remains.
The Dropout
People interested in tech fraud, startup culture, and white-collar crime; fans of The Dropout TV series who want the deeper journalism behind it.
Crime World
Ireland's flagship crime podcast, led by Sunday World journalist Nicola Tallant — deep, ongoing coverage of Irish organised crime.
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes
Ronan Farrow's raw tapes from the Weinstein investigation — including what NBC refused to broadcast.
Heaven's Gate
The definitive nine-part investigation into Heaven's Gate and the 1997 mass suicide.
This is Robert
The Irish Sun's 2026 series on Robert Delany, shot in front of his young daughter in 2008 on the orders of a dissident Republican — and left with catastrophic brain damage.
Fraudacious
Novel and BBC Studios trace how a London boutique owner was drawn into befriending a client posing as a wealthy Russian socialite.
Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle
Ex-Flying Squad detective Peter Bleksley runs a live fugitive hunt for BBC Radio 5 Live, tracking a man wanted over two murders.
Someone Knows Something
True crime fans who value empathy, journalistic integrity, and collaborative investigations conducted alongside the victim's own family.
I'm Not a Monster
A multi-award-winning BBC investigation into ISIS recruitment, told through the people who were pulled in.
Dirty John
True crime fans who love psychological manipulation, con artists, and domestic crime stories with high personal stakes.
Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder
Journalist Peter Jukes traces the 1987 axe murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan — and the police corruption that kept it unsolved for decades.
British Scandal
The obvious companion to American Scandal — a season-by-season anthology of Britain's biggest political and institutional scandals.
Charlene: Somebody Knows Something
The Crime Desk revisits the 2003 disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes from Blackpool — a case that still has no resolution.
Matched with a Predator
BBC Disclosure's investigation into a predator who used dating apps to target and abuse women — the 2026 Best Serialised Podcast winner.
Crime Analyst
Criminal behavioural analyst Laura Richards breaks down the 'who' and 'why' behind real cases, with a specialism in coercive control and stalking.
The Lazarus Heist
BBC World Service investigates North Korea's billion-dollar state-sponsored hacking operation.
Crimetown
True crime fans who want novelistic, character-driven storytelling about organised crime and institutional corruption; listeners who want something that feels as much like great drama as documentary.
Someone's Hunting Us
NJ.com traces how serial killer Khalil Wheeler-Weaver preyed on Black women and girls in New Jersey in 2016, believing no one would look for them.
The Clearing
Amanda Knox and Jon Ronson examine cult psychology through the prism of Knox's own experience.
Spiral: Murder in Detroit
The Free Press investigates the 2023 stabbing death of Detroit community leader Samantha Woll, and the fraught questions the case raised about antisemitism and justice.
Scamanda
True crime fans fascinated by con artists, medical fraud, and the psychology of long-term deception within close-knit communities.
Black Hands
In 1994 five members of the Bain family were found shot dead in their Dunedin home — only their son survived. Was he guilty, or the sole innocent? The debate has never ended.
Lost in Larrimah
A man disappears from an outback settlement with 12 residents, lifelong feuds, and one very missing dog. The ABC's finest outback mystery — and one of the most absorbing podcasts in Australian true crime.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Are the best true crime podcasts available on Spotify?
Most major true crime podcasts are available on Spotify, including Serial, Crime Junkie, Casefile, My Favorite Murder, and hundreds more. Spotify has also signed exclusive deals with some producers, making certain shows only available on the platform.
Does Spotify have exclusive true crime podcasts?
Yes — Spotify has signed exclusive deals with several podcast producers and studios. Some true crime content is available only on Spotify, either permanently or for a limited window. Check the platform section on each podcast's page on ListenTrueCrime to see where it's available.
Is Spotify free for true crime podcasts?
Most podcast content on Spotify is free, including major shows like Serial, Crime Junkie, and Casefile. Some premium or exclusive content requires a Spotify Premium subscription. Audiobook content and certain exclusive shows are behind the paywall.
How does Spotify recommend true crime podcasts?
Spotify uses listening history, followed shows, and similar listener behaviour to recommend new podcasts. If you follow and listen to true crime shows, Spotify's algorithm will surface similar content in your daily recommendations and the podcast discovery section.
Can I download true crime podcasts on Spotify for offline listening?
Yes — with Spotify Premium, you can download episodes for offline listening. Some content is also available for offline use on the free tier. This is particularly useful for long commutes or travel where connectivity is unreliable.