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fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

That's exactly what we offer - ad free feeds.

fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

If we're ever in a world where podcast hosts and advertisers need to rethink their business model, we've already won. Popular podcasts average 15% ads to content ratio. Worse than Cable TV. Listeners should have a way out.

fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

In a world with no cancer, oncologists won't exist. Should they stop what they're doing now?

fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

We're not sure either, but there's only one way to find out!

Also, there's existing competition (AdBlock Podcast) not to mention every ad blocker for every other platform. Yes some parties may not be happy, but we're solving the out-of-control ads situation for the end user.

fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

Not really concerned with how Coca Cola makes their money. It's about the host who might be concerned with ad revenue loss if enough people use our clean feeds to make a dent in their listener metrics.

fxuniverseon Show HN: ZeroAds – AI removes podcast ads and gives you a clean RSS

Hey HN - I built ZeroAds because I was tired of skipping minutes of ads while driving and working out.

What it does

• Subscribe to shows in ZeroAds (paste a public RSS). • We transcribe the episode (Whisper) and detect sponsor reads/insertions. • We cut those spans with FFmpeg and publish a clean RSS you can add to Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, etc.

Tech

• OpenSaaS stack (React + Node + Stripe), Python flask microservice, Postgres (Neon), Fly.io • Whisper for transcription; an LLM pass over timestamps to classify segments; surgical splices with FFmpeg • Typical run time: ~5 minutes for a 60-minute episode on current infra

Accuracy & limits

• ~90%+ on host-reads/dynamic insertions/network promos in our tests • Hard cases: sponsor shoutouts blended into content, very short bumpers, or poor audio • We bias toward avoiding content loss over aggressive cutting

Pricing

• Founding members: $5.99/mo (planned $7.99). Covers API/hosting and a creator compensation pool.

Privacy

• Server-side processing only; no user data sharing; works from publicly available RSS/audio.

Looking for feedback on

• False positives you’d worry about • Specific shows/episodes we should test • Whether pricing feels fair for the value/costs • What would make setup clearer/faster

Happy to dig into technical details and take tough questions - thanks!