Track downloads every day with OP3

OP3 is a free, open-source download counter. Add its prefix at your host and Podato reads your downloads from OP3 every day: per episode, per day, and by listening app, with no exports. Your numbers stay current between exports.

How you add the prefix depends on your host:

• Transistor: a checkbox in your show's settings.
• Megaphone: a custom prefix field in your podcast's settings.
• Captivate: should have a field for third-party analytics prefixes.
• Buzzsprout and most other hosts: ask their support team to add it. Buzzsprout allows up to three prefixes per feed.
• Acast, Spotify for Creators and RedCircle may not allow prefixes. Ask their support team.

1. Open Imports

   Choose Imports in the sidebar, under Analytics. The OP3 card is under Sources, beside the YouTube card. If it already says Last synced, your show is on OP3 and there's nothing to set up.

2. Open the steps for your host

   On the OP3 card, choose How to turn it on. The steps are for the hosting provider set in your Show settings. With no host set, the card gives the general steps.

3. Add the prefix at your host

   Follow those steps in your host's dashboard, or email their support. The prefix is https://op3.dev/e/, and your host puts it in front of every episode's audio link, once for the whole show. Choose Copy on the OP3 card to copy it.

4. Choose Check again

   Back on the OP3 card, choose Check again. Podato re-reads your feed and looks for the prefix on your most recent episodes.

5. Wait for the first numbers

   Until OP3 counts its first download through the prefix, the card says Waiting for OP3. The numbers arrive within a day of that first download. Then the card shows when it Last synced, the last day its numbers cover, and a link to your show's public OP3 page.

What happens next

Podato checks OP3 once a day. OP3 counts from the day the prefix goes in, so downloads before that aren't in it. If your show was already on OP3, Podato brings in up to two years of its history.

Your host's exports stay your main numbers. Wherever an export has a number, that's the one Podato shows. OP3's numbers fill only the days and episodes your exports don't cover yet, and they're never added to your host's. On Analytics and on each episode's Performance tab, they're marked Counted by OP3; on the downloads chart, OP3's days are the dashed part of the line. Keep importing your exports as before.

OP3 filters out bots by its own rules, so its counts won't match your host's exactly. Completion, followers and demographics still come from your host's and the platforms' exports.

If something goes wrong

• Check again finds no prefix. Your host may take a few minutes to update your feed. Try again later. If it still finds nothing, check that the prefix is on your episodes' audio links, not on your feed's own address.
• Your host doesn't allow prefixes. Some hosts don't let a show add one. Ask their support team. Your host's exports still bring your numbers in.
• The card says Waiting for OP3 for more than a day after your episodes have been downloaded. Choose Check again.
• The card says the last OP3 sync failed. Choose Check again to try the sync now. Podato also retries a failed sync every hour until it works.