10 Best Audible Alternatives
We’re sure you know what audible is since you landed here looking for audible alternatives. Although Audible has established a name as the leading platform for selling eBooks, it’s quite expensive for users who hail from developing countries.
For those of you who don’t know about the Audible subscription pricing, it’s 15$ a month and gives you a single credit to buy one audiobook. The other audiobooks are available at a discount on Amazon, but it turns out to be an expensive affair especially when you’re an audiobook worm or an avid listener who devours content in a few hours (or days).
Taking that into consideration, we’ve compiled a list of the best free alternatives to
1. Audiobooks Now
Audiobooks Now is a strong competitor of Audible since it offers audiobooks at uber-low priced subscription plans. It has more than 85000 titles which work on both Android and iOS devices, although not every audiobook has DRM protection. Their club membership plan starts at 4.99$ which lets you avail a 50% discount for your first audiobook every month and 30-40% off on the rest of their collection.
To give you a comparison, let’s say you buy the book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill on Audible which costs one credit or 15$. Audiobooks pricing for the same title is 9.97$ after you pay the subscription fee of $4.99 on for their club membership. But here’s the game changer, as you buy more books on Audiobooks Now, the pricing gets cheaper – for example, Mastery by Robert Greene costs $17 more on Audible while it’s priced 12$ extra on Audiobooks Now.
2. Overdrive
How would you like a platform which lets you listen to audiobook titles for free?
Overdrive is based on the public library system and requires users to add their local library by entering details related to their region and personal info. There are more than 30,000 libraries listed
Libby is highly recommended to users since it lets you download rented audiobooks, bookmark pages, and syncs across various devices.
There is also a loan period for your audiobooks which means you titles get automatically removed once the date is up. You’ll find a lot of bestseller titles here and the Top New York fiction audiobooks since the public libraries work with five leading publishers – Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan, and Penguin.
3. Downpour
Fans love Downpour since it’s one of the few audiobook platforms to be providing a rental feature. What this means is you get to rent your audiobooks for somewhere between 30 to 60 days. And the site claims you get to save up to 70% on retail prices which are an absolute bargain. You own a rental space on your Android device which lets you download and store your rented audiobooks. Once the deadline is up, you exchange titles or download new ones after returning what you read.
If you like sifting through titles quickly and are looking to rent audiobooks instead of buying, try this. You’ll love it.
4. Alibris
Alibris lets you buy used and new audiobooks, physical textbooks, movies, music and more. We think it’s a great Audible alternative since it features titles that have gone out of production and lets readers dig into rare or “the lost” collections. The website is very user-friendly and to give you a glimpse of the prices, titles like The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Power of Habit start at prices of $1.29 and $5.57 respectively. They have a reliable list of sellers,and the website features filters which let you toggle through the titles based on different subjects or categories.
There’s also an Alibris Affiliate Program which lets you earn a 5% commission for any backlinks or clickthroughs you send to their platform, thus allowing you to save more money when buying titles.
5. Audiobooks.com
Audiobooks.com is very similar to Audible as a platform. However, the key USP is you get one free audiobook every month. Their app is available on the iOS and Android store,and they’ve got impressive titles like Nora Roberts Guardians Trilogy, Becoming by Michelle Obama, and Into The Wild in their collection of over 125,000 titles.
You can buy extra credits whenever you want,and you have the option of purchasing these titles at reduced prices too. Their subscription plan starts at $14.95 a month,but they give you a free 30-day trial and have a cancel anytime policy for those who want to know.
6. LibriVox
LibriVox is a public domain audiobook platform and has a catalog of titles which are available to be read for free. The website lets you sign up as a volunteer for reading their claims,and as a user, you don’t require a library card to access their selections.
There are over 560+ titles from genres like literature, philosophy, sports and recreation, travel, etc.The platform has search filters which let you search by title and author. The best part is that each audiobook comes with a summary and the site provides you samples which you can read before trying.
7. Playster
Playster is an audiobook service that gives you access to 100,000+ premium titles with just a $24.95 subscription fee per month. The service lets you enjoy unlimited audiobook streaming, downloading songs, movies, eBooks, and more without paying a penny more in their library.
And if
ook titles or select a single media. They have family subscription plans too,but the catch is that membership to their services is not available for every region across the globe.
8. Scribd
Scribd is the best audiobook service hands-down since it lets you read unlimited audiobooks for free for just 8.99$ a month. What’s impressive is that you get a 30-day free trial for your first month which means you don’t pay a dime for the whole month and enjoy access to their wide range of titles. Their inventory is pretty amazing since they have a vast collection of digital paperbacks, audiobooks, and magazines which puts Audible to shame.
Especially when you compare 15$ for one book for the month vs all-you-can-read for just 8.99$ a month. Plus, Scribd stays up-to-date with the latest audiobook releases so if you’re eyeing for a title that’s due on December 25th, you can be sure to see it in the Scribd library. The only con is you don’t get to keep the titles to yourself once you opt out of their subscription plan, but that’s okay because you can read unlimited.
9. Google Play Audiobooks
Google is the new kid in the blockand an emerging Audible alternative. Although they don’t have a massive collection like Amazon, they don’t offer users any subscription plans. Here’s how it works – you buy any book you want based on its price in the store. Some titles are even free,and you get exclusive discounts and deals for select ones. The best part about downloading and reading Google Play Audiobooks is that you get to sync your reads across various Android, iOS, and Windows Devices and connect to your home speakers for an immersive listening experience. Plus, you get to keep the titles you buy which are stored in your account.
10. Kobo Books
Kobo is the last on our list but in no way is it inferior. Its audiobook subscription plan starts at $10 a month,but the downside is you can’t play your audiobooks your Mac or PC since it caters exclusively to Android and iOS devices.
Also, if you buy the wrong book, you won’t be able to trade in or ask for an exchange,but the upside is the pricing for those who listen to audiobooks few times a year and want a platform for reading sparingly.Regarding titles, their selection is growing,and we expect it to get better soon and compete with Audible’s inventory.
Conclusion
Although Audible is a great platform, the pricing is steep
Audible has a DRM restriction which can be removed using special software. Consider getting a DRM remover if you plan on migrating your existing titles or for converting and storing on different devices.
