11+ of the Best Free + Paid Audiobook Apps to Listen to Your Next Read
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Over the past few years, I’ve become a huge fan of audiobooks–especially for my nonfiction reads. I can somehow digest the complex information easier when it feels like I’m listening to a podcast or radio show. But I’ve also started swapping between the audiobook and physical book of my fiction reads on occasion, and it’s been so fun. I can listen while I’m walking to get groceries, running other errands, or cleaning the house. Not every book is great to listen to, and it’s very much dependent on the narrator–as audiobook Booktoker, Britt Lowry will attest. But if you’re looking to try audiobooks, below you’ll find a list of apps to give it a try, and maybe discover some you haven’t heard of yet. Personal favorites? Libby and Audible, but I’m curious to try Chirp and Libro.fm out!
2024 Update: I’ve become a voracious audiobook listener, and almost always listen to the audiobook while reading with the physical or ebook now. It’s an incredibly immersive way to read and definitely allows me to better focus on the story without any distractions.
FREE APPS
Libby
What to know: Libby is by far my favorite free app. It connects with your local library (you just need a library card number), and includes both eBooks and audiobooks. You’ll have to find your individual library for check out limits, but as an example, I can have up to 25 loans and an additional 25 holds at any one time. The app itself is super flexible, user friendly, you can download to listen offline, and I love the fine-tune option on the playback speed. The only downside is occasional long wait times for popular titles.
Hoopla
What to know: Also connects with your local library, and in my case, includes the same check out limits as Libby. I have found the wait time on audiobooks in this app to be shorter because it might not be as popular, and I always recommend checking multiple library apps, as they do sometimes have different inventory.
Boundless (previously Axis360)
What to know: Yet another app to connect with your local library and read both eBooks and audiobooks. It’s my least favorite of the library apps, mostly because I’ve found it crashes often, and the user interface isn’t very friendly. It seems like the app hasn’t been updated in a while. So it still works in a pinch, but the previous two are a far better experience in my opinion.
Librivox
What to know: It’s technically a nonprofit, so it doesn’t have modern titles, but if you’re looking for anything in the public domain, especially Classics, they probably have it. Currently, there are over 50,000 titles.
PAID APPS
Audible
Cost: $14.95/month for one book credit + Plus access
What to know: Includes a large library of over 200,000 titles, and always has the latest. You cannot purchase through the app, but can use the credit system instead. Every subscriber has unlimited access to the “plus catalog”, which has rotating titles available for members. If you’re a Prime member, you get two free premium selection titles with your trial.
Libro.fm
Cost: $14.99/month for one book credit
What to know: They support local bookstores! There are 250,000 audiobooks in their library and members also get a 30% discount if you want to purchase a book à la carte. Similar to Audible, you can get an extra free title when you sign up initially using code: CHOOSEINDIE (This is their general code on their homepage).
Blinkist - for my non-fiction friends…
Cost: $8.34/month with a 7-day free trial
What to know: A bit like an updated version of cliff notes for nonfiction. Get all the important takeaways in a 15 minute “blink”. You get unlimited access to 5000+ nonfiction bestsellers in 27 categories.
Chirp
Cost: Individual books from $1.99
What to know: There’s no membership fee, so you purchase individual books as you want them. They include a list of rotating daily deals. I have not tried it yet, but I’ve been seeing their ads on TikTok a lot lately. UPDATE: They’ve also added a catalog of free titles you can peruse here.
Downpour
Cost: $12.99/month with a one month free trial, and one book credit
What to know: They mention their titles are “up to 70% off retail”, but at a quick glance, this site seems like the most expensive so far for individual titles. They don’t have a lot of info on their site, but it’s apparently owned by Blackstone Audio that also owns 30,000 titles.
Google Audiobooks
Cost: No membership fee. Books are purchased individually.
What to know: If you don’t want to be locked into a monthly subscription, you might want to check this option out. I candidly didn’t even know this existed until I started researching for this post! Similar to Downpour, the prices look to be a bit on the pricey side. Ex: Dune is on sale for $34.61. Yikes. However, they also seem to have a large collection of public domain audiobooks available for free.
Everand (previously Scrib’d)
Cost: $11.99/month with a 30-day free trial
What to know: They boast over 200,000 audiobooks, and have been very vocal about supporting access to banned books. There have been some complaints recently from authors that there is some pirated content uploaded, but I couldn’t find anything about Scrib’d addressing this. I would encourage everyone to do their own research on this. UPDATE: Audiobooks and Ebooks have been separated into their own branded app called Everand.
A BONUS OPTION
Spotify
Cost: $9.99/month for Premium with no ads, three-month trial for newbies
What to know: Yes, your favorite music app also has audiobooks now! And an update since this article was first published: There’s now a dedicated audiobook section on the app, so you can easily search and find specific titles, as well as search by genre (like ‘fantasy audiobooks’) to find genre-specific books. Or if you want an audiobook in another language, the same principle applies. Ex: Search “French audiobooks”. There’s a 15 hour monthly limit that’s included in your membership, with the option to purchase additional hours.
Are there any others you believe are fantastic and missing from this list? Leave a comment below of any of your favorites not listed!
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P.S. If you snag an Audible free trial through an affiliate link above, you’ll be helping me support this site and newsletter! Thanks in advance for supporting a fellow bookworm! BTW, I will always disclose affiliate links when they’re present! :) Happy listening!