While Amazon-owned Audible dominates the audiobook market, it’s far from the only player in town.
If you’ve been looking to explore beyond Amazon’s offerings, there’s a world of alternatives waiting to be discovered. Whether you’re seeking better prices, different content libraries, or unique features, these five Audible alternatives are worth your attention.
Libro.fm: Shop local
While Libro.fm is priced and structured similarly to Audible—$15 per month for one audiobook credit—you’ve got the added benefit of being able to support your local bookstore with your membership.
You also get a 30% discount on buying audiobooks à la carte from the catalog of more than 450,000 titles.
Everand: Almost unlimited
Unlike Audible, which primarily uses a credit-based system for audiobooks, Everand provides “unlimited” access to a wide range of audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines for $12 per month. That $12 also gets you access to the Scribd and SlideShare sites.
Why the quotes around “unlimited”? You’ll run into limits on some titles based on your own listening activity, meaning heavy users might find that they’re not able to access certain books until their next billing cycle.
However, the site stipulates, “We always offer something you can read in the meantime.”
Audiobooks.com: Audible alike
If you’ve gotten used to Audible and don’t want to shake things up too much by switching, this is a good first step.
Similar to Audible, Audiobooks.com offers a subscription model with one audiobook credit per month to use toward anything in the store.
However, subscribers also get to choose a bonus “VIP” book to listen to each month: a curated selection of dozens of titles selected by the Audiobooks.com staff. You can see the current offerings here.
Chirp: Daily audiobook deals
If you’re looking for great deals on audiobooks, it’s time to sign up for Chirp. It’s a daily-deals email with limited-time bargains on popular titles—no monthly subscription required.
Most popular books get discounted down to the $5 range, but there’s a selection of dollar deals as well. You also don’t even have to sign up for the daily email: All the current deals are viewable and purchasable right from the main page of the site itself.
Apple or Google: Download and go
You know what? Not everything in life needs to be a monthly subscription. And if you listen mostly on your phone, check out the Apple and Google audiobook stores.
You get easy access to just about every title available everywhere else, all through a built-in audiobook player. If you’re looking for ease of use without the monthly outlay, this is the path of least resistance for sure.
Bonus: Free audiobooks
There are also thousands upon thousands of audiobooks to be had at no cost thanks to your local library, sites specializing in public-domain titles, and as part of a subscription you might already be paying for.
Check out this write-up of free audiobook sites for more.
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