Times are changing. People are slowly drifting away from the paperback versions of books to a more eco-friendly alternative called audiobooks. And, a platform that has been ruling this space is Audible. But, its pricing and lack of certain features are making audiobook listeners look for Audible alternatives. No! We neither hate physical books nor Audible, but in this day and age, it is a boon to have alternatives, isn’t it?
Let’s have a look at some of the audiobook alternatives to audible. In this blog, we shall even look at apps like audible that are free and we shall even look at free alternatives to Audible that you can access online (without an app).
Also Read: Best Audiobooks For Android
Best Audiobook Alternatives To Audible 2021
1. Scribd – Is This The Next Netflix For Audiobooks?
Often touted as Netflix for books, Scribd is an affordable alternative to Audible. It has a decent interface and allows you to adjust the narration speed to a pace that you can understand or concentrate upon. It offers a large number of audiobooks, one million titles to be precise.
Price: 30 days free trial and US$ 9.99/month after that
One of the best user interfaces
With a paid subscription, you can read an unlimited amount of books
Customize narration speed functionality
You can set a sleep timer
Offers latest and bestselling titles
Users have reported that despite paying for a subscription they were restricted to some titles
2. Audiobooksnow – A Cheap Audiobook Alternative To Audible
Audiobooksnow is one of the best audiobook alternatives to Audible. It is one of the cheapest and affordable alternatives to audible. It offers more than 120000 titles spanning between fiction and non-fiction genres. Even at a cost much less than Audible, it holds no straps on customization of the interface.
Price: 30-day free trial after that US$ 4.99 + You get 50% off on your first audiobook
80000 titles inclusive of bestselling and classic titles from some of the legendary authors
Available as a website and on smartphone and computer
Download audiobooks offline
Set a timer when you need
Some audiobooks protected by DRM can’t be downloaded offline
3. Rakuten Kobo Audiobooks
Rakuten Kobo makes its way to the list of one of the best apps like audible. It has a huge collection of not just audiobooks but eBooks as well. It offers over 94000 audiobooks and 599000 eBooks across several genres.
Price: 30-day free trial and after that US$ 9.99
Facility to adjust the listening speed
Set sleep timer
Keep ebooks and audiobooks in one place
Your collection of audiobooks stays with you even if you choose to cancel your subscription
Multilingual support
Search functionality could have been better
Visit Rakuten Kobo for Audiobooks
4. OverDrive – Free For Members
For someone like me who wants to quench the thirst for listening to audiobooks, OverDrive is a great audiobook alternative to Audible. The best part is that if you are a student or someone who has already subscribed to OverDrive, audiobooks are free for you.
You get access to over 30000 libraries
Consist of the companion app Libby (for everyone) and Sora (for students) which user friendly and flexible
You get to listen to the latest releases and best sellers
Easily create a Wishlist of books you like
You may have to wait for popular books because there might be certain books you like and which might not be available in your library
5. Spotify
The list of apps like Audible will remain incomplete without Spotify. Most of us know Spotify as a well-known music streaming service and you probably have been using it to listen to music or podcasts to the maximum. But, did you know Spotify also has a great collection of some of the best audiobooks? Let’s put it this way, if you are someone who’s both an avid music lover and reader, Spotify is the right choice for you.
Price: 30 days trial and after that US$ 9.99 per month
Download audiobooks offline
Decent library containing some great audiobooks
High customizability
Great audio quality
Available as a website and on smartphone and computer
Takes a hit on a variety of available genres
6. Hoopla – An Audiobook Alternative With A Decent Collection
Quite like OverDrive, if your library offers you an option like Hoopla, you can easily stream not audiobooks but also videos, music and even read eBooks
Price: Free if you have a Hoopla library card
Download audiobooks offline
Select from over 50000 titles
Easy filtering by release date, use rating, date added, language
Select to listen to titles apt for children only
You need to finish titles within a limited timeframe or else they’ll expire
7. Loyal Books – A Decent Free App Like Audible
Loyal Books is one of the free apps similar to audible. Although you might be a little disappointed with a limited number of audiobooks, the collection isn’t that small that it won’t quench your desire to listen to audiobooks.
Price: Free
Adjust playback speed as per your need
Add a sleep timer
Option available for downloading books
Available for both Android and iOS
The collection of audiobooks is less as compared to many of its counterparts
8. Project Gutenberg – One of The Best Free Alternatives To Audible
Project Gutenberg is a free alternative to Audible that you can access anywhere, provided you have an internet connection. It is one of the oldest digital libraries online dating back to 1971. It houses audiobooks recorded by both volunteers as well as computers.
Price: Free
Free of cost
Over 60000 free ebooks are available as downloadable mp3 files
Consists of various popular titles in both fiction and non-fiction genre
Search audiobooks by title, author, type, subject, language, and more
Sometimes you might find your favorite e-book being read mechanically by a computer
9. LibriVox
In quest of a free alternative to audible? LibriVox can be a great option worth checking out. And, despite being free, it offers a great library of audiobooks. You will be able to listen to some of the classics – novels, biographies, short stories, history, and poetry.
It has a collection of over 50000 audiobooks
Available in more than 30 Languages
Several genres available
Search collection by author, title, and even narrator
Not as premium as audible as far as audio quality is concerned
10. eStories
Looking for other apps like Audible? Have a strong penchant for stories? eStories is an Audible alternative you can consider. And, not just fiction, its 120000 long library contains some of the best non-fiction audiobooks as well.
Price: Free 30 day trial after that US$ 11.99 per month
DRM independent platform, you can download and play audiobooks anywhere on any media player
The library is constantly updated with new books
Contains more than 120000 titles across several fiction and non-fiction genres
The UI experience could have been better
Wrapping Up:
Do give these audiobooks alternatives for Audible a spin and let us know which of the above paid or free alternatives would you opt for. For more such tech content, keep reading Tweak Library, till then happy listening!
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