Love listening to audiobooks, but tired of shelling all your dollars out to Amazon every month? These cheaper alternatives to Audible could have what you need.
It’s no wonder Audible is one of the most popular options when it comes to listening to audiobooks. It maintains a massive library of books and podcasts for subscribers to enjoy, and frequently refreshes with the newest releases. Plus, it works on numerous types of devices, so whether you deal with iOS or Android, Audible remains a viable option. Audible is also one of the best audiobook apps compatible with Apple CarPlay in case you’re the type of person who tries to get through the latest novel on long drives.
However, it’s understandable if people want to find cheaper alternatives to Audible. The app frequently runs deals, such as paying $0.99 per month for the first three months. After that, you’ll pay $14.95 per month as of this writing. With Audible, you receive a credit each month. You can then exchange this credit for any book within Audible’s library, and that’s yours to keep. With a subscription, you can also listen to a selection of free audiobooks, or you can spend additional money to buy extra books if you want to listen to more than one per month. Books downloaded via Audible tend to be a bit more affordable compared to purchasing physical copies.
It’s not a bad deal, but roughly $15 per month adds up over time. There are numerous other audiobook-listening apps, some of which cost substantially less than Audible if they aren’t free outright. Hoopla
Nothing beats free, and Hoopla is one of the best free audiobook streaming apps around. It’s compatible with numerous library systems across the United States and Canada, and if your local library works for it, you just need to register using your library card number, email address, and password. Once you have an account, you basically have a public library at your fingertips where you can check out an array of books, movies, and albums. And like Audible, there are plenty of audiobooks to choose from that you can listen to for free.
Hoopla syncs across all of your digital devices, so you can have access to the same titles whether you have your smartphone or tablet handy. Most libraries allow you to check out either eight or 10 titles per month (exact numbers vary depending on your specific branch). For audiobooks, you can typically keep them for up to 21 days, but if you haven’t finished it yet, you can naturally check it out again.
Hoopla’s selection changes every week, so there are always new goodies to explore, including recent releases. Hoopla doesn’t have everything, and if there’s something you want the service to stock, you can submit a request through the app. This may be good if there’s a book that came out within the last few months you don’t see on the platform yet. Libby
A library card can genuinely become your Kindle’s best friend with apps like Libby and Hoopla. Libby works very similarly to Hoopla in that you get started by telling it what your local library is. You sign in by giving it your library card number, and from there, you can select from an array of available titles you can read or listen to entirely for free. Plus, it’s simple to learn how to download Libby books onto your Kindle to enjoy them even when you’re not connected to the internet.
There are likely thousands of audiobooks available through your local library, but Libby may not have everything. It’s also possible the audiobook is available, but other people have it checked it for the moment. Fortunately, Libby has a feature where you can place a hold for an audiobook you want but isn’t available yet. With that, you’ll receive an estimated time for when you can expect the book to be available once more.
The great part about having multiple audiobook apps compatible with local libraries is that they make for a good excuse to get a library card in the first place. This gives you a good excuse to visit your local library in person and see what physical books, DVDs, and CDs you can check out.cloudLibrary
This is the final free alternative to Audible on this list, but in the pursuit of finding the books you want without spending any money, you can never have too many free apps. Once again, you just need to input your library card number to get an account for cloudLibrary, and you get a ton of titles available to you from your mobile devices.
You can effortlessly search for titles or browse by genre if you’d prefer to explore for a new book. You can tell if a given title is available as an audiobook, as it’ll have a symbol of headphones in a corner. You can check out whatever book you want (or place a hold if it’s not available), and you’ll have it for 21 days.
