Alternatives to Audible for Cheap or Free Audiobooks

I love sharing my money-saving tips, and these tricks are for all my fellow traveling bookworms… or book dragons. I’ve come to realize this is a better description of my book-hoarding tendencies.

Anyway, I’ve finally mastered using several free and cheap alternatives to Audible to help satiate my need to sit atop a pile of books, even if that hypothetical pile is made of digital media.

I read a lot—like 70+ books a year. Finding the ones I want to read on the different apps is like a fun little game. Reading this much could add up if I allowed it, especially since I prefer audiobooks while traveling. And in everyday life now, let’s be honest.

In 2019, I spent about $360 on accommodations for three weeks in Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and England. That’s equal to 24 audiobooks at the cost of Audible’s $14.95 monthly subscription fee.

So, if you’re a book dragon like me and want to save money to travel, start using these resources and tips ASAP.

TLDR: How I Use These Services

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick rundown:

I use Libby and Hoopla as free alternatives to Audible. I usually find what I want to read between these two apps.

My next stop is my Spotify Premium and Amazon Prime accounts, which include some audiobooks. These are subscriptions that I already pay for, so I count them as sunk costs. I try to take advantage of them as much as possible to get my money’s worth.

Audiobooks.com and Libro.fm are more ethical subscription-based audiobook options with a similar cost per credit to Audible. Perfect for those who want to avoid Amazon products altogether. I’ve used both and recommend them!

If I can’t find what I’m looking for on any of those platforms, my last-ditch effort is to use the Amazon Alexa app to turn an e-book into an audiobook. This will work with any e-book in your Kindle Library, including those borrowed from Libby (using the Read With Kindle option), Prime Reading. I believe it also works with Kindle Unlimited.

Finally, there’s Chirp Books, a pay-per-book site with steeply discounted audiobooks. Pay-per-audiobook is also available for Libro.fm and Audiobooks.com subscribers. Usually at a discount, too.

I have tried a few other apps/services that just weren’t a great fit for me but might be for you. They are all described below, so keep scrolling!

Audiobook Platform	Cost Per Month	Bonuses
Libby	Free
Hoopla	Free
Spotify Audiobooks	Included in Spotify Premium subscriptions
Prime Reading	Included in Amazon Prime subscription
Alexa App	Free
Audiobooks.com	$14.95 + Pay-per-book	VIP rewards, exclusive Member Deals
Everand	$11.99 or $16.99
Anyplay	$12.99
Libro.fm	$14.99 + Pay-per-book	30% off additional audiobooks
Book of the Month	$16.99
Chirp Books	Pay-per-book

Alternatives to Audible For Free Audiobooks

Let’s start with the free stuff, shall we?

Disclaimer: Your results may differ depending on your location. I listen to audiobooks on my iPhone, MacBook, and sometimes on my TV using my Roku. The library tips are based on my experience as a Massachusetts resident.

The Best Library Apps

These apps allow you to browse and check out audiobooks and e-books using your library card. I can usually find the audiobook I’m looking for on at least one of these two apps.

Libby | My Favorite Alternative to Audible!

Libby is a digital library app that works with local libraries across North America.

There are only two downsides to borrowing audiobooks from the library. The first is the long wait times for some of the books, like months-long waits, but I have a trick that will help them move along faster below. The second is that you only have 7-21 days to finish listening before returning them. You can renew several times as long as there isn’t an active waitlist.

Here are some of my favorite features about listening to audiobooks on Libby.

1. Partner Libraries

Partner libraries allow users to log in and borrow audiobooks using their home library card number. For example, one of my home library systems here on Cape Cod is called CLAMS, and I use that library card to access several other library systems across Massachusetts.

Partnering libraries have limitations, and not all libraries will partner with others. For instance, I don’t qualify for the university library systems that require you to be a student.

2. Multiple Library Cards

Libby allows you to have multiple library cards for the same library. I have two cards with Boston Public Library, and I can switch between them in the Libby app.

I have my first BPL library card because I am entitled to one as a Massachusetts resident. BPL is also a partner library, so I have a second one using my home library card.

3. Multiple Library Holds On One Book

Putting one book on hold at multiple libraries increases your chances of getting it faster. You move up in line as people finish the book or defer their holds, and some lines move faster than others.

There is one caveat to this trick, though. Libraries prioritize their own members, so your spot in line at partner libraries may jump back and forth as their patrons put books on hold. In your holds, you’ll see the number of “people waiting in two lanes.”

4. Hold Deferment

The feature I love most about this app is putting audiobooks on hold passing your turn to the next person in line without losing your place. This is helpful if you’re not ready to read the book because you’re reading another or don’t have the time for it. You can defer your turn for 1-180 days.

Hoopla

Some libraries may use Hoopla instead of or in addition to Libby. For example, I got a library card when I lived in Sandwich, which is in the Old Colony Library Network instead of CLAMS. I use this card on both apps since I get preference on holds on Libby as a card-holding member vs a partner library member.

Most e-books and audiobooks are available to borrow immediately on Hoopla. I’ve rarely seen a hold for any book on this app.

Unlike Libby, you can only use one library card at a time on the Hoopla app, so you have to log in to each one every time. I’ve never done this, but I might try just to see if title availability changes. Depending on your library, some books may not be available at all, which is always a bummer. Also, you are limited to ten borrows per month across all formats, including audiobooks, e-books, and movies.

Other Library Apps

There are a few other apps that your local public library may use instead of Libby or Hoopla. CloudLibrary and BorrowBox are the ones I know of, but there are probably others.

I have never used BorrowBox, but I did download CloudLibrary after I got an Anaheim Public Library card when they offered free non-resident e-library cards during the pandemic. It was not a very intuitive app, though, and I think I only ever used it for one audiobook.

Amazon Alexa App + eBooks

In a pinch, I will use the Amazon Alexa app to turn e-books into audiobooks using Alexa’s text-to-speech accessibility feature. It is entirely free to do, so why not!?

Alexa can narrate most books in my Kindle library, including e-books borrowed using Libby if you use the read with Kindle option. This will not work with e-books from Hoopla since its only option is to open them in-app.

Also, Alexa only recognizes e-books in a particular format, which does not include any that I get from Netgalley or other documents like PDFs. This was a sad realization after I downloaded the behemoth that is Manacled.

To select an e-book to listen to, open the app > click the top-heavy hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the bottom > click Music & More > scroll down to your Kindle Library > select your ebook. Then, all you have to do is choose the device you want it to play on. I do not have an Alexa device, so my only option is This Device, aka my phone.

Now, fair warning: Alexa’s narration is quite monotonous, in my opinion. It doesn’t have the same expressiveness as the voice actors reading for audiobooks, so I use this option as a last resort.

Netgalley

NetGalley is a platform where publishers provide digital copies of books to readers before they are published in exchange for honest reviews. These are sometimes called galleys (hence Net-Galley) or advanced reader copies (ARCs). The platform mainly offers e-books, but audiobooks are becoming more of a thing.

This option is most suitable for book reviewers, librarians, educators, and media professionals who can help generate buzz for upcoming book releases. Surprisingly, I was granted access to Netgalley in 2016 with a young blog and a small audience.

Confession: I have yet to write a review for a single galley I’ve received. Sorry, Netgalley – I swear I’ll do better!

Subscription-Based Audible Alternatives

If you don’t have the patience or desire to use any of the free audiobook options above, try one of the following subscription or membership options.

Libro.fm

Libro.fm is a social purpose corporation that works precisely like Audible, but your monthly fee goes to an independent bookstore of your choice. Pick one in your hometown (I recently changed my bookstore to Belonging Books in Hyannis) or across the country. It’s up to you!

Subscription choices are one monthly credit for $14.99 or two credits for $23.99. Credits never expire, so don’t worry about losing them during a reading slump! Plus, you get a 30% discount on any additional audiobooks you wish to purchase, which works on top of any sale prices.

You own all the audiobooks you buy and can even download the MP3 or M4B files to listen on another device.

When you sign up with Libro.fm for the first time, you can get three audiobooks for the price of one credit using my referral link! Try Libro.fm and stock up on reading materials today!

Audiobooks.com

Also works like Audible with a monthly credit to purchase one book, plus the option to choose from a curated selection of VIP audiobooks. Their free trial includes one regular audiobook and two VIP audiobooks (instead of just one) and 30 days to listen to them and decide if you like the platform.

They also have deals like 2-for-1 credit audiobooks and discounted audiobooks for less than the cost of a credit, so buying it directly would be cheaper. I saw some as low as $4 last time I was in the app.

The monthly subscription costs $14.95 a month, or you can save a ton with their annual subscription, which breaks down to $12 a month. You own all audiobooks purchased with your monthly subscription credit and can keep the VIP audiobooks for as long as your subscription is active.

Spotify Audiobooks

Premium subscriptions now include 15 hours of listening time that renews every month! The trick to this one is to only listen to audiobooks that don’t exceed the 15-hour limit. It’s not fun to run out of hours mid-book and have to wait for the hours to renew! Top-ups are available to purchase for audiobooks over 15 hours, but it’s not cheap.

Those 15 hours renew every month whether or not you use them, so try to listen to at least one audiobook every month. For quick access to the ones on my TBR, I save them to my Spotify library.

If you are new to Spotify Premium (and in the US), try it free for two months. That’s at least two guaranteed free audiobooks – or three or four if you choose the right ones!

Everand

In addition to audiobooks, their library includes ebooks, magazines, and podcasts. I thought they also had sheet music (of all things), but that must have been before the content was split between Everand, Scribd, and SlideShare. A subscription to any of the three apps includes access to the other two.

Everand uses “unlocks” instead of credits, which allows you to unlock audiobooks from their premium catalog, depending on the monthly plan you choose. The Standard plan costs $11.99 for one unlock, and the Plus plan is $16.99 for three unlocks, and unused unlocks expire 30 days after receiving them.

You only have access to the audiobooks (or other content) you unlock for as long as your subscription is active. If you cancel and resubscribe using the same email address later, your unlocked content will be there waiting for you.

So, to recap, an Everand subscription is limited to one OR three audiobooks a month that you DO NOT have access to if you cancel your subscription. *bombastic side-eye*

Anyplay

The monthly Anyplay subscription costs $12.99 and comes with a free 1 week trial. That gives you access to 300,000+ audiobooks and millions of podcasts to stream or download. So far, the app is available in 180 countries and offers books in 25 languages.

Two positives I can see about this platform are: 1) It seems like there are no limits to the number of books you can listen to each month, and 2) there are no due dates or waiting lists, like borrowing from the library. This is definitely a perfect option for those lacking patience!

While a catalog of 300,000 audiobooks seems like a huge selection, as I scrolled through it, I noticed that a lot of book series are incomplete. I also did not like the app’s layout and content organization.

Book of the Month

I tried this platform for the first time after I learned that you can now choose between a hardcover physical book or an audiobook every month. If you don’t like the monthly selections, you can skip choosing and roll your credit onto the next month. Credits don’t accumulate, so you won’t pay for another one until you eventually use your rolled credit to select a BOTM.

The monthly subscription costs $16.99 for one credit per month. They also have plans for two credits per month for $14.99 each (you are charged $29.98 per month) and an annual membership that works out to $13.99 per month/credit.

However, I got my first month for only $5, and you can, too, when you use this link to sign up. In order to get the $5 deal, you have to agree to one additional full-price month. After that, you are free to cancel your monthly subscription if you don’t like the service.

Pay-Per-Book Audiobook Deals

As mentioned above, you can purchase audiobooks on Libro.fm and Audiobooks.com at a discount for subscribers.

Chirp Books

Chirp is an app for audiobooks purchased at a discount from Chirp Books. I was signed up for their daily email for a while, which includes a personalized list of audiobooks I might be interested in. Sometimes, they are discounted to less than $1.

These steep discounts are usually for a limited time – a few days or a week. However, even when they aren’t heavily discounted, regular prices at Chirp Books are still lower than the publisher’s price. Thousands of audiobooks are typically on sale for less than $5 a pop.

The advantage of buying audiobooks through Chirp Books is you own them forever, and you can take as long as you wish to finish reading them. One disadvantage is you cannot make purchases right in the app; it is for listening only. Use their website to buy your audiobooks.

How to Save Money Using Audible

Before I wrap this up, I will mention that I’m not saying not to use Audible if you want to. I still use it when necessary (like for Audible exclusives) even though I despise the company and its owner. Here are the ways around the $14.95 monthly subscription fee that I know of.

Take Advantage of Sales

Sign up during promotions and use your credits and member discount wisely.

Back in 2016 (way back in the time before Libby), I stocked up on audiobooks before my trip to New Zealand with a promotional free three-month subscription plus three additional months at half-price ($7.47 per month). So, I got six audiobooks for about $22.50, or about $3.75 per audiobook.

Most recently, I signed up for a promotion that was three months for $.99 per month, PLUS a $20 credit on them. In total, my haul from this promotion was nine audiobooks for $20.16 out of pocket, including the three months of subscription fees. That works out to $2.24 per audiobook!

First-time users of Audible can get TWO free audiobooks when they sign up for a free trial. Get the two free audiobooks, and see if you like the service. If not, you now have several superior alternatives to work with!

Audiobooks in Amazon Prime Reading

Prime Reading is included with an Amazon Prime subscription. So, Prime subscribers are already paying for it and might as well use it!

This feature gives you access to e-books, some of which have Audible narration included. The selection is limited, but you’ll see a pair of orange headphones next to the Prime logo (see screenshot below) if a Prime Reading e-book is narrated.

There are no due dates when borrowing from Prime Reading, but you do have to return them eventually. You can borrow up to ten titles at a time.

In the Free Amazon Kindle App

From your phone:

Click Explore > Prime Reading > scroll the tabs all the way to the right, click Audiobooks. Then click the Read and Listen for Free button to add your selection to your library. This adds the e-book to your Kindle library and the audiobook to your Audible library. Use the Audible app to download and listen.

In the Amazon App

From your phone:

Click the hamburger menu (three stacked lines) along the bottom menu, which will bring you to Your Shortcuts. If Prime Reading is not in your shortcuts, scroll down to Shop by category and select Books & Reading > Prime Reading > scroll to the right, click Audiobooks.

Then click the Read and Listen for Free button to add the e-book to your Kindle library and the audiobook to your Audible library. Again, use the Audible app to download and listen.

Note: This app changes all the time, so these instructions are as up-to-date as possible.

Amazon Website

There are a couple of ways to navigate to Prime Reading on the website, whichever works best for you:

1. From the main menu, select Kindle E-readers & Books > Prime Reading > Audiobooks.
2. From your Accounts & Lists menu, select Prime Membership > Read > Explore Prime Reading.

From there, the instructions are the same for adding to your library and listening.

Any Other Audiobook Platforms I Should Know About?

I am always on the hunt for ways to make listening to audiobooks affordable. Please share any audiobook platforms not included above in the comments, and I will research and add them to the list!

If you are a bookworm like me, join me on Storygraph, where I track my yearly reading goals.

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