Best Audible Alternative In 2022: Thriftier than thou

Audiobooks are gaining popularity every passing year and it’s a great way to acquire knowledge while you are on the move. There are many audiobook streaming services in the market but none has made an impact like Audible.

In this post, we will try to look past Audible’s monopoly and seek a potent Audible alternative. We will list some of the best alternatives to Audible, their features, and pricing options.

But first, let’s talk about Audible.

How to share Audible books?

Once you have purchased Audible audiobooks with Audible credits here’s how you can share them amongst your friends and families

From Audible App/ web-app

You can send audiobooks from the Audible web app or the Audible app on any other platform. In order to send, go to your account and navigate to your list of books/ downloaded books. 

Then click on the book that you want to send and click on the “Send this Book” link to forward a copy of your audiobook to your friends and family.

Catch: Only new Audible users will be able to receive a free audiobook, and that too once per user. If you are already a subscriber to Audible or an existing user, you won’t be able to receive a free audiobook.

Amazon Household Sharing

Amazon Households is a family library sharing mechanism where you can share digital content amongst your close ones. To share audiobooks through Amazon Household Sharing, create your household sharing account and add an adult to it.

Just mention your family member’s email address (used for Prime account) and password to add them to the household sharing account. Then visit  Audible, and navigate to the “Manage your contents and devices” page. Select the book that you want to share and click “Add to Library”.

Now all Amazon Households members can access all shared audiobooks.

Catch: You need an active Amazon Prime subscription to enable Household sharing. Also, you can only add two adults and four children to your Household account. That’s not all, you won’t be able to share titles from the Audible Plus catalog.

Using a third-party audiobook converter

The downloaded audiobooks in Audible have AA/ AAX format, the proprietary format of Audible which can’t be played by any other app. So, you can use third-party audio converters like TunesKit, to convert AA/ AAX Audible audiobooks into mp3, which you can easily share among your devices without compromising the audio quality.

Catch: You need to install the third-party audio converter to convert audiobooks and then transfer them to your device of preference.

If you want to know more about Audible’s features, this Audible review will come in handy.

How to return Audible book?

Audible Premium Plus members can return their Audible audiobook purchased using Audible credits anytime within a year of purchase. 

In order to return an audiobook sign into Audible and navigate to the “Purchase History” page. Now click on the “Return Title” button to return your audiobook. Once the audiobook is returned your audible credit will be returned.

If you used a coupon or a credit card to purchase the audiobook, a refund will be initiated.

Best books on Audible 

Here are some must-try Audible titles

1. The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series

• Genre – Mystery
• Duration – Around 14 hours

2. Piranesi

• Genre – Fiction
• Duration – Around 7 hours

3. The Handmaid’s Tale

• Genre – Fiction
• Duration – Around 11 hours

Audible Alternative

If you are looking for an Audible alternative, be it due to its recurring subscription charges or complicated sharing options, here are some alternatives to Audible that will surely help you out.

1. Libby App by OverDrive

If you have a local library card, then you can borrow audiobooks for free. OverDrive along with Libby is a great alternative to Audible that lets you borrow audiobooks and return them when done.

If you are searching for an audiobook and it is currently being used by another member then you have to wait for your turn. However, the service is free and you can listen to your favorite audiobooks on Android or iOS devices.

Pricing – Free

2. Scribd

Scribd is by far the best Audible alternative in the market. With over 40000 audiobooks to choose from, Scribd is one of those services like Audible that lets you listen to audiobooks from a browser or the Scribd app for Android and iOS.

Apart from audiobooks, you can also read ebooks, magazines, and other literary documents on the app. However, unlike the Audible Premium Plus subscription, you won’t own any Scribd title. 

Check out our Scribd review if you want to know about this Audible alternative in detail.

Price – $9.99 per month

3. LibriVox

LibriVox is a free Audible alternative. You can listen to over 50000 audiobooks and access them on your Android or iOS smart devices through their dedicated app, or download the audiobooks on your system and play it on any audio player.

They also have poetry, short stories, and biographies in their audiobook arsenal. Even though they have an impressive list of audiobook titles while reviewing I had some trouble finding some of my favorite titles (Dune, Harry Potter).

Price – Free

4. Google Play Books

Self-help, biographies, bestsellers, you name it Google Play Books have them all. Using Google Play Books you can listen to your favorite audiobooks, and read your favorite ebooks and comics. They also have an iOS app, and a ton of free titles too.

If you are not a fan of subscriptions then Google Play Books is one of the best Audible competitors for you. Because you only pay for the audiobook you want to listen to. It’s that simple

Price – Pay per title

6. Hoopla

Hoopla is an Audible alternative that lets you borrow audiobooks and ebooks from local libraries. All you need is a library card and you can start borrowing your favorite audiobooks. You can listen to them on your PC, Android, or iOS devices. 

You will have a borrowing window when you can listen to your selected title. After which the audiobook will be automatically removed from your library.

Price – Free

Scribd vs Audible

Amongst all other apps like Audible Scribd is the best Audible alternative. However, they both are quite similar yet different.

Scribd has a single monthly subscription plan that lets you listen to all available audiobook titles from their library. But you won’t be able to own any titles. As soon as your Scribd subscription expires all your audiobooks will be removed from your library. In short, Scribd doesn’t allow owning audiobook titles.

With an Audible Premium Plus subscription, you get monthly credits which you can leverage to buy titles and keep them permanently. Even when your subscription expires you will own those titles.

But Audible being an audiobook streaming service you can only listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible originals. But when you subscribe to Scribd you can listen to audiobooks and also read ebooks, educational documents, and other literary titles.

If you are intrigued about the fine differences between these two platforms do check out our Scribd vs Audible piece.

Conclusion

Now that we have walked you through some of the best Audible alternatives, here’s a gist of what we have learned so far.

• Scribd is a great Audible alternative, if not the best. But you would require a paid subscription to read ebooks and listen to audiobooks. No ownership privileges.
• Libby and Hoopla are great free audiobook platforms that let you borrow audiobooks from local libraries. But you need to have a library card in order to avail its benefits
• LibriVox lets you listen to thousands of bestsellers on their free audiobook platform.
• If you don’t want to get tied with any subscription and prefer paying for audiobooks per title, then Google Play Books is the right choice for you.

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