Scribd vs Audible: Which One Should You Choose?

According to a survey conducted in 2020, the global audiobooks market size was valued at $2.67 billion in the year 2019. It is projected that the global audiobooks market capture would expand at a rate of over 24% between 2020 to 2027.

Such a steady rise in the popularity of audiobooks can be associated with its distinct advantages and ease of use. Audiobooks allow you to listen to your favorite titles while driving, jogging, and even while you are attending to different chores.

It has also been a great alternative for bibliophiles who are not able to keep up with their literary needs due to their tight schedules.

So, to help you choose the best audiobook service and suggest to you the best way of reading or listening to your favorite titles here is a detailed comparison of two leading audiobook platforms.

In this Scribd vs Audible post, we would be judging each application based on different criteria and figure out which is the best audiobook service of the two.

Scribd vs Audible: Which is the Best and Why?

For an in-depth comparison of Scribd vs Audible, we have come up with a few criteria which would help us decide the best application of the two.

Here is the list of the criteria and a brief description of each which would dictate our evaluation.

• Features Covered – What are the distinct features provided by both these platforms?
• Audiobook Library – Number of audiobook titles listed.
• Audio quality – Audio quality of each audiobook
• Ownership of downloaded content – Whether or not we can download an audiobook and who would be owning it?
• Device Compatibility – List of compatible devices and platforms for both applications.
• Subscription options – Pricing slabs and available subscription options.
• Multiple sign-in options – How many simultaneous device sign-ins are permitted?
• Other perks – Other perks and privileges.
• Publishing

Features Covered

Scribd

• You do get the best of both worlds with Scribd. You can use this application to read eBooks, listen to audiobooks and podcasts.
• Scribd also features a number of different magazines and the latest news articles.
• Scribd’s original contents are great and created specifically for the platform.
• You can also use this application to refer to various music sheets. This feature can be extremely helpful for percussionists and aspiring musicians. The application also features a list of top trending songbooks and music sheets from award-winning artists and musicals.

• Apart from curating ebooks, audiobooks and podcasts Scribd also features various business document templates and academic papers. Aspiring students and researchers can use this application to go through various journals, research papers and white papers. Even though this feature might not appeal to many people, it still brings a lot of valuable documents under one platform.

Audible

• Audible is an audiobook platform. You can use this application to listen to various audiobooks, Audible originals and Audible podcasts.
• It cannot be used for reading eBooks or other journals.

Verdict 

Judging by the variety of available content after comparing Scribd vs Audible, Scribd would be the winner. Apart from audiobooks, Scribd also hosts various eBooks, documents, and magazines that users can read.

All in all, Scribd can cater to your reading needs as well as literary auditory pleasures.

Audiobook Library

Scribd

• Scribd features over 40,000 audiobook titles
• The platform also boasts of curating over 125 million documents, academic papers, and business templates

Audible

• Audible contains over 200,000 audiobooks and they keep adding new titles every week.

Verdict

As we are only evaluating the audiobook library, we won’t be considering the various documents and music sheets. And judging by the sheer volume of featured audiobooks, Audible would be the better choice of the two.

Audio Quality

Scribd

• All audiobooks featured in Scribd have a bit rate of 32 kbps. You can listen to your favorite audiobooks, and magazines at this bit rate.

Audible

• Audible on the other hand provides you the option to select the bitrate of your choice. You can listen to Audible audiobooks at a standard quality of 32kbps or high-quality audio at 64kbps.

Verdict

A higher bit rate is associated with a better auditory experience. When you are listening to an audiobook over headphones or earphones, you will easily notice the difference in audio quality.

This means with Audible’s 64kbps audio rendering you can relish the moment when Stephen Fry describes the magical setup of Diagonally.

That said, a higher bitrate can also increase the downloadable file size of your audiobook. If your network connection is slow, resorting to a lower bitrate version would be the right choice.

Given the current networking infrastructure, I don’t think listening to audiobooks of high quality can be much of a hindrance. Another easy win for Audible.

Ownership of Downloaded Content

Scribd

• Using Scribd’s download feature you can download as many audiobooks as you want. All the downloaded audiobooks would be available to you as long as you have an active subscription plan. Once your subscription expires you would not be able to access or listen to any or all downloaded content.

Audible

• Just like Scribd, Audible also allows you to purchase and download an audiobook of your choice. However, the feature that sets Audible apart is all downloaded audiobooks would be available to you even after your Audible subscription expires.

Verdict

In order to retain your downloaded audiobook library, you must have an active Scribd subscription. This means a Scribd user merely borrows an audiobook from their library and doesn’t own it. While Audible allows you to own all the downloaded audiobooks.

To put this in context, if you download 10 audiobooks in a year from either of these platforms a Scribd user won’t be able to listen to any of the books once their membership expires.

An Audible member on the other hand can listen to those 10 audiobooks multiple times in the foreseeable future.

If you value literature as much as I do, you can even think of passing on your Audible library to your kids. Scribd users might have to plan for their kids’ subscription plans first.

Yet another easy win for Audible.

Device Compatibility

Scribd

• You can access your Scribd account from your computer, smartphone, tablet, and even eBook readers. Here’s a comprehensive list of supported devices
  • iPhone or iPad with iOS 11 onwards.
  • Android smartphones or tablets running Android Lollipop or the latest version of Android OS.
  • Kindle devices running Fire OS or other latest versions.

Audible

• Audible can be accessed from almost any device. Here’s a list of all supported devices
  • All iOS devices
  • All Android devices
  • Kindle Fire and Oasis
  • SanDisk clip jam
  • Victor reader stream
  • Bones milestone 312
  • Alexa devices

Verdict

Of the two applications Audible has way better reach than Scribd.

As Audible can be accessed from smart speakers and smart TVs, it’s easier to use and can be easily accessed by different members of a family.

Audible is again the better choice in this category.

Subscription Options

Scribd

• Scribd comes with a 30-day trial period. Once the trial period expires, you have to opt for a membership in order to continue using their services.
• They have a very simple membership plan which would cost you $9.99.
• The membership plan would allow you to read thousands of books and listen to hundreds of audiobooks. There is no limit to the number of books or audiobooks that you can read or listen to.

Audible

• Audible provides you with a 30-day free trial. During the free trial, you get 1 Audible credit and can access all audiobooks in the Audible Plus category. You can use the Audible credit to buy any premium audiobook title which you can own even after the 30-day trial expires.
• Basically, there are two Audible plans. Namely
  • Audible Plus
  • Audible premium Plus

Audible plus provides you unlimited access to thousands of Audible originals audiobooks and podcasts.

While Audible premium plus provides you all the benefits of Audible plus along with Audible credits which you can use to access, download, and finally own a premium audiobook of your choice.

The following table provides you a detailed breakdown of the different perks that come with each Audible plan.

Verdict

Audible Subscription options are somewhat complex. If your friends haven’t heard of Audible, you may do wise to not start describing the various Audible subscription plans.

To get to know Audible subscription plans, you must visit their website to choose the right plan that meets your literary needs.

On the other hand, the Scribd membership plan is simple and straightforward. They have only one monthly membership plan which allows you to access as many eBooks and audiobooks as you desire.

From a pricing point of view, Scribd would have an upper hand over Audible thanks to the cheaper Scribd price.

Multiple Sign-in Options

Scribd

• You can read or listen to any title on up to 3 different browsers or computers simultaneously within a time window of 24 hours.
• While using the Scribd app you can save your content on up to 4 devices for offline reading and can open any title on up to 6 different devices. If you access Scribd titles on more devices than the limit mentioned above, you would receive a message on your registered email ID regarding the multiple sign-ins.

Audible

• There is no device limit while signing in to Audible.

Verdict

Multiple device sign-in promotes easy accessibility. As Audible doesn’t have any limit to the number of signed-in devices it would be the application of choice for this category.

Other Perks

Scribd

• Apart from their base features, Scribd members can enjoy additional premium services for free. Here are some of the perks for Scribd members –
  • Free Peak Pro membership
  • Free Mubi membership
  • Free curiosity stream membership
  • Free CONtv + Comics membership
  • Free FarFaria membership

Click here to know more about these perks and their respective platforms.

Audible

• Audible being an Amazon product provides some additional perks for Amazon Prime members. If you are a Prime member during the Audible trial period, you would get 2 credits instead of one. Thus, as a Prime member, you can download and own two audiobook titles of your choice during the trial period.
• Once the trial period expires even if you have an Amazon Prime membership it won’t get you any additional benefits.

Verdict

Compared to Audible, Scribd provides amazing perks to its members. On a lighter note, I would opt for Scribd membership just to enjoy its perks.

By opting for a Scribd membership you can check out classic movies from around the globe, watch your favorite documentaries, anime and also read graphic novels.

Even this is an oversimplification of all the additional perks provided by Scribd. Scribd would be the application of choice in this category.

Publishing

Scribd

• Scribd has publishing programs for publishers and independent authors. You can contact their content acquisition team and publishing service providers & distributors to distribute your books through their platforms and earn a commission depending on their popularity. 
• You can also make your content freely available to the public and upload your research and academic papers directly.

Audible

• You need to contact ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) to produce a digital audiobook edition of your book using the Audible marketplace.
• You can choose the narrator and the platforms where you would like to publish your audiobook.
• Currently, ACX is only open to the residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. You can get more details about the process and limitations of audiobook publishing here.

Verdict

Publishing an audiobook can be an arduous process. But as Scribd contains audiobooks, eBooks, and journals, you can find different publishing scopes, unlike Audible.

Scribd allows you to upload and publish free documents simply at the click of a button. A feature that is not available with Audible. I would stick to Scribd for this one.

Also Read: Best Audible Alternatives That You Can Try Today

Conclusion

After reviewing the features of Audible vs Scribd, here’s how both these applications performed –

• Both Scribd and Audible are great audiobook platforms. However, Scribd also allows you to read eBooks, magazines and refer to music sheets.
• Compared to Scribd, Audible boasts of a much larger audiobook.
• Both these applications are supported on all major devices and platforms and can be accessed for their respective mobile apps or right from a web browser.
• Our Audible review showed that it has different subscription plans whose pricing is dictated by the number of audiobooks titles it lets you own. Scribd on the other has only one membership plan which is relatively cheaper than Audible and lets its users read and listen to as many eBooks and audiobooks as they please.
• If an active subscription expires, Audible members can retain their audiobook titles while Scribd members need an active subscription to enjoy their downloaded content.

What Do We Recommend?

After doing a detailed Scribd review and evaluating Scribd vs Audible from a features perspective, here’s what we would suggest –

• If you are only looking for audiobooks → Go for Audible
• If you want to read books, other documents and listen to audiobooks, and don’t mind losing your titles → Go for Scribd

Audible is for those who are specifically looking for audiobooks that they can read and later own. Yes, for voracious readers who are targeting more than one audiobook per month, the subscription plan might be a tad bit intimidating, but we have a solution for that too.

As Audible supports unlimited sign-ins across devices you can share your plan with multiple friends and get to listen to more audiobooks without bleeding cash.

If you don’t want to settle down with only audiobooks, then choosing Scribd would be the wiser option.

Yes, their library isn’t as vast as Audible’s, however you can read and listen to unlimited titles with a fixed membership cost, and I am not even considering the additional perks from different OTT platforms.

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