Updated on July 22nd, 2026
In my How to Read More Books post, I recommended trying out audiobooks, as you can listen to audiobooks while doing chores. However, there are numerous audiobook apps available, from ones that are free to use to ones that require a monthly subscription. In this post, I will be ranking 14 audiobook apps based on the price and features offered. That said, my ranking is subjective.
#14 Podimo
Podimo is a Danish podcast and audiobook subscription service available in a limited number of countries. The countries include Denmark, Germany, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Mexico. They offer 2 different paid plans, and Premium is 99 kr / $15.50 a month for up to 20 listening hours for audiobooks. The Premium plan is more expensive than both the BookBeat Basic Plan and the Mofibo Flex plan, which also offer 20 listening hours a month. The Premium Plus plan is 129 kr / $20 and offers 100 audiobook listening hours. This plan is the same price as BookBeat and Mofibo. You can listen to a small selection of podcasts for free, but most of the podcasts and all the audiobooks are locked behind a paid plan.
I was able to find a few podcasts in English, but all the audiobooks by various authors I searched for were only in Danish. I imagine in other countries, the audiobooks will be in the language of the country you signed up in. Since I could not find a single audiobook in English, I did not even bother signing up for a free trial, and I cannot recommend Podimo if you are looking for English audiobooks.
| Pros | Cons |
| Small selection of free podcasts | Can only listen to audiobooks with a paid plan |
| Premium plan is expensive | |
| Audiobooks only in Danish |
#13 Book of the Month
Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription. Each month, you will receive a credit that you can use to pick one of 5-7 curated hardcover books. However, they also have audiobooks you can use your credit on. If you do not use the credit that month, it will roll over to the next month, but the credits do expire after 12 months. The first month of Book of the Month is $9.99, then the following months are $17.99. I like the concept of Book of the Month because the books are generally from debut authors or are an early release. Also, getting a hardcover for $17.99 is a good price.
However, I do not think it is worth using your credit for an audiobook because $17.99 is a bit high for an audiobook. Also, you only have 5-7 audiobooks you can pick from each month. Furthermore, the hardcover books and audiobooks do not always have the same options each month. For February, only 3 of the audiobooks were the same as the hardcover choices, while the other 3 audiobooks were for different books. Lastly, I have been able to find many of the audiobooks on Libby, which you can listen to for free. For February, I found 5 of the 6 audiobooks on Libby, making it a better option than paying $17.99 for the audiobook.
| Pros | Cons |
| $17.99 is a good price for a hardcover book | $17.99 is a high price for an audiobook |
| Unused credit rolls over to next month | Credits expire after 12 months |
| Many audiobooks available on Libby |
#12 Spotify
Spotify is mainly known for music streaming, but they also have audiobooks. With a free Spotify account, you only have the option to buy audiobooks. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is $20.90, and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is $26.90. These prices are slightly lower than Audible, but I still find them expensive. You can buy Audiobooks Access on Spotify for $9.99 a month. However, you only get 15 listening hours each month. Furthermore, any unused hours expire at the end of the month and do not carry over. Also, listening to an audiobook at 2x speed does not affect the listening time. If a book is 6 hours long and you finish in 3 hours, the 6 hours will be deducted from the time.
On the other hand, the Spotify Premium plan is $11.99 and also includes 15 listening hours for audiobooks. If you already have Spotify Premium, it can be worth checking out their available audiobooks. I do not think the Audiobook Access is worth it when you get the same 15 listening hours with Spotify Premium.
| Pros | Cons |
| Included with Spotify Premium | Audiobook Access is $9.99 per month |
| Only 15 listening hours a month | |
| Unused hours expire at the end of the month | |
| Expensive to buy audiobooks |
#11 Kobo Plus
Kobo has several plans for ebooks and audiobooks, including Kobo Plus Read for ebooks, Kobo Plus Listen for audiobooks, and Kobo Plus Read & Listen for both. Kobo Plus Read and Kobo Plus Listen are 89 kr / $7.99 a month, while Kobo Plus Read & Listen is 129 kr / $9.99 a month. With a subscription, you can read or listen to as many books as you want each month. However, I did have a look at the selection of audiobooks available with Kobo Plus, but the selection is terrible. There are no audiobooks for Emily Henry, Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli, Fredrik Backman, Jenny Han, and other popular authors available to listen to through Kobo Plus. Instead, there is a bunch of romance and fantasy books I have never heard of.
You can purchase audiobooks separately, including The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman for 116,81 kr / $22.99 and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar for 215,84 kr /$24.99. The Thursday Murder Club is $2.74 more expensive than Audible. On the other hand, The Dos and Donuts of Love is $6.84 cheaper than Audible. That said, it seems that purchasing audiobooks on Kobo is the only way to listen to books you are actually interested in, and the subscription is not worth it.
| Pros | Cons |
| Unlimited listening time with a subscription | $7.99 a month for Kobo Plus Listen |
| Terrible selection of audiobooks with the subscription | |
| Do not own audiobooks with subscription | |
| Expensive to purchase audiobooks |
#10 BookBeat
BookBeat is a European-based audiobook subscription service. You can get a free 30-day trial, then afterward, the subscription is 59-129 kr / $8-$18. With the Basic 59 kr / $8 plan, you can listen up to 20 hours. The Standard 99 kr / $13.99 plan allows 50 hours of listening time, and the Premium 129 kr / $18 plan has up to 100 hours. The Basic plan is cheaper than the Mofibo Flex plan, even though both plans allow up to 20 hours of listening. However, the BookBeat Premium plan is the same price as the Mofibo Premium and has 100 hours of listening time a month.
That said, for all BookBeat plans, any unused hours are not saved and will expire at the end of the month. Furthermore, the listening time is not affected by listening speed. If a book is 10 hours long and you listen to it at 2x speed, the 10 hours will be deducted. Lastly, I had trouble finding books I was interested in listening to because they were often only in Danish. For example, BookBeat had a selection of Emily Henry and Lisa Jewell audiobooks, but they were only available in Danish.
I tried a free trial of BookBeat, and I listened to Zero Days by Ruth Ware, which only the ebook is available on Libby. The audiobook is 14 hours long. Therefore, if I had the Basic plan, I would have to find a book that was 6 hours long or start listening to a longer audiobook and wait until next month to finish it. Also, of Ruth Ware’s audiobooks on BookBeat, half were in English, and the other half were in Danish. You do have to consider the country you are in because it will affect the language the audiobooks are available in.
| Pros | Cons |
| 3 different plans | Restricted listening time for all plans |
| The Basic plan is cheaper than the Mofibo Flex plan | Unused hours expire at the end of the month |
| Do not own audiobooks | |
| A limited selection of English audiobooks |
#9 Mofibo (a part of Storytel)
Mofibo is a Danish audiobook and ebook subscription that is a part of Storytel. They do have both Danish and English books, but the selection is similar to BookBeat, where many of the audiobooks are in Danish and not in English. Mofibo has a free 30-day trial, then afterward it is 89-149 kr / $12.50-$21 a month. With the 89 kr Flex subscription, you get 20 hours of listening time. Therefore, you can only listen to 2 books a month if the books are 7-10 hours. Also, it does not matter if you listen to the book at 2x speed. If the book is 8 hours long and you finish it in 4 hours, you will be deducted the 8 hours. If you have any unused hours, they will roll over to the next month. Additionally, you can save up to 100 unused hours.
The Premium plan is 129 kr / $18, and you can listen to up to 100 hours a month. For the 149 kr Unlimited plan, you have unlimited hours so you can listen to all the books you want each month. I did try a free trial of the Unlimited subscription, and it was okay. I finished one book and started another, but the free trial was ending soon, so I cancelled it.
| Pros | Cons |
| 3 different plans | Restricted listening time for Flex and Premium plans |
| The Unlimited plan has unlimited listening hours | Expensive if you do not listen enough |
| Unused hours with Flex plan rollover | Flex plan only 20 hours of listening time |
| Do not own audiobooks |
#8 B&N Audiobooks
Barnes & Noble also has their own audiobook subscription. You can get a free 30-day trial, then afterward, it is $14.99 a month, which is $.04 more than Audible. With the subscription, you get 1 credit a month that you can use on any eligible audiobook. Furthermore, credits are valid for one year while you are an active subscriber, and they expire in 30 days when you cancel. If you are not a subscriber, you can still purchase audiobooks. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is $22.50, and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is $34.99, which is $2-3 more expensive than Audible.
I did try a free trial of B&N Audiobooks, which I used the credit on The Dos and Donuts of Love. B&N Audiobooks does seem like a worse deal than Audible because the subscription is slightly more expensive, but there is no selection of free audiobooks you can listen to.
| Pros | Cons |
| Good selection of audiobooks | $14.99 a month for 1 credit |
| Own audiobooks after purchase | More expensive than Audible |
| Audiobooks expensive without a subscription |
#7 Audible
Audible is one of the most well-known audiobook apps, and it was created by Amazon. I tried the free 30-day trial where you get 1 credit that you can use on any audiobook, and I listened to Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar. Afterward, the subscription is $14.95 a month. You only get 1 book credit per month, so you have to pick wisely what you want to spend the credit on.
They do have “hundreds” of free audiobooks and podcasts you can listen to with the subscription, but they are mainly classics like The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. They also have some Audible Originals that are free to listen to, but I have not been interested in any of the books. If you want to buy a book without a subscription, the prices are quite high. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is $20.25 and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is $31.83.
| Pros | Cons |
| Large selection of audiobooks | Only get 1 credit a month for $14.95 |
| Access to Audible Originals | Small selection of free audiobooks with subscription |
| Own audiobooks after purchase | Audiobooks expensive without a subscription |
#6 Audiobooks.com
Audiobooks.com is $14.95 a month for a subscription, and you get 1 credit for an audiobook and then another credit for a VIP book that is from a curated selection. You can also purchase audiobooks without a subscription, and they often have deals and 2-for-1 audiobooks. However, some audiobooks you can only get with a credit. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman can only be purchased with a credit, while The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is $24.99. With the subscription, you can also listen to “over 10,000” audiobooks that do not cost any credits, but they are mainly classics and books I have never heard of before. Audiobooks.com does seem to be a better deal than Audible because you get 2 books a month for the same price. There are also more audiobooks you can listen to for free with a subscription.
I did try the free trial for Audiobooks.com, and I used the credit on The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I then had the VIP credit to use, and I looked through ALL the categories, but there were no audiobooks I was that interested in. The VIP curated list refreshes every month, but I have not heard of any of the books, nor have I heard of a majority of the authors. There was The Devil Wears Scrubs by Freida McFadden, but when I cancelled the trial, I lost access to the VIP credit audiobook.
| Pros | Cons |
| $14.95 for 1 credit + 1 VIP credit | VIP credits can only be used on a small curated list |
| Large selection of free audiobooks with subscription | VIP audiobooks are removed if you cancel the subscription |
| Better deal than Audible | Some audiobooks can only be bought with a credit |
| Own audiobooks after purchase |
#5 Everand (formerly Scribd)
You can get a free 30-day trial of Everand, and then it is $9.99 a month. Everand has ebooks and audiobooks you can borrow, and you can read and listen to as many books as you want each month. However, the selection does seem comparable to Libby. Both Everand and Libby do not have The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman or The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar. Everand does not have There There by Tommy Orange or The Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern, which Libby has the audiobooks for. However, Everand has the audiobook and ebook for The Winners by Fredrik Backman while Libby only has the ebook. Furthermore, Everand has the audiobook for Normal People by Sally Rooney, and Libby has the ebook.
Everand might be worth looking into if there is an audiobook you want to listen to that you cannot find on Libby. I also like that you are not limited by credits such as with other audiobook subscriptions, but I definitely recommend checking out Libby first!
| Pros | Cons |
| $9.99 a month | Only borrow audiobooks |
| Unlimited listening time | Selection comparable to Libby |
#4 Libro.fm
With Libro.fm, you pick a local bookstore to support with your audiobook subscription. You then get one credit a month for €12,99 / $13.70, and additional audiobook purchases are 30% off. If you do not use your credit, it will roll over to the next month, and the credits never expire. Libro.fm does share the profit with the bookstore you chose, but I could not find the percentage on the website. However, I did see on the American Booksellers Association website that bookstores get 15% of à la carte purchases and 10% of membership payments from Libro.fm. Non-member prices of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is €17,01 / $18, and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is €24,26 / $25.50. The prices are lower than Audible, and the subscription also seems better because you are actually supporting a local bookstore instead of Amazon.
I did sign up for one month of Libro.fm to try it out, and I was able to receive 2 free audiobooks for a total of 3 credits. I decided to use the credits on Funny Story and Happy Place by Emily Henry and The Only One Left by Riley Sager. Emily Henry is one of my favorite romance authors, but neither of these books is available on Libby. I have also been wanting to read another Riley Sager book, and this one was recommended to me. I am happy that I was able to support an independent bookstore with my purchase of a subscription.
| Pros | Cons |
| Supports a local bookstore | €12,99 a month for 1 credit |
| 30% off additional audiobooks with subscription | |
| Prices are cheaper than Audible | |
| Own audiobook after purchase |
#3 LibriVox
LibriVox has over 20,000 free audiobooks you can listen to. LibriVox is run by volunteers who will record audiobooks that are available in the public domain. Since the books are in the public domain, the audiobooks are for older books and classics from authors like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I listened to the beginning of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and it had a full cast of narrators. The main narrators were good, but a couple of the minor narrators did not have as good a quality.
However, I did listen to The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, which was narrated by Elizabeth Klett, and she was great. I do have to mention that the LibriVox app has ads, and every other chapter of The Turn of the Screw had a short ad play. Considering that LibriVox is free to use and run by volunteers, I did not mind the short ad break. If you have been wanting to listen to a classic book, LibriVox is worth looking into.
| Pros | Cons |
| All audiobooks free to listen to | Only public-domain books |
| Large selection of audiobooks | Audiobooks can vary in quality |
| Unlimited listening time | Short ads while listening to an audiobook |
#2 Chirp
With Chirp, you create a free account and select the genres you are interested in. You will then be able to get limited-time deals on audiobooks. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is $14.99, and The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar is $32.99, but neither is on sale. However, you can find audiobooks for as low as $0.99. I decided to purchase The Lying Game by Ruth Ware for $7.99 on Chirp, as the audiobook is not available on Libby. There is also a selection of free audiobooks that are curated by Chirp editors. The free audiobooks are mainly romance, mystery, and fantasy. I have never heard of any of the free audiobooks, but a few did catch my eye, like The Guy at the Wedding by Katherine Center. Chirp can be worth making a free account for and seeing if the audiobook you want is on sale.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free to join | Audiobook may not be on sale |
| Access to great deals | Deals limited-time |
| Selection of free audiobooks | |
| Own audiobook after purchase |
#1 Libby
I wrote a post on Libby because I honestly find it the best app for audiobooks. The app is completely free to use. With Libby, you find your library and sign in with your library card. From there, you can search for audiobooks, and if there is an available copy, you can loan the audiobook and listen to it right away.
However, Libby does have a limited number of copies available for each audiobook. Therefore, popular audiobooks can have a long wait time. You can put audiobooks on hold and be notified when it is available. Libby does have a large selection of audiobooks, but they do not have The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman or The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar. However, I have been able to listen to numerous audiobooks from authors like Emily Henry, Katherine Center, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Alice Oseman, Fredrik Backman, Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli, Jenny Han, Alice Feeney, Riley Sager, and more.
Before you purchase an audiobook through a different app, I suggest looking on Libby first. Libby may have the audiobook and save you money. If they do not have the audiobook, then I recommend looking on Chirp or getting a subscription for Libro.fm or Audiobooks.com. I also want to mention that BorrowBox, Hoopla, and CloudLibrary are similar to Libby where you can borrow audiobooks (and ebooks) with your library card. However, my library is not part of them, so I cannot try them out.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free to use with a library card | Only borrow audiobooks |
| Large selection of audiobooks | Can be long wait times |
| Unlimited listening time |
I love listening to audio books on Spotify and sometimes on YouTube. Book Beat sounds like a good one. Thank you for sharing.
Spotify is a good option if you already have Premium. I didn’t know there were audiobooks on YouTube! Is there a specific channel on YouTube that has them?
I don’t tend to listen to audiobooks as I prefer seeing the words in front of me rather than listening, but these sound like great audiobook apps! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
I like sitting down to read too, but it is nice to listen to an audiobook while doing chores!
This is such a great breakdown! I recently got Spotify Premium and I’ve started listening to some audiobooks there. It sucks how the unused minutes don’t carry over though. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! That’s great you have Spotify Premium, and I do think it’s nice that there are 15 hours included. However, it is annoying that any unused time expires.
thanks for your details, have a nice weekend
You’re welcome!
I love LIbby! I use it for listening on my commute. Our library has such a great selection of audiobooks!
That’s great to hear! Libby is the best!
This is such a helpful post. I love how you’ve listed the pros and cons in tables. Since becoming a mum, I’ve definitely found audio books more enjoyable because I don’t often get the time to just sit quietly and read an actual book.
You’re welcome! When my daughter was a baby, I didn’t have the time either to just sit down and read, so that’s great you can listen to audiobooks.
I don’t listen to audiobooks for the same reason that I don’t listen to podcasts (generally), I have a hard time paying attention to them, and I will just start tuning it out. So, I don’t have a favorite app for audiobooks tbh. Plus part of reading for me is being immersed in the words, and someone else’s voice gets in the way of that for me personally tbh.
That’s understandable! I can’t sit and listen to audiobooks because my mind will wander, but if I’m doing chores, I can focus on the audiobook.
I do enjoy sitting down to read too, but I understand that audiobooks are not for everyone.
I have been looking for audio book apps, never knew they were so many. I guess I’d have to try some you’ve reviewed according to my location.
http://www.benitajames.com
There are a lot of options for audiobooks! I recommend starting with Libby as it seems to be the most universal app used by libraries. However, your library may also use BorrowBox, Hoopla, or CloudLibrary, so it’s worth looking into.
I absolutely loved reading this! Libby is also my favorite platform for audiobooks and e-books – I don’t know what I’d do without it! One of my local libraries also uses an app called Cloud Library, which doesn’t have as big of a selection as Libby, but has less wait time for most books. I also like Spotify for the free 15 hours with premium, but the time restriction can be annoying! Thanks for sharing this great post!
https://melissakacar.com
Libby is the best!
I haven’t heard of Cloud Library, but that’s great there’s less wait time. I just checked, and they don’t have any libraries in Denmark and my parent’s library in Montana is also not on there.
I do think it’s nice that Spotify includes 15 hours with Premium, but yea I occasionally listen to books that are 12-14 hours long, so I could only listen to that 1 book.
Very interesting. I didn’t know there were so many app options. I tried Audible but kept forgetting to listen to the books I bought. I really didn’t like a few of the books that had different readers for the different characters. That’s just a movie without the pictures.
There are a ton of options! I did the free trial of Audible some time ago, and I only recently listened to the audiobook 😅
I prefer when audiobooks have 1 narrator too unless the book is dual perspective then it is nice having 2 narrators for each perspective.
Libby is my app of choice too! I’m a patient reader and don’t mind waiting a bit to listen to a book to save $ .
That’s great to hear! I don’t mind waiting either because I can always find another audiobook on Libby to listen to in the meantime.
I had no idea that there were so many to choose from! Thanks for sharing all the pros and cons of each!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
There are a lot of choices, and while working on this post, I found a few more including one that focuses on podcasts, but they also have audiobooks and another one that is just summaries of audiobooks. You’re welcome!
I don’t listen to audio books because my reading time is curled up in bed before lights out – but if I did, I might try Audible because we already subscribe for music. That said, Libby sounds like it’s definitely worth a look too!
It is great reading in the evenings, and I do that too! However, it is also nice to listen to audiobooks while cooking or cleaning.
Audible is a good choice if there is an audiobook you want to listen to that you cannot find on a free-to-use app like Libby. Libby is the best because you can listen to all the books you want without paying a monthly subscription.