Although reading is very important to enrich our knowledge, it is getting harder to dedicate time to read with our busy daily routine in hand. This made me very interested in Audiobooks. It helped me be a multitasker. Listen to, or call it “read”, books while cleaning my home, cooking, or even driving.
Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s largest audiobook and e-book streaming services. For titles available offline, a huge range of Dutch audiobooks and a high-quality app.App Store score
4,7/5,0
Google Play score
4,5/5,0
€ 5,50
pro/month
I am not saying that listening to books should replace reading, but it is a good option when reading is not possible. To me, comparing “reading” with “listening” to books is like someone asking “Should I drink coffee or eat a banana?”. Both are two different things. While coffee is a good option after you wake up, banana is best while playing tennis.
I found listening to audiobooks is a good way to get hooked up into listening and learning more. So I wanted to write this blog so I can tell you everything I know about the 5 Best Audiobook Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android Smartphones.
The prices mentioned in my blog may change by the time you are reading. So I linked the prices to the prospective company page where you can verify the latest prices.
Before I jump in, I have to let you know that my blog is part of Amazon and Viglink affiliate marketing programs. This means that I may earn a commission when you use my links to sign up. You won’t pay more, but I will earn a small commission that will help me keep blogging.
Affiliate marketing is used by small as well as big companies, such as Forbes or The New York Times, to earn money. If you would like to learn more about creating passive income, check out the audiobook I added by the end of this blog. It will give you a full idea about affiliate marketing and how can you make money blogging.
Let’s get started with the Best Audiobook Apps I downloaded.
1- Audible by Amazon
Audible is mainly a subscription service. They’re owned by Amazon. This makes it easier if you already have an account with Amazon. All you have to do is open up an account on Audible using your existing Amazon account and then they’ll give you book credits every month that you can redeem for any book.
One of the benefits of Audible is that they are a ginormous library. 9 out of 10 times, I find what I am looking for when I search for a book using their application.
Unlike iTunes and Spotify, once you redeem a credit you get to keep the book forever even if you cancel your subscription. This is great because every single book you own with Audible is yours to keep forever and they’re all backed up by Amazon Cloud.
As I mentioned Audible provides a subscription service, but non-members can still buy books. The benefit of being a member, that books will be a lot cheaper.
Audible subscription starts at 14.95 dollars a month and this will get you 1 credit per month. 1 credit means 1 book regardless of the price of the book.
If you look at just one Harry Potter Audiobook, they are over 30 dollars. With the $14.95-plan subscription, you will get it for 1 credit.
This plan is only worth it if you’re just into one book a month. But if you want more than that, they’ve got other options that offer an even better value. You can pay an upfront yearly fee of $230 and they’ll give you 24 credits which end up being less than 10 dollars a book.
Or you can pay an upfront $150 and they’ll give you twelve books. So if you’ve got the cash upfront these options are the best because they’ll give you all the credits at once and you don’t have to wait for them to roll out every single month.
This table shows the rates as of April, 23. Check the latest from here.
With Audible, if you’re a new subscriber, they’ll give you two free audiobooks just for signing up.
This is how I started listening to audiobooks. I tried the first free book, then I decided I need to stay with them.
The good thing here is that, if you decide not to be with Audible anymore you still get to keep these two books. They will be yours forever. You’ll always have access to the books you redeemed even if you’re not subscribed.
Sometimes Audible will throw in a random pre-selected books that you can just get for free.
One more thing I like about Audible, that if you purchased a book that you don’t like you can return it. But Audible offers this feature for honest book readers. As long as you’re not abusing the system you can return about three audiobooks a year.
The last point I want to mention about Audible, Is that their app is very user-friendly good for mobile reading. You can listen to a sample before spending credit purchasing the book.
You may download the audiobook after you purchase it, so you can listen to it when you are offline. You also can change the speed of the narration up to 3.5x and fast-forward or rewind for 30 seconds.
Audible Mobile Apps
You’d need to signup before you can download books and listen using the APP
2- Audiobooks.com by RBmedia
Audiobooks.com is one of the biggest players in this field and one of the Best Audiobook Apps. They offer more than 150,000 Audiobooks. More than 8,000 can be downloaded for free.
They offer 2 books every month for a subscription fee of $14.95. In addition to that, they recently launched a program called “VIP Rewards”. Which gives you one free book every month. They are saying this is their way of saying “Thank you” for staying as a member.
How does the VIP Rewards program work?
At the beginning of each month, the VIP Rewards page refreshes, giving you a different book selection you choose from. You select a book every month and keep as long as you are a member.
Audiobooks.com offers a free trial of 3 books for 30-days. then you can either cancel, so you don’t pay or stay a member and download 2 books a month.
Same as Audible, Their app is very intuitive and easy to use. You can adjust the narration speed and chat with the customer service right through the app.
Audiobooks.com Mobile Apps
You’d need to signup before you can download books and listen using the APP
3- audiobooksnow by booklender
Although audiobooksnow is relatively new, they have over 40,000 audiobooks on their platform.
They also offer 30 days free trial to get your first book and then $4.99 per month thereafter. Looks cheap ha! but in fact, this will not give you a full book each month like the others. It will give you discounts on each book you purchase.
Their plan, called Club Pricing Plan, will give you around 35-40% discounts on each audiobook you purchase.
Here is a comparison between some books from their website with and without the “Club Pricing Plan”.
audiobooksnow free app gives you the option to either listen to the books using your smartphone or the computer.
Audiobooksnow Mobile Apps
You’d need to signup before you can download books and listen using the APP
4- Scribd
Scribd was launched in 2007 as the first open publishing platform and entered the audiobook world in 2014.
The first noticeable difference with Scribd is the price. They offer access to all the audiobooks they have with a subscription fee of $8.99 a month which is much cheaper than Audible and Audiobooks.com. But with Scribd, you won’t be able to keep your audiobooks after you leave them.
Although Scribd has less selection than Audible and Audiobooks.com, they still have a pretty neat selection covering most categories.
So, if you are not looking for the latest books, best sellers or something specific, Scribd is worth the shot. They have so much helpful content worth trying using their 30-day free trial.
As a member, they’ll give you access not just to audiobooks, but also to newspapers, ebooks and magazines.
A lot of the major book titles that you’ll see in Scribd have snapshots, so you can scan them faster and listen to a sample if you’re just kind of looking for a general overview. That is why I wanted to add it to my list as one of the Best Audiobook Apps I used.
If you are not looking for the latest books, best sellers or something specific, Scribd is worth the shot. They have so much helpful content worth trying using their 30-day free trial.
Scribd Mobile Apps
You’d need to signup before you can download books and listen using the APP
5-Kobo by Rakuten
Kobo is one of the large ebooks and audiobooks companies that has been there since 2009.
The mobile app is very easy to use. It allows you to change the speed up to 2.75x. Also, you can listen to a sample before purchasing any book, and gives you the option to fast forward or wind back, even for the sample. Fast-forwarding/wind-back the sample feature is not there with the Audible app. Sometimes when I listen to a sample, I need to re-play just the last 30 seconds. With Audible, you’ll have to start over the sample from the beginning.
Kobo offers a 30-day trial to get your first audiobook for free and then $12.99 a month if you deiced to stay with them. This will give you an audiobook every month.
Kobo Mobile Apps
You’d need to signup before you can download books and listen using the APP
Final thoughts
If you are new to audiobooks, why not take advantage of the free plans they are offering? Try their applications and see the selection each of them has. This will give you an insight into their services and see which you’d feel comfortable with.
If you are all in and want to have endless source of audiobooks, here is what I suggest:
Go with the Gold Plan from Audible ($14.95/month) plus the subscription plan from Scribd of $8.99/month.
This will give you access to the latest premium, highest-ranked books offered by Audible in addition to the full access to the wide range of books offered by Scribd. This costs almost the same as the 2-credit plan from Audible, but it will give you an infinite amount of quality audiobooks.
How do I make money blogging?
You might be thinking, how do I make money from a blog like this one, Best Audiobook Apps. It is simple. You write about something that you are interested in. Provide valuable information to your readers. include links that will connect them to the services you are describing. And when they use your links to get this service, you receive a commission. That is called “affiliate marketing”.
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