Absolutely. If your main goal is to listen to more books without paying around $15 per title, there are several strong alternatives depending on what you're looking for.
Here are some of the best options:
| Service | Cost | Best for |
|---|
| Libby | Free (with a library card) | New bestsellers and popular audiobooks |
| Hoopla | Free (with participating library) | Audiobooks, ebooks, comics, movies |
| LibriVox | Free | Classic literature |
| Spotify Premium | Included with some Premium plans | Limited audiobook hours each month |
| Everand | Monthly subscription | Unlimited-style access to many audiobooks |
| Chirp Books | Pay per book (often $2–8) | Frequent audiobook sales with no subscription |
1. Libby (my top recommendation)
If you have a public library card, this is often the best value available.
Pros:
- Free audiobooks
- Major publishers
- Bestsellers
- No monthly fee
- Download for offline listening
The only downside is that popular books can have waitlists, similar to borrowing physical library books.
Many libraries offer Hoopla alongside Libby.
Unlike Libby:
- Many titles are available immediately.
- Borrowing is usually limited to a certain number of titles each month.
It's also great if you enjoy graphic novels, movies, and TV shows.
Perfect if you enjoy classics like:
- Pride and Prejudice
- Dracula
- Frankenstein
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The recordings are made by volunteers, so narration quality varies, but it's completely free.
If you're already paying for Spotify Premium, check whether your plan includes audiobook listening hours. In many regions, eligible individual Premium plans include a monthly allotment of audiobook listening time, making it a nice bonus if you don't listen constantly.
This subscription service has a large catalog of ebooks and audiobooks for one monthly fee. Heavy listeners often find it much cheaper than buying individual Audible titles, though availability may vary.
Instead of a subscription:
- Buy only the books you want.
- Sales frequently drop audiobooks to just a few dollars.
- You keep the books you purchase.
It's especially worthwhile if you only listen to a handful of audiobooks each month.
If you still like Audible
If you enjoy Audible's exclusive content, there are ways to reduce the cost:
- Pause your membership instead of canceling.
- Buy discounted credit bundles when offered.
- Watch for sitewide sales where many titles are heavily discounted.
For most readers, the best combination is:
- Libby for current bestsellers and popular titles.
- Chirp for inexpensive purchases when you don't want to wait.
- LibriVox for classic literature.
- Spotify if audiobook hours are already included in your existing Premium plan.
That combination can give you dozens of audiobooks a year while spending little or nothing.
