The demand for audiobooks has significantly increased with the development of various electronic equipment on the market. Meanwhile, people are looking for a great way to fit more books into their life, so they like to pick up an audiobook for easy listening more and more. And the appearance of various audiobooks has saved a trip to the library and built up a sizeable library from the comfort of our computer or smartphone for us.
A number of audiobook platforms like Audible, Apple, Audiobook and more offers us an unbeatable choice of optionally choosing various audiobooks and pleasantly listening to them at home or on the move. At the same time, these audiobook platforms launch various services for us to choose from. Here is the detailed review to help you find the best audiobook services on the market.
Best Audiobook Services: Premium Subscription
1. Audible
Earn the position at the top of the audiobooks in the world with the abundant book resource
Audible has more than 200,000 titles available, giving it the best selection of the audiobook services. Titles on Audible include new release from major publishers and more obscure titles. It is easy for you to find something you like, while you can swap any audiobooks free of charge and for any reason if you change your mind.
Except for their tens of thousands of books to choose from, there are great audiobook subscription service for customers from different regions. Before paying subscription, there is also a 30-day trial which means you can get your first book free of charge. Or you can also buy your favorite audiobook without paid subscription, but this is rather more expensive.
2. Apple Books
A large selection of audiobooks for reader to choose from especially popular books
Apple Books has a large selection of audiobooks, particularly rich in popular books. There are as many titles and popular titles as Audible on the Apple Books. The store has been divided into several parts like top charts, recent bestsellers or more for easy selection. The highlight is its sleep timer which allows you to set a specific time for playback to automatically stop.
Not like Audible, iTunes does not launch a membership program, so this is great for those people readers who read book occasionally. But the average cost per book is a littler high in the Apple Books than most of the others. On average, you need to charge $4 more per book than other stores. But it is more convenient for those listeners who don't listen to audiobook every day to purchase audiobook in single.
3. Scribd
A great place to view raw documents as well as a ton of magazines books
Apple Books has a large selection of audiobooks, particularly rich in popular books. There are as many titles and popular titles as Audible on the Apple Books. The store has been divided into several parts like top charts, recent bestsellers or more for easy selection. The highlight is its sleep timer which allows you to set a specific time for playback to automatically stop.
Not like Audible, iTunes does not launch a membership program, so this is great for those people readers who read book occasionally. But the average cost per book is a littler high compared with the price on other audiobook services.
4. Libro.fm
A place for all listener s to buy audiobooks through the local bookstore
Libro.fm distinguishes itself from Audible in that all the audiobooks are sold DRM-free. Most of audiobooks that you want to read can be found on its library. The most important point is that digital audiobooks are available in its independent stores. It's easy for customers to achieve various which they want to read.
Libro.com supports the service of both independent bookstore and premium subscription. All listeners can choose the subscription plan that you can only spend one credit to purchase every month while you can also choose your local independent bookstore or any other participating service. The first month of service offered by Libro.fm is free.
5. Downpour
Premium audiobooks from one of the biggest produces around
Downpour has around 70,000 titles available for download, which is less than half of what Audible carries. Browsing for new titles on Downpour is easy for all listeners. It is still dedicated to produce many audiobooks and offer an impressive selection of titles. While browsing, you can refer to reader review to decide whether to purchase a book.
However, the membership launched by Downpour is easy to use which beats Audible in some way. The credit system is adopted by Downpour which means that you pay subscription per month and you can get one credit to spend each month with your membership. Otherwise, more credits can be purchased on Downpour which make you can freely purchase more audiobooks whenever you like.
Best Audiobook Services: Free Option
1. Overdrive
A rich collection of libraries for users to rent and enjoy audiobooks for free
OverDrive offers another way for users to rent and enjoy audiobooks for free from the local library which has a digital media lending system. Users can borrow titles from the collection of libraries any time. It is a totally free alternative to Audible. All you need is a student card or library card.
Besides that, users can also create a wishlist etc. and return the audiobooks in an easy way. Finally, it supports cross-device syncing, allowing you to listen to audiobooks flexibly on multiple devices.
2. Hoopla
A free place for readers to achieve their favorite books free of charge
Hoopla is completely free, which is a great advantage compared with other audiobook services. All users can access various audiobooks they want to by connecting their library card to their local library's online offering.
Much like OverDrive, Hoopla provides all users with various service, so they can view all kinds of media from different libraries you have, and the content list includes audiobooks, eBooks and music, as well as TV shows and movies, just similar to iTunes.
3. LibriVox
A brilliant selection of public domain audiobooks to download free
In contrast to Audible, the most advantage of LibriVox is complete free of charge. In some way, this means that you would face less options in the aspects of book resource because the library of title is rather smaller than Audible's and the latest bestsellers will not be offered as soon as possible.
Ignoring its limited library, there are still thousands of audiobooks to choose from. All audiobooks available here are now out of copyright, so you have enough right to transfer them to any device you want after downloading. The quality of audiobooks on LibriVox varies because their book resource is provided by volunteers from around the world.
More Auxiliary Service Created by ViWizard
All audiobooks downloaded from Audible are saved in the format of AAX or AA protected by the digital right management (DRM). It means that all Audible users cannot freely read or listen to their Audible audiobooks on other devices not supported by Audible even though they have paid money.
If we want to play these Audible audiobooks on our other electronic equipment, the most thing is to remove all DRM protection from Audible audiobooks. ViWizard Audible audiobook converter, ViWizard DRM Audio Converter and TunesKit Audio Capture are all professional software for removing DRM protection and converting AAX to mp3 or other plain formats. Read more about how to convert AAX to mp3 losslessly with ViWizard.
Nick Orin is a review writer, software geek and Mac OS enthusiast. He spends all his free time in searching useful software and gadgets to share with others.
