Is Libby worth it?

Libby is the best free way to listen to audiobooks, and anyone with a library card should have it installed. The app is simple, the audiobook player has everything you need, and it costs nothing. The catch is waiting. New releases and bestsellers often have long hold lists, and you can’t keep anything you borrow. That’s why many listeners pair Libby with one paid service for the books they want right away.

How Libby works

• Get the app. Download Libby on iPhone, iPad or Android, or use it in your web browser at libbyapp.com.
• Add your library card. Find your library in the app and sign in with your card number and PIN. Some libraries let you sign up for a card right inside Libby.
• Borrow or place a hold. If a copy is free, tap Borrow and start listening. If not, place a hold and Libby will tell you roughly how long the wait is.
• Listen, then let it return itself. Stream the audiobook or download it for offline listening. When the loan ends, it returns automatically, so there are never late fees.

Your loans, holds, listening position and bookmarks sync across your devices, and you can add more than one library card if you have them.

How to get a library card

Your local public library will give you a free card if you live in its area. Many let you apply online, and some let you sign up for a digital card right inside Libby with your phone number, so you can start borrowing the same day. If you already have a card but don’t know your PIN, try the last four digits of your card number or phone number, or ask your library.

You aren’t limited to your own town’s library, either. Some libraries offer cards to non-residents, usually for an annual fee, and a second card means a second collection and more copies of popular books. Here’s a list of US public libraries with non-resident borrowing privileges. Check each library’s website for current fees and rules.

How is Libby free?

Your library pays for the audiobooks and ebooks in Libby, just as it pays for the print books on its shelves. Libraries license digital copies from publishers, and most copies can only be lent to one person at a time. That’s the reason popular titles have waiting lists, and why the selection differs from one library to the next.

That’s also why there’s no Libby free trial: there’s nothing to pay for once the trial would end.

Listening to audiobooks in Libby

The audiobook player covers everything most listeners need:

• Playback speed from 0.6x to 3x, set for one book or for all your audiobooks.
• A sleep timer for the end of a chapter or for 5 to 120 minutes.
• Bookmarks, notes and a chapter list, plus a timeline you can drag to jump around the book.
• Offline listening. By default, loans download automatically when you’re on Wi-Fi.
• In the car with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto or Bluetooth.

You can also listen to a free sample before you borrow, which is a good way to check whether you like the narrator.

Loans, holds and wait times

Each library sets its own rules, but this is how it usually works:

• Loans last 7, 14 or 21 days. You can often choose the length when you borrow.
• You can renew a few days before the due date, as long as nobody else is waiting for the book. If they are, you go back on the hold list.
• Holds show an estimated wait. When your hold is ready, you get a notification and a few days to borrow it.
• Not ready yet? Suspend the hold. Suspending keeps your place in line and passes the copy to the next person. This replaced the old “Deliver Later” option in late 2025. You now unsuspend a hold when you’re ready, and holds suspended for a full year are cancelled.
• Borrowing limits vary. Many libraries allow around 10 loans and 10 holds at a time.

To cut down on waiting, filter your library’s collection by “Available now,” keep a few holds going at once, and add a second library card if you have access to one. With more than one card, you can give each library its own color in Libby so you can tell at a glance where a loan came from, and Libby shows how many loans and holds you have at each library, which helps you pick the one with room. Some libraries also offer “skip the line” copies of popular titles that you can borrow right away for a shorter loan.

Don’t want to wait at all? Check whether your library also offers Hoopla, another free library app. Most Hoopla titles can be borrowed instantly with no hold list, and audiobooks are usually yours for 21 days. The catch is a monthly borrowing limit set by your library, often somewhere around 5 to 10 titles. Some libraries also use other apps, such as cloudLibrary or Palace, instead of or alongside Libby, so it’s worth checking your library’s website to see everything your card gets you.

Finding your next listen

Libby makes browsing easy. You can filter by format to see only audiobooks, then narrow by genre, language, availability or first in a series. When I filtered one of my libraries’ audiobooks by “Available now,” almost 5,000 titles came up, so there’s always something you can start today. Libraries also put together curated lists and guides, a bit like the display tables at the front of a bookstore. Tags let you save books for later, and a tag like “wishlist” is a simple way to keep track of what you want next.

Libby also added Inspire Me in 2025, an AI feature that suggests books from your own library’s collection based on a prompt or the titles you’ve saved. It’s optional, and the regular search and filters work as they always have.

Pros and cons

Libby vs. paid audiobook services

Libby is the best place to start, but a paid service makes sense if you want new releases straight away or want to keep the books you listen to. Here’s how Libby compares with the paid services we recommend most.

Swipe the table to see every column.

A good setup for most people is Libby for older titles and backlist favorites, plus one paid service for the new releases you don’t want to wait for.

• Audible: the biggest catalog and the most exclusives. The current offer is 3 months of Audible Standard for $0.99 a month. See Audible’s current offer
• Libro.fm: DRM-free audiobooks you own, and your local bookstore gets a share. Use the code AUDIOBOOKADDICTS for a bonus audiobook when you start a monthly membership. Try Libro.fm
• Chirp: no subscription, just discounted audiobooks you keep. Get 30% off your first purchase. Get 30% off at Chirp

See every option side by side in my best audiobook services compared, or more ways to listen for nothing in my guide to free audiobooks.