Audiobooks.com is one of the leading providers of audiobooks and other spoken-word content. This Audiobooks.com review covers my experience with the service and its 30-day free trial offer.
How does Audiobooks.com work? What do you get with the Audiobooks.com free trial? What are the differences between Audiobook.com and Audible? In this guide, I’ll answer these questions and more to answer the all-important question: is Audiobooks.com worth it?
Quick Summary
Audiobooks.com is a subscription service with a large catalog of 450,000+ premium titles, an excellent app, and curated book lists all of which make it easy to find a great listen.
Overall, I think Audiobooks.com is a great choice for quality audio storytelling. You can try the service with its 30-day free trial with 3 free audiobooks.
Click here to try Audiobooks.com for free.
How Audiobooks.com Works
Audiobooks.com is an online audiobook service that has successfully operated since 2011. Audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content can be purchased individually, or under a subscription model where you receive credits with an Audiobooks.com membership.
Audiobooks.com has a large catalog of over 450,000 premium audiobooks. You can download or stream audiobooks on your smartphone or tablet with the Audiobooks.com apps for iOS and Android. There is an Audiobooks.com free trial that lets you try the service for 30 days.
If you’re thinking this service sounds very similar to Audible, you’d be right. As I learned through the free trial, though, Audiobooks.com does differentiate itself from Audible in some interesting ways (we cover this in detail further below).
The Audiobooks.com App
Audiobooks.com offers apps for iOS and Android. My experience with the iOS version for my iPhone is that the Audiobooks.com app is very good for listening to audiobooks. The app has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 based on 50,000+ ratings in the US App Store so it seems most other users agree:
Audiobooks.com app features include:
Offline access. Whether you’re on an airplane or in an area without network coverage, you can enjoy any previously-downloaded audiobooks that are saved to your device, since playing downloaded books doesn’t use data or require an internet connection.
Customizable narration speed. With the Audiobooks.com app you can adjust the playback speed to your liking (0.5x to 2x). For example, if a narrator is not relaying information fast enough you may wish to speed it up to 1.5x or 2x.
Sleep timer. Before falling asleep, you can select an amount of time you’d like the audiobook to continue playing. After that time has elapsed, your audiobook will pause and you can nod off without worrying that your book is going to keep playing and you’ll lose your spot.
Bookmarks. If there’s a section of the book you’d like to recall or make note of, hit the orange flag icon in the app. You can leave your thoughts about the time you’re on, which gets saved to My Notes. You can navigate to the My Notes section from the main menu.
Connect to a device. Want to play your audiobook through a device nearby? If you tap the speaker icon in the app you will launch a pop-up asking you to select the device you’d like to connect to. Plus, you can control that specific device’s volume from this pop-up as well.
Audiobooks.com Benefits
Signing up with Audiobooks.com is quick and easy. Sign-up options include email, Google, Apple, and Amazon. There are also multiple payment options, including Paypal, which I appreciate.
Once signed up, I dived into using the service and discovered membership comes with a number of benefits:
Great selection. Audiobooks.com has an impressive library of 450,000+ premium titles. I liked the way they make it easy to find a great listen with various book lists, including a list called ‘Perfect First Listens’:
Other lists include: New York Times Best Sellers, Books With Buzz, Bestselling Audiobooks of All Time, and many more.
Additional content. Members can access a curated selection of VIP selections, audio news, audio magazines, and sleep & meditation audio content:
Podcasts. You can listen to over 100+ million free podcast episodes on the Audiobooks.com app. Note: Audiobooks.com does not produce any podcasts, so you can find these episodes elsewhere. You do, however, get a convenient way to find and listen to podcasts with the app.
Member sales. Audiobooks.com offers members exclusive discounts and 2-for-1 deals. Audiobook and genre selections are updated every month. Browse current Audiobooks.com deals.
Family Plan. With the Audiobooks.com family plan, you can add two family members to your account and they’ll be able to add their own bookmarks and notes so they don’t interfere with your audiobook progress.
These are all great benefits but it is not really until I come across Audiobook Clubs that Audiobooks.com starts to distinguish itself from the competition.
Audiobook Clubs
Audiobook Clubs are a unique offering from Audiobooks.com where you can join one of 8 clubs for 30 days of unlimited listening to thousands of bestselling and classic audiobooks. These clubs include:
- “Best of” Audiobook Club
- Romance Audiobook Club
- Mystery & Thriller Audiobook Club
- Sci-Fi & Fantasy Audiobook Club
- Health & Wellness Audiobook Club
- Business & Economics Audiobook Club
- Kids Audiobook Club
- Religion & Spirituality Audiobook Club
The way Audiobook Clubs work is that you can use your monthly credit to either:
- Access one of over 450,000 audiobooks from the entire catalog, or
- Join one of 8 Audiobook Clubs for 30 days of unlimited listening to the hundreds of audiobooks in your chosen club.
Once your 30 days of unlimited access expires, you choose how to spend your next credit. You can renew your unlimited access to the same Audiobook Club, try a different genre by selecting another Club, or use your monthly credit as normal to choose from the selection of more than 450,000 audiobooks.
Would you like to try Audiobooks.com? Follow this link to get the Audiobooks.com free trial.
Audiobooks.com Pricing
Audiobooks.com costs $14.95 USD per month for one credit with its standard membership.
You can purchase a single (or multiple) top-up credit(s) easily as needed. Audiobooks.com also offers 2 and/or 3 credits per month subscription plans.
Another option is to pre-pay for your Audiobooks.com membership. Currently, you can purchase a 12-month Audiobooks.com membership for $149.40 USD which will save you $30 vs. paying monthly.
Click here to try Audiobooks.com free for 30 days.
Audiobooks.com vs. Audible
Audible and Audiobooks.com have a lot in common but I did find some key differences between the two:
Amazon. Perhaps the first thing to point out is that Audible is an Amazon company. The benefit of this is Audible has WhisperSync for Kindle Users and easily works with Alexa-enabled devices. However, if you don’t like the business practices of Audible then Audiobooks.com makes a great alternative to Audible.
Selection. Each service has a large library of audiobooks. Audible does, however, have more content owing to it having original and exclusive content (including original podcasts). This being said, I think Audiobooks.com does a better job of helping you find a great title with its curated booklists.
Refunds. Audible has a very user-friendly refund policy that allows you to return or exchange a title via the website or app. Returning a book with Audiobooks.com is possible but not quite so easy; you’ll need to contact customer support and requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Unlimited listening. Both Audible and Audiobooks.com offers unlimited listening in different ways. Audible members on the monthly Premium Plus plan get 1 credit a month to buy any title from the entire premium selection to keep, plus access to the Plus Catalog (a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts). With Audiobooks.com you will need to spend 1 credit to get unlimited listening but this may still be the better option for you if an Audiobook Club has many titles you want to listen to.
Pricing. Both the Audible Premium Plus and Audiobooks.com monthly plans cost $14.95 USD at the current time.
Audiobook.com vs. Audible comparison table
| Audiobooks.com | Audible | |
| Membership / Monthly | $14.95 USD per month | $14.95 USD per month |
| Catalog | 450,000+ | 600,000+ |
| Additional Content | Yes – VIP Selections | Yes – Audible Plus |
| Exclusive Content | No | Yes – Audible Originals |
| Returns | No | Yes |
| Sales | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Listening | Yes – Audiobook Clubs | Yes – Audible Plus |
| Ownership | Yes – Purchased titles | Yes – Purchased titles |
| Family Plan | Yes | Yes |
| Whispersync | No | Yes |
| Free Trial | Yes – 30 days | Yes – 30 days |
In summary, Audiobooks.com and Audible have a lot in common, including the same pricing for their standard monthly membership, large catalogs, and highly rated apps.
The two services, however, take very different approaches to their unlimited listening offers so if you listen to a lot of audiobooks you may wish to review the Audiobook Clubs and Audible Plus catalogs before committing to a service.
Lastly, both services offer a lot of benefits but Audible does objectively offer more (e.g. easy returns if you don’t like a title).
I go into even more detail on both services in my guide: Audiobooks.com vs. Audible.
Audiobooks.com Free Trial
The Audiobooks.com free trial comes with a 30-day membership which includes:
- Get any book, plus 2 bonus VIP books in your Audiobooks.com free trial.
- Cancel anytime during your free trial, no strings attached.
- 450,000+ best sellers, new releases, and classic favorites.
- Enjoy access to 100+ million podcast episodes.
- Access 10,000+ free audiobooks.
Click here to get the Audiobooks.com free trial offer.
Tip: if you are an Audible member, learn how to pause Audible while you try Audiobooks.com.
Audiobooks.com Review Verdict
Let’s review the pros and cons of Audiobooks.com:
Audiobooks.com pros:
- Excellent app
- Great selection
- Curated books lists
- Member sales
- Unlimited listening with Audiobook Clubs
- Family plan
Audiobooks.com cons:
- Smaller catalog than Audible
- No easy returns
Overall, I think Audiobooks.com is an excellent choice for quality audio storytelling—from podcasts to audiobooks and everything in between.
I love the large library, the curated book lists, and the ease of using the app. The Audiobook Clubs aren’t really my thing but I can see their appeal for some avid audiobook listeners.
Admittedly, Audible offers some additional benefits, but an Audiobooks.com subscription still provides a lot of value. And if you don’t like Audible for whatever reason (e.g. its app or Amazon’s business practices) then Audiobooks.com is an excellent alternative to Audible.
So, is Audiobooks.com worth it? Yes, I think Audiobooks.com is a great way to enjoy audiobooks, and I’m happy to recommend the service.
If you’re still undecided, my suggestion is just to give it a try! It’s free for 30 days and you can easily cancel at any time.
Click here to try Audiobooks.com for free.
FAQ – Audiobooks.com
Do you have more questions about Audiobooks.com? Here we delve deeper into the service by addressing some frequently asked questions:
Sound good? Click here to get the Audiobooks.com free trial offer.
Have you tried Audiobooks.com? Please share your experience in the comments section below!
