8 Best Audiobooks Services for Your Easy Listening Anywhere [Updated 2024]

Can't settle down to read or have no time to read? An audiobook service can lend you a hand; it's one of the best options for fetching more books and immersing you in scenes with audio effects. Simply download one to a mobile device and listen on the go, at your convenience. 

But how do you choose the best audiobooks services? Research can be difficult with so many tools out there, and personal interests of the users. Hence, here we have picked 8 best audiobook services to spare your time and cover their pros and cons. 

In addition to listening to audiobooks that command a hefty fee, we also recommend that you create your own audiobooks for self-listening pleasure or to earn money as a side job. The whole process is super easy once you're ready, so read on to find out how.

8 Best Audiobooks Services (Updated 2023)

Here are our picks for the best audiobook services for 2023, along with the pros and cons of each. Hope you find the best service to suit your needs.

Audible 

Audible is, without a doubt, the biggest name in audiobooks. Offering more than 200,000 audiobooks in a variety of categories, it is one of the best audiobook services owned by Amazon. 

Audible subscription works with credits, each credit can be used to obtain an audiobook for free, regardless of its price. Additional books can be purchased by buying more credits. Most importantly, you can exchange another audiobook for free with one you’ve purchased. 

Pros: 

• 30-day free trial.
• Largest audiobook library.
• Compatible with all devices.
• Best returns and exchange policy.
• Once downloaded, you can keep audiobooks forever on devices. 

Cons:

• The basic subscription plan is a pricey $14,95 per month.
• Can't share books without another Amazon account.  

Libro.fm   

Libro.fm is another best audiobook subscription. A monthly subscription earns you one audiobook credit per month and 30% off everything in the store, and you can retain your purchases even after the subscription ends. The most enticement is expert recommendations from the bookseller, so you get tailored recommendations, just as you would in a brick-and-mortar store.

All audiobooks are DRM-free, so you can access your purchased titles in the way that suits you best.

Pros: 

• Easy returns.
• Expert picks from booksellers. 
• Credits never expire, which can be shared as gifts.

Cons:

• No free trial.

Scribd    

Scribd is an alternative best audiobook site. While the initial focus was on e-books, Scribd now offers multiple channels to access audiobooks, magazines, podcasts, sheet music, documents, and more with an easy subscription. Though its library isn't as in-depth as other services, it's reasonably priced and you'll come across loads of great audiobooks.

Scribd also offers users the option to download audiobooks to listen offline and play while on the go.  

Pros:

• 30-day free trial.
• Broad range of content.
• Cheap monthly subscription plan.
• Sleep timer feature (the audiobook will stop playing when the set time is up).

Cons:

• Limited library. 
• Can not keep any audiobooks or e-books if the subscription is canceled. 

Audiobooks.com  

Similar to Audible, Audiobooks.com boasts an extensive library. Over 150,000 audiobooks are available under different categories, including popular content, titles, authors, and more. 

With a similar credit-based setup, users can earn monthly credits that can be used to purchase a favorite audiobook. Its subscription model has recently added monthly access to VIP Featured Content, where Audiobooks.com members can choose a free audiobook each month from our newly curated VIP selection.

Pros: 

• 30-day free trial.
• Easy to use & sleep timer feature.
• Get 3 free audiobooks after signing up for free trial.

Cons:

• No support for smart speakers like Alexa, Apple, or Google Now.
• No returns policy.

Apple Books 

While Apple doesn't mention audiobooks on their homepage, they do in fact offer a reasonable selection of audiobooks. There are no monthly fees or contracts, and it's basically one big online store that you can pay as you go. 

For all-access Apple users, Apple Books is indeed a particularly great option. With iCloud, you can also share your audiobook purchases across all your Apple devices. Download every audiobook you've purchased directly to your Apple Watch, and then easily listen to it whenever you want, at the gym, in the car, or at home, incredibly convenient. 

Pros:

• Own the books for life.
• No subscription fee.
• Easy to integrate with all your Apple devices.

Cons:

• Limited in Apple's Ecosystem. 
• Audiobooks could be more expensive.

Kobo   

Ranked as one of the best audiobook services, Kobo is a Canadian-based company known for producing a fine line of eReaders, which offers more than 10,000 titles to choose from. It also offers a dedicated Kobo eReader or Kobo app for Android, iOS, Windows, or Mac, and the cross-device sync feature works perfectly. Plus, you can keep your purchased titles even if you cancel the service.

Pros: 

• 30-day free trial.
• Affordable audiobook subscriptions.
• The app offers customized recommendations tailored to the books you've read.

Cons:

• Audiobooks are limited in several locations. 
• Selections could be larger. 

Blinkist 

Blinkist differentiates itself from the other audiobook services on our list because its library contains only nonfiction books. This is a great option for those who are looking to focus on self-development and self-learning. 

Blinkist condenses core ideas from nonfiction books into 15-minute segments, perfect for quick study. Another unique feature of the best audiobook site is the unlimited listening to condensed titles with a subscription, as well as the offline mode.

Pros: 

• 7 days free trial. 
• Daily Pick is available for free.
• Condensing book content into bite-sized chunks.

Cons:

• Only non-fiction books are available. 

Downpour  

Part of a service from parent company Blackstone Audio, Downpour features an extensive library of 75,000 titles in a variety of genres. Additionally, this best audiobook service offers CD, MP3, and digital rentals, which can also be purchased without subscriptions. 

Downpour's purchasing system is a bit more basic than other paid audiobook subscription services. For example, you can listen to Downpour audiobooks with a mobile app, but they can only be purchased through a desktop browser.

Pros: 

• A monthly subscription costs $12.99, 1 credit included.
• DRM-free (you can use the audio for any purpose).
• Keep your books after purchase.

Cons:

• No free trial. 
• Rental option is not available for all titles.

Best Way to Record Your Audiobooks

It is considerable that you want to try to create your audiobooks. In fact, recording audiobooks is becoming an emerging industry to earn money at home with only simple tools to make it happen. iTop Screen Recorder is one such assistant, with a built-in teleprompter and denoiser to ease the difficulty of recording audiobooks. See what you can get from this 100% free audiobook recorder.

• Built-in teleprompter with dedicated scripts.
  iTop Screen Recorder very thoughtfully has a built-in webcam teleprompter with various scripts for scenarios. In addition, you can switch to auto-scrolling during normal reading with adjustable speed. Just changing a few words or adding something can be a huge time saver.
• Free denoiser to eliminate potential noise.
  For any potential noise, use the tool's built-in denoiser. This is a free feature provided by this screen recorder Windows 10 and is specifically designed to remove any noise from the audio.
• Well-performed mic feature to record clearly.
  iTop Screen Recorder enables you to record high-quality internal or external sound from your microphone or speakers. You can choose between Realtek HD audio, Voive.ai audio cable, WDM or more, with clickable noise reduction.
• Advanced audio editor perfect the postcreation.
  Recording isn't the end of the story, embellish your audiobooks to make it perfect using this HD audio recorder. Add additional background music to fade in and out or increase the volume to enhance the effect and create ambience.
• Create your audiobooks anywhere and anytime.
  Download this audio screen recorder to your computer and select a book to start the audiobook recording process. Meanwhile, your audio can be output in several audio formats, like MP3, AAC, AC3, FLAC, and WMAV2.

How to record your own audiobooks with iTop Screen Recorder, here it is. 

Step 1. Download this software on your PC and follow the on-screen instructions to install it. 

Step 2. Access the main page, switch to Only Audio mode. Turn on the speaker and Mic for your request, plus you can head to Settings located on the top left corner to preset formats and bitrates for more. Once everything is ready, click on the red "REC".

Tips: In case you have something to note in the recording process, tap the teleprompter sign to type key points in advance or click the shortcut key Alt+F7 to launch. 

Step 3. After recording, your output will be saved in Files automatically. Click Edit icon to polish your recordings. iTop Screen Recorder offers two editing options: quick editor and advanced editor to your liking. 

Step 4. Explore editing features to show off audiobooks. Then click Export to save locally, share with others to showcase your work. 

For more details, enjoy this article: Get a Complete Guide on How to Record Audiobooks at Home >>

FAQs on Best Audiobooks Subscriptions

1. What is the most popular audiobook service?

Audible is widely considered one of the most popular audiobook services as it contains over 200,000 different book titles in each thinkable category. However, it is worth noting that other popular audiobook services such as Scribd, Audiobooks.com and Libro.fm are available, all with their distinct features and offerings.

2. What is the difference between audiobooks and Audible?

If you're an Audible subscriber, you will receive unlimited access to the audiobook catalog plus the free audiobooks you can reserve. As audioboobook.com members, you get limitless listening if you spend your points.

3. Is there a Netflix type service for audiobooks?

Yes, several audiobook subscription services function similarly to Netflix. Audible is one of them, and it offers a large library of audiobooks accessible to users with a monthly subscription. Plus, other platforms such as Scribd and Audiobooks.com also provide subscription-based access to a wide range of audiobooks.

Final Thoughts

Listening to audiobooks is as simple as subscribing to an audiobook platform and then choosing your favorite audiobook. Read here, hopefully you have found the best audiobooks services mentioned above that suit you. Also, the good news is that many of the platforms offer a 30-day free trial, so you don't have to spend a dime until you find the best one for you.

You can also make your own audiobooks to earn money and stimulate your interest. iTop Screen Recorder, this 100% free screen recorder is such a good helper to record HD audio with noise reduction. Give it a try and start your first audiobook now!

iTop Screen Recorder - Record Audio Without Background Noise

• Record system audio or external microphone flawlessly
• Record streaming audio without quality loss
• Remove background noise of audio recording
• Save audio recordings as MP3, AAC, FLAC and WMA

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