Best Alternatives To Audible For Getting Free Audiobooks

Written By Robert Fabry Last updated: January 6, 2024

When it comes to audiobooks, people would surely think of Audible application first. This application is supported by Amazon and comes with a very wide collection of items including the best-selling ones, the exclusive releases and the most popular ones. However, despite the best and easy features it has, the amount of penny to pay for its subscription fee every month is a little bit pricey compared to some other applications. Aside from Audible, there are more applications that you can find online once you search the net. They may not be able to give you the same service Audible has, but are surely great options to try.

This post is exactly to tackle the best alternatives to Audible, more particularly the cheaper ones with a lower amount of subscription fee and also the applications that can offer free audiobooks for download. Learn as well the best tool that can give you the exact same quality Audible can provide.

Contents Guide Part 1. 4 Best Audible Alternatives for Free or Cheap AudiobooksPart 2. Bonus: How to Download Audible Books Without Limit?Part 3. Conclusion

Part 1. 4 Best Audible Alternatives for Free or Cheap Audiobooks

Audible is very popular when it comes to audiobook platforms where to get your favorite audiobooks. This application is supported by Amazon and can promise you a huge library of audiobook files. But of course, the subscription fee in order to enjoy the latest and the upgraded features might cost you a lot especially if you are to keep your Audible monthly plans.

Compared to the subscription fee that you will pay on Audible, you will be able to save a big amount of money on free or cheaper Audible alternatives. To share with you some of the best Audible alternatives, I have prepared below the best that you can use.

No. 1 AudiobooksNow

AudiobooksNow Audible Alternative

For the list of alternatives to Audible, let us start with the cheapest one that is offered compared to the amount Audible offers. AudiobooksNow is known to have the cheapest amount of subscription fee offered over other audiobook sites in the market, including Audible. In Audible, you will have to pay $7.95 at least per month whereas on AudiobooksNow, you can pay for only an amount of $4.99 every month. If you will subscribe, you can get your first-ever purchase of audiobooks for about 50% off. Take note, you are entitled to this discount every month. Plus, a 35 to 40 percent discount for your remaining purchases.

Pros:

  1. Small monthly fee.
  2. A decent selection of titles.
  3. Some books don’t have Digital Rights Management (DRM) protections on them, so you can share them and listen to them on as many devices as you want.
  4. The application is supported in all iOS and Android devices as well. Even without an application installed and you felt like using your computer instead, you can use your browser to stream your favorite purchases.
  5. Variable playback speed and jump length.

Cons:

  1. AudiobooksNow also only hosts around 80,000 books, which is less than half of what Audible keeps in stock.
  2. The playback page is a little cluttered.
  3. AudiobooksNow.com’s FAQs page isn’t extensive.
  4. Some of the files are protected with DRM. This only means that downloading these protected titles directly would not be possible.
  5. Occasional glitches in the app.

No. 2 Downpour

Downpour Audible Alternative

Another one on the list of best alternatives to Audible is the Downpour. The difference between Downpour to other audiobook services is that it has a collection of DRM-free titles. This means that you are not limited to downloading any of your favorites so you can enjoy them at any time you want even without an internet connection and on any device available around you. For the subscription, you only have to pay $12.99 per month and you will receive 1 download credit in your account. This amount is actually much cheaper if you will compare it to the Audible Premium Plus fee ($14.95 per month).

Pros:

  1. It has a huge collection of audiobooks same to Audible. The total number it offers amounts to 70, 000.
  2. It offers audiobook rentals. Even without buying the item, you can still be able to listen because of this feature.
  3. Multiple audio formats are available.
  4. Exclusive deals and discounts for members.
  5. Standard playback options that are well-designed and highly functional.
  6. Downpour audiobooks can be used on desktop and Android and iOS apps.

Cons:

  1. Downpour doesn't offer a free trial.
  2. Downpour is more expensive compared to some alternatives like AudiobooksNow.
  3. Some books cost more than one credit.

No. 3 Audiobooks.com

With Audiobooks.com, you can be able to enjoy a lot of audiobooks through its huge library. With this service, you can have easy access to a total of over 400,000 premium audiobook titles. You can sign up with your Facebook, Google, or Amazon account or create an Audiobooks.com account.

As one of the alternatives to Audible, Audiobooks.com also offers multiple subscription plans: a One-credit-per-month plan for $14.95, a Two-credit-per-month plan for $27.90, and a Three-credit-per-month plan for $38.80. The pricing is similar to Audible.

Pros:

  1. 400,000+ best sellers, new releases, and classic favorites.
  2. Access 10,000+ free audiobooks.
  3. Switch seamlessly between devices without losing your place
  4. It offers a free trial subscription to the users allowing them to try on playing three audiobooks in total.
  5. Free monthly VIP Rewards books for all members.
  6. It has also a feature called “Audiobooks Clubs” which is composed of 9 clubs in total. The users can choose one club to join and be able to enjoy a lot of audiobook titles for about a month.

Cons:

  1. Audiobooks.com pricing model doesn’t have annual plans like Audible.
  2. The majority of the complaints are about minor bugs and glitches in the app.

No. 4 Chirp Books

Chirp Books Audible Alternative

Another one on the list of great alternatives to Audible is the service of Chirp. Chirp is a U.S.-based audiobook retail service. It allows users to and stream audiobooks directly from the website or in the app. Unlike Audible, Chirp does not rely on monthly subscriptions and provides discounted prices to its users.

Pros:

  1. Chirp partners with many publishers to offer amazing audiobook deals to its users ranging from 50% to 95% off the regular price of books.
  2. Minimalist app design. It’s less distracting than what you get from other audiobook players.
  3. The app includes all the essentials: a playback speed adjuster, bookmarks, a sleep timer, downloading for offline listening, and more.
  4. Chirp can also help you gift multiple audiobooks to a loved one or fellow book enthusiast.

Cons:

  1. Chirp also has a limited selection of audiobooks compared to other audiobook services, such as Audible.
  2. Chirp does not offer any social features, such as the ability to share books or connect with other users, which may be a drawback for some readers.

Part 2. Bonus: How to Download Audible Books Without Limit?

Audiobooks have increased in popularity dramatically over the last few years, and the above list of alternatives to Audible will serve you well. When using other audiobook services, you may find that their selection might not include the latest bestsellers or popular contemporary titles found on Audible. You may also encounter occasional ads or limitations on the number of books you can access simultaneously. If you still prefer to listen on Audible after trying all Audible alternatives, check out the way to download audiobooks from Audible for free in this part.

Audible audiobooks are protected by DRM, which allows only Audible-authorized devices to play the content. To listen to your favorites on as many devices as you want, the first thing is to remove DRM protection from your Audible audiobooks permanently. Fortunately, there are many such kinds of third-party software that could get it done. Among them, one of the best solutions is AMusicSoft Audible Converter.

In AMusicSoft Audible Converter, not only you could do the DRM removal but you can as well have a copy of the AAX audiobooks converted in a different format like MP3, WAV, FLAC, and M4A. This will enable you then to play them on any player and device. Available for both Windows and Mac OS, it can finish the conversion process in just a short time giving the best quality of downloaded files. You can also split the audiobook by chapters or average.

Listed below are the steps on how to use AMusicSoft to convert AAX audiobooks to MP3.

  • Get the application and install it on your device. Run it on your device after being installed.

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  • Next step is to upload the audiobook files into the converter by just dragging the selected files from your library and then dropping them into the converter. Do not forget to select the Add button placed at the upper right part of the window.

Choose the Music Tracks


  • Next thing to do now is to select the output format and the output folder where the files are to be located once the conversion is done.

Select the Output Format


  • Then after that, tap the Convert All button located at the lower right part of your screen and have the process started.

Convert the Music


  • After a few minutes, select the Completed tab above and try all the audiobooks that have been converted successfully.

Part 3. Conclusion

in this post, we had a discussion about the top alternatives to Audible that can be used just the similar as Audible. You can choose any of them and be able to download your favorite audiobooks. However, among the applications, sites and tools mentioned above, the best to try on using is AMusicSoft Audible Converter. This tool can effortlessly remove the DRM copy protection on the files. With AMusicSoft, you can download audiobook files in a different format compared to the original ones. This means that once the files are converted into MP3, for example, you may now be able to utilize multiple music players and not just your computer or mobile phones in streaming them.

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