Audiobook is one of the fastest growing digital segments right now because of the thoughtful approach they employ. It is possible to listen to a book while driving or working out, which otherwise was long forgotten because of your busy schedule.
Are you a bibliophile who loves to read books in your free time? Well, it is now possible to read and listen to your favorite books. Sounds magical? Hear us out! Thanks to audiobooks, it is now possible to listen to your favorite titles instead of reading them.
Audiobooks are a better option if you want to unwind after a tiring day and give your eyes much-needed rest. The narrator’s voice delivers every emotion described in the audio format of books; you will laugh, cry and cherish the experience for a lifetime.
Numerous easy-to-use apps have emerged that offer a rich collection of titles in audiobook format due to the user’s interest in audiobooks. You can browse your favorite audiobook and listen to them on several platforms such as smartphones, desktops, PC, and more.
These apps are equipped with features that allow you to customize the process of listening to an audiobook while commuting, at bedtime, or doing daily chores.
Audiobook apps are a popular trend that you shouldn’t miss. We’ve got you covered if you want to look for the best audiobook to try! Here is an extensive list of audiobook apps containing free and unpaid options that you can try to experience audiobooks for the first time.
Audible
Amazon’s Audible consists of more than 200,000 audiobooks on diverse subjects. The extensive audiobook library consists of classics, fiction, non-fiction, technology, politics, fashion, health & wellness, romance, and many other genres. With Audible, purchasing and downloading the audiobooks you love is seamless.
Audible is also downloadable on iOS and Android devices, and you can access the downloaded audiobooks on Kindle and Amazon Echo, Tap, and Echo Dot.
Audible is equipped with meaningful filters that facilitate filtering, and browsing the audiobooks on the platform is a breeze. The pricing plans of Audible start from USD 17.95 per month.
AudioBooks.com
AudioBooks.com is amongst the best platforms to get engaging audiobooks without spending a penny. The library showcases more than 100,000 books, and almost 7000 are available for free.
The platform offers premium audio quality and allows you to adjust the narration speed to suit your needs.
AudioBooks also offers apps compatible with iOS and Android that offer several thoughtful features such as bookmarking, writing notes, and memos for the current read.
What impressed me was its sync feature which enables you to save your progress and continue reading on different devices.
While the app is free, you need to purchase its premium plans starting from USD 14.95 per month to get unlimited access to its features.
Google Play Books
While discussing the best audiobook apps out there, we cannot neglect Google Play Books, an excellent platform offering tons of audiobooks to suit your taste.
Available for free on Android as well as iOS devices, you will find audiobooks of different genres, along with ebooks, textbooks, and comic books, which is an added advantage.
The app is equipped with several features that help enhance the audiobook experience of the users on several devices. Users can resume the audiobooks from the place they left off on any device of their choice.
Unlike other apps, you can preview the audiobook before purchasing it from the marketplace, which helps you understand whether it is worth it or not.
Nook Audiobook by Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble offers Nook Audiobooks, which can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The app features a library containing more than 300,000 titles for several genres curated by dedicated book lovers.
Rather than offering a subscription, Nook allows its users to only pay for the audiobooks they are interested in. Users can download their favorite audiobook and listen to it from the app on smartphones and tablets thanks to Nook, which flawlessly syncs your digital content across all devices.
The app offers useful features like multiple page styles, audio speed, customized bookshelves, and social sharing tools that customize the user’s experience.
Kobo
Kobo might not be as popular as other names on the list, but it possesses a rich collection of eBooks and AudioBooks comprising more than 1.5 million titles. It offers apps for both Android and iOS platforms, and the cross-platform syncing allows you to pick up reading from where you left off.
Kobo books are known for their features that greatly simplify audiobook listening and add convenience to the whole process.
The app makes personalized recommendations depending on your reading history and progress made so far. The audiobook section of Kobo is equipped with sophisticated tools like a timeline scrubber bar, time skip buttons, chapter navigation, playback speed configuration, and a snooze timer.
LibriVox Audio Books
LibriVox, a completely free audiobook app, needs no introduction. This popular app possesses an extensive collection of 50,000 audiobooks and is an official partner of Project Gutenberg and Internet Archive to receive hosting of audio files for free.
Most of the audiobooks found here range from classic bestsellers to pieces of literature and can be accessed publicly without making a payment. You can filter the collection based on the title, author, or genre, access any number of audiobooks and bookmark locations, and enable a sleep timer.
You can download the app from Google Play Store and App Store and listen to the books in audio format on the go.
Libro
Next, we have Libro. fm, an audiobook store aggregator, enables you to purchase audiobooks from its enormous collection of 150,000 audiobooks that features exclusive content found at your local bookstore. Libro benefits small businesses by splitting the audiobook cost between the independent bookseller and the publisher.
While the prices are pretty decent on the platform, signing up for the monthly membership plan ensures you get additional discounts on your purchases. The high-quality narrations of audiobooks on the platform make your favorite audiobook even more enjoyable, and Libro suggestions awesome audiobooks curated at the indie bookstores.
Libro can be accessed from both Android and iOS platforms, enabling you to read your favorite books anywhere and anytime!
Libby by OverDrive
A free offering by OverDrive, Libby is a renowned app to listen to books in audio format. The platform is mobile-centric, and you can download its official app for your iPhone or Android smartphones.
Users need to provide their library card details to sign up on the platform and access the vast collection of audiobooks offered by their library. It is possible to connect cards of several libraries, access sample audiobooks, and hold the books you want.
You can steam the audiobooks, download them for later use, tag popular titles, and sync your current audiobook across different devices using cloud technology. The UI is clean, and its curated content lists and catalog guide will assist you in finding your next read amongst the many titles featured here.
Realm.fm
Previously known as Serial Box, Realm.fm can be the best bet for an audiobook app that loves to hear a good story at bedtime without being overwhelmed.
Unlike other audiobook apps, Realm offers short, episodic parts of big novels, which can be a good alternative to pass your time while traveling or enjoying a break. Realm.fm features audiobook content across different genres- drama, fantasy, or sci-fi.
These audiobooks can be accessed via Android and iOS apps for free, with the ads running between the content. To get rid of ads and listen to exclusive audiobook content, you can sign up for unlimited membership that costs $2.49 per month.
ChirpBooks
ChirpBooks are not a mainstream audiobook app; instead, they help you access mindblowing deals on popular audiobooks while including the audio format of New York Times bestsellers.
Once you finalize an amazing deal, you can download the audiobook from the website, and it will get reflected on the player app. Chirp offers an audiobook player app for Android and iOS platforms that contains all the essential features like a playback speed adjuster, bookmarks, and a sleep timer.
The navigation feature enables you to jump from one chapter to another quickly. ChirpBooks also allows you to download the content to listen in offline mode if you do not like to Stream the audiobooks directly.
Hoopla Digital
Hoopla Digital is a digital media service from which you can borrow digital content, including audiobooks, movies, eBooks, music, and more. The audiobook collection is impressive and includes thousands of titles from which you can choose the ones that suit your taste.
You can download the app on your Android and iOS device and directly stream the audiobooks or download the content to access it offline whenever you need to relax.
Hoopla offers free content to users from the United States if they provide their library card details. Adding a bookmark or writing a note while listening to the audiobook is straightforward. You can adjust the playback speed, add a sleep time or switch to customized modes while driving or working out.
Last Words
In our search, we found several audiobook apps. However, not everyone was worth a mention here. The ones we’ve described above, both free and paid alternatives, deliver the best experience for every ounce you spend purchasing audiobooks from these platforms.
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