My 6 Most Used Audiobook Apps

I listen to a LOT of audiobooks (about 1/3 of my reading each year is via audiobooks).

After this Instagram reel, many readers wanted to know about my favorite audiobook apps for listening.

Well, consider your wish granted! Here are my favorite audiobook apps – I hope you’ll find it helpful in your own audiobook listening!

My 6 Most Used Audiobook Apps

Libby
This is the Overdrive app and it’s free through your library (assuming your library uses Overdrive/Libby). My library has a great collection so I use Libby FREQUENTLY to check out audiobooks (and ebooks). Libby collections vary by library, so yours may be amazing or terrible or somewhere in between.

Audible
I’ve had an Audible subscription for years and overall, this is our most used audiobook app in our home. My husband and I each have our own subscriptions and then we use Household Sharing so that we each have easy access to the other’s library. Plus, our kids can listen to any audiobooks in our Audible library on their Echo Dots screen-free (details about how they listen on their Dots here!).

Libro.FM
This is quite similar to Audible but instead of being owned by Amazon, it’s a non-profit that supports local bookstores. They have FREQUENT sales on audiobooks and you don’t need a membership to buy those titles on sale (which I strongly prefer to Audible’s system where the sale prices are only available to subscribers). I have a whole post about how Libro.FM works here and right now you can use the code SWITCH and get 3 audiobook credits for the price of 1!

Everand
I have had an Everand membership for 5+ years (it used to be called Scribd) and it’s like a Netflix subscription for audiobooks where you don’t use credits and you just pay a flat monthly fee for access to their catalog. It’s not a PERFECT system – some popular titles will start to disappear until your next billing cycle after you’ve listened to multiple hot titles, but I’ve never had trouble finding plenty of things to listen to, including massively popular titles with huge wait lists at my library. Plus it’s been a great way for my kids to listen to endless Dragon Masters and Boxcar Children without me having to pay for them individually. I have a whole post about Everand here!

Penguin Random House Audiobook App 
Frankly, the only reason I use this app is because they have a section of review titles for book bloggers and other reviewers. If it weren’t for that, I’d absolutely just use my library or Audible or another audiobook app I was already using to buy or borrow these titles.

Chirp
This is a flash deal site for audiobooks and they often have GREAT deals on audiobooks. There is no membership or subscription required – just buy the audiobooks you want at a smoking deal, listen to them in the free Chirp app and own them forever. I have a whole post about Chirp here!

And here are the audiobook apps I have and use occasionally:

Hoopla
I have access to Hoopla through a library I used to live near (and they’ve never deactivated my card!). I personally strongly prefer Libby to Hoopla, so this one isn’t used much at our house although occasionally it’s useful because there aren’t really wait lines on it. If you’re curious about Hoopla, I have a whole post about it here.

Yoto
Although my girls use their Yoto Players all the time, we almost never use the app to listen. I know for many families, the app (which is free!) is a go-to audiobook app for listening in the car or on the go and I’m glad it’s available but in our home it is rarely used. (All about the Yoto Player here, if you’re curious!).

NetGalley
I’ve been a member of NetGalley for more than a decade – it’s a place for advance copies of books for reviewers and a few years ago they added review audiobooks as well (although there are significantly less review audiobooks than there are ebooks). I’ve probably listened to 3 audiobooks on this in the last 4 years, so it’s definitely not a go-to for me.

Book of the Month Club
A year or two ago, Book of the Month Club added the option to get an audiobook rather than a physical book. This is a great way to get new releases at a cheaper price than a standard Audible or Libro.FM credit. I’ve only used it a few times, but it’s a nice option to have! I have a whole post about it here.

Spotify
Spotify added an audiobook option recently although it’s fairly limited (it’s based on hours, so it’s not great for long audiobooks or more than one audiobook much of the time), but it’s a nice little extra if you’re already a Spotify customer.

 

Any other favorite audiobook apps I’m missing? Let me know what your favorite are or if you have any questions about audiobooks and audiobook apps in the comments!

if you liked this post about the audiobook apps I use the most, you might also find these other posts helpful:

• 13 Tips for Getting Into Audiobooks
• 5 Family Games We’ve Loved Recently
• 12 Ideas for Music to Listen to While Reading