Everand: The Audiobook Subscription I Love
Have you heard of Everand? (It used to be called Scribd, but now has split into two parts with Everand housing the ebooks and audiobooks!).
When I wrote this post a few years ago about where to find free audiobooks, several people suggested Everand in the comments and I started using it a little bit that summer.
Then a few months later, I started using it in earnest, and I am HOOKED. Five years laters and it’s still in constant rotation!
Here’s how I see the difference between Audible and Everand.
Imagine Audible like a giant bookstore.
You can go in and buy basically any book that exists and it’s yours to keep forever. The selection is unmatched (basically if an audiobook exists, Audible will have it) and you pay for exactly what you want.
Everand, on the other hand, is more like Netflix.
You pay a flat monthly fee ($11.99 per month or $7/month if you choose an annual plan) and you have access to everything in their library which includes both audiobooks and ebooks. You don’t own any of it, but you can listen or read as much as you’d like.
In the case of this kind of app, the important thing is “how good is the library?”
Everand’s library? REALLY good.
I started recommending it in earnest for Everyday Reading Book Club and so many people were telling me the hold lines were out of control for specific books.
Many of the books for book club were included in Everand which meant readers could listen to a copy without waiting in any line at all.
Then I was listening to The Poet X for my children’s lit bookclub and my library copy expired before I could finish it. So I hopped on Everand and there it was. Ten seconds later, I was right back at my spot and finished it without a deadline hanging over my head.
Plus thousands of other good options.
And when it’s subscription-based, it doesn’t feel like a risk to start listening to something and then decide “meh” and move on.
There are also tons of children’s audiobooks, so it’s easy for me to find things for my girls to listen to too.
My kids have listened endless to Boxcar Children books and Dragon Masters and hundreds of others over the years.
And they automatically play over wifi, but you can download anything for offline listening too.
AND it’s very easy to navigate the app. Basically, I’m a complete fan.
Also, Everand has a really great referral plan so if you share it with a friend, they can try it for 30 days for free and you get a free month too.
They don’t have everything, for sure, but it’s good enough to keep me busy for a LONG time.
The only weird thing about Everand is that there is some sort of behind-the-scenes algorithm that means sometimes some books aren’t available until the next month. I can’t quite explain why this is, but there have always been so many books available that it’s never been a problem.
Just consider yourself warned that if you have six bestsellers you want to listen to, it’ll probably only let you listen to 2-3 of them this month (but how many audiobooks are you really getting through in a month anyway?).
The other thing to know about Everand is that it’s not a controlled platform for kids – there is plenty of adult material included so it’s not something I’d just hand over to a kid and let them go wild with.
I turn Everand on from my device and connect it to their bluetooth speakers so they can listen but can’t search the catalog on their own.
If you haven’t tried it out, I HIGHLY recommend it.
You can grab a free 30 day trial here (just set a calendar alert so you can cancel it if you decide you don’t like it enough to keep it but I’m pretty sure you’ll think it’s WELL worth it).
If you have questions about it, let me know – I’m not an expert, but I’m happy to try to help!
If you liked this everand review, you might also like these posts:
- Why I LOVE the Libby app for listening to library audiobooks
- My favorite audiobooks for the whole family
- Where to find free audiobooks
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
My son also listens to audiobooks every day at rest time so we love Scribd in addition to all the free apps from our public library. I wish I could figure out the algorithm though. All of sudden, all the children’s books we are interested in become unavailable and it’s slim pickings. I’ve emailed customer service and their response was so confusing, I’m not sure they even understand it. I would be willing to pay more for a truly unlimited service just in case they are reading!
Yeah I got it for children’s audiobooks thinking that wouldn’t impact the adult or children selection but that seems to be the case which is unfortunate!
Do you know if multiple people can us it on different devices? Like, could my husband and I both use it on the same subscription? Thanks!
I think that should be fine!
I clicked on your link and it gave me a free 60 day trial! Score! Already happily listening to my first book 😊 Thanks for the info!
Oh good! It’s been sporadic so I didn’t want to promise 60 when someone people are only getting thirty!
I also got 60 days! Yay!! Can you please do the list of recommendations for Sribd audiobooks?
Thank you Thank you for this post!!! I stopped reading this post about halfway through and signed up before I came back and finished reading. I’m so excited to try out this app! It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!
You are hands down my favorite blogger and IG to follow. Soooo many good tips and real world solutions to increasing literacy! Thank you for this post on scribd, I hadn’t heard of it, and I’m gong to sign up!
Well this is so kind of you! Thank you times a million!
I like scribd’s business model. I’ve been using it for the last 8 months or so. It has a great selection of children’s audiobooks. Libby lacks in children’s audiobook department.
BUT. Their algorithm is soooo frustrating. I basically get to listen to only one adult adudiobook a month. We listen to a good number of children’s audiobooks. But they’re all so short. So I feel a bit cheated if you look at the total minutes listened on scribd a month.
Also with children’s book, some of the titles disappear all of a sudden. We used to listen to ling and ting and princess in black nonstop. Then suddenly one day both weren’t available anymore.
After all this complaining, we still pay the monthly fee. It is worth it for sure. I didn’t want to own Where the Crawdads Sings so it was nice to listen to it without having to wait in the long Libby hold queue.
I just wish they had clear guidelines. Scribd, if you’re reading this, please do something about your random algorithm.
I SO agree. I usually can do 2-3 new books a month, so I’m surprised yours is so low!
Yes to a list of kids books on Scribd! I loooove this app!
I clicked on your affiliate link and got this message on the Scribd page:
“Elisabeth McKnight Gringeri has invited you to Scribd.
Here’s two free months to get you started.”
I’m wondering if they somehow messed up the affiliate links. Would love to sign up for it through YOUR link! This sounds just like what I’ve been looking for.
Oh you’re so nice! Elisabeth is actually a friend of mine and I got so many people signing up through my link when I posted that I figured I’d share the wealth around a little, so I swapped out my link for hers so she could earn a few months!
Love that generosity! I just signed up!
I hope you love it!
Love Scribd – it’s how we’ve been listening to Peter and the Starcatchers. Though I got the last three with Audible credits since they weren’t available on Scribd. They also have a great selection of Christian nonfiction that I haven’t been able to find in my library system.
Does scribd have a way to show pictures while reading the story?
They don’t have read-along books, if that’s what you’re asking. You can certainly read aloud the ebooks while your child looks at the images.
I can’t seem to download it on my kids kindle fire, do you know if that’s possible?
https://www.scribd.com/kindlefire
This is not really about this post, but you mentioned “Where the Crawdad Sings”
I really enjoyed that book. Anyone have any recommendations for book with similar prose?
Thanks!
FYI Janssen, I am a huge fan of your blog. I recently nailed it by buying my wife those ecco shoes you recommended for mothers day
Any idea if you can have parent “controls” or filters on the ascribed account? I noticed a category under books “erotica” and I certainly would want my curious children to wander that direction. Thanks!
Can you send Scribd books to your Kindle like you can through Libby?
Unfortunately no.
I also have been using and enjoying Everand, but I will say that it’s not truly unlimited. There are some (sort of sneaky) listening caps on certain authors and books. I was very blindsided the first time this happened because there isn’t a list of the authors or books that have restrictions anywhere