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Audible is a pretty popular service from Amazon. Allowing you to listen to your favorite audiobooks on the go, and even at home. But what exactly is Audible, and is it worth it for you to sign up for this service?
In this guide, we will walk you through the ins and outs of Audible, explaining the different plans, the pricing, and why it is (or isn’t) a great service.
What is Audible?
Audible is a service that offers “books on tape” as it was called, 25 years ago when it first launched. Nowadays it offers a lot of other content from TV, to podcasts, and much more. Making your membership even more impressive than ever before.
When Audible first launched in 1995, it was a pretty revolutionary product. Think about it, in 1995, we didn’t have the iPod or MP3 players. So even getting music was tough, it was all done on CDs. Audible did launch its own digital audio device in 1995, which could only hold two hours of audio. That was due to the proprietary format that Audible was using at the time.
Now Audible, gives you access to over 500,000 titles that you can listen to anytime and anywhere. Which can be downloaded or streamed on smartphones, tablets, smart speakers, TVs, and even in your car. Audible has come a long way in those 25 years, including being bought by Amazon in 2008 for around $300 million. And now the company is worth a whole lot more than that.
What titles are available on Audible?
There are over 500,000 titles available on Audible right now. Including some of the newest books, that have been released.
Some of the newest releases available on Audible include:
- Rage. By: Bob Woodward
- Dune. By: Frank Herbert
- Disloyal: A Memoir. By: Michael Cohen
- Blackout. By: Candace Owens, Larry Elder
- Think Like a Monk. By: Jay Shetty
- What Lies Between Us. By: John Marrs
- Mythos. By: Stephen Fry
- Total Power. By: Vince Flynn, Kyle Mills.
And many more. Most of the books that have come out recently, make their way to Audible pretty quickly. So you can start listening to them, without having to wait weeks or even months for them to become available.
Audible Originals vs audiobooks
Like every entertainment company these days, Audible also has its own list of originals. Which you can listen to as many as you want.
Audible Originals are simply put, those produced by Audible. Which also means that they aren’t on other services, only on Audible.
Most audiobooks are produced by the published of the physical book. So the number of Originals available on Audible is not as high as you might think.
How much does Audible cost?
There are two different plans available for Audible. The first on is Plus, which is a cheaper plan, costing only $7.95 per month. This will only give you access to the Audible Plus Catalog. That includes unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Originals, Podcasts, Wellness programs and more. If you’re a casual audiobook listener, then this is a really good one to check out.
You can tell the difference from those included in the Audible Plus plan and those that are not by the wording on the listing. If it says “included” then it is part of the Plus Catalog. If not, it will tell you the price. For example, on Michelle Obama’s book below, you’ll see that it tells you to upgrade to Premium Plus to get this book. As it does require a credit.
The other plan is the original plan, Plus Premium Plus and it costs $14.95 per month. So you get access to the catalog, plus a title of your choice every month and exclusive discounts on other titles, as well as access to exclusive sales. So with Premium Plus, you get a credit each month which can be used for any title in their catalog. You’re limited to one credit per month though, which is where the 30% exclusive discount comes in handy for this plan.
Is there a free trial available?
There is a free trial available for Audible. You can head to this link and sign up for your free 30-day trial.
Keep in mind that if you don’t cancel before the end of the 30 days, you will be charged for a month of the service. So if you don’t want to keep it, make sure you cancel before those 30 days are up.
Is it discounted for Prime members?
No, unfortunately Audible is not discounted for Amazon Prime members. Unlike Amazon Music Unlimited which does offer discounts for Prime members. However, Amazon does sometimes give out special free trial deals for those that are Prime members.
For example, right now if you sign up for a 30-day free trial of Audible, you can get two free audiobooks instead of the standard one. Normally you get one per month. So you’re doubling up on your free trial.
What are credits?
As mentioned already, Audible offers credits on the Premium Plus account. You’ll get one credit each month that your account is active. Basically, that $14.95 per month is paying for a credit.
These credits are used to purchase audiobooks. These audiobooks are yours to keep, even after you’ve decided to cancel your Audible account. However, that is only applicable to the Premium Plus plan. Any audiobooks you listened to on the Plus plan, will be removed from your library. Basically, any audiobook you purchased with a credit, will remain, the others will be removed.
The cool thing with these credits is that if you don’t like a book you “purchased” with one of these credits, you can swap it out for another title at any time. Now it’s worth mentioning that there is no hard limit on swapping titles, but if you do abuse this system, Audible will know and it will stop you from being able to swap. So don’t go about swapping titles just because you can.
Can credits roll over from month-to-month?
The other cool part about Audible is the fact that the credits do roll over. So say this month there aren’t any titles that you want to purchase and listen to. Well you don’t need to purchase any. You can keep that credit in your account and use it next month.
But do keep in mind that these credits do expire after one year. So you won’t be able to keep more than 12 credits, unfortunately. That’s more than fair, on Amazon’s behalf. But do make sure that you remember when these credits expire, so you can use them before they expire. Since you already paid for them, you might as well use them.
You also can put a hold on your account for up to three months, once every 12 months. This is going to be great for those that are in a situation where they aren’t listening as much as they used to. So instead of just straight up cancelling your account, you put a hold on it. You aren’t charged, but don’t have to worry about signing up again. Just restart your account and you’ll pick up where you left off.
What platforms is Audible available on?
Audible is available on just about every platform that you can imagine. These include Android, Android tablets, Android Auto, iPhone, iPad, Apple CarPlay, Mac, Amazon Fire Tablets, Fire TV, Kindle devices, Sonos Speakers, Amazon Alexa speakers, and on Windows.
So whether you’re in the car driving to work, on the subway heading home, or working from home, you can listen to a new book.
How can I sign up?
You can sign up for Audible by clicking here.
Once you click that link, click “Try Premium Plus Free” and it’ll take you to the checkout page. You’ll pay nothing up-front, but it will show you when your month is up. Even though that is pretty easy to figure out, that is a nice touch that Amazon has added for the sign up process. So you can cancel before the 30 day trial is up, if you decide not to keep Audible.
And that’s it. It’s pretty simple. If you’re a Prime member though, you do get a second audiobook for free when you sign up, which is really neat. So with your free trial you get two audiobooks instead of one.