I’ve listened to over 2000 audiobooks and tested every major service out there. Below, I show you the three (for me) best audiobook apps that have earned permanent spots on my phone because they give me the listening experience I want and expect.
Why are these 3 the Best Audiobook Apps?
After a decade of audiobook obsession, I’ve tried everything. Many apps have disappointing sound quality, crash, or offer a terrible catalog. These three are the best audiobook apps because they never let me down, never lose my place, and consistently deliver new and backlist books I want to listen to.
All three offer the essential features I can’t live without: variable narration speed (I like to listen at 1.25-1.5x), sleep timers, bookmarks, and seamless syncing across devices. But beyond the basics, each excels in different ways.
If you are new to all of this, make sure you check out my beginner’s guide on how to listen to audiobooks first!
**The marked links and book covers on this page are affiliate links. If you use them to purchase something, I earn a fee at no additional cost for you. Disclosure**
The Best Overall Choice: Audible (yes, still…)
Price: $14.95/month
Why I never uninstall it: Massive catalog with unlimited listening, bulletproof app, works everywhere
What you get:
- 1 credit/month for any audiobook (yours to keep)
- 30,000+ human-narrated audiobooks in the Plus catalog (free to borrow)
- Good app stability and sync across devices
- Easy returns if you don’t like a book
- Regular sales and deals
- Works with Kindle Unlimited books and Amazon Whispersync
Perfect for: Anyone wanting the most audiobooks and the highest quality experience
🎧 30-Day Free Trial** (Keep your first audiobook for free)
Read more: I Tried 8 Audible Alternatives So You Don’t Have To…
Best Ethical Alternative: LibroFM
Price: $14.95/month
Why I never uninstall it: Supports indie bookstores, DRM-free downloads
What you get:
- 1 credit/month like Audible
- Choose which indie bookstore gets your support
- Download actual MP3 files (yours forever)
- Great sales section with $3-5 audiobooks (including bestsellers)
- DRM-free audiobooks work with any audiobook player
Perfect for: Listeners who want to support independent bookstores instead of Amazon
🎧 2 Credits First Month** with code CHOOSEINDIE
Read more: LibroFM vs Audible
Best Free Option: Hoopla
Price: Free with library card
Why I never uninstall it: New releases including BookTok favs, no wait times, completely free
What you get:
- 5-10 audiobooks/month (depends on your library)
- Latest bestsellers and new releases, indie and traditionally published
- Instant downloads – no waiting lists like Libby
- Works with most US library cards
- Very good sound quality compared to Libby
- Supports having more than one library card, more books per month!
Perfect for: Library fans and budget-conscious listeners who want current bestsellers without paying
Pro tip: I pay $50/year for an out-of-state library card to get 10 Hoopla borrows monthly. Best audiobook deal ever!
Read more: What is Hoopla? And how does it work?
My Honest Recommendation
Start with Audible if you’re new to audiobooks. The app is rock-solid, the catalog is huge, and the 30-day trial gives you a free audiobook to keep and countless included Audible Originals to listen to.
Add Hoopla immediately if you have a library card, or look up right now if your local library takes part. It’s literally free audiobooks. No reason not to use it!
Choose LibroFM over Audible if supporting indie bookstores matters to you. Same price, similar catalog, but you help your local community with your purchases!
I use all three because they complement each other perfectly: Hoopla for free new releases, LibroFM for their amazing sales section and ethical purchases, and Audible for everything else.
After 10+ years reviewing audiobooks and audiobook services and listening to 200+ books annually, my top 3 of the best audiobook apps are based on my real daily use. And I hope they will bring you as much joy through listening as they have brought me.
Try the free trials and see which one fits your listening style. You might end up like me with all three as your audiobook arsenal.
But if you still can’t decide, check out my longer guide on choosing an audiobook service that is worth it based on your actual monthly use. And you can also explore these great ways to get cheap audiobooks.
Happy listening!
Eline Blackman (pronouns: she/they) fell in love with books as a child – with being read to and reading herself. 10 years ago, she bought her first Audible book. It was love at first listen! An average of 250 audiobooks per year has become the new normal and you will rarely see Eline without a wireless earbud. Romance and Fantasy are the go-to genres for this audiobook fan.
It’s never occurred to me to look for apps other than audible, but some of these sound really interesting! Thanks for providing a run-down like this.
So glad you find it useful! Yeah, there is really so much more out there than just Audible. Audible is kind of the jack of all trades, but if you like (or dislike) specific things, another audiobook app might be much better suited. E.g. for people who hate subscriptions, Chirp is absolutely perfect since they are specifically tailored to only buying cheap audiobooks. If you want DRM-free audiobooks, for example, to listen on an MP3 player, LibroFM is the perfect solution. If you listen to a lot of audiobooks but money is tight, Hoopla (if you have a library card) and/or Scribd are wonderful, since they have such a great selection of both indie and traditionally published audiobooks, including bestsellers and book club favorites.
You forgot OverDrive
It’s also a requires a library card but the cool thing is, you can add multiple cards because each library has different audiobook selections. I have some from OH, TX, NH, FL, etc. OH has the best audio selections. I love Overdrive. You can also DL ebooks, and magazines too. Much like Hoopla.
Thank you for your comment! Many people seem to prefer Hoopla and think it’s the better audiobook app than Overdrive. But it’s not available with every library. It’s great to hear that Overdrive is working well for you 🙂
So how do you get other library cards from other states?
When you search in your initial library, it will show you where it is, if not in their library. You go to that library and they give you the option to take out a library card. Sometimes you need to live in the state. Often they want your current library card. Your library will also send you to Universities where you can check out. Or they recommend other search sites that are global. You usually are limited on checkout time unless no wait list. Some of these search site are very large searchers that you, and it searches all over sometimes other countries, really amazing. If book all checked out you can go on wait list, they move fast, even it really long, people drop out.
Are there apps that will store all of your audiobooks in one place? I have 3 apps and I would like to have the books in one place . I can then check there when I purchase a book from one of my apps, to make sure I am not duplicating books (I have done that several times)
Since most audiobook stores have DRM in place so you can only listen in their own app, the answer to your question is sadly no. If you want to track all of your audiobooks, it would be best to use an app like GoodReads or The Storygraph where you can fill in every audiobook you listen to. You can then check back there if you already listened to a specific title before buying something new. It’s a bit of work to get started if you want to fill in everything you already own, but after that, it quickly becomes a habit to track every book when you start it. I hope that helps 🙂