Over the years, Scribd and I have had a relationship with many ups and downs. Initially, in 2019, I was impressed with how much they offered for a relatively low monthly fee, especially when you compared Scribd vs Audible.
Then I had some technical issues, and Audible made some big changes to its service in 2021, which made it more difficult for Scribd to compete than in prior years. But Scribd has listened to points of critique and improved their service immensely!
Find out below what I think of Scribd in 2023 and how they compare to the biggest audiobook service on the market, Audible…
**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**
About Scribd
Scribd is a digital library service with a single subscription model. For a flat monthly fee, you get access to a huge library of ebooks and audiobooks.
You need the Scribd app to access them, and you can listen to audiobooks either by downloading them to your device or streaming them. Many big publishing houses like HarperCollins, as well as indie publishers like Tantor, offer books through this subscription.
Scribd vs Audible: Price
For $14.95 per month, an Audible Premium Plus membership includes one free audiobook of your choice from their premium catalog, a 30% discount for all audiobooks on Audible, and unlimited access to the Audible Plus catalog of several thousand Audible Originals and Audible Studios audiobooks.
Additionally, Audible offers different recurring deals. Most of them are exclusive to members. The most popular deals let you buy 2 audiobooks for 1 credit or buy a popular book from a limited selection for just $5.
You can also see directly on an Audible book’s page if there’s a cheap deal for it on Amazon (“Whispersync deal”).
A Scribd membership is more straightforward in a way. For $11.99 per month (plus taxes), you get access to a million ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and sheet music that you can borrow.
The monthly fee is cheaper for Scribd vs Audible, but you don’t own any of the audiobooks you listen to through Scribd. You can only get them while you have an active subscription.
Audiobooks you buy with an Audible subscription for a credit or money are yours to keep, and you can listen and relisten to them even when you don’t have an active subscription.
Audible Plus books, on the other hand, work just like Scribd audiobooks. You can only borrow them while you have an active subscription.
Scribd Review: Is Scribd really unlimited?
One of my biggest points of critique for a long time was Scribd’s slogan that they offered an unlimited subscription service when, in fact, there are some limitations. I was very pleased to see that they are more careful with their wording these days.
You do get “endless entertainment”, that is true!
Scribd still doesn’t or can’t offer a lot of transparency in regard to what exactly you will get for your monthly fee, though. You’ll only be able to find out and get a feeling for it when you have a subscription. (There is a 30 day free trial period** though!)
Over the last year, it was my impression – and several other audiobook fans agreed with me here – that Scribd has loosened its limitations a bit, and I found most of my library was always available to me.
But let me back up quickly for those entirely new to the Scribd membership plan!
Scribd is kind of unlimited. In the sense that you can listen to as many audiobooks as you want during a month. However, Scribd might restrict your access to certain titles.
Unlike Audible Plus, which has mostly Audible’s own productions, Scribd gives you access to many of the newest bestsellers, to books that are all the rage on BookTok, or New York Times bestselling titles.
Scribd limits your access in so far that you can’t listen to twenty bestselling books that were only just released that month. They will restrict your access to these kinds of premium titles.
However, you still have access to tons of indie-published audiobooks and older titles. And Scribd has a lot of Scribd-exclusive audiobook productions as well these days that are always available.
Many self-published ebooks that didn’t have an audio version previously now have one on Scribd. (You can check out the Scribd Original Romance audiobooks** here and Scribd Original Urban Fantasy audiobooks** here.)
So, in that sense, Scribd has a similar underlying concept as Audible. Some audiobooks are considered premium, and others are included without any restrictions.
And while you have to pay an Audible credit to listen to a premium audiobook on Audible, Scribd gives you access to a bunch of them as part of your flat monthly fee!
When using the Scribd app, it might look something like this: When you start an audiobook, your library of saved titles might change, and some audiobooks could become unavailable for the rest of the billing period.
When you partially lose access, specific titles will say “available on”, followed by the date on which your subscription renews.
Scribd Review: How reliable is this audiobook service?
In the past, I have encountered some hiccups with Scribd. But their service has improved greatly throughout 2021 and 2022. I have had no issues with the Scribd app or with title restrictions lately!
If you have used Scribd in the past and gave up on it because you lost access while in the middle of a book or lost access to many titles after listening to only one audiobook, I can say with confidence that you can give Scribd another try!
I have been using this service since 2019, and I have seen some things that made me rather unhappy. I also had some chats with Scribd customer service back then that were unhelpful. And my Scribd review was not always positive in the past.
But all throughout 2021 and 2022, I was very happy with this audiobook subscription. And it was my most used audiobook service throughout 2022!
I have had no issues with the Scribd app for Android, have had no billing issues, the quality of the audiobooks was always perfect, and I have encountered very few instances where a book was restricted, even though I use Scribd a lot (A LOT!).
So, at this point in time, I consider Scribd a fantastic audiobook service for anyone who likes to listen to books regularly and is happy to borrow instead of own!
Scribd vs Audible: The Catalogs
Audible is the biggest audiobook store out there. When you are looking for that one specific book, you are likely to find it here. Scribd has a more limited catalog since Penguin Random House, one of the big five publishing houses, pulled all of their audiobooks from Scribd and other library services a few years ago.
However, Scribd still offers tens of thousands of audiobooks, and when you are interested in a specific author, you will likely find some of their titles here. Scribd has also become more active in producing Scribd-exclusive audiobook productions.
Scribd vs Kindle Unlimited Audiobooks
For the same monthly cost, Scribd offers more popular, well-known content than Kindle Unlimited, which is also $11.99.
However, Kindle Unlimited is truly unlimited. There are several thousand audiobooks, mostly from Amazon’s publishing imprints, included for free. And you can listen to as many new releases as you like.
Amazon adds about 20 to 30 new audiobooks to Kindle Unlimited every month. And you can listen to them in the reliable and user-friendly Audible app.
Scribd’s library of audiobooks is much bigger than that of Kindle Unlimited. And while it isn’t truly unlimited, you will find many more bestselling and popular titles here.
Chances are, your next book club pick is not in Kindle Unlimited. But it will be on Scribd!
Based on my experience with Scribd, it comes out ahead for audiobooks listeners, when compared to Kindle Unlimited.
Kindle Unlimited is also a great audiobook service. But Scribd has such a vastly bigger catalog that offers a lot more for fans of specific genres.
That being said, I feel these two audiobook services complement each other very well. For real audiobook junkies on a limited budget, they are a great combination. You will be able to listen to as many audiobooks as you want, but you can also find specific titles or authors you might be interested in.
Related article: How to listen to Audiobooks with Kindle Unlimited
Scribd vs Audible: The Audiobook Apps
When it comes to the Scribd vs Audible audiobook apps, both have similar functions like narration speed and sleep timer. But the Scribd app doesn’t have a widget on Android phones which is a shame.
I use the Audible widget quite a lot to pause and start, set a bookmark, or jump 30 seconds back. The Scribd app also can’t bookmark from the tray. So you have to open the player every time you want to set a bookmark.
Both apps on Android devices – which I use – are reliable and stable. The audio quality is good, and the respective audiobook library is easy to browse.
The Scribd app makes it very clear whether you are streaming or have a title downloaded. It’s easy to switch to a downloaded version so you can listen when offline. The download speed is a bit slower than on Audible.
Related article: The Best Audiobooks Apps you need today!
Scribd vs Audible: Conclusion
So, Scribd vs Audible, which audiobook service is better for you? That depends on you, how much you listen to audiobooks, and which kind of books you are interested in.
Scribd has shaped up to be a really nice, reliable audiobook service that offers you a whole lot for a relatively low monthly price. Join Scribd and try it for free**
If you listen to an audiobook a week and are happy to browse the catalog or go with recommendations the service gives you, you will likely be very happy with Scribd as your only audiobook subscription.
And you even pay less than you would for a standard Audible subscription!
If you are always looking for a very specific title, an Audible Premium Plus subscription might fit you better, though. It’s also better for you if you want to own your audiobooks. Get your free trial month**!
If you are an insatiable audiobook listener like me, you probably want both! Scribd is a great subscription to listen to popular new releases and indie audiobooks alike. And if you can’t find something you want, you get it on Audible.
Check out my favorite Scribd audiobooks to get you started!
Audiobook Subscriptions /
Thanks for the informative review of these. I have been wondering how Scribd is when compared to Audible!
I really loved how this is such a cheap way to check out some hyped new audiobook releases. And for that price, I suppose you can’t really expect unlimited listening. It’s a fair deal!
I had No Idea that Scribd only allows a certain number of new titles each month. That “available on” message has come up before but I assumed it was because they didn’t own the rights to those titles yet haha! Good to know for the future. Thankfully I only get to 4 or 5 books on Scribd each month so it’s still a great option for me.
Haha, yes, at first, I thought so, too! I even wrote in a review “this book will be available on Scribd on this date” 😀
This was very helpful! I honestly didn’t know about Scribd until early this year, even though I have always heard it mentioned it was just like… one of those things that somehow slipped under my radar and went in one ear and out the other, oops! Haha.
I’m curious, now, for sure!
Yes, it was the same for me! I kept wondering if it was worth it for me as audiobook listener because I saw it mentioned regularly, but never as “omg, Scribd is so awesome!”