Suppose you are looking for an online store or platform to listen to various audiobooks, Audible is the largest supplier for e-books and audiobooks. You may find all of your favorite audiobooks on this platform. For avid audiobooks listeners, the price of audiobooks on audible may sound expensive. So, does audible is work it of spending much money?
Many people are dubious about this question. They don’t know whether they should buy audible membership or not. Don’t worry, we will help you with this problem. In this article, every detail of the audible will be shared along with my opinion. Continue to read further for more information.
What Is Audible?
Audible is an Amazon subsidiary service. It provides a monthly subscription service for Audiobooks, and it has the best collection of audiobooks. You will find every type of audiobook on this platform. Audible membership provided users full access to a vast selection of audiobooks at a priority level and discounted price.
If you love to listen to audiobooks and you couldn’t find your favorite audiobooks anywhere else, I assure you that you will find those audiobooks on audible. If you have time for two or more audiobooks per month, audible is a cost-effective platform for you. If you are willing to spend money on audiobooks, audible will reduce your bills on audiobooks.
Audible doesn’t only have a great collection of audiobooks, but it also has impressive features that will enhance your experience with audiobooks. You can listen to the audiobooks from where you left them.
It automatically syncs the book to resume the audio function. Users can keep the audiobook forever. And the most exciting feature is that the user can listen to the audiobook in whichever format. However, if you want to analyze an audible platform’s effectiveness, you will require more information. Read further to know more.
Why Should I Buy An Audible Membership In 2023?
If you love to listen to audiobooks and couldn’t find the audiobooks you are looking for for free, you should prefer to buy audible membership. You will get four main benefits for audible:
- The first audiobook is free for new users
- Affordable in certain deals
- User can cancel anytime he wants and still has access to purchased audiobooks
- Offer a free trial for 30 days.
How Does The Audible Membership Plan Work?
Every new user, audible, provides 30 days free trial time on audible, and the user will get a free audiobook. These free audiobooks may be from classics or audible originals. Yes, you read it correctly, audible not only distributes the audiobooks but also produces many of its own. There are so many audiobooks that are recorded in audible studies.
To sign up for the trial, the user has to enter the credit card details. So, after one month, the subscription will be automatically billed from your credit card. After the free trial, the user can purchase either Audible Plus or Audible Premium plus membership. To purchase audible membership, the user has to sign up for the membership using an active amazon account.
Audible members will get one credit each month, and they can use this credit to buy Audible audiobooks from various genres including, Sci-fi, technology, fashion. Romance, social media, and many more. If a user wants to buy more than one book, he has to pay per audiobook.
Users can listen to audible audiobooks from anywhere. The audible app works on Windows. iOS, Android, Mac, and Alexa devices.
Audible Perks:
If you have audible membership, some exciting perks come with it. Audible members can download two of the six audible Originals on the first Fridays of each month. This audible original collection is pretty awesome.
When members download these Audible originals on the first Fridays of each month, it will not cost any credits. And users can keep these audiobooks forever.
In the other subscription streaming services like Netflix or Spotify, you don’t have access to items you have downloaded when you cancel your subscription. However, this thing is different for audible. You own the audiobooks from the audible that you have purchased. So, even if you cancel your subscription, you will have access to these audiobooks.
Audible provides weekly deals every Friday where many bestsellers and famous books go on sale at a significant discount. This discounted price is generally for the users who have used their monthly credits and want to listen to more audiobooks but don’t want to upgrade their plan. So, these users can pay for these audiobooks.
Audible Pricing:
A new user will get 30 days free trial of audible and also get a free audiobook. To use this trial, the user has to enter credit card details while signing. After these 30 days of the free trial, users have to pay $14.95 per month for Audible membership.
This membership fee will be automatically debited from your credit card; however, you can cancel this transaction any time and cancel your subscription.
In return for your monthly subscription fee, the user will get one credit each month, and the user can use this credit to purchase the audiobook and keep it forever. It is called the Gold monthly plan. If you buy the Gold Annual Plan, users have to pay $149.50 per annum, and they will receive 12 credits per year.
A platinum monthly subscription plan cost you $22.95 per month, and the member will get two credit per month. So, if you are an avid reader and have plenty of time to listen to more than one audiobook per month, a platinum subscription will be best for you.
You can also buy the same plan annually; for this, you need to pay $229.50 per year. So, an annual plan is more cost-effective than a monthly plan.
If you are an amazon prime member, you will have access to some collection audible audiobooks. You will not have full access to audible even though you have a prime membership. You can listen to a rotating collection of more than 50 audiobooks. If you want more, you can buy audible credit each month.
How To Save Money On Audible?
I know that $14.95 per month is not significant, but it is possible to save more money even if you are using it. You can take advantage of this platform to the fullest. There are some things that you should look at. If you want to buy an individual book on audiobook, it cost you between $10 to $25.
For instance, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson costs you $23.95. This price may vary, but I am just stating an example for you. So, if you have an Audible membership, you get one credit per month for $14.95 per month. So, you can read this same book for one credit. So, you will save $9.
In the same way, if you want to listen to more than one audiobook, you can buy a platinum subscription, which is more cost-effective. Audible offers exclusive deals for an audible member to save up to 60% per audiobook. But if you listen to a minimum of one book per month, you should prefer to buy the gold $14.95 per month subscription.
8 reasons to listen to audiobooks on Audible
- You can read great books more often
The audible app is available on phones, desktops, and tablets. You can easily download the Audible app for android as well as iOS devices. So, it has excellent compatibility with different devices and screens. The audible app has excellent reviews and also has Alexa in it.
The audible app has incredible features that allow you to listen to audiobooks effectively. You will find almost all popular and best-selling audiobooks on this platform. You can find great titles and listen to them. You can also listen to them as many times as you want once you purchase them.
You can also increase or decrease the speak of audiobooks. So, if you are a beginner at audiobooks, then even you can understand it fully. If you are fluent, you can listen to audiobooks at 1.25 times the normal playback speed; if you increase speed, it may not look like normal storytelling.
- Audible is affordable
It is a fact that you have to pay a membership fee per month. Audible services are not exactly free; however, you will get great discounts and benefits if you have audible membership. You will get one credit per month at the cost of $14.95 per month, or you will get 12 credits annually if you sign up for an annual plan of $149.50 per annum.
So, it doesn’t matter whether the audiobook price is $20 or $24; you can listen to them in one credit. So, you can save up to $6 to $9 per audiobook. Audible also provide some special offers and discounts for audible members. In these deals, you will get great deals on audiobooks.
If you are using your credit to purchase the story worth $10, you may not use your credit to the fullest. You should buy such stories in deals with cash. You should buy audiobooks, which prices are great, then $14 to use your credit effectively.
- Whispersync
It is an excellent feature of audible, and it’s a new technology that s helpful if you are using audible on multiple devices. This technology helps you to listen to your audiobooks at the time where you left them, even on different devices. If you are using audible in iOS and then log in to the computer, you can see you’ve left off audiobooks and listen to them.
If you want to use Whispersync, you need to buy both versions, i.e., ebook and audiobook. However, this deal is still cheaper than you buy audiobooks on audible. You will get audiobooks at Whispersync deals at almost one-fourth price.
You need to make sure that the region of audible and amazon accounts must be the same. Like if you are using a USA location for Amazon, then you should select the USA in the audible.
- Your first audiobook is free.
If you are still confused about whether you should buy an Amazon membership or not, you can try a free trial of audible. So, in this 30-day free trial, you will get one free audiobook. It is the best thing to do before purchasing the audible membership because this membership subscription is recurring.
Don’t worry if you are buying a membership without any consent; you can easily cancel it. In the free trial, you will receive one free credit. You can use this credit to purchase any audiobook from an audible platform. Irrespective of the audiobook’s cost, you can buy any, and you will have access to that audiobook even after canceling your subscription.
- Don’t like your audiobook? Audible will refund you.
Amazon is well known for its spectacular customer service, and this trend is also real for audible. If you purchase any audiobook with credit or cost, you can quickly return this audiobook, and audible will refund the money or credit to your account.
Sometimes due to technical issues, users find the audiobook unclear or the author reading the audiobook like rapping; in such cases, you can provide a genuine reason and return it to audible. If you have provided an actual explanation, audible will not ask you any questions and refund your money or credit.
Audible also provide an exchange facility, so if your selected audiobook is faulty or unclear, you can ask for an exchange, and audible will provide your clear and supreme quality audiobook. This return and exchange feature is rare for audiobook and the audible perform a great job in it.
There are some limitations in return and exchange. If you return all audiobooks that you purchase, the system will detect and deny your future request even though your issue is genuine. So, make sure you use this feature only when it is needed the most. You can’t return an audiobook if your trial membership is expired.
To try return or exchange service on audiobook, you must have active audible membership or functional free trial. Otherwise, your request will be denied.
- Listen to top authors narrate their books.
Audible has more than 200,000 audiobooks, and many of them are classics or bestsellers. Authors record many Audible Originals, and this same thing happens with many best-selling audiobooks.
For example, recently, I listened to “Writing down the bones” by Natalie Goldberg. For this audiobook, Natalie herself recorded this audiobook, and the expressions are fantastic. My listening experience is elevated, and I must say, when the authors record the audiobooks, these audiobooks become one of the best audiobooks.
Authors know about the essence of the book and understand it correctly. So, when they read this book for recording, their understanding and experience reflect in the audiobook. However, it is not possible for all audiobooks. Many authors are not willing to record their audiobooks by themselves. For this, audible take the help of professional readers and actors.
Many audiobooks are recorded by famous actors like Anna hatchway and Kevin hart. They express great emotions and feeling in the audiobooks. The audiobooks interpretation by authors and professional readers or actors is way better than the computer reading because it has human touch and emotions.
- Canceling is quick and easy.
In this article, we have written many times that it is straightforward to cancel your Audible membership. We intentionally wrote it because in many subscription services, canceling the subscription is the most challenging part. That is why people hesitate to enter credit card details while purchasing a membership.
However, this is not true for Audible. Members can easily cancel their membership at any time and with just a few clicks. To sign up for an audible free trial, you must enter the credit card details, but you can cancel the billing at the end of the free trial. It means this trial is free. There is no hidden charge.
The same thing is right for audiobooks also. If you don’t like audiobooks, you can quickly return to them, but make sure you have a genuine reason.
- Seamless Switch between Audible & Kindle
If you have a Kindle subscription, then audible will be a massive game-changer for you. In most Whispersync deals, you need to purchase the ebook and audiobook together, and if you have a Kindle subscription, you don’t have to pay for the ebooks, and you will get the audiobook at a low cost.
The Whispersync feature is also introduced in the audiobooks. So, you can also use this feature in ebooks. So, switching from kindle to audible will be a smooth transition for you.
For example, you can describe the Whispersync feature like this;
You start reading “The 48 Laws of Power” on a Sunday morning, and you stop at 20th power. Now you need to do your daily chore to turn on the Alexa-enabled speaker and start playing the same ebook’s audiobook. This speaker will play the audiobook from the part where you left off. Now you can enjoy listening to this audiobook.
Then you go outside and open the audible app on your mobile, and in this time, the audiobook will start from the part when you have stopped listening with the speaker. So, this is how the Whispersync function works. All in all, if you have audiobooks and ebooks, your novel reading experience will reach the next level.
So, Is Audible Worth It?
If you love to listen to and read books and novels, it is worth paying for audible membership. We often buy expensive ebooks and audiobooks, but most do not have a feature to annotate or highlight. You can do these on an audible platform. You can mark the time in the audiobook and make notes in the audible app.
Even though it has some features for highlighting and making notes, it is not as efficient as writing a pen and paper. Audible doesn’t have any part to share recommendations with friends or colleagues. So, I think this feature should be developed in this app.
And if you are unsure about the paying subscription fee, you can decide by using a 30-day free Audible trial, where you will get one audiobook for a month. You can quickly determine if you wish to continue membership or not.
FAQ
- Where are my Audiobooks stored in the Audible?
- Your purchased audiobooks or ebooks will be stored in the amazon cloud. If you wish to download them, it will be held on your local devices, i.e., mobile or computer. You can listen to a downloaded audiobook while offline.
- Can I have multiple users in one audible account?
- Yes, you can use your audible account for three audible mobile apps simultaneously. If you wish to use it more, you need to change your plan. However, for a family, these three accounts sharing feature is enough.
- How many free books do audible provide when I sign up?
- Audible will provide one free book after sign up on audible.
- Can I give Audible as a gift?
- Yes, you can give Audible membership as a gift for one, three, six, or 12 months. For this, you need to visit the gift membership section on the Audible website.
- Can you exchange a free credit book after reading it?
- Audible provides excellent customer service. If you don’t like the book you have purchased, you can return that book and get back your credit.
- Do audible credit rollover in next months?
- Yes, audible credits accumulate if users don’t use them every month. But users can’t keep more than size audible credits. The surplus credit will be expired.
- Does the audible books cheaper than hard copies?
- It is true for most of the audiobooks. For example, Michelle Obama’s Becoming cost $17.24 for hardback, and you can buy this audiobook in a monthly subscription of $14.90.
- Can I listen to audiobooks more than once?
- Yes, you can listen to the audiobook as many times as you want once you purchased them. You can also download them and listen to them at your convenience.
Conclusion:
An audible subscription is worth it if you are fond of listening to at least one audiobook per month. If you want more than one audiobook, you can go for an Audible platinum plan. However, if you wish to have just one audiobook, you should look at the audiobooks’ free sources. Comment below if you have any questions.
This article was written by 10audioz and published on Tuesday, 18 May 2021. The last update was made on Saturday, 29 January 2023.