Here are Audible comments & reviews people have submitted to us so far. To summarize, most people like Audible and feel it’s well worth the money, especially because there’s a very wide range of books (as well as radio shows, magazines and newspapers) that you can listen to, and the Audible app is very well made. You can expect great customer service, a clean interface, and everything to work smoothly. Most people seem to use Audible to listen to books that they’d never normally have the time to sit down and read, and that’s a wonderful thing to be able to do. It’s also great for traveling (just put the Audible app on your phone and there’s no need to take any extra gear).
As far as the negatives of Audible? Firstly, it’s interesting that a couple of comments (eg. here) talk about how with the current abundance of great free podcasts to listen to, audiobooks may be on the decline, and you should know before paying for Audible that there are loads of good long-form podcasts you could listen to for free instead (all kinds of people are starting podcasts these days, and we’ve shown a few on our podcasting stories page). There are also plenty of competitors to Audible that may be cheaper depending on your specific usecase (I recommend checking OverDrive), and have many of the audiobooks on Audible.
Finally, if you’ve used Audible yourself and would like to add a comment on your experience with it, please do so here.
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I listen to approximately 75 to 100 books on Audible each year. The ease of ordering books, the quality of the recordings, and the large variety of books available make for the perfect vehicle to keep up with my reading on the go. I listen to Audible books while doing household chores, walking, and driving. The ease of using the website and the Audible App allow me to order and download quickly. I've tried other Apps and audio book services, but find them to be challenging to sort out. There are multiple ways to buy bargain Audible books, which I make use of to save on the cost of the large number of books I buy. Audible Originals are another fun option---they're short, free, creative, and offer entertainment that is often suitable for family listening. --Katharine M. Nohr, Nohr Sports Risk Management PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/audible-reviews#katharine |
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I’ve used Audible before and I am still using it today. It may be costly but its a good way to learn new things while doing something else. I personally pick educational and self-help books and listen to them while working or while playing video games. I’d definitely recommend Audible for people who are willing to invest in themselves. The $15 price is worth it if you really want to learn while on the go. As for the pros and cons of Audible. Pros - Access to a large collection of books - Easy to use and to access - Access to audible originals Cons - The price tag - It’s not for everybody Overall, Audible is an amazing service but its not for everyone. It’s very pricey and if you want to listen to audiobooks, you can always go to Youtube or other free services and search for them there. But if you want a convenient list of books at your disposal, then it might be time to start investing in an Audible subscription. --Kenny Trinh, Netbooknews |
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Audible is great in my opinion as it has allowed me to access books on business, personal development and other educational texts in a way that is accessible. I work full time in addition to running my business and new blog so having books I can learn from in a ‘hands free’ manner is important to me. I have tried using free audiobook services at my local library but I found them difficult to use or experienced technical issues. I have been paying for Audible for over a year and don’t feel that I will quit any time soon. I often recommend it to friends. --Sarah Callaway, House of Callaway |
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Audible is a bit pricey compared to some other services, but it is the most likely to have the audiobooks you want. There are some other services out there like Playster or Scribd where you can pay a monthly subscription and listen to as many books as you want. However, I kept finding the books I wanted most were not in there. Therefore, being able to listen to any book I want makes Audible ultimately worth the pricing. --Ryan Cleckner, Gun University PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/audible-reviews#ryan |
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I love Audible and audiobooks are something that I recommend to anyone that is willing to listen to me. I've used Audible since 2010 and own 283 titles. I listen for 15 hours per month on average. I've collected most of all the listening badges that the app awards you when you use it. Apparently I've spent 2 months, 14 days, 16 hours, and 22 minutes listening to Audible in total. Is Audible worth it compared to cheaper alternatives? Buying audiobooks one at a time is usually very expensive. Audible inflates the list price to make it's membership seem like a better deal. It's a psychological pricing strategy. For example, to buy an audiobook outright on Audible might cost $30. The same audiobook on Google Play might cost $15, but if you are a serious consumer of audiobooks an Audible membership is worth it. I have a 24 credit yearly subscription that works out at under $10 per book. I've never paid full price for an audiobook on Audible. Would you recommend it to others? Audiobooks in general are fantastic. They allow you to multitask. You can listen to audiobooks in the car during the commute, in the gym, while cleaning your apartment, or my favorite is to take long walks. Sometimes, if the book is enthralling, I don't want my walk to end. I've even used my waterproof headphones to listen to audiobooks while swimming laps at the pool, turning exercise from a chore into something I really enjoy. Reading books is a habit that many people have as kids but lose when they become adults. I was one of those people. But Audible was a way to get back into books because I didn't need to find time to sit and just read, I could make consuming a book fit into my life, turning dead time into some of my most cherished time. From a travel packing perspective, Audible is great too. Obviously packing real books adds weight to your luggage. I do own a kindle and it's a good way to cut weight from your bag but the lightest to consume books when you are traveling is through the Audible app. The Audible app itself is very well made. I usually speed up the narration so it plays at 1.5x and I often use the sleep timer to listen to my book while I am dropping off to sleep. I set the timer for 10 minutes and it will stop automatically. My favorite thing about Audible is that you can return a book if you don't like it. I've even returned books that I've listened to if I felt they were not good value for money. That's just great customer service! The only one con of Audible and audiobooks that I have is this... you can take a real book into a coffee shop and sit and read it and you look normal. If you sit with earbuds in listening to an audiobook you look like a weirdo sitting doing nothing staring into space 🙂 --James Eagleman, TravelingLight.com |
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I think Audible is awesome. It has the most diverse collection of audio content I’ve seen. Not only are there audiobooks but there’s also radio as well as audio versions of popular magazines and newspapers. It is a good service with excellent customer support options, and it offers a decent deal on audiobooks - both for sign-up, and as part of your membership. I’ve been listening to the audio versions of music memoirs. In fact, I’m on the first chapter of Bob Dylan’s Chronicles (narrated by Sean Penn) while typing this. --James Bullard, Sound Fro |
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Audible is one of my top apps for learning a language. I always get the annual subscription that offers 24 credits. Being able to learn a language on my phone is hugely important to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to build my skills consistently. I rely heavily on Audible to be able to learn in my car, while I'm cleaning, while I'm shopping and while I'm doing errands. The best thing about Audible is that it has a huge selection of courses in many languages. They have some of my very favorite courses (Pimsleur), that can give me a solid half an hour of language instruction without taking time away from the other things I need to do in a day. For example, I can do my spring cleaning and learn languages. I can commute and learn languages. I can do my grocery shopping and learn languages. What's best is that Audible has lots of options for intermediate and advanced learners. There are short story series for learners of language at the intermediate level. When I was working on my native-level proficiency of Spanish, I listened to many audio books written in Spanish. For example, listening to self-help books, novels or mysteries were great ways to improve my skills and engage with interesting content. Audible is one of the most useful tools to learn a language at any level. --Janina Klimas, Side Hustle School |
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After completing my free Audible trial, I decided it was not worth it to continue with a paid subscription. The service itself is great and simple to navigate. It has a wide array of content covering every subject you can imagine. However, that is true for many free options as well. I opted to stick with podcasts as well as the free audiobooks available through my library membership. Many libraries partner with OverDrive, which has a massive selection of audiobooks for free. the only thing that might bring me back to Audible is if something in their exclusive library drew my attention, but that hasn't happened yet. --Travis Scoundrel, Nerds and Scoundrels |
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I think podcasts will do to audio books what high-quality, binge-able Netflix shows have done to movies. Audible certainly has a lot to offer, and if it were 2010 right now, I’d probably have kept my subscription. But the truth is, we live in the age of the podcast. There’s just so much out there, from professional development to comedy to history to true crime—and it’s all free. I understand audio books and podcasts aren’t exactly the same, but for now, I’ve chosen free podcasts when I want to listen and physical books when I want some quiet time to read. If Audible can get into the podcast game the way Spotify has, however, things might change. --Daniel Caughill, The Dog Tale |
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Pro's It is worth the price simply because of the huge collection that it has. It has some of the best books and that is what makes it worthwhile. Also the credits make it possible to get more books at affordable prices. Also the quality of the audiobooks is wonderful most of the time. It is read by professional voice over artists and that makes for a great listening experience. Cons The content is largely specific to english titles. As I am from India, I would love some regional content in the native languages. The quality of reading too can be dicey. Like I loved most of the books that I heard, but there were a few titles that were read without emotions or voice modulation. That made the experience a bit drab. --Neha Tambe, nehatambe.com PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/audible-reviews#neha |
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My name is Neil and I'm a relatively recent convert to Audible, signing up for one of their First 3 months free offers back in late 2017. Well, I suppose I'm not really that recent, but it feels that way. For years I simply couldn't get my head around the idea of listening to a book even though several friends gushed praise about them. But my curiosity eventually lead to me downloading World War Z by Max Brooks...and I've been sold ever since. It's also been part of the reason why I now get through an extra 20 - 30 books each year. I would absolutely recommend it to a friend, and have on several occasions. The biggest benefit of Audible is that you can listen to a chapter of a book while tidying the house, making dinner, walking the dog, or even doing some gardening. It's a really effective way to get through those longer books you've put off for years - War and Peace can fall to a long weekend of gardening or several long walks. In terms of the cheaper options, systems tied to local libraries are great but you might have to wait for a title to become available. There's nothing worse than wanting to listen to a book but having to wait for several days. Or for the title to simply not be available on a cheaper site. Apart from that I've found that the Audible pricing is pretty fair in comparison to any other audiobook sellers I've come across. You get one title included with your monthly subscription, and they sell bundles of 3 credits for around $16. So that means you get 4 full audiobooks each month for roughly $30. --Neil Roach, Boxroom Office PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/audible-reviews#neil |
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I was always a reader, but a slow one. I would have to find time in my week for a quiet hour or two and read. It made for longer stretches of time to get through a book, but I did it. And then my brother introduced me to Audible. It changed everything! Now I can put a book on the speaker, throw a load in the laundry, turn on the Roomba vacuum, hop on the elliptical and get an hours worth of book in while I clean and exercise! It has saved my sanity, especially during the weeks of Covid-19 when I was home constantly with my son, nephew and husband all making noise and needing something. Now I listen while I am riding my bike. Or driving to work. I LOVE audible! --Roberta Perry, Scrubz Body Scrub |
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I've used Audible for years for the most part and love it. I would probably never change even if there are other cheaper alternatives. It has a free trial available and some competitors don't, and I took advantage of that in the beginning. But after that, I found plenty of benefits. You can earn credits to purchase more books for free, and if you should decide to cancel your service, the books you've downloaded are still yours to keep. To me, that's pretty important. Audible is also available on almost any device, and pricing is rather cheap. It has more books in its library than other such websites/apps, plus your first book is free. There's also a refund policy as well. Can't really think of anything else to add here other than that I am an advocate of Audible. --David Bakke, National Air Warehouse |
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I have been using Audible regularly since 2017 and have over 300 titles. I'm not the fastest reader and there's no way I would have made the time to read this many books over the years. So for me, Audible has been a fantastic way to consume a multitude of books in a short amount of time. The expense is definitely worth it for me. More recently I am only purchasing 1 book a month and actually have a few credits to spare. You get 1 free credit a month which has saved me a lot of money mainly because the majority of the books I purchase are 10hours+ so the individual price costs more than the monthly plan. Note that the credit allows you to purchase any book regardless of the price so if you're going to purchase more than 1 book a month, make sure you save the credit for the most expensive one. The downside here is that if you plan to purchase multiple books a month then it can start to get pretty expensive. Not only are a lot of books more costly on Audible than other platforms but you also don't get any kind of reward or discount for purchasing more books like you do on some other platforms. The things that I love about Audible that I think it has over other platforms are: - It has a huge collection of titles, more than most, if not all other platforms out there which will only continue to grow. - The app is super user friendly. - You can listen up to 3.5x (usually max 2x) the speed which allows me to fly through books. I usually listen to a single book multiple times because of this. - Customer service is great. Multiple times I've used their online chat and asked them to update my copy of a book for a newer version that's been released by the author and it's done in less than 10 minutes. - I can only remember a single time since 2017 that I've searched for a title and they didn't have it. However, if you're pushed for price there are cheaper alternatives that will get the job done. I just doubt the overall user experience will be as quality as the service Audible provides. --Liam Coultman, The Speed Project PERMALINK: https://outwittrade.com/audible-reviews#liam |