Andy Walker / Android Authority
Audiobooks provide a comforting alternative for those who find reading tiring, especially if you own a comfortable pair of true wireless headphones. There are a variety of platforms, apps, and services to choose from, and many of the major e-book platforms now include native audiobook support. If you’re having trouble choosing one, here are our recommendations for the best audiobook apps for Android and iOS.
The best audiobook apps for Android and iOS
Amazon Kindle
Price: Free / Book prices vary / $9.99/month
Amazon Kindle is the world’s most popular e-book platform and has native audiobook support. However, Amazon also owns Audible, so most of the Kindle’s audiobook experience is related to Audible. Either way, you get the best of both worlds with this one. There are millions of audiobooks and millions of regular books. Additionally, you can subscribe to Kindle Unlimited for unlimited access to a million or so popular audiobook titles for $9.99 per month. It’s a great platform for audiobook lovers.
Audibly
Price: Free / Book prices vary / $7.95 per month
Audible is the most popular audio entertainment app right now, offering a huge collection of audiobooks, exclusive podcasts and Audible Originals. Its extensive spoken word library covers nearly every binge-worthy title and top genre, making it easy to find audiobooks that match your preferences. App features include offline listening, seamless switching between reading on Kindle and listening on Audible, Apple Watch and Carplay integration, and a sleep timer for bedtime listening. Users praise the choice and appreciate the platform, but the homepage layout could use some work.
Audioknjige.com
Price: Free / Book prices vary / $14.95/mo
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Audiobooks.com rivals Audible as one of the big dogs in the audiobook app space. It works very similarly. You can sign up and buy books, subscribe, get some books for free every month, and get discounts on others. It boasts an extensive collection of audiobooks and over 700,000 podcasts for a surprisingly engaging 2-in-1 experience. It also supports downloading for offline listening, along with variable playback speed controls. It’s a solid overall option even if, like Audible, it’s a bit more expensive, which may be a downside for some.
Barnes & Noble NOOK
Price: Free / Book costs vary
The Barnes & Noble NOOK app offers an expansive and user-friendly platform for iOS and Android users to enjoy a variety of digital content. With access to a huge online library of over four million e-books, graphic novels, comics, manga, magazines and more than 300,000 audiobooks, the app promises a rich and immersive reading and listening experience.
The NOOK app enhances the reading experience by allowing users to customize their settings, from font styles and spacing to background color and narration speed. Features such as notes, bookmarks and highlights allow readers to engage more deeply with their chosen books, with the option to share favorite passages with friends on social networks. Although most of the books you’ll find in this app must be purchased to be available, there are a few free options available.
Google Play Books
Price: Free / book prices vary
Google Play Books offers a comprehensive, user-friendly platform to access the vast collection of eBooks and audiobooks from Google Play. One of the standout features of Google Play Books is the impressive selection of audiobooks without the need for a monthly subscription. Navigation within audiobooks is also convenient with exact chapter titles instead of track listings, making it easy to skip to specific parts of the story. This feature is useful, especially while reading longer audiobooks.
Seamless app sync across all devices is a game changer. It ensures that you can easily switch from iPhone to iPad or Android and pick up where you left off. What’s more, Google Play Books support CarPlay, making it a great listening companion while driving.
Hoopla Digital
Price: Free / Content prices vary
Hoopla Digital is a comprehensive digital library app that offers a wide range of content, including over a million titles, from best-selling novels to hard-to-find niche content. If you’re a US citizen, Hoopla would be the best option for audiobooks, as you can use your library card to access all kinds of content for free without ads. The app offers the convenience of offline downloading and syncing across devices, ensuring you never lose your place while reading or listening to an audiobook.
Additional features with the app include Kids Mode with PIN option for parents to monitor content, Apple Carplay compatibility, Shuffle feature and an immersive panel-by-panel graphic novel/comic reading experience.
Kobo books
Price: Free / book prices vary
The Kobo app is a must-have for book lovers, as it offers a huge library of over six million titles, including e-books and audiobooks. With a user-friendly interface, customization options, and seamless sync between devices, reading and navigating audiobooks becomes a breeze. The app simplifies listening to audiobooks by offering personalized recommendations and tools like a timeline slider, playback speed configuration, and a snooze timer. However, one major drawback of the app is that it doesn’t offer free books or audiobooks. You can preview a sample, after which you’ll need to purchase it from the Kobo store before it’s available to read or listen to.
LibriVox audio books
Price: Free/book prices may vary
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
LibriVox Audio Books is a small but decent audio book platform. It boasts a collection of 40,000 free audiobooks. Granted, it’s not the most extensive collection, but they’re all free, making it a great place to have fun on the cheap. You can search, find the books you want and download them offline. The app also has a sleep timer, a bookmarking feature so you never lose your place, and support for Chromecast and Android Auto. It ticks all the boxes for a good audiobook app, and it costs nothing. However, there are ads in the free version and you can get rid of them if you want to pay.
OverDrive Libby
Price: Free
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Libby is a great idea for those who want audiobooks on a budget. It is a media platform that allows you to rent various media from your local library online. It has several good advantages over the old library. It’s available 24/7, you can use it from home, and it costs nothing. It lets you use a library card you haven’t used in years. It only works with participating libraries and you need a valid library card, but this is a great resource for audiobooks.
Scribd
Price: Free / $11.9 per month
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Scribd is an e-book and audiobook platform with good benefits. Its subscription price is lower than most competitors, and you get more for your money. In addition, it boasts a collection of over a million titles and a reasonable amount of playback controls, such as a sleep timer. You also get the usual stuff like offline download support. Many of its features are for e-books, but the audiobook stuff works perfectly well. Like Kobo, this is a decent alternative to Kindle and Google Play Books.
Storytel: audiobooks and e-books
Price: From $3.99 per month
Storytel stands out as a broad platform for captivating stories and exclusive content. One of the highlights of Storytel is its vast collection of stories available in multiple languages, making it accessible and appealing to a diverse audience. Personalized audiobook recommendations are on point, and the app introduces you to new genres and authors that perfectly match your taste. The app’s features, such as regular, fast or slow listening, bookmarks and a sleep timer, cater to different listening preferences and needs.
Additionally, Storytel offers a kids mode with a good collection of children’s stories. Parents can control the visibility of children’s books on their shelves and set their own parental control pin codes. While the app gets praise for its extensive content selection and seamless functionality, there are areas for potential improvement. The app could benefit from a better user interface design and interface for easier navigation.