Which would you prefer? audible or audiobooks com . Both Audible and Audiobooks.com have the largest libraries in the audiobook market, and their standard subscriptions have comparable prices. Therefore, it can be difficult to decide which one to subscribe to.
If you did a comparison between Audible and Audiobooks.com in past years, you would have found that these two audiobook membership services are virtually identical. However, since recently, both organizations have undergone major transformations and now provide members with a significantly distinct set of benefits.
In this article, Niketrainers.com.co will tell you:
Comparing the Prices of Audible with Audiobooks.com
Both of these audiobook services include a risk-free trial period of thirty days, during which you are able to evaluate them on your own. Even if you terminate your membership in the middle of your free trial with Audiobooks.com or Audible, the book that you purchased using your one credit will still be yours to retain regardless of which service you used.
What is the price of Audiobooks.com compared To The cost of Audible is how much.
Both Audible.com and Audiobooks.com have a regular membership option that costs $14.95 per month to use. You are free to cancel at any time, and if you do so, you will not be charged more.
Audible.com also provides yearly subscriptions with either one or two credits per month, which drastically decreases the price per Audible credit and makes it more affordable than Audiobooks.com. Audible.com also provides monthly subscriptions with either one or two credits per month.
If you already have an Amazon account, you may skip the signup process for Audible and save yourself some time. You simply need to use the email address and password associated with your Amazon account in order to log in and utilize your Amazon payment method. Because Audible is owned by Amazon, customers of both companies use the same sign-in credentials.
However, registering for an account on Audiobooks.com is likewise incredibly fast and simple, and the fact that they offer PayPal as a mode of payment is a huge plus for me. There is no need to use a credit card.
Comparison of the Membership Benefits Offered by Audible and Audiobooks.com
At this point, Audible and Audiobooks.com diverge greatly from one another, which is especially true in the year 2021. In the past, both services provided the exact same benefits, which included one credit redeemable for a free audiobook and the ability to choose two audiobooks from a rotating selection of titles each month. However, both services have since added brand new and very exciting benefits, which make it worthwhile for you to test out both services for yourself.
As a subscriber to Audible Premium Plus (formerly known as the Gold plan), you now have access to a free book that you can choose from the whole catalog of available titles, and it is yours to keep. In addition to this, you will have access to the Audible Plus collection, where you will be able to listen to any of the 9000 titles that are included in your membership. These audiobooks include both Audible Originals and Audible Studios products, in addition to novels written by well-known writers who were invited to participate in the program. That means they are audiobooks of a very good quality!
Because Audible Plus functions as a library, when your subscription to the service expires, the books you have downloaded will be deleted from your device.
You now have the ability to choose how you would want to spend your monthly audiobook credit if you are a member of Audiobooks.com. You can use one credit to join a “Audiobook Club” and instead of purchasing a book to retain, you can listen to as many of the audiobooks that are featured as you’d like during your membership.
If you have previously been a subscriber to Audible Escape, the Audiobooks.com Romance Club** might be something that you might be interested in. They have clubs devoted to a variety of genres, and you are free to borrow as many of the books in the club’s collection as you like. You will not be charged on a per-book basis. However, it is essential that you be aware that you will not be able to keep these audiobooks in your possession. If you decide to discontinue your subscription, you won’t have anything permanent to show for the cost of the monthly premium you were paying. Before you make a decision to spend your credit in this manner, I strongly advise you to peruse the catalogs that are available through the Audiobook Club because of the reasons stated above. Check to see if they have enough of the audiobooks that you would like to listen to.
In addition to the credit you have been allotted, you have the option of selecting one audiobook from a curated collection of best-selling titles that is updated monthly. These are complete novels in their entirety. However, you only have the ability to borrow them, and once your subscription has expired, the audiobooks in question will be removed from your app.
Comparison of the Benefits of an Audible Membership to Those of Audiobooks.com
To provide a succinct summary of the advantages of being a member of Audible, the benefits include access to an endless catalog of audiobooks, in addition to the complimentary audiobook that is solely yours to keep. Audible also hosts sales events where you may purchase books at a discounted price. If you are a member of Audiobooks.com, the only way you can listen for an endless amount of time is if you spend your credit on this. However, if Audiobooks.com contains numerous titles in an Audiobook Club that you desire to listen to, then selecting this alternative may continue to be the superior choice for you. In addition, many of their special sale events are not restricted to members only!
Audiobook Apps
When comparing the Audible app to the Audiobooks app, there is not a significant difference between the two. Neither of these services will allow you to utilize an audiobook player of your choosing. You are required to utilize their product, and despite the fact that its style and structure vary slightly from product to product, it provides features that are functionally equivalent, such as a sleep timer or variable narration pace.
Check out LibroFM if you’re interested in a membership that provides you with “1 free audiobook per month” and enables you to download audiobooks in the format of MP3s and play them using any app available in the Play Store.
Service to Customers and Procedures for Returns
Even while the Audible return policy presents its consumers and the people who create audiobooks with a unique set of challenges, it is, without a question, a pleasant experience to use when you want to return an audiobook that you found to be unsuitable for you. You just need to click a button in your Purchase History to cancel the transaction and return the item. My interactions with Audible’s customer care have, without fail, been quite positive. They are quick to respond, and they are typically quite helpful.
There is no refund or return policy available on Audiobooks.com. You are required to get in touch with customer care in order to investigate the possibility of receiving a refund in the event that an audiobook does not function properly or has significant problems.
The following table provides a summary of the most important distinctions and parallels between Audiobook.com and Audible.
Audible | Audiobooks.com |
---|---|
$7.95, $14.95, or $22.95 for each and every month | Monthly fees of $14.95, $27.90, or $38.85 |
0-1-2 credits each month that can be redeemed for any audiobook | 1–2–3 credits can be redeemed each month for any audiobook. |
30 Days of Free Listening, along with One Free Book | 30 Days of Free Listening Time with the Gift of Three Audiobooks |
500,000+ audiobook library | Library of more than 250,000 audiobooks |
Every plan includes a library of 10,000 free audiobooks. | You get to choose one free audiobook from a selection of fifteen to twenty, and you can use one credit to read hundreds of free audiobooks in a specific genre. |
It is possible to return a book more than once in order to get credit back. | There are no refunds available. |
The “Plus Catalogue” includes ten thousand free audiobooks. | You can trade 1 credit in exchange for unrestricted listening to any audiobook list of your choosing for a period of 30 days. |
When compared to Audiobooks.com, Audible provides a greater number of benefits to its customers. These benefits include twice as many audiobooks, monthly subscription plans that are more affordably priced, a better cost per credit, and an extremely generous audiobook refund policy that allows you to refund even completed audiobooks.
Library size
When compared to Audiobooks.com’s selection of 250,000 audiobooks, Audible’s library contains over 500,000 titles.
When searching for audiobooks on either of these services, you will notice this distinction very clearly. There are a lot of well-known books that are not available at all on Audiobooks.com, but they are all available on Audible in two or three distinct readings, and each one has a unique narrator.
The variety available at Audiobooks.com is still quite impressive, but Audible contains virtually every audiobook that can be imagined.
Both Audible and Audiobooks.com provide an equivalent listening experience in terms of audio quality, and both services will only accept audiobooks that have been narrated by trained voice actors.
Overall Winner: Audible.
Simply put, Audible provides a larger selection of books to choose from, including a great deal more audiobooks as well as several versions of the same audiobook read by a variety of narrators.
Free Trial benefits
Both Audiobooks.com and Audible offer a 30 day free trial.
Audiobooks.com gives you 3 free audiobooks of your choiceduring this time.
Audible only gives 1 audiobook of your choiceduring a free trial (one exception:Amazon Prime subscribers get 2 audiobooks)
Important note:You don’t receive these audiobooks directly, instead you get “credits”, which you can then use to buy any audiobook you want, regardless of price. 1 credit = 1 audiobook for either service.
In both cases, a free trial member has the same benefits as a paying one: discounted books, access to free audiobooks, podcasts, magazines, newspaper subscriptions etc.
In both cases, signing-up for a free trial requires submitting credit card information, and payments begin automatically after 30 days unless you cancel first.
Overall winner: Audiobooks.com.In terms of free trials, Audiobooks.com edges out Audible simply because it offers 3 free audiobooks instead of 1 (or 2 for Amazon Prime subscribers).
===
Subscription cost & price per credit compared
Audible offers a subscription plan that is, on average, less expensive.
When you first join up for Audiobooks.com, the only payment plan you are given the option to select is the $14.95 monthly plan with 1 credit per month and 1 free “VIP Selection book” per month (you can learn more about this in the section titled “Free Audiobooks”).
Immediately following registration, you will have access, via your Account Settings, to a further two payment plan options, namely:
- Two free credits and one free VIP pick book are included in the monthly fee of $27.90.
- The monthly fee of $38.85 includes three free credits and one free VIP selected book.
At the time of signup, Audible gives you the option to select one of several payment plans, including annual ones:
====
- $7.95 on a monthly basis. There are no free credits available; users must either purchase audiobooks or limit their listening to the Plus Catalogue, which contains more than 10,000 free audiobooks (see more about this topic in the “Free Audiobooks” section).
- 14 dollars and 95 cents per month gets you one credit every month and the Plus Catalogue.
- The price of $22.95 per month gets you 2 credits every month in addition to the Plus Catalogue.
- 12 credits are purchased up front, and the Plus Catalogue is included in the annual fee of $149.50.
- A one-time payment of $229.50 gets you 24 credits right away and includes the Plus Catalogue.
On Audiobooks.com, the price per additional credit is more.
If you have already utilized the monthly credits that are allotted to you, you have the option to purchase additional credits on both Audiobooks.com and Audible.
Audible provides three credit bundles for a price range of 32 to 36 dollars, which works out to approximately 10 to 12 dollars per credit individually.===
The fact that you can’t buy this three-credit bundle anytime you want is the most frustrating aspect of this whole process.
First, your account must be devoid of any existing credits, and then you must wait for Audible to notify you within the app or via a pop-up that the 3-credit bundle is now available for purchase.
This occurs if you have zero credits, however there are occasions when the offer won’t show up. When this occurs, you are essentially locked until the beginning of the next month or you have to listen to the free audiobooks.
You are only allowed to purchase one new credit at a time through Audiobooks.com, and the cost is $14.95 per credit.
This function, known as “Instant Credit,” is activated only when you have no accessible credits left in your account.
You will need to go to an audiobook that costs money and then attempt to buy it using a credit in order to activate it. After that, the Audiobooks.com app will ask you whether you want to pay $14.95 to obtain an instant credit and listen to the audiobook. If you say yes, you’ll given the option to do so.
Audible is the superior option, despite the fact that Audiobooks.com provides a more streamlined and intuitive method for purchasing credits. However, Audible continues to provide a lower price per credit than Audiobooks.com (11-12 dollars for Audible versus $14.95 for Audiobooks).
Free Audiobooks
Free audiobooks can be downloaded from both Audiobooks.com and Audible.com. The caveat is that there is a restricted selection of free audiobooks available in both of these scenarios.
Access to a modest library of over 10,000 audiobooks that you may listen to without spending any money or credits is included in all of Audible’s subscription levels. Plus Catalogue is the name of this particular library.
This Plus catalogue has both works of fiction (romance, fantasy, and so forth), as well as works of non-fiction (economics, psychology etc.).
There are two different ways to obtain free audiobooks on Audiobooks.com.
The first one is referred to as “VIP Rewards,” and it is available to both free trial users and paid customers alike. Twenty-five to fifteen audiobooks are chosen on a monthly basis by Audiobooks.com and added to the “VIP Rewards” area of the website. You are only allowed to choose one audiobook to listen to for free each month from of these 15-20 options.
After the end of the month, the books are replaced with a new set of 15–20 audiobooks, and you are given the opportunity to select another audiobook to listen to for free.
The second method that Audiobooks.com offers for downloading free audiobooks is referred to be “Audiobook Clubs.”
These “clubs” are essentially just lists that contain hundreds of audiobooks on a variety of topics, such as romance, business and economics, children’s novels, and so on.
For the price of one credit per month, you can become a member of any audiobook club of your choosing, giving you access to an unlimited number of audiobooks that you can download and listen to.
The winner in every category is Audible.
However, Audible has a larger range of free audiobooks and does not require you to use a credit in order to listen to them, making it the superior option among the two audiobook services when it comes to the category of “free audiobooks.”
Features that improve quality of life, such as the app’s UI, the number of devices, and others
There are a variety of other quality-of-life characteristics, in addition to the attention-grabbing aspects of library size and pricing, that can make using an audiobook service more enjoyable. Some of these aspects include:
The Audible book return policy is one of the best in the industry. Refund requests are (mostly) never accepted by Audiobooks.com.
Audible allows customers to return audiobooks with no questions asked, and the company will even reimburse any credit that was used to purchase the audiobook.
Not only that, but once you’ve finished an audiobook, you can send it back to Audible for a refund!
This means that you can listen to a massive audiobook that is 50 hours long, then return it, get your credit back, and then purchase another audiobook that is also 50 hours long.
Abuse is prevented by the systems that are currently in place. If you return five or six completed audiobooks within a period of two to three months, the “Refund” option in the Audible app will become disabled, and you will no longer be able to use it.
On the other hand, this reviewer has successfully reimbursed somewhere between 5 and 10 audiobooks per month without encountering any problems. The caveat is that these reimbursements were issued after I had listened to about 10–15 percent of the audiobook and decided that I did not want to bother with it.
Only in a very limited number of exceptional circumstances, such as an audiobook having technical faults or being missing content, does Audiobooks.com allow customers to request a refund for previously purchased audiobooks.
The ultimate consequence is that if you purchase an audiobook that you don’t like, you’re basically stuck with it, and you’ve lost your credit for this month in the process. There is no way to get it back now.
Because there is a rigorous no-refund policy in place, it is quite difficult to experiment with new audiobooks and other types of books.
Each Audible account can have an unlimited number of users. Audiobooks.com only allows three to nine purchases per account.
There is no restriction on the number of individuals or devices that can sign in to an Audible account. There is no barrier preventing you from sharing an account with your complete social network, including your family and friends.
The one and only catch is that the other users can only listen to audiobooks or podcasts that you have already purchased, as well as any free audiobooks that are available from the Plus Catalogue.
In contrast, each Audiobooks.com account can only be used on three different devices.
You can, however, take advantage of Audiobooks.com’s “Family Plan,” which enables you to invite two more users to create individual profiles. A maximum of three devices can be associated with each of these profiles.
Therefore, if you have one account with Audiobooks.com, you can link up to three different user profiles and up to nine different devices.
App UI and usability is roughly the same for both
Both Audible and Audiobooks.com have relatively strong user interfaces and navigation within the app, as well as other features that are comparable to one another in terms of quality of life, including the following:
- There are no advertising or adverts at all.
- Playback speed gives you the ability to either speed up or slow down the rate at which a narrator speaks.
- Make use of bookmarks and make some notes.
- Navigation within the chapter
- On either store, the majority of audiobooks will have a number of reviews that you may read to determine whether or not a book is worth purchasing.
- Both apps provide information regarding the amount of time spent listening as well as medals or achievements for a variety of activities (finishing X number of audiobooks, taking notes, re-reading an audiobook, etc.)
Audible comes out on top in terms of overall quality of life. The reason that Audible is the clear winner in this category is that the company has an exceptional return policy. Because of this policy, Audible customers have the peace of mind to sample a wide variety of audiobooks before settling on the one that best suits their needs.