The short answer
Spotify is cheaper if you listen up to about 15 hours a month and want music too: Premium includes 15 hours for $12.99. Audible is better for keeping books and for long or expensive ones: $14.95 buys one credit for any book in its Premium selection. Libro.fm matches Audible’s price with credits that never expire and DRM-free files, and your library is free.1,5,8,11
- Audible Premium
- $14.95 · 1 credit
- Spotify Premium
- $12.99 · 15 h
- Libro.fm
- $14.99 · 1 credit
- Libby / Hoopla
- Free
Every service, side by side
| Audible Premium | Audible Standard | Spotify Premium | Libro.fm | Everand | Kindle+ | Libby / Hoopla | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.95/mo (1 credit), $22.95 (2); $149.50/yr (12), $229.50/yr (24) | $8.99/mo | $12.99/mo Individual; Audiobooks Access $9.99 | $14.99/mo (1), $23.99 (2); $169.99/yr (12) | $11.99, $16.99 or $28.99/mo | Shown when you sign in; free trial if eligible | Free with a library card |
| What you get | 1–2 credits a month + Plus Catalog | 1 book a month | 15 h a month (+15 h for $11.99) | 1–2 credits a month, 30% off more | 1, 3 or 5 unlocks a month | Borrow 20 titles at a time from 700,000+ audiobooks and ebooks | Loans; your library sets limits |
| Unused allowance | Credits last 12 months | Doesn’t roll over | Expires monthly | Credits never expire | Unlocks roll over up to 6 months | No monthly limit; no due dates | – |
| Keep after cancelling | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| DRM-free files | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Music included | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
What each costs for the way you listen
The right answer depends on how many hours you listen. Credit plans charge per book whatever its length; Spotify charges per hour; the library charges nothing but makes you wait for popular titles.
Cost a month for 15 hours (11-hour books at $20 list price), US dollars
- Service
- Cheapest for these hours
Your library (Libby, Hoopla) is free. Extra books on credit plans are bought at the member price; Spotify adds Audiobooks+ or top-ups, whichever is cheaper.
Audible: credits and the biggest catalog
Audible Premium gives 1 or 2 credits a month, or 12 or 24 a year, each redeeming any title in its Premium selection, plus unlimited listening to the Plus Catalog and member sales.1 Credits expire after 12 months or when you cancel, and books you buy stay in your library if you cancel.3,4 Audible Standard, launched in 2026 at $8.99, gives one book a month from the whole collection of a million titles, but the choice doesn’t roll over and those books lock if you cancel.2
Best for: listeners who want to keep their books and like long or new releases. More in Audible credits explained.
Spotify: hours with your music
Spotify Premium includes 15 hours a month from a subscriber catalog of over 700,000 titles in the US, alongside music and podcasts.5 Hours count at normal speed and don’t roll over; Audiobooks+ adds 15 hours for $11.99 a month.6,7 On Duo and Family, only the plan manager gets hours.6
Best for: one or two books a month if you already pay for Premium. More in Spotify audiobooks explained.
Libro.fm: credits that never expire, files you own
Libro.fm costs $14.99 a month for one credit, $23.99 for two, or $169.99 a year for twelve, with 30% off extra audiobooks.8 Its credits never expire, even if you pause or cancel, and its downloads are DRM-free, so they play in any app, including ours.8,9 It shares the profit from each purchase with a local bookshop you choose; it doesn’t publish the percentage.14
Best for: owning your files outright, and supporting bookshops.
Everand: unlocks while you subscribe
Everand’s plans give 1, 3 or 5 unlocks a month for $11.99, $16.99 or $28.99, from a catalog of over 1.5 million audiobooks and ebooks; unused unlocks roll over for up to six months. Unlocked books are available while you subscribe and come back if you rejoin.10
Libby and Hoopla: free with a library card
Libby is “a free app where you can enjoy ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines from your public library”; all you need is a library card.11 Libraries buy individual copies, so popular books have holds. Hoopla’s Instant titles are always available, up to a monthly limit your library sets; its Flex titles work like Libby’s.12 See free audiobooks for every legal free source.
Kindle+: borrow audiobooks with your ebooks
Amazon renamed Kindle Unlimited “Kindle+” on 22 October 2026. Its sign-up page promises “over 700,000 audiobooks” alongside ebooks, comics and magazines, and new members can start with a free trial.13,15 There is no monthly allowance: you borrow up to 20 titles at a time, with no due dates, and return one to borrow another. Magazine issues count towards the 20. Audiobooks carry a “with Narration” headset icon, or you can filter the Kindle+ store to audiobooks; you use Kindle+ in the free Kindle app on a phone, tablet or computer, or on a Kindle.15 Members can share Kindle+ titles with Amazon Family members. When you cancel, your membership runs to the next billing date; after that, you lose access to what you have borrowed. Instead of cancelling you can pause for a month.16
Best for: heavy listeners whose books are in its catalogue, especially if they read ebooks too. More in audiobooks on Kindle.
Which should you choose?
- You already pay for Spotify and finish a book or so a month: use Spotify’s 15 hours, and the library for extras.
- You want to keep your books: Audible Premium, or Libro.fm if you want DRM-free files and credits that never expire.
- You finish two or more books a month: Audible’s 24-credit annual plan works out at about $9.56 a book.1
- You listen to a lot and don’t need to keep books: Kindle+, if the books you want are in its catalogue, or Everand.
- You want to spend nothing: Libby and Hoopla, with patience for holds.