Audiobooks.com
Is This Your Business?3.1
3.1
Author: Jenna Vasquez
Launched in 2012, Audiobooks.com is a subsidiary of Simply Audiobooks and is an RBmedia company. When the service first began, it offered subscribers unlimited access to its collection of audiobooks. In 2013, the unlimited access plan was canceled although members could continue a monthly credit-based subscription
Even though it has only offered cloud-based audiobooks for a few years, Audiobooks.com already has a strong customer base with more than 1 million downloads.
Audiobooks.com has a great blog where you can check out new releases every week.
Listings include an image, an excerpt from the book, a description, and star ratings for both the book and the narrator. Popular news outlets that have featured Audiobooks.com include the following:
- Macworld
- Financial Post
- USA Today
- Tuaw
- Cnet
- Mashable
Each $14.95 monthly subscription comes with one premium credit selection and one free download with VIP Rewards access area of the website or mobile app. VIP rewards refresh on the first day of the month.
Read on for pros and cons, plus Audiobooks.com reviews from users like you.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Large Selection
- User-Friendly App
- InstaCredit
- Free Trial
- Deals
- Gift Plans
Large Selection
Audiobooks.com has a large selection of popular titles to choose from (over 125,000). This is a sharp increase from the company’s founding when it only had 11,000 books to choose from. While it doesn’t have quite as large of a collection as Audible (at 425,000+), it offers a monthly membership for the same price ($14.95).
Its selection of audiobooks is larger than competing libraries at Nook, Audiobookstore.com, as well as smaller providers like Recorded Books and Audiobooks Now.
User-Friendly App
Apps from Audiobooks.com are very user friendly. You can stream and download music straight from almost any web browser. You can also use your smartphone (Android or iOS) to listen to books. It's easy to stream or download your books with Audiobooks.com, so you can listen wherever you go.
Features include cloudmark sync, which allows users to pause and then start where they left-off on another device or browser and intelligent restart, which automatically saves your spot within the app when you re-open without saving a bookmark.
The Audiobooks.com player app is a little less complicated than the Audible app, especially when browsing through new books to purchase.
InstaCredit
Once you have activated the InstaCredit option, you can easily purchase additional book credits for $14.95 through the website or via the app in the Get More section.
Additionally, a la carte purchasing is available for members via the website.
Free Trial
Another great thing about Audiobooks.com is the free 30-day trial. This allows listeners to see if Audiobooks.com is for them and if it's something they want to invest in.
Users can cancel any time during the 30-day period, but once the free trial period ends, your subscription automatically begins and your card is billed.
Deals
Just like Audible, Audiobooks.com runs ongoing promotions that are easily accessible under the Deals tab. This includes various two-for-one-credit options.
Gift Plans
There are a few different prepaid gift plans available through Audiobooks:
- 1 month for $14.95
- 3 months for $44.85
- 6 months for $79.70
- 12 months for $149.40
Both the 6 and 12-month gift memberships include a discount. The 6-month membership saves you $10 and the 12-month membership saves you $30. These include a monthly VIP selection as well.
The Bad
- Subscription Options
- VIP Rewards
- Unused Credits
Subscription Options
Unlike other audiobook subscription companies, Audiobooks.com only offers one type of subscription. You can sign up for one audiobook per month for $14.95. If you want to listen to any books beyond that, you have to buy credits — points that allow you to purchase audiobooks. While we like that you can listen to one audiobook per month for such a low cost, we wish you didn't have to pay full price for any additional books each month. A bulk credit would be helpful.
After your free trial ends, your subscription automatically renews, which means your card will be charged the day after your trial expires without further warning.
VIP Rewards
You get two books each month with your subscription; however, one of them is considered a VIP rewards selection, which has to be chosen from a small selection of 30 titles, changing each month. The VIP section includes popular and best-selling titles from a variety of genres and it changes on the first of the month.
As long as you remain a member, you get a free book every month, but when you discontinue, you don’t get access to these VIP rewards titles anymore.
Unused Credits
Members should note that unused credits will expire three months after they are added.
The Bottom Line
Audiobooks.com has an excellent selection of books to choose from. When you log onto the website, popular authors and books are easily accessible. You can also browse by genre or bestseller lists. We like how easy-to-use and detailed this website is.
In comparison, Audible has 425,000 titles and its $14.95 per month subscription includes three listens: one audiobook and two Audible Originals chosen from a monthly selection of six titles. Neither audiobooks nor Originals disappear after you discontinue your subscription. The Audibooks.com $14.95 subscription includes two listens: one audiobook and one VIP rewards book chosen from a selection of about 30 books. Your decision comes down to your preference, how picky you are when choosing titles, and how long you plan to subscribe (for access to your VIP books).
Audiobooks.com carries a large collection of books. If you're the type of person who listens to one to two audiobooks per month, we highly recommend using Audiobooks.com.
