Take it from me: as an avid reader, being busy with work and life can often make it difficult to sit down and get lost in a good book. I love physical media and displaying books on my shelves, but I hardly have the time to actually read them. Audible helps mitigate this roadblock with audiobooks, and as someone who lives in Los Angeles, the service helps me kill two birds with one stone: I get to experience the books and stories I’m interested in and it helps long commutes and bumper-to-bumper traffic feel like a breeze.

Here, I’ll be breaking down the various prices and plans Audible has to offer, and if you’re gung-ho about sticking with physical books, check out Amazon’s buy one, get one 50% sale that includes dozens of books and graphic novels.

Does Audible Have a Free Trial?

Audible Free Trial

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Yes, you can check out Audible via a free trial right now. It lasts for 30 days, after which you’ll be charged $14.95 a month and can cancel it at anytime. When you sign up for the free trial, you’ll get two audiobooks for free.

What Is Audible?

Audible is an audiobook and podcast streaming service owned and operated by Amazon. You can purchase products individually or select a subscription that best suits your needs. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll receive credits for redeemable monthly content and be able to access a curated library of even more content.

The service has over 1 million options to choose from. If there’s a book you’re interested in, odds are you can listen to it here. Most titles will get the audibook treatment at some point, with some of the more popular series (like the new Hunger games novel) will have one available on day one. It’s great for everything, from historical non-fiction to modern LitRPG.

How Much Does Audible Cost?

Audible offers a varying selection of subscriptions and purchasable credit options. The subscriptions offered are Plus at $7.99/ month and Premium Plus at $14.95/ month. Then you can add on to these plans with credits. Two credits a month is $22.95, 12 credits is $149.50/ year, and 24 credits is $229.50/ year.

Audible Member Benefits

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Audible Subscriptions and Credits Broken Down

Here’s how the different subscription and credit options shake out. Once you’re a subscriber, you’ll earn credits when as part of your plan. Credits are used to purchase anything from their catalog regardless of price.

Audible Plus – $7.95 per month

This is the subscription. You’ll have acces to thousands of different audiobooks and podcasts from the Plus Catalog.

Audible Premium Plus – $14.95 per month

This is what I would subscribe to if you see yourself using the service a lot over time. You get all the perks form the Plus plan, and you’ll get one credit per month to purchase a book, which you get to keep even if you cancel your plan. You also have access to exclusive sales and discounts.

2 Credits – $22.95 per month

You’ll get two additional credits to spend however you’d like. Part of Audible Premium Plus.

12 Credits – $149.50 per year

You’ll get 12 additional credits to spend however you’d like. Part of Audible Premium Plus.

24 Credits – $229.50 per year

You’ll get 24 additional credits to spend however you’d like. Part of Audible Premium Plus.

Where to Use Audible – Available Platforms

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

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The Kindle Paperwhite is similar to reading an actual book but with a backlight

You can access Audible pretty much anywhere. To start, you can download the app on your mobile device or tablet via the iOS, Android, and Google stores. You can also access Audible through a Kindle device if you have one. Finally, if you have an Amazon Fire TV, you can download the Audible app there too, which is great for cleaning sessions or to just have a book going in the background at home.

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.