Audible’s Subscription & Membership Explained (Easy Guide)

Audible subscriptions are perfect for the avid reader on the go.

Not only do they have thousands of books to choose from for “free,” but you also get to keep the ones that you buy forever!

In this article, we will discuss the basics of Audible’s memberships and their benefits, as well as drawbacks:

Here are the Basics of Audible Subscriptions:

Audible.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, offers two subscription membership options. Audible Plus offers access to a select library of over 10,000 titles for $7.95 per month. Audible Premium Plus offers access to over 500,000 titles for $14.95 per month and one title per month to keep.

How Exactly Does Audible’s Membership Work?

Audible offers a free trial period for anyone wanting to try out either of the membership plans:

Picking Your Plan

First, you’ll need to pick whether you want to try Audible Plus or Audible Premium Plus.

We’ll go into more detail on the specifics of each plan in a bit, but for now, suffice it to say that Audible Premium Plus has a larger library and more benefits for twice the price of Plus.

Login or Create an Account

Once you’ve picked a plan, you’ll have to log in to your Amazon account or create one if you don’t already have one.

Then you’ll be asked for some information, including payment info.

You won’t be paying them anything yet, but if the free trial expires and you haven’t canceled, you will be charged, so keep that in mind!

Add Payment Information

Once you get through the Audible account creation process and supply payment information.

This is the card that you will either use to pay for your regular membership or the one they keep on file for you to use during the free trial.

When the trial is over, that card you added will be charged for a month’s worth of Audible membership, so make sure you keep an eye on the date! Otherwise, if you don’t want Audible, you could be charged anyway.

If you want to try it out and aren’t ready to commit to a paid plan, set a reminder to cancel!

Listen to Audiobooks!

Now, if you selected Audible Plus, you’ll have access to a curated library of over 10,000 titles, including audiobooks, meditations, podcasts, and more.

If you selected Audible Premium Plus, you’ll have access to everything in Audible Plus and way more; a library of over 500,000 titles and a credit for a free title to keep! Yes, that’s right, the Premium free trial gives you a free book up-front before you even start paying any fees.

What Does Audible’s Membership Include?

Both Audible memberships offer access to virtual libraries of audiobooks, podcasts, meditations, and more.

The more expensive plan also has a credit system that lets you keep some titles permanently but more later. The “meat” of an Audible membership is the massive library you’re granted access to for a monthly fee.

Like other subscription-based services like Netflix or Spotify, you’re paying for temporary access to this massive library.

As long as you have a valid subscription (meaning as long as you keep paying every month), you can listen to any title in the library as many times as you want.

You can also download titles for offline listening and curate a personal library of your favorites so you can find them easily later.

Do You Really Need a Subscription to Listen to Audible Books?

Nope! They’re also available, in most cases, for individual sale.

You’ll have to pay that monthly fee if you want unlimited access to the entire library. If you want to buy a few audiobooks individually, you can do that too!

Audible Premium Plus’ credit system allows you to do both simultaneously; you get access to the library and credits to redeem for a “free” audiobook per month.

Additionally, as a Premium member, you’ll get a discount on audiobooks you purchase if you’re out of credits.

But you don’t need any paid membership to buy individual audiobooks, so if you’re only interested in one or two titles, you can purchase them separately.

How Much Does Audible Cost?

That depends on which membership plan you choose!

• Audible Plus will run you $7.95 per month.
• Audible Premium Plus costs nearly twice that much at $14.95 per month.

Audible Plus offers a much smaller library and no additional benefits than Premium Plus.

However, at less than half the price, it can still be an economical choice if you want to listen to some audiobooks on a budget.

How Many Books Do You Get Access to with an Audible Membership?

Again, that depends on which membership!

• Audible Plus gives you access to a curated library of over 10,000 select titles.
• Audible Premium Plus offers access to a much larger library of over 500,000 titles.

Additionally, Premium Plus grants you one credit per month which you can redeem for any title that’s yours to keep, even if you cancel!

How Easy Is it to Quit an Audible Subscription?

As near as we can tell, it’s about as easy as unsubscribing from any average subscription service.

That is to say, it might be buried in a few submenus, and Audible certainly doesn’t want to make it too easy for you to stop paying them, but it’s not too difficult, just annoying.

Go to the Audible website and access your membership. Then, navigate to the cancellation page. Once there, you can cancel your membership.

However, there is no guarantee that you will get any kind of refund for the month you are on when you cancel.

How Do You Pay for Audible?

Audible accepts most major credit cards, including MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, and their own Amazon store cards.

Despite its internet ubiquity, they do not accept PayPal or any non-credit card payment options. When signing up for a free trial, you’ll be asked for your credit card information; when the trial expires, that card will be charged.

So if you try the trial and decide it’s not for you, don’t forget to cancel! Otherwise, if you’re happy with Audible after the trial period, do nothing and allow your credit card to be charged.

Audible will keep charging you monthly based on the day you first signed up for the trial.

Are You Automatically Billed After the Trial Month?

Companies like Audible rely on people signing up for the trial and forgetting to cancel as part of their revenue.

It would be more convenient and user-friendly if the membership paused after the trial and required you to manually confirm that you wanted to start a paid membership.

However, major corporations like Amazon (which owns Audible) care far more about profit than anything else.

All this to say that if you want to try an Audible free trial, set yourself an alarm or reminder to decide whether to cancel or not before you get charged!

Do Audible Members Get Free Audiobooks?

Audible Plus offers nothing other than access to its library as long as you’re subscribed.

Audible Premium Plus offers one monthly credit, which you can redeem for a title that’s yours to keep. It’s not “free,” though, because you’re paying for it monthly.

Every month, your $14.95 is buying two things: temporary access to the full library and permanent access to a single title of your choice.

The only truly free thing you can get is the credit from Audible Premium Plus’s free trial.

If you cancel before being charged, you will get one title to keep that costs you nothing.

What Is the Difference Between the Plans You Can Choose?

There are three important differences between the two plans: cost, library size, and the credit system that one has, and one does not.

Audible Plus will cost you $7.95 per month, and Audible Premium Plus goes for $14.95 per month.

As for library size, there is quite a difference. Audible Plus gives you access to a curated selection of over 10,000 titles. However, it’s nothing compared to the 500,000+ titles available in the full Audible Premium Plus library, which includes everything in the Plus catalog and much more.

The final difference between the two plans is that Audible Premium Plus has a monthly credit system, and Audible Plus does not.

How Does Audible’s Credit System Work?

Audible Premium Plus offers, in addition to access to its massive 500,000+ title library, one “credit” per month.

What does that mean, and what can you do with this credit? Well, it’s pretty simple: that monthly credit is a coupon for a “free” audiobook!

We put “free” in quotes because it’s important to remember that you are paying for it; the credit is part of the deal you get for your monthly subscription fee.

Regardless, you can redeem this credit for a title that’s yours to keep; redeeming a credit counts as purchasing the title, so you own it the same as if you paid with real money.

You get one of these monthly credits, and if you want to purchase more titles to keep after you’ve run out of credits, you get a discount on any additional purchases as a Premium member.

How Does Audible Work with Amazon Prime Membership?

It works just fine! In fact, we have a separate article on using Audible with Amazon Prime. While Amazon owns audible, Amazon Prime and Audible are two separate subscription services with their own associated fees.

There is no “bundle” option for both, nor is one required to use the other.

This means you can be an Audible member without being an Amazon Prime member or an Amazon Prime member without being an Audible member.

It’s worth remembering that Amazon didn’t always own Audible, to begin with; it used to be an independent company!

Since Amazon.com bought out Audible.com, they have tried to integrate the two services, but even now, they remain separate memberships.

Can You Be an Audible Subscriber Without Having an Amazon Account?

You don’t need a pre-existing Amazon account to sign up for Audible Plus or Audible Premium Plus.

However, you need an Amazon account to use these services, but you don’t have to already have one when you sign up.

If you do not already have an Amazon.com account, you’ll be guided through the process of creating one when you sign up for an Audible membership or trial.

Is Audible Subscription Cheaper if You Have an Amazon Prime Membership?

There is no Audible discount for Amazon Prime members nor any bundle option to save money on both at once.

However, you will be a slight bonus for being an Amazon Prime member if you decide to try the Audible Premium Plus free trial.

Amazon Prime account holders will be granted a bonus credit on signing up for the Premium Plus free trial.

This means that for your trial month, you’ll get two credits instead of one, meaning two free audiobooks of your choosing, but only during the trial month!

If you don’t cancel your membership before the trial ends, you’ll get the same benefits as any other Audible Premium Plus member once you’re charged for your first month.

That means that from then on, you’ll get one credit per month, so the extra credit during the trial is just a one-time bonus.

To make a long story short, it’s not any cheaper, nor do you get any ongoing special privileges, but you get a one-time bonus of extra credit.

Sources:

What Happens to my Purchased Audiobooks if I Cancel?

Audible Memberships

What Is this Charge from Audible?