Thanks to the well-developed networks, searching for and listening to audiobooks has become easier than ever. You can now easily enjoy audiobooks online via a computer, a smartphone, or other portable devices. And lucky for you, many websites now offer free audiobooks to listen to and download. Here, we compiled 15 best websites providing free audiobooks online for you to listen to. Start to enjoy your favorite audiobooks online!
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No.1 Audible
As an audiobook audience, you must have more or less tried Audible. The online audiobook and podcast service is owned by Amazon. It is one of the largest audiobook providers worldwide and is also considered one of the best websites for free audiobooks. Usually, you can subscribe to Audible and access the online audiobook library, or purchase by titles. But Audible also provides a Free Listens section for people to get free audiobooks. You just need to sign in with your Amazon account and find your preferred audiobooks to listen to.
Pros
Audible owns a large online audiobook library.
Audible is convenient to get access to. Just sign in with your Amazon account.
Audible provides not only audiobooks but also podcasts of all aspects.
You must pay to subscribe to Audible to unlock the full content library.
Cons
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No.2 LibriVox
When talking about websites that read books aloud to you for free, LibriVox can not be ignored. Because it invites volunteers around the world to read and record these free audiobooks, instead of providing the standard computer-generated voice. You can become one of the volunteers to read your favorite books, too!
If you want to find a free audiobook on it, you can search by title, author, reader, genre/subject, or language. Or you can browse the entire catalog on the website, having a look at the recent audiobooks area. A free audiobook in a ZIP file is also available to download on LibriVox.
Pros
Librivox provides free audiobooks with no need for a paid subscription.
Librivox presents a clear webpage design, convenient for audiobook search and access.
You can download the whole book as ZIP files.
Audiobooks on Librivox are only public-domain ones, they may not be updated.
Cons
No.3 Spotify
As one of the largest online streaming platforms worldwide, Spotify also offers a huge number of audiobooks except for melody songs and podcasts. The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, the Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment, and other familiar works can be found on Spotify. Better still, all Spotify audiobooks can be streamed online for free. But if you want to download them for offline playback, you need a Spotify Premium account.
Note:
All downloaded Spotify audiobooks are encrypted and can only be listened to within the Spotify app. If you want to make Spotify audiobooks saved and played on multiple devices, you may as well read this post: How to Convert Spotify Song/Playlist/Audiobooks to MP3.
Pros
The intuitive interface helps find your favorite audiobooks with no sweat.
You can find a lot of famous and classic pieces on Spotify Audiobook.
All audiobooks on Spotify are free to stream online.
You need to have a Spotify premium account to download the audiobooks.
Cons
No.4 Audiobooks.Com
Audiobooks.com also has a large audiobook library of over 200,000 titles. Audiobooks from a variety of genres, including fiction and non-fiction, so both you and your family can find suitable audiobooks easily. Audiobooks provided on the website are specially read by professional narrators to ensure you can enjoy high-quality listening. In addition, you can create your own Book List on the website and upload books to share with others.
Pros
Audiobooks.com allows you to download audiobooks for offline playback.
You can save and sync the reading progress across different devices.
You can share your own created Book List.
You need a paid subscription to download the audiobooks.
Cons
No.5 OverDrive
OverDrive brings together resources from your local libraries. You can use OverDrive via its website or download the app. Create an account, and you can link to the local libraries and browse their collections. OverDrive provides ebooks and audiobooks, all depending on what the libraries have. You can borrow the ebooks and audiobooks, following the libraries' regulations.
Pros
You can read ebooks or listen to audiobooks on OverDrive.
OverDrive allows you to access a huge number of titles.
OverDrive developed an app that you can listen to audiobooks anytime.
It may take a longer time if you want to connect to a large library's system.
Cons
No.6 All You Can Books
The unlimited audiobooks and ebooks provider, All You Can Book offers over 200,000 books, courses, podcasts, etc. for you to read and listen to. From novels to educational resources and beyond, making it an excellent choice for those seeking diverse content. This free audiobook website is greeted with an enticing 30-day free trial. During this trial period, you can gain unrestricted access to the entire digital catalog, making you explore and download the preferred content with ease.
Pros
It combines audiobooks but also podcasts and so on.
The free trial can get you the full feature without any limits.
After the free 30-day trial, you need to buy a subscription for USD $19.99 per month.
Cons
No.7 Lit2Go
Lit2Go provides free, online collections of stories and poems. Developed by Florida's Educational Technology Clearinghouse, Lit2Go classifies all the audiobooks by their readability based on a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level index, rating them from K to 12. You can download audiobooks for free to MP3 format files for convenient offline playback.
Pros
Based on the K to 12 gradings, you can find audiobooks from Lit2Go easily for kids.
All passages have a detailed introduction and a script that can be downloaded as PDF files.
Lit2Go mainly focuses on stories and poems audiobooks, so the categories are limited.
Cons
No.8 Open Culture
If you would like to find some educational and cultural sources, Open Culture is the best audiobook portal for you. A large collection of free audiobooks, mostly classics, can be downloaded in diverse available formats that you can choose one playable on your device. Or you can stream some audiobooks over the Internet. Open Culture has arranged an alphabet sequence by author's last name over the fiction, non-fiction, and poetry categories.
Pros
You can download the audiobooks to MP3 for convenient playback.
Open Culture has a clear search page for you to find audiobooks.
Open Culture provides audiobooks in different languages.
Audiobooks from categories may not be enough.
Cons
No.9 Storynory
Storynory is one of the best websites for free audiobooks intended for children. Read by narrators with exquisite skills, this website can help children listen to hilarious audiobooks including original stories, fairy tales, classic stories, educational books, and some small stories. Nicely, Storynory publishers always upload at least a new childlike audiobook every week. Audiobooks here are also downloadable for your offline use. You can get informed of the latest releases with an RSS feed.
Pros
A professional free audiobook website for children.
Provide exclusive stories.
Stream online or download audiobooks to MP3 for offline playback.
Update audiobooks every week.
Audiobooks for kids only.
Cons
No.10 Scribl
Scribl provides a wide range of audiobooks and ebooks. What makes Scribl special is that the price of audiobooks on this website changes according to their popularity among the audience. The audience will rate the book after buying and reading/listening to it, and the price of the book may go up or down accordingly. And, it uses a CrowdPricing strategy to encourage the audience to try new titles, by giving them for free or almost-free. It also sells audiobooks and corresponding ebooks together at one price, so you can get the audiobook to listen to and the ebook to read simultaneously.
Pros
New titles on Scribl may be offered for free or at a low price.
You can get the audiobook and the ebook together.
Popular audiobooks on Scribl may require a higher price.
Cons
No.11 ThoughtAudio
ThoughtAudio is a well-known free audiobook online site for literature and philosophy enthusiasts. With its extensive collection of classic texts, it offers an invaluable resource for those seeking to explore the profound ideas and literary masterpieces of the past.
This user-friendly website allows you to engage with these treasures in multiple ways. You can choose to listen to these works directly on the website, immersing yourself in the soothing voices. Alternatively, for a more personalized experience, you have the option to download specific chapters by simply right-clicking on the sections you wish to save. Additionally, ThoughtAudio provides PDF versions of these audiobooks, granting you the flexibility to read and listen on your own terms.
Pros
Professional for offering literature and philosophy classics.
PDFs of the audiobooks are available.
Classic texts are valuable for learners.
The collection may be limited.
Different narrators may offer varying quality of readings.
Cons
No.12 Free Classic Audiobooks
On Free Classic Audiobooks, you can find great pleasure in some outstanding classic works like Huckleberry Finn and the King James Bible. It rates the audiobook based on their popularity among the audience. The audiobooks are indexed by the author's last name so it is better to locate the book if you already know what audiobooks you are looking for. It also allows you to download the audiobooks to MP3, but you need to download the file together as a ZIP file or download the MP3 separately by chapters.
Pros
Great for listening to free classic literature audiobooks.
Classic literature audiobooks come with volunteer narrations.
Users have the option to stream online or download.
Newly released books may not be available on Free Classic Audiobooks.
Cons
No.13 Internet Archive
The established Internet Archive provides you with a lot of content. Audiobooks are one of them. It offers you a large collection of free audiobooks and poetry recordings, nearly 13,000 items. It provides you with multiple search methods from subject, keywords, alphabet, to title. The "VIEWS" area of this site will promote different specific zones for the most popular audiobooks. Moreover, the Internet Archive staff has picked their weekly favorites for your generous visit.
Pros
On the Internet Archive, you can find audiobooks of all aspects.
Many audiobooks are free to listen to.
You can view past versions of web pages.
Not all audiobooks are allowed to be downloaded.
Cons
No.14 Learn Out Loud
Learn Out Loud shows you a large bulk of educational audiobooks, lectures, podcasts, and free audio & video, roughly amounting to over 10,000 options. This free audiobook website has performed a detailed distinction into different categories such as Arts & Entertainment, History, Language, Science, etc.
You can also find audiobooks from the recently added, or by random, or for the most popular, or just alphabetically. These audiobooks can be directly streamed online. If you want to download the version, just sign up for a free account and then try a free purchase service to download it.
Pros
Learn Out Loud provides audiobooks and podcasts for audiences.
Learn Out Loud also offers videos.
Learn Out Loud is linked to Audible for audiobook downloads.
The free trial only allows one download per month.
Cons
No.15 Project Gutenberg
As one of the best websites for free audiobooks, Project Gutenberg mainly provides 70,000 free eBooks and volunteer-created audiobooks. Here you can search the audiobooks by author, title, language, and the added time. The website also offers some text-to-speech versions of books. These audiobooks are carefully narrated by volunteers, allowing you to experience the beauty of the stories through various voices.
Pros
Project Gutenberg offers a great number of English-language novels.
No need for any fee or registration for online reading or downloading.
Project Gutenberg provides ebooks with different formats to meet your needs.
The audiobook resources are limited.
Cons
FAQs About Listening to Free Audiobooks Online
How to Download Audiobooks for Free?
There are audiobook websites that allow you to download the titles for free. For example, you can download your preferred audiobooks to LibriVox, Lit2Go, Open Culture, Storynory, ThoughtAudio, and Free Classic Audiobooks with simple steps.
If you are already a Spotify user and want to make use of its Audiobook function, you can also use third-party software like TuneFab Spotify Music Converter to conveniently download Spotify Audiobooks to MP3 for free.
In addition, Audible's Free Listens section only allows free online streaming, but if you want to get Audible audiobooks offline for free, you can first get a free trial on Audible, download the titles to Audible's encrypted AAX files, and then use a reliable Audible Converter to convert the AAX files to MP3 for multi-device save and play.
Can I Download MP3 Audiobooks for Free?
Websites mentioned in the above post like LibriVox, Lit2Go, Open Culture, Storynory, and ThoughtAudio allow you to download audiobooks to MP3 for convenient playback. For example, you can search for your preferred audiobook on LibriVox, and then on the title's detailed page, right-click every chapter and download the chapter to MP3. Or, right-click the green Download button on the left column, and download the whole audiobook as a ZIP file. Decompress the ZIP file to MP3 after finishing downloading.
It is also possible to download audiobooks from Spotify for free using professional third-party software. Here's a simple tutorial for how to download Spotify audiobooks for free via TuneFab Spotify Music Converter:
Step 1. Free download, install, and launch the software. Log in with your Spotify account. Note that there is no need for a paid Premium account.
Step 2. Search for your interested audiobooks, and drag and drop them to add to the conversion list.
Step 3. Decide the output parameters including the output formats and then one-click to download.
Conclusion
Ever wondered where to find free audiobooks to listen to? We compiled 15 websites that have a great number of audiobooks of all aspects. Most offer free online streaming services, and some allow you to download audiobooks to MP3. When using the largest audiobook provider Audible, you can download audiobooks to MP3 for free with TuneFab Audible Converter. If you are a Spotify user and want to make full use of its Audiobook function, try TuneFab Spotify Music Converter to help you download audio content to open-source MP3.
