When it comes to getting your hands on free audiobooks, not all sites are created equal. There are only a handful of free audiobook websites that offer a legit selection of audiobooks without any of the annoyances and hassles that come with them until now.
Here we’ve put together the 11 fantastic internet resources where you can find and listen to thousands of free audiobooks on everything from self-growth, novels, and personal development to business and entrepreneurship.
You may not have realized it, but there is an entire world of free audiobook websites out there just waiting to be discovered.
For good reason, audiobooks are among the most popular digital items on the Internet, and for good reason: they are a highly convenient means for immersing yourself in a story or learning something new.
Top 11 Free Audiobook Websites To Find Online
We’ve carefully chosen these sites based on their incredible selection, ease of use, and how easy it is to download and listen to your free audiobook.
Here’s a list of 11 of the most popular audiobook websites that might just persuade you to do away with your monthly Audible subscription in exchange for a slew of free books.
1. Librophile
Librophile offers a large collection of free audiobooks for everyone. The site is easy to use and navigate, and most of the audiobooks here come with cover art and book descriptions.
To download a book, all you need to do is sign up for a free account.
You can also donate to the author/narrator if you like the work.
2. LibriVox
LibriVox is a non-profit initiative that was set up in 2005 with the aim of making all books in the public domain available as free audiobooks.
You can either listen directly from the website or download it on your computer or phone as well.
It is entirely volunteer-driven and boasts a good collection of classics and public domain works read by volunteers around the world (both professional and amateurs) using their own recording equipment and software.
3. Storynory
Storynory has been around for over 10 years and has a huge archive of free audio stories for kids. They have stories about princes and princesses, witches and wizards, and even a talking dog!
To add to the fun, there’s also a section of poems and songs.
This site offers hundreds of free audiobooks for children, from well-known classics to original stories.
Categories include fairy tales, myths and legends, short stories, and more.
4. Spotify
Spotify is not the first place you’d think of looking for audiobooks, but that’s starting to change. The music streaming service recently launched a new page on its website dedicated to audiobooks, with classics like Frankenstein and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn available.
In addition to those classics, Spotify has also signed deals with publishers including HarperCollins and Scholastic to provide more modern audiobooks for children and teens, like The Maze Runner series by James Dashner and Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans.
Spotify’s web player has a few hidden features that you might find useful when listening to music.
For example, you can use the speed controls to listen at up to 2x speed (although this isn’t always advisable for audiobooks).
You can also click the three dots next to each audiobook title, then click “Add To Your Library” to save a particular book in your library, so it’s easy to find later.
5. OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools worldwide. They are dedicated to “a world enlightened by reading” by delivering the industry’s largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, and other digital media to a growing network of 40,000 libraries and schools in 70 countries. Founded in 1986.
OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten.
6. Loyal Books
Loyal Books is a fantastic site that gives you access to thousands of free audio books and ebooks. The vast majority of the titles in the catalog are classic public domain books, but there are also some original audiobooks that are exclusive to this site.
Loyal Books is an easy-to-use site that allows you to download free ebooks and free audiobooks directly to your mobile phone, tablet, or computer.
The site has a very simple interface, with its main categories listed on the homepage, so you can easily find what you’re looking for.
As well as the classics, fiction, and non-fiction books, there’s also a huge selection of free romance e-books if that’s more your thing!
7. LearnOutLoud
LearnOutLoud offers over 5000 audiobooks and podcasts for you to learn from. This includes interviews with authors, top experts, business leaders, and more.
They also offer thousands of classic audiobooks produced by LibriVox and categorize them so you can find the best ones for what you need to learn about.
So dive in and start learning today with its huge library of free audiobook downloads, free courses, free language lessons, free motivational speeches, and more!
8. Hoopla
Hoopla is a groundbreaking digital media service offered by the local public library that allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics, and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone.
And even on your TV! With no waiting, titles can be streamed immediately or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later.
They have hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, with more being added daily. Hoopla is like having your public library at your fingertips. Anytime. Anywhere.
9. Open Culture
Open Culture is a website that provides free courses, audiobooks, and media to those who want to learn or read more. The site was started by Dan Colman in 2006.
The site is run by the Open Education Group and features hundreds of audiobooks, eBooks, and movies. Some of the authors featured on Open Culture are William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Arthur Conan Doyle.
Many of these books are classics, but Open Culture also offers modern novels and short stories. The site also has free language lessons, online courses, textbooks, and music.
10. YouTube
Well, it might surprise you to know that YouTube has a huge selection of audiobooks available. There are thousands of audiobooks available on YouTube—some read by their authors, some by professional narrators.
So, YouTube can be a great place to find your next audiobook. And since most devices have YouTube apps, you can even listen to audiobooks while you’re on the go.
There are a few different ways that you can find and listen to audio books on YouTube. The first is by using the search feature within the YouTube app or on the desktop website.
While this will typically pull up both video and audio versions of any book you search for, you can filter your results by only including playlists (when searching from the desktop site) or channels (when searching from a mobile device).
This usually helps cut down on the amount of background noise present in videos uploaded by fans.
11. SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a popular music-sharing platform for creators and audio content enthusiasts. In recent years, the SoundCloud app has become one of the go-to podcast apps for millions of listeners around the world.
If you love audiobooks, SoundCloud is an underrated platform that you should consider using to help you discover audiobooks from independent authors.
Final Thoughts
Audiobooks have long been an easy way to listen to a story while getting around or doing other things, and it’s clear that they are set to become more popular in the coming years. As we have seen, you have a number of excellent free audiobook websites to choose from for downloading and listening to audiobooks for free.
We hope this article has helped you to decide which site is best for your needs, and maybe even given you some new audiobooks to get started with.
