Spotify now offers an Audiobook Access Tier for $9.99 a month. It provides full access to the Spotify audiobook catalog with 15 hours of listening, but it’s a dollar cheaper than Spotify Premium and doesn’t include ad-free music.
A collection of over 200,000 audiobooks landed on Spotify late last year. All Spotify Premium members (minus Family or Duo accounts) can enjoy 15 hours of audiobook listening each month. So, if you’re the kind of person who wants both audiobooks and ad-free music, the Audiobook Access Tier isn’t a great deal—you’re better off spending an extra dollar for Spotify Premium.
However, the Audiobook Access Tier is a strong alternative to Audible. The cheapest Audible plan is $7.95 and only provides an extremely limited selection of audiobooks. Upgrading to the $14.95 Audible Premium Plus plan gives you a free credit to buy a bestseller each month. Spotify doesn’t use a credit system or hide bestsellers behind a paywall. You just pay a monthly fee and listen to whatever audiobooks you want.
Spotify’s 15-hour monthly limit is also fairly generous. That said, bookworms who regularly exceed 15 hours of listening each month may benefit from a Spotify and Audible subscription. If you join the Spotify Audiobook Access Tier and Audible Premium Plus, you’ll pay a total of $24.94 each month. That’s less than you’d pay out of pocket for a single bestselling audiobook or hardback.
In a new blog post, Spotify says that its free users regularly try to interact with audiobooks. The Spotify platform also gained 236 million paying customers in 2023, though this may have little to do with the audiobook catalog, as it was introduced at the end of the year.
Note that you can get free audiobooks from your local library. And Audible Premium Plus’ credits system allows you to own audiobooks. Technically speaking, you can buy audiobooks on Spotify, but Spotify doesn’t have a free credits system for audiobook purchases.
To reiterate, Spotify Audiobook Access Tier is only a dollar cheaper than Spotify Premium. If you want audiobooks and ad-free music, join the Premium plan. The new Audiobook Access Tier is intended for people who care more about audiobooks than music or podcasts.
Source: Spotify
