Audiobooks

In 2026 you have a real free / FOSS audiobook stack: LibriVox for public-domain, Libby for free library audiobooks, Audiobookshelf for self-host, and Storyteller / LazyLibrarian for the *arr-shape automation. Libro.fm is the ethical paid pick (DRM-free, indie-bookshop profits) and Audible is the data-give-up default. For the deeper self-host stack see Audiobook Self-Host and Self-Host Libraries. For Whisper-flavoured TTS see Transcription.

Self-host & FOSS first

• ★ ★ Audiobookshelf — free OSS; the gold-standard audiobook server; iOS / Android / CarPlay / Android Auto / Sonos. The single best argument for an audiobook homelab. See Audiobook Self-Host.
• ★ AudioBookRequest (ABR) — free OSS; Overseerr-shape requests UI for ABS; family / friend audiobook requests with admin approval.
  • https://github.com/markbeep/AudioBookRequest
• ★ LazyLibrarian — free OSS; "Sonarr for audiobooks + ebooks"; subscribe-by-author automation. See Self-Host Libraries.
• ★ Storyteller — free OSS; pairs your EPUB with audiobook narration so highlight-in-one drives the other. Read-along workflows.
  • https://gitlab.com/smoores/storyteller
• ★ ★ LibriVox — free public-domain audiobooks (volunteer-narrated); 17K+ titles; the default for classics. https://librivox.org

Library / borrowing (free)

• ★ ★ Libby — free with library card; massive audiobook catalogue; queue + holds. See Library & Borrowing.
• Hoopla — free with library card; instant checkout, monthly limit.
• CloudLibrary, Axis 360, BorrowBox — see Libby page.

Public domain / free

• ★ ★ LibriVox — see above.
• Loyal Books — free; LibriVox aggregator with cleaner UI.
• Project Gutenberg AI-narrated — free; experimental Microsoft + MIT collaboration since 2023; auto-narration of Gutenberg ebooks.
• Ambling BookPlayer (iOS) — free; LibriVox-flavoured player.
• Internet Archive audiobooks — free; scans + radio dramas + spoken-word in the public domain.

Player / listening apps (free / OSS first)

• ★ ★ Audiobookshelf mobile apps — free OSS; iOS / Android; pairs with your ABS server.
• ★ Voice Audiobook Player — free OSS; Android; F-Droid; the FOSS sideloaded-audiobook player.
  • https://github.com/PaulWoitaschek/Voice
• ★ BookPlayer (iOS) — free OSS; M4B / MP3 sideloaded audiobooks; well-loved.
  • https://github.com/TortugaPower/BookPlayer
• Smart AudioBook Player — free + paid; Android; long-time community favourite for sideloaded audiobooks. Closed source.
• Plappa (iOS) / Lissen (Android) — third-party ABS clients.
• Prologue (iOS) / Bound (iOS) — paid; talk to a Plex / ABS server.

DRM-free paid (ethical pick)

• ★ ★ Libro.fm — paid (~$15/mo); same publisher catalogue as Audible, DRM-free MP3 downloads, profits split with the indie bookshop you choose; the ethical alternative. Switch in 5 minutes if you don't care about Audible-exclusive content. Direct downloads import cleanly into Audiobookshelf.
  • https://libro.fm
• Chirp — paid; daily-deal model; ~$3-7 per book; no subscription; DRM-free; from BookBub.
• Downpour — paid; per-title; DRM-free MP3 / M4B; smaller catalogue.

Big platforms (paid, data-give-up — secondary)

• Audible — paid (~$15/mo); Amazon-owned; widest selection; AAX DRM; iOS / Android / Echo / Kindle. Audible Plus catalogue (rotating free) included with membership. AI-narrator rollout 2024-25 has been controversial — flag.
• Spotify Audiobooks — paid; bundled with Premium (~15 hrs/mo in supported regions); growing catalogue since 2023.
• Apple Books audiobooks — paid; per-title; AI-narrated section since 2024 (controversial).
• Google Play Books audiobooks — paid; per-title; AI-narrated section since 2023.
• Storytel / BookBeat — paid; EU-focused subscription; widely used in Scandinavia / DE.
• Scribd / Everand — paid (~$12/mo); rotating catalogue; ebooks + audiobooks + magazines.

Audible "free your library" tools (legal grey area)

• ★ OpenAudible — paid + free; downloads your purchased Audible library; converts AAX → MP3. Personal-backup-flavoured. Legal grey area depending on jurisdiction; flag honestly. Don't redistribute. Once converted, drop into ABS.
  • https://github.com/openaudible/openaudible
• inAudible — community FOSS; AAX → MP3.
• AAXtoMP3 — small CLI; same idea.
• See also DRM & format conversion.

Plex audiobooks (closed-source link)

• Plex Audiobooks via Plexamp / Prologue — paid Plex Pass; works but the community has largely moved to Audiobookshelf. See Audiobook Self-Host.

AI-narrator transparency

• 2024-26 has seen a wave of AI-narrated audiobooks from Apple Books, Google Play, Audible, and Spotify. Authors / unions are split. Most stores tag AI narration; some don't. If human-narration matters to you, check before buying — Libro.fm's catalogue is human-narrated.
• TTS your own ebooks (free) — Piper, Kokoro, XTTS, Bark via Self-Host AI / LLM; push the M4Bs into ABS.

Pick this if…

• Default self-host (FOSS): Audiobookshelf (+ ABR + LazyLibrarian).
• Public domain: LibriVox.
• Free with a library card: Libby.
• Read-along ebook + audiobook sync: Storyteller.
• DRM-free paid catalogue: Libro.fm.
• Default subscription, widest catalogue (paid, data-give-up): Audible.
• Already paying for Spotify Premium: Spotify Audiobooks.
• Personal Audible backup: OpenAudible (jurisdiction permitting) → ABS.