How to Listen to Audiobooks for Free (Legally): 9 Ways That Work

The best free way to listen to audiobooks is your public library. With a library card you can borrow current bestsellers in apps like Libby and Hoopla at no cost. Without a card, LibriVox has more than 21,000 free public domain audiobooks read by volunteers, and Audible has a free listens page that only needs an Amazon account. Free trials from Audible and Spotify also work, as long as you cancel in time.

Below are nine legal options, what each one actually gives you, and the catch with each.

1. Libby (with a library card)

Libby is the library app from OverDrive. Its help pages describe it as "free ebooks, digital audiobooks, and magazines from your library," and add: "All you need is a library card." OverDrive says libraries in over 100 countries use it.

How it works:

• Sign in with your library card, search, and borrow.
• Loan periods "vary by library and by format," usually 7, 14 or 21 days. You can pick the length when you borrow, if your library allows it.
• Popular books have a waiting list, because your library buys a limited number of copies. You place a hold and Libby shows your place in line.
• Audiobooks play inside Libby. You cannot export them as audio files, and Libby shows no text while they play. Our guide to whether Libby can read to you covers read-alongs, screen readers and a way to follow along.

Libby works on iPhone, Android, newer Fire tablets and in a web browser at libbyapp.com.

2. Hoopla and other library apps

Many libraries also offer Hoopla. Your library sets how many titles you can borrow each month. Library pages we checked ranged from 3 to 15 borrows a month, with audiobook loans usually lasting 21 days.

Hoopla's big advantage is its "Instant" titles, which have no waiting list. If a book is in the collection, you can usually start it right away.

Other library apps you might see:

• cloudLibrary. Sign in with your library ID and PIN. One copy goes to one borrower at a time, so popular titles have waits.
• Palace. A free nonprofit library app. It also has a small shelf of free titles that does not need a card.
• Sora. OverDrive's app for students. It is free, but only if your school or district subscribes.

3. How to listen to audiobooks for free without a library card

You have a few routes.

• Get a card online. Many library systems let residents sign up online and start borrowing digital books the same day. Check your local library's website first.
• Pay for a nonresident card. Some big libraries sell cards to people who live elsewhere. Queens Public Library in New York says: "For an annual fee of $50 all Non-NYS Residents (including International users) can purchase a Queens Public Library account." Brooklyn Public Library stopped selling out-of-state cards in 2022, so older articles that recommend it are out of date.
• Skip the library entirely. LibriVox, Audible's free listens and the other options below need no card at all.

4. LibriVox: free public domain audiobooks

LibriVox is a volunteer project that records books whose copyright has expired. Its homepage lists more than 21,000 completed projects, and its catalogue spans 49 languages and almost 15,000 volunteer readers. That covers most of the classics: Austen, Dickens, Doyle, Twain, Shelley, Homer.

It is legal and free. LibriVox states: "All LibriVox Recordings are in the Public Domain." Downloads come as MP3 files, with M4B versions on many Internet Archive pages, and there is no DRM, so the files are yours to keep and play in any app. If you are not sure which format to grab, see M4B vs MP3. To pick an app for LibriVox on your phone, see the best LibriVox app.

Two honest caveats:

• Narration quality varies. Readers are volunteers. Some books are read by one excellent narrator, others pass between many readers with different microphones. Listen to a sample chapter first.
• Public domain depends on your country. LibriVox follows US copyright law. Its wiki warns a work "may be in the public domain in the US, but still be under copyright in other countries." We show how to check, with a current example, in is LibriVox safe and legal.

Classics are also where people most often lose the thread: old prose, long sentences, unfamiliar names. Having the words on screen as the narrator reads helps a lot here. HushBook has LibriVox and Internet Archive titles built in and shows each word highlighted as it is spoken, so you can follow along for free. We explain how in free read-along audiobooks.

5. Audible's free listens, trial and Prime offer

Audible is a paid service, but three things are free.

• Free listens. Audible's free page offers "hundreds of free audiobooks, podcasts, and more." It says: "No trial or membership required. Simply sign in with your Amazon account." The selection rotates.
• The 30-day trial. Audible says "your Audible membership is free for 30 days." You are not eligible if you had a trial in the last 12 months. The trial turns into a paid plan unless you cancel, so set a reminder.
• The Prime trial. Audible says "Prime Members get two free audiobooks" on their first trial. Audible itself is not part of Prime: "Audible membership is not included with Prime membership."

One detail that catches people out: on the current Audible plans, unused credits and monthly picks are lost when you cancel. Audiobooks you already chose stay in your library, so use your credits before the trial ends.

Audible books are copy-protected, so they only play in Audible's own apps. If you want to read the text as you listen, can you read along with Audible covers what Audible offers.

6. Spotify audiobooks (only free with Premium)

Spotify's free tier includes no audiobook listening hours. You can play samples and buy single titles.

Premium is different. In the US, UK, Canada and Australia, Spotify's plan pages list "15 hours/month of listening time from our audiobooks subscriber catalog." Some details:

• Hours do not roll over. Unused time "can no longer be used" at the end of the billing cycle.
• On Duo and Family plans, only the plan manager gets the hours. Premium Student includes none.
• The amount varies by country. In October 2026 Spotify announced audiobooks in many more markets, with 12 hours a month for eligible Premium subscribers in newly added countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Poland.
• An Audiobooks+ add-on buys extra hours each month.

So Spotify audiobooks are "free" only if you already pay for Premium, or while you are on a Premium trial. Fifteen hours covers one or two average books a month. Our guide to how long an audiobook is shows how far 15 hours goes at different speeds.

7. Apple Books, Project Gutenberg and Lit2Go

• Apple Books. Apple says "thousands of free audiobooks and ebooks are available" in the Books app, and you can play free samples of paid titles.
• Project Gutenberg's AI-narrated audiobooks. In 2023, Project Gutenberg, Microsoft and MIT released nearly 5,000 free audiobooks narrated by neural text-to-speech. They are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the Internet Archive. The voices are computer generated, so expect fewer human touches but consistent sound.
• Lit2Go. The University of South Florida runs Lit2Go, "a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format," with matching PDF text for many passages. It is built for classrooms.

8. Free audiobooks if you have a print disability

If a disability makes regular print hard to read, there are large free libraries for you.

• US: NLS Talking Books. The Library of Congress runs "a free braille and audio book library service" for people who are blind or have a visual, physical, perceptual or reading disability. A qualified professional needs to certify that you are eligible.
• US: Bookshare. Free for US students with a qualifying disability, including dyslexia. Adults pay a yearly fee.
• UK: RNIB Talking Books. Free for people with sight loss, with "over 40,000 fiction and non fiction books" and up to six at a time.
• UK: Calibre Audio. For anyone with a print disability, including dyslexia and ADHD. It is free for members under 18; adults pay a small subscription.
• Canada: CELA. Free through public libraries for people with a visual, physical or learning disability that prevents reading print.

If you or your child has dyslexia, see are audiobooks good for dyslexia for what the research says.

9. Free audiobooks by country: UK, Australia and Canada

Outside the US, the library route still works, but the app often has a different name.

• UK. Most council libraries use BorrowBox, sometimes alongside Libby. Loans are commonly three weeks.
• Australia. Libraries use BorrowBox and Libby, with loans commonly 14 days. The ABC listen app also has a free library of Australian audiobooks, with no fee.
• Canada. Most public libraries offer Libby and often Hoopla. CELA covers readers with print disabilities.

LibriVox and Audible's free listens work worldwide, though Audible's selection varies by country.

Are audiobooks on YouTube legal?

Some are. Public domain readings, including many LibriVox recordings, are fine to listen to. Full uploads of modern, in-copyright audiobooks are usually not authorized by the publisher and tend to get taken down. If a recent bestseller is on YouTube in full from a random channel, assume it is unauthorized and borrow it from your library instead.

Which free option should you pick?

• You want new and popular books: Libby or Hoopla with a library card.
• You have no library card: LibriVox for classics, Audible free listens for a rotating selection.
• You already pay for Spotify Premium: use your monthly hours.
• You want one specific new book right now: an Audible trial, cancelled before it renews.
• You have a print disability: NLS, Bookshare, RNIB or CELA.

If you are new to audiobooks, how to get into audiobooks covers choosing a first book, finding your speed and building the habit.

Read along with free audiobooks in HushBook

Most free audiobooks are audio only. You get the narrator's voice, but no text to follow, which makes it easy to drift or lose a name you did not catch.

HushBook fixes that for free public domain books. It has a built-in store of LibriVox and Internet Archive audiobooks. Download one, and HushBook transcribes it on your phone and highlights each word as the narrator says it. Long-press a line to play from that spot.

HushBook works with free public domain titles and with audio files you own, such as MP3 and M4B. If you have M4B files, how to play M4B files covers your other options too.

Sources

• Libby Help, "Getting started with Libby"
• Libby Help, "Changing your loan period"
• Queens Public Library, "I live out of state, but want access to eBooks. Do you offer a non-resident card?"
• LibriVox, homepage and catalogue statistics
• LibriVox Wiki, "Copyright and Public Domain"
• Audible, "Free Audiobooks and Audible Originals"
• Audible, "Membership Plans and Pricing"
• Audible, "Get Two Free Audiobooks with Amazon Prime"
• Spotify Support, "Audiobooks in Premium plans"
• Spotify, "Spotify Premium" plan page (US)
• Spotify Newsroom, audiobooks global expansion (October 7, 2026)
• Apple, "Apple Books"
• MIT CSAIL, "AI generates thousands of free audiobooks"
• University of South Florida, Lit2Go
• Library of Congress, "Apply for NLS Services"
• Bookshare, "How much does Bookshare cost?"
• RNIB, "Talking books service"
• Calibre Audio, "Our Service"
• CELA, Centre for Equitable Library Access