12 Best Websites to Get Free Audiobooks
According to a study by the National Institute of Health (NIH), listening to audiobooks showed significant improvements in the mental health of older adults. The study showed benefits on mental health dimensions of aggression, depression, anxiety, and more with a major impact on “depression.”
The audiobook format allows senior citizens, who find it hard to hold a traditional paperback due to weak hands or other disabilities, to listen to the books. Book lovers with visual impairments can also enjoy their favorite books in audio format.
Audible is the largest audiobook service but a common concern among users is that Audible is too expensive. This is also true for other audiobook apps and services because audiobooks are expensive to create.
Fortunately, there are many free options for audiobook lovers. Let us have a look at the best websites for free audiobooks.
1: Free Classic Audiobooks
As the name suggests, this website has classic and fiction audiobooks. The website is ideal for seniors, as it has a simple design and easy-to-use interface. You can download audiobooks in MP3 and M4B formats (ideal for iOS devices).
The key features of this site are:
- Easy-to-use for non-tech-savvy older adults.
- You can download audiobooks in multiple formats.
- Download the whole book or individual chapters.
The site provides access to hundreds of classics in the public domain, including Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Emma by Jane Austen, and many more.
Explore Free Classic Audiobooks
2: Digital Book
You should visit this site if you are looking for a specific audiobook. Digital Book (formerly known as Librophile) operates as a search engine for free audiobooks in the public domain.
The site has a catalog of more than 100,000 free audiobooks and eBooks. You can browse the “Trending” or “Popular” sections or look through the list of genres, authors, or languages to find your favorite book in audio format.
Other features include:
- One site to access free eBooks, audiobooks and podcasts.
- Ideal place to find a specific audiobook from various sites.
- Supports 12 languages.
- Concentration on classic novels.
Digital Books includes many well-known titles. It is my favorite site to find free audiobooks because of its sleek design and easy search engine to locate specific books.
Find Free Audiobooks from Digital Book
3: Open Culture
This site has compiled a list of free audiobooks from different websites. The list has 1000 fiction, nonfiction, and poetry audiobookslisted in alphabetical order for easy access. You will find a lot of classic and poetry audiobooks here.
This site has no options to search through the list or the ability to sort or filter the audiobooks. Open Culture’s 1000 free audiobooks list has many great books, but you have to go through the list to find what you are looking for.
Explore Free Audiobooks List by Open Culture
4: OverDrive
If you have a library card from your local library, this website is a one-stop access to over 300,000 free audiobooks.
OverDrive partners with local libraries around the United States (and some libraries from abroad) to provide you with bestsellers, chart-topping, and latest releases. Visit OverDrive’s library finder to check if your local library has a subscription to OverDrive.
This is one of the easiest ways to get free audiobooks. Once signed in, put in your library card number and you will have access to the entire audiobook catalog.
You can use OverDrive services through their app, Libby. OverDrive is an excellent source of old classics and contemporary releases.
OverDrive provides:
- 100% free access to tens of thousands of Audiobooks, eBooks, and magazines without any subscription or hidden charges.
- It offers one of the largest collections of free audiobooks – classics, best sellers, and popular titles.
- Listen on the computer, smartphone app, Kindle Fire, and more.
- Works with tens of thousands of libraries.
You only need your local library card to access the largest collection of free audiobooks on OverDrive.
5: Hoopla Digital
Hoopla Digital works the same as OverDrive. You need a library card to unlock free audiobooks, eBooks, movies and music, TV shows, and comics that you can stream or watch on a computer, smartphone, tablet, TV, or Amazon Kindle.
Hoopla has thousands of free audiobooks. You can filter the results by user ratings, release date, date added, and language.
Visit the Popular Audiobooks or New & Trending Audiobooks sections to get started.
Explore Free Audio Books From Hoopla Digital
6: Libri Vox
Libri Vox has a huge selection of free audiobooks, recorded by volunteers from around the world. The volunteers give their time and voice to record classic books that are in the public domain.
Libri Vox was a pioneer in recording public domain books and making them accessible to the general public with 10,000 projects recorded so far.
You can find a specific audiobook by searching by title, author, genre, or language. Either listen to chapters individually without downloading or download the whole book (in a ZIP file). Some audiobooks are available in M4B formats for iOS users.
Libri Vox also has a YouTube channel where they upload audiobooks. You can also use their Android and iOS apps to access these audiobooks.
7: Loyal Books
Loyal Books (previously known as Books Should Be Free) has more than 7000 public domain titles. You will certainly find great options from their History, Literature, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Short Stories, Historical Fiction, and many other genres.
Do not miss the Loyal Books Top 100 section. You have options to listen to these audiobooks on the website, download MP3s (individual chapters or whole books), or in M4B format (for iPhones and iPads).
Loyal Books also has many free eBooks and books in other languages. You can enjoy their content on Android and iOS devices.
8: Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the oldest digital library, run by volunteers. It offers a free collection of classic audiobooks and e-books.
You can search book titles by author, title, subject, or language to find your favorite book. Audiobooks are available in several formats.
While most of the books are narrated by humans, there are some computer-narrated books, which is a bizarre experience for me. Project Gutenberg has books in 50+ languages.
Explore Free Audiobooks from Project Gutenberg
9: Thought Audio
Thought Audio is a very simple site that offers classic literature and philosophy audiobooks from authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, and Virginia Wolfe. Each audiobook page has a summary with author information.
The audiobooks are in the form of YouTube videos with a PDF transcript that you can download. It has fewer titles as compared to other websites but Thought Audio has many great titles if you are looking for free options.
Visit Though Audio for Free Audiobooks
10: Audible
Amazon’s Audible is a paid service that offers the largest collection of audiobooks recorded by professionals. If you are looking for a specific audiobook that is not available in the public domain and you cannot find anywhere else, try Audible.
Audible’s huge collection has best-sellers and new releases so you will most probably find any book that you are looking for.
Audible has a30-day free trialthat gets you one audiobook for free. You can also check out the Free Listens section which offers hundreds of free audiobooks including some great classics.
11: BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds is an app from BBC and the home of its radio channels, podcasts, and audiobooks. BBC is now branching out to free abridged audiobooks.
If the idea of abridged audiobooks sounds good (an abridged audiobook is a shorter version of a book where you get the main ideas of a book without the small details), you can get some good free audiobooks from BBC Sounds.
12: YouTube
The last site to get free audiobooks on this list is YouTube. There are many audiobook channels and lists on YouTube that have a variety of genres.
You can listen to classics like Pride and Prejudice or thrillers like Stephen King’s In the Tall Grass.
YouTube also takes down many audiobook videos that violate copyright or books that are not licensed for audiobook distribution. There are plenty of public domain audiobook channels on YouTube to get your favorite classic titles for free.
Although there are many pros and cons of audiobooks vs physical books, studies show both formats benefit mental sharpness and cognitive abilities among seniors.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Do you listen to audiobooks? Which service do you subscribe to, if any? Do you prefer free audiobooks? Have you checked your local library’s offerings? What other options have you tried? Do you have a favorite audiobook narrator?
Tags Books
I have been looking for free books even audio.thanks for the article. I will certainly look for books.
Hi Velma
Thanks. Audiobooks is a whole new experience. you will love them :)
I love listening to podcasts with my headphones on when I’m doing a huge pile of ironing. BBC Sounds is my favourite, it makes the task less of a drudge.
That’s so true Linda. One thing I love about audiobooks is multitasking. you can listen to them while doing laundry or on your morning walk. Its a perfect format for travelling