Choosing between Audible and BookBeat can be challenging for audiobook enthusiasts. Both services offer unique advantages, but understanding their core differences is crucial for making the right choice based on your listening habits, budget, and preferences.
- Audible uses a credit system where you own audiobooks permanently, ideal for collectors and re-listeners
- BookBeat operates on a time-based subscription model perfect for high-volume listeners who don’t need permanent ownership
- BookBeat offers over 1 million titles with flexible pricing tiers starting at £6.99/month
- Audible provides exclusive content and ownership benefits through Amazon’s ecosystem
- Family sharing options differ significantly between both platforms
- Market Growth: 78% – UK audiobook market growth rate that attracted BookBeat’s expansion according to their CEO
- Catalog Size: 1 million+ – titles available on BookBeat’s extensive platform
- User Preference: 85% – of heavy listeners prefer time-based models over credit systems
- Cost Efficiency: 64% – savings for listeners consuming 3+ books monthly with BookBeat vs Audible
Understanding the Core Business Models
The fundamental difference between Audible and BookBeat lies in their subscription models and what happens to your audiobooks when you cancel.
BookBeat: Time-Based Streaming Service
Launched by Bonnier Books in 2015 and expanding to the UK in 2017, BookBeat operates on a unique time-based subscription model. Instead of limiting you to a specific number of books, you pay for listening hours. This means you can start as many books as you want within your monthly time allocation.
- Basic: £6.99/month for 20 hours of listening
- Standard: £10.99/month for 40 hours of listening
- Premium: £17.99/month for 100 hours of listening
- Family Profiles: Additional £4.99/month per extra profile
As one user from Julia’s Bookcase explains: “Subscribers can then choose to use these hours however they like across the BookBeat catalogue, with no limit on the number of titles. This means that you don’t have to commit to a particular book, and can switch between different reads as you please.”
Audible: Credit-Based Ownership Model
Owned by Amazon, Audible uses a credit system where subscribers receive monthly credits that can be exchanged for audiobooks. The key advantage here is permanent ownership – even if you cancel your subscription, you keep all audiobooks purchased with credits.
- Audible Plus: £7.99/month for 1 credit + access to Plus catalog
- Audible Premium: £14.99/month for 2 credits + Plus catalog
- Annual Basic: £69.99/year for 12 credits (equivalent to £5.83/month)
- Annual Premium: £109.99/year for 24 credits (equivalent to £9.17/month)
Detailed Feature Comparison
| Feature | Audible | BookBeat |
|---|---|---|
| Business Model | Credit-based ownership | Time-based streaming |
| Catalog Size | 200,000+ titles | 1,000,000+ titles |
| Monthly Cost (Basic) | £7.99 (1 credit) | £6.99 (20 hours) |
| Ownership After Cancellation | Keep all purchased books | Lose access to all content |
| Family Sharing | Amazon Household (2 adults) | £4.99 per additional profile |
| Free Trial | 30 days, 1 free book | 30 days, 20 free hours |
| Offline Listening | Yes | Yes |
| Additional Content | Podcasts, Audible Originals | eBooks, some podcast content |
Who Should Choose Which Service?
Choose BookBeat If:
BookBeat excels for listeners who consume multiple books monthly and prefer variety over ownership. As one enthusiastic user from TigerLillyQuinn describes: “One of the things I really love about BookBeat is how flexible their subscription model is. You pay a monthly fee, but instead of being stuck with one credit for one book, you get a set number of listening hours – and you can use them however you fancy across their entire catalogue.”
Ideal BookBeat Users:
- Heavy listeners who finish 3+ books monthly
- Those who rarely re-listen to books
- Families needing multiple simultaneous listeners
- Budget-conscious users wanting predictable monthly costs
- Readers who enjoy sampling multiple books simultaneously
Choose Audible If:
Audible remains the superior choice for collectors and those who value permanent access to their audiobook library. The ownership model provides long-term value, especially for books you might want to revisit.
Ideal Audible Users:
- Collectors who want to build a permanent library
- Light listeners (1-2 books monthly)
- Those who frequently re-listen to favorite titles
- Users deeply integrated into Amazon’s ecosystem
- Listeners wanting exclusive Audible Originals content
Emma from The Bloom Stack shares valuable insights from using both services: “If you’re an avid reader, who plans on listening to more than two audiobooks a month, then the biggest pro to BookBeat is that it is fantastic value for money. Unlike Audible, you can listen to as many books as you like per month.”
However, she also notes Audible’s advantage: “A huge pro is the massive amount of books that are on Audible. Owned by Amazon, it’s the biggest audiobook store in the UK and if you’re after a specific title then you’ll more than likely find it on the site.”
Beyond Audible and BookBeat: Other Options
While Audible and BookBeat dominate the conversation, other services like Everand (formerly Scribd) and Storytel offer compelling alternatives. Everand provides a hybrid model at £10.99/month including both audiobooks and eBooks, though users report unclear listening limits.
According to industry analysis from FEIYR: “BookBeat relies on a pure subscription model (‘flat rate for audiobooks’). Users pay a monthly fee and can listen indefinitely (depending on the tariff selected). Payment is often based on minutes listened to or a share of the total subscription pool. This can be very lucrative for popular titles.”
Free Trials and Getting Started
Both services offer generous free trials, making it easy to test which platform better suits your listening style:
- BookBeat: 30-day trial with 20 hours of listening time
- Audible: 30-day trial with 1 credit to keep any audiobook permanently
- Special Offers: Both services occasionally offer extended trials through influencer partnerships
As noted in user reviews, BookBeat sometimes partners with content creators for extended 60-day trials, while Audible consistently offers their 30-day trial with one free book to keep.
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