Reading is one of the best habits of successful people. Bill Gates reads 50 books per year. Marc Cuban reads for more than three hours per day and Tony Robbins read 700 books over the span of seven years. You may love to read but either don’t have the time to read or don’t want to spend the money on books. There are ways to get free audiobooks that solve both those problems.
Reading is crucial to your financial success. Studies have shown that people who read more than ten books outside of an educational setting tend to make more than 21 percent more than those who didn’t read or who read much less.
We know that reading can do wonders to help you improve your life. However, it’s still often challenging to find the time to read.
For years, this is what I told myself. However, last year, I started looking for ways to listen to audiobooks for free so I can read without spending a lot of money. It has been a game changer for me. Listening to books on tape is a great way to get your “reading” time in, especially if you’re always on the go.
You can download audiobooks onto your phone or tablet and listen while you do chores around the house or during your daily commute. Audiobooks can be expensive, but there are ways to download audiobooks for free.
Best Websites to Get Free Audiobooks
There’s no need to spend a lot of money to enjoy a good book. The library is always a good option to read your favorite books, but they may not have the latest novels you want.
Here are the best websites to get free audiobooks online and scratch your reading itch.
1. Audible
Audible is an Amazon company that allows you to listen to the audiobooks of your choice via an app. I downloaded the app last year because their audiobook library includes titles on a wide variety of topics.
You can find almost any book available on Amazon in Audible as long as an audiobook version has been recorded.
Audible is a monthly subscription service. The fee gives you one credit- enough to purchase one new audiobook. If you don’t purchase an audiobook for the month, you can stack your credits until you have five.
Once you reach five credits, you need spend them by downloading new books or they may expire.
If you want to give Audible a try, you can join and get two free books during your first 30 days. If you plan to keep the service after that 30-day window, you’ll pay the monthly fee.
There are ways to get free Audible credits, but many of them require several hoops to navigate. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, they do offer free trials from time to time so keep an eye open for those deals.
2. Overdrive
Your local library gives you access to thousands of books for free. If you don’t have the time to read, the library is one of the best ways to get free books on tape.
Your library offers free audiobooks or ebooks through a popular app is called Overdrive.
Overdrive has hundreds of best-selling books available, including some brand-new books. They give you 21 days to check out and finish the book. Please note, though, that some libraries may only allow you to have a particular audiobook for 14 days.
Make sure you check with your local library for requirements.
Also be aware that some of the more popular books may have a waiting list. To get on that list, place the book on hold. Once it’s your turn, you’ll be notified and you automatically receive the audiobook to download on your device.
If you don’t know if your library offers Overdrive, go directly to the website, enter your city, and it will tell you if this is something that your library uses.
3. Hoopla
Hoopla is another popular service libraries have for patrons to read free novels online. It boasts a library from nearly 5,000 publishers for book lovers to enjoy.
The books do not have a waiting list and are free for library users to check out as soon as they need the audiobooks. Hoopla has over 50,000 audiobook titles and 210,000 ebooks to choose from, so there is plenty of selection.
You can get up to four free audiobooks per month with Hoopla. While they have many recent titles, be aware that the sound quality often doesn’t match what you find on Audible.
4. Lit2Go
With Lit2Go, college students have access to a list of free audiobooks to help with their studies or further their education on particular topics. Lit2Go was launched by the University of South Florida and gives audiobook access not only to students, but to teachers as well.
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While the audiobooks are intended for students and teachers, they are not limited only to them. Lit2Go does have a large library of audiobooks, but most are older books.
5. Loyal Books
Loyal Books is a site that lets you download and listen to audiobooks for free. The site has over 7,000 audiobook titles to choose from in genres ranging from adventure to advice to history, mystery, philosophy, and more.
If you’re looking for self-help and self-development books, there are quite a few titles in the advice category. Before you purchase an audiobook, see if you can find it for free on Loyal Books first.
6. Audiobooks.com
Audiobooks.com is similar to Audible in that it is a subscription site with a $14.95 monthly fee. This fee will give you one credit, which is enough to purchase a single audiobook.
This site has more than 125,000 book titles including best-selling authors and new releases so you’ll likely find the authors and books you’re looking for in the library.
If you want to give the service a try, they do offer a free 30-day trial that provides two free books.
7. Librivox
Librivox sources free public domain audiobooks so you can download them all in one place. This site is as little different from others. Volunteers actually record themselves reading print books to add to the audiobook inventory.
As of last month, the 12,000th audiobook was recorded. Also, some books are recorded in other languages, including Spanish and French, so if English isn’t your first language or you’re looking to up your fluency in another language, this is a great resource.
If you’re looking for a particular book, use the search function on the site. If the book you want is not available, go to the forum and suggest that someone record an audiobook version for you to download.
Summary
If reading more books is one of your goals, I encourage you to try audiobooks as a way to get through more titles in less time. While some audiobooks are costly, you can use many of the above ways to get free audiobooks to save money.
If you’re considering a paid service like Audible or Audiobooks.com, keep in mind that you’ll still save money, especially if you download audiobooks that cost more than your monthly subscription price.
Just make sure to take full advantage of their free trials to learn if the service is for you.
What are other resources you’ve used to listen to books on tape for free? How many books do you tend to read on average per month or per year? Do you pay money to read what you like or do you look for free options?
