16 Best Free Audio Book Websites (October 2022) Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Apps 319 319 people found this article helpful

16 Best Places to Download Free Audiobooks

Here's how to find thousands of audio books for free online

By Stacy Fisher Stacy Fisher Technology Educator Emporia State University Stacy is a professional technology educator with over 25 years' experience. She has published hundreds of articles, co-authored a book, and has appeared on national and local TV. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on October 3, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Apps Best Apps Payment Services Having a free audiobook in the car for when you run errands, on your phone when you're traveling, or on your computer to enjoy while you work, can keep you sane and add some fun and interest to your day. These websites offer full-length, completely free audiobooks for you to download and listen to whenever you want. Unlike most sites with "free" audiobooks, these sources are 100% legal, either because they're public domain or because the websites have permission from the author.
Looking for more free books in other formats? Download free Kindle books, free books for kids, or free Nook books, and learn more about how to get free e-books. 01 of 16

LibriVox

What We Like Listen to specific chapters without having to download all of them. Several ways to find a specific title. Receive new audiobooks by podcast. Available in many languages. Works on mobile devices. What We Don't Like Can't sort by most popular. LibriVox has a huge selection of free audiobooks that are recordings of volunteers who have read chapters from books that are in the public domain. You can find one by searching by title, author, genre/subject, or language. You can also browse all the titles in the catalog, view only the most additions, and subscribe to new releases as podcasts. Once you reach a book's description page, you can read more about it and even listen to the chapters individually without having to download each of them. However, if you do want to download the whole audiobook, every chapter included, you can do so in a ZIP file, directly from LibriVox. Some are also available through a torrent and M4B file. Most of the time, books download as MP3 files (or sometimes WMA or AAC files) that can play on your computer, tablet, phone, iPod, or MP3 player. There are free audio converter software programs you can use if you need the audiobook to be in a different file format. These books are also available through a mobile app for iOS and Android, so you can download them to your phone or tablet, or stream them on the go. Download LibriVox for iOS Download LibriVox for Android Browse LibriVox Audio Books 02 of 16

Audible

What We Like There's a huge selection. Get two audiobooks completely free. They're yours to keep forever. Listen from a mobile device or computer. What We Don't Like The trial period is only for one month. Limited to two downloads. Must pay after the trial to keep downloading audiobooks. Audible has a 30-day free trial going, which means that you can download any audiobook of your choice, plus any two Audible originals, for free during that time. Audible has a great selection of audiobooks, and you'll be able to find just about any title you're looking for, including bestsellers and new releases. After the 30-day trial, you can get one book each month for $14.95 /month, no matter the price of the book. Download Audible for iOS Download Audible for Android Get a 30-Day Free Audible Trial 03 of 16

OverDrive

What We Like Lets you borrow audiobooks free from your local library. Works with tens of thousands of libraries. You can listen from a computer or the mobile app. Includes free audiobooks samples. What We Don't Like Must have a library card from a supported library. If your local library has a subscription to OverDrive (check OverDrive's library finder to find out), then this is a great place to find over 300,000 free audiobook downloads of recent fiction and non-fiction books, including bestsellers. You'll check these out just like you would a library book, and they'll be returned at the end of the loan period. You can even do it all from the Libby mobile app for iOS and Android. One thing we can't pass up mentioning is how easy searching for audiobooks can be here. Not only are you able to sort the list by popularity and release date, filters let you ensure that it's just the audiobooks (not e-books) that you see, and they can be in a specific language and/or by a particular publisher or creator. Browse OverDrive Audio Books 04 of 16

Internet Archive

What We Like Has thousands of audiobooks. Several sorting options for finding the perfect audiobook. Lets you filter the audiobook downloads by certain criteria. Usually multiple audio format options when downloading. Can be downloaded in bulk or by individual chapter. What We Don't Like Many audiobooks are poorly named and hard to recognize at first glance. There aren't many non-English audiobook downloads. The Internet Archive also has a ton of free audiobook downloads that you can browse through by subject, keywords, or using the search box. Our favorite way to find books here is by sorting by view count to find the most popular ones. Some of those include The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, The Swiss Family Robinson, Moby Dick, The Art of War, and Dracula. Some are available in multiple formats so that you can download the book in MP3 or OGG format, for example. The MindWebs page is one part of the Internet Archive that has several dozen classic sci-fi audiobooks. Browse Internet Archive Audio Books 05 of 16

Loyal Books

What We Like Multiple language options. Makes finding the top 100 audiobooks easy. Audiobooks are organized in several genres. Thousands of choices. What We Don't Like Few sorting options. It's easy to use Loyal Books (previously called Books Should Be Free) to download free audiobooks. You can view the audiobooks by the language, the Loyal Books top 100, and by genre like Children, Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, and more than a dozen others. You can listen to these books on their website, download MP3s of the chapters altogether at once in one ZIP file, download the whole audiobook in one M4B file for iPhones and iPods, save specific chapters only, and even get the book through an RSS reader. There's also a Loyal Books mobile app for iOS and Android. These are public domain books, so you might not see anything here that differs from the other public domain audiobook websites we've already mentioned. Browse Loyal Books Audio Books 06 of 16

Storynory

What We Like Great for kids. Includes text with the audiobook. New audiobooks are released often. What We Don't Like Very limited compared to most other audiobook websites. If you are looking for free audiobooks for kids, then Storynory should be your first stop. The selection includes original stories, fairy tales, classic stories, educational books, and some small stories for the very little ones. You can download audiobooks here, stream them directly from the website, or use Apple Podcasts to listen to the Storynory podcasts. There's also an app for iOS devices, but it's not free. Download Storynory for iOS Browse Storynory Audio Books 07 of 16

Open Culture

What We Like Hundreds of free audiobooks. Audiobooks are listed in alphabetical order for easy reading. What We Don't Like Can't sort or filter the list of audiobooks. No option to search through the list. Some are only streams, not downloads. Open Culture has 1,000 fiction, non-fiction, and poetry audiobooks you can download for free. Just scroll down the alphabetized list to browse through everything they have to offer. These audiobook downloads are located on a variety of other websites, too, so some of them may be direct links to the MP3 while others might be streamed from its download page but not available for download. Besides free audiobooks, this site also has free online movies, courses, language lessons, and eBooks. Browse Open Culture Audio Books 08 of 16

Digitalbook io

What We Like Audiobooks can be launched as podcasts in iTunes. Several ways to locate a new free audiobook. Includes lots of well-known titles and lesser-known ones. Several languages and categories to choose from. What We Don't Like Has a lot more ebooks than audiobooks. Digitalbook io (previously known as Librophile) is another directory that makes it easy to find public domain audiobook downloads. You can download the whole audiobook or play it through iTunes. Browse by trending or popular audiobooks to find one you might like, or look through the list of genres, authors, or languages.
There are over 100,000 items at Digitalbook.io, and while some are audiobooks, others are regular eBooks. Browse Digitalbook io Audio Books 09 of 16

Light Up Your Brain

What We Like Audiobooks are geared toward kids. A text version is available below each audiobook. Most audiobooks are under 10 minutes. What We Don't Like Unhelpful if you're looking for adult books. Light Up Your Brain has several clearly read, short, free audiobooks that are just for kids. Stream them or download the audiobooks to your computer. A transcription of the story is provided as well so that beginning readers can read along with the audio. There are also some free games for kids here that are all made to challenge their minds and keep their brains active. Browse Light Up Your Brain Audio Books 10 of 16

ThoughtAudio

What We Like Provides PDF transcripts of the audiobooks. Includes classic audiobooks. Lets you stream directly from the website. What We Don't Like Must download each chapter individually; no bulk download option. No obvious download button. Some are videos that are harder to download. Website rarely updates with new additions. ThoughtAudio has classic works of literature and philosophy books available for download as free audiobooks. You can browse the whole list or search for books, as well as see them in order of those that were recently added to the collection. To get these audiobooks, you have to either listen to them on the website or download them in installments by right-clicking each part that you want to save. PDF transcripts for these audiobooks are also available for download. Browse ThoughtAudio Audio Books 11 of 16

Free Classic Audio Books

What We Like Some audiobooks are available in multiple audio formats. Perfect place for classic audiobooks. You can download individual chapters as well as whole books. What We Don't Like Not as many audiobooks as similar websites. Website isn't fun or easy to use because there aren't graphics. Lots of website ads. Several broken links. This free audiobook website specializes in classic and fiction audiobooks and you can view them by most popular, recently added, or by author's last name. Some examples include Romeo and Juliet, The Wind in the Willows, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and Autobiography of Mark Twain. All the audiobooks here can be downloaded as an MP3 file and some of them as an M4B file for iOS devices. To download hundreds of their audiobooks at once and support the site, you can get all the short stories on a DVD. Browse Free Classic Audio Books 12 of 16

hoopla

What We Like Easy to use website. Access from a variety of devices. Lots of genres to pick from. Helpful sorting and filtering options. What We Don't Like Requires a valid library card. Much like OverDrive, detailed at the top of this list, hoopla has free audiobook downloads, but only if you have a library card at a supporting library. When searching through the tens of thousands of free audiobooks here, you can filter the results by user rating, release date, date added, and language. There's also a Children's Titles Only toggle to show just kid-friendly audiobook downloads. Browse hoopla's most popular audiobooks, or dig through hoopla's trending audiobooks page, if you're not sure where to start. There are also genres you can browse through. These audiobooks can be streamed from your computer or on various devices. Browse hoopla Audio Books 13 of 16

Project Gutenberg

What We Like Provides a massive source of free downloads. Supports lots of languages. Lets you save audiobook chapters individually or download the entire book. What We Don't Like Some audiobooks are read by a computer, and so aren't as fluid or easy to listen to. Most chapters don't have descriptive titles. Project Gutenberg has audiobooks that are human-read and some that are computer-generated. These are public domain books that have been turned into audiobooks that are now available for free for anyone who's interested. The easiest way to find a book here is to browse those links above or search for something by title, author, subject, and/or language. There are several formats to download the book in, and you can save it to your computer or an online storage site like Dropbox. Download Project Gutenberg Audio Books 14 of 16

Scribl

What We Like Provides audiobooks that normally cost. Lets you filter the audiobooks results by language. Lots of filtering options for styles, character info, etc. What We Don't Like Most audiobooks are not free. Difficult to find just the free audiobooks. Must sign in to download books. Scribl is a very different audiobook website because while there are some free audiobooks, most of them come at a cost. It's really a hit-or-miss type of situation when you look for free audio eBooks here. However, we've included it here because you might find unique books that aren't free anywhere else. Just make sure to grab them quickly because as books get more popular, Scribl's CrowdPricing model puts a price on them. Because Scribl has other things, too, like eBooks and podcasts, you want to make sure to filter the results to only show audiobooks. All audiobooks automatically come with the eBook at no cost. There are several ways to filter the results to show only the books you're interested in listening to. For example, maybe you're only interested in space-themed English books set in the late 1900s that have a female main character. Set those filters and see what shows up! There are mobile apps if you want to listen from your phone. Once its own audiobook site, Podiobooks.com is part of Scribl. Browse Scribl Audio Books 15 of 16

Google Play

What We Like Two simple genres. Great for existing Google Play Books users. M4A exporting is an option. What We Don't Like Very small collection. If you like to keep your book collection in your Google account to read in the Google Play Books app, you'll enjoy the free options offered to you. Visit the link below, and then scroll down to the Free in fiction or Free in nonfiction section to see the free audiobooks Google offers. There aren't many, but they are totally free and legal, and will be added to your account in just a few moments. Listen to these audiobooks through the Google Play Books website or with the app for Android or iOS. If you use the website, you can export an audiobook to M4A to play it elsewhere. Download Google Play Books for iOS Download Google Play Books for Android Browse Google Play Audio Books 16 of 16

AudioFile SYNC

What We Like Encourages kids to keep reading in the summer. Gives away two audiobooks every week in the summer. You can sign up for alerts to know when new audiobooks are available. What We Don't Like Audiobooks aren't available all year long. Limits your audiobook downloads to two per week. SYNC returns Spring 2023. Audiobook SYNC is a free summer reading program meant for kids 13 and older, but anyone can take part in it to get free audiobook downloads. Two free audiobooks are given away every week over the summer. It's a perfect way for kids to keep their comprehension skills sharp before returning to school, but also provides a way for adults to grab some free audio eBooks. You can sign up for email alerts to get reminded when SYNC releases new titles. The books are usable through Overdrive's Sora app. Browse AudioFile SYNC Titles There are lots of other websites that offer free audiobooks that you can download through torrent websites. However, you should know that while that method of sharing books (or anything, like music and movies) may seem completely fine, it's normally illegal in most countries and is typically considered an unsafe method for sharing files since it's a common way to transmit malware. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire 21 Best Places to Get Free Kindle Books (October 2022) 12 Best Free Movie Websites Online (October 2022) How to Get Free eBooks: A Step-by-Step Guide 19 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2022 14 Best Places to Get Free Music Downloads Legally 11 Best Free Movie Download Sites 13 Best Ways to Get Free Books Online and Offline How to Get Free Stuff on Amazon 8 Best Places to Get Free Nook Books for Your E-Reader 10 Best Sites for Book Lovers 11 Best Free Apps for Streaming Movies in 2022 How to Find Public Domain Books Online 9 Best Sites for Public Domain Images 16 Best Sites for Free Kids Kindle Books 14 Best Places to Listen to Free Music Online The 9 Best Free Music Streaming Apps for iOS and Android (2022) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies