I'd like to subscribe to an Audible membership plan to listen to more audiobooks. But I didn't know which plan I should choose. What's included in the Audible membership plans?
At the end of August 2020, Audible has made some changes to their membership plans. They released a brand new plan called Audible Plus, and replace the former Gold and Platinum Membership with Audible Premium Plus. How does each Audible membership plan work? What are the differences?
1. Audible Plus
Audible Plus is a new monthly membership plan introduced at the end of August 2020. It gives access to unlimited listening (streaming or download) from the Audible Plus Catalog to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, podcasts, and more. Titles with an “Included” tag are available to listen to in the Plus Catalog.
Audible Plus Catalog is accessible to both Audible Plus and Audible Premium Plus Members. This catalog includes over 68,000 hours of content and 11,000+ titles in total. And Audible says the content slate will continue to grow alongside various technical enhancements over the coming months.
The new Audible Plus plan costs $7.95 per month after a 30-day free trial – half the price of the Gold membership (renamed Audible Premium Plus). It sounds like an excellent alternative to the Gold Membership for Audible books. Nevertheless, before rolling into the Audible Plus subscription, there are some more things you should know about this plan.
1 Audible Plus gives unlimited access to 11,000 audiobooks in the Plus catalog. However, there are over 40,000 audiobooks that are not included in the Plus catalog. Such non-Plus audiobooks are in the Premium catalog. If you are a Premium Plus subscriber, you can get them for credits, or you can buy them for a full price if you are not subscribed to the Premium Plus plan.
2 Audible Plus does not offer Audible credits that can be used for exchanging Audible audiobooks. So if you are a Plus member and want to listen to any audiobooks from outside the Plus Catalog, you will need to purchase them at a regular price.
3 Once you cancel your subscription, you'll lose access to titles you've selected from the Audible Plus Catalog at the end of your final billing period. In other words, when your subscription ends, audiobooks are removed from your account, and you can’t listen to new ones.
4 Audible Plus Membership is already included in the Gold/Platinum Membership (which is now called Audible Premium Plus). Therefore, if you are an active subscriber for the Premium Plus Membership, you don't have to further subscribe to the Audible Plus.
2. Audible Premium Plus
Audible Premium Plus is a new name for the old Gold and Platinum Membership plans. These memberships are the same prices and have the same member benefits as before. It includes everything in Audible Plus, with the added bonus of credits to be used to exchange any titles from the Premium Catalog.
Audible Premium Plus plan gives you the same amount of credits you're used to having:
- 1 Credit per Month: Audible Premium Plus ($14.95/month)
- 2 Credits per Month: Audible Premium Plus – 2 Credits ($22.95/month)
- 12 Credits per Year: Audible Premium Plus Annual - 12 Credits ($149.50/year)
- 24 Credits per Year: Audible Premium Plus Annual - 24 Credits ($229.50/year)
The benefits of the Audible Premium Plus membership include:
1 Access to the Audible Plus Catalog: Listen to over 11,000 audiobooks, Audible Originals and podcasts in the Audible Plus Catalog.
2 Earn Credits: You can use credits to redeem any title that's not included in the Plus Catalog. And once you get that audiobook, it’s yours to keep forever. (1 credit = 1 title).
3 Audiobook Selection: Audible Premium Plus gives you access to over 11,000 in Plus Catalog and almost 500,000 in Premium Catalog. Any audiobooks in the Premium Catalog can be redeemed by using the credits you get every month, no matter its original price.
4 Own Contents Forever: Any audiobooks you've got by using the credits, you keep the ownership of them and you can listen to them forever.
5 Keep Unused Credits: Your credits can be kept for up to a year before they expire, as long as your membership is active.
6 Exclusive Discount: Audible Premium Plus members can make regular (non-membership credit) audiobook purchases at a 30% discount.
7 Easy Audiobook Exchange: Premium Plus members can return audiobooks if they are unsatisfied with them for up to 365 days after the original purchase date.
In other words, with the launch of Audible Plus, you don’t have to “waste” credits for attractive but cheaper audiobooks which cost 10 – and which are now included in the Plus catalog. You can spend every single credit on an audiobook that costs over $30, and save over $15 each time.3. Audible Plus vs Audible Premium Plus - Which One to Choose?
After reviewing the above 2 Audible membership options, have you found which one suits you more? If not, you could take a look at the following table which shows you some of the most important features of each plan.
| Plan Name | Audible Plus | Audible Premium Plus | Audible Premium Plus-2 Credits | Audible Premium Plus Annual-12 Credits | Audible Premium Plus Annual-24 Credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
| Access to Audible Plus Catalog | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Audiobook Selection | Over 11,000 | Over 500,000 | Over 500,000 | Over 500,000 | Over 500,000 |
| Credits | No credit | 1 credit/month | 2 credits/month | 12 credits/year | 24 credits/year |
| Content Ownership | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Exclusive Discount | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Easy Exchange | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Cost | $7.95/month | $14.95/month | $22.95/month | $149.50/year | $229.50/year |
Verdict:
Choose Audible Plus
If you find many audiobooks in the Audible Plus Catalog that satisfy you enough, you don't need to choose the other plans. Just subscribe to Audible Plus.
Choose Audible Premium Plus
If the titles in the Audible Plus Catalog does not attract you and you think the options are not enough, you can try Audible Premium Plus. The credits you've got along with the plan can be exchanged for any audiobooks that are outside of the Audible Plus Catalog. Most importantly, you own the titles forever.
Bonus Tips -- For Those Who Want to Back up Audible Books
Epubor Audible Converter is a powerful tool that can help you back up Audible books by converting Audible audiobooks to MP3/M4B and remove the Audible DRM. Once the Audible books are converted to MP3, you're able to keep them forever and listen to your audiobooks on any other non-Audible devices, and share Audible books with your friends and family more freely. Why not just download it for a free trial?
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Michelle loves technology & reading very much. She seeks the methods to enjoy eBooks and audiobooks more freely and wants to share everything new she has got with you.
