How does Audible work? All you need to know

The cost for an Audible membership depends on the plan you sign up for. Plans range from £7.99 per month to £109.99 per year. Paying £7.99 a month, you’ll receive one book credit per month whereas the top yearly membership at £109.99 sees you receive 24 book credits for the year.

And to entice you in even more, if you want to test Audible out before you commit, you can also trial the service for free for 30 days.

However, for a limited time only (until Monday 25th March), you can secure three months of Audible for just 99p, which is a huge 95% saving.

By signing up to Audible on the standard membership, you receive one new audiobook every month you are a member. You can choose from a range of membership plans and which one you have will determine how many Audible ‘credits’ you receive each month, which can be exchanged for audiobooks on the service.

You’re not limited to one book a month, though, many are available for free and you can buy more. Also, you can listen to all the Audible Original Podcasts with unlimited streaming and there are also a number of exclusive offers and deals throughout the month, including the ‘Daily Deals’ which offer a different title for up to 80% off each day.

Audible credits are the service’s internal currency, with one credit purchasing one audiobook: nice and simple. But different memberships afford different credits, so while the standard £7.99 per month subscription grants you one token a month, the £14.99 subscription gets you two, the 12-credit annual membership is £69.99 per year, and the 24-credit membership will set you back £109.99 each year.

What’s great is that Audible works with a rollover scheme, so that if, say, you have a hectic month and don’t get the chance to use your monthly credit, it can be used in the following month instead. But keep in mind that credits will eventually expire after a year of disuse.

When you sign up to a free 30-day membership with Audible, you’ll receive one free audiobook to get you started (or two as an Amazon Prime member).

If you continue your membership on one of Audible’s plans, you’ll receive regular credits which can be exchanged for a title of your choice. One token entitles you to one audiobook, no matter the price, without having to shell out any extra cost.

If you find you don’t manage to use a credit every month, it’s possible to get in touch with Audible customer services and request to ‘freeze’ your account for a few months. This allows you to catch up and use the credits you have without paying more and getting swamped, or cancelling your subscription entirely.

If you aren’t enjoying a book or have downloaded the wrong one by mistake, you’re able to return it and use your credit on something else.

To do this, you need to log into your account on the Audible website and click on ‘Account Details’ from the drop-down menu under your name. From here you can choose ‘Purchase History’ to see a list of all the audiobooks you’ve bought.

On the right of the title you want to exchange, you should see a button saying ‘Return Order’ which can simply select to send it back.

Your Audible membership will automatically renew at the end of your plan. This is includes your free trial period.

If you want to cancel your membership, log into the Audible website and go to the ‘Account Details’ page. Under ‘Account Settings’ you should see the option, ‘cancel my membership’. Select this and follow the instructions on screen to terminate your Audible plan.

If you have paid for an audiobook on Amazon, it will remain in your Audible library forever even once your subscription has ended. This should also apply to items purchased during your free trial.

Any credits you have not used, however, will disappear, so make sure you use them up before cancelling your membership.