Audible has announced the launch of a new $8.99 "Standard" membership plan in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany.
Audible said that this new plan was designed to capture the casual segment of the market that finds the traditional price point too steep for a single digital file, positioning the tier as an "accessible entry point" for people who might only get through one bestseller a month.
The launch of our Standard plan reflects Audible"s ongoing commitment to serving the diverse preferences and listening habits of story-lovers everywhere. By expanding our membership options, we"re maximizing access for lighter listeners while enabling publishers and creators to reach new audiences—a win-win that grows the entire audiobook category.
The Amazon-owned company also claimed that internal data from testing in the UK and Australia showed that this tiered approach drove a double-digit percentage spike in new member acquisition.
So how does Standard differ from the $14.95 Premium membership? Well, for one, the licensing terms are significantly stricter because the one audiobook you select each month on the Standard plan is only playable while your subscription is active, meaning you lose access to those titles if you ever cancel.
Standard members do, however, get unlimited ad-free listening to a curated selection of Audible Originals and nearly 200 titles previously siloed on Wondery+, including hit series like Dr. Death and Business Wars.
The audiobook market is booming and is projected to hit nearly $93.15 billion by 2034. Spotify, Audible"s biggest competitor, has been relentlessly chipping away at this dominance, a crusade that really kicked off when it acquired digital audiobook distributor Findaway in November 2021.
Two years later, in 2023, the platform integrated audiobooks bundled with Premium subscriptions to offer a capped number of listening hours, and it has since expanded that capability to countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg (October 2024), and Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.