It’s a great choice… if you only listen to one and a half books a month.
Spotify recently unveiled its Audiobooks Access Tier, offering users 15 hours of audiobook listening for $9.99 a month.
The new plan is in response to the growth Spotify has seen since the launch of its Audiobooks to Premium subscribers in October 2023.
But despite the allure of accessing over 200,000 titles, the plan’s limitations have left some fans disenchanted. This is even more emphasized when comparing the new plan to Spotify’s own Premium subscription and Audible’s offerings.
Spotify Audiobooks Access vs Spotify Premium
Priced at $9.99, the new plan is only one dollar less than Spotify’s Premium plan. However, there’s a noticeable difference in the benefits provided.
The Premium plan also includes 15 hours of audiobook listening along with ad-free music and podcasts. On the other hand, the Audiobooks Access plan offers the same amount of audiobook listening time but keeps music ad-supported.
So, Audiobooks Access users will still encounter ads and the typical limitations of Spotify’s free plan for other audio content besides audiobooks.
Listening Time Limitations
This new tier’s 15-hour monthly listening limit for audiobooks also raises doubts about the plan’s value to dedicated audiobook listeners.
For reference, an average audiobook goes for around 10 hours. So, users are technically only paying to hear one book and a half per month. Those exceeding this limit can buy an additional 10 hours for $12.99.
The operational mechanics of the listening cap further complicate this issue.
Spotify calculates listening hours based on the standard playback speed, regardless of the listener’s actual speed preference. This means if a user finishes a 5-hour audiobook in 2.5 hours by listening at double speed, Spotify will still count it as 5 hours of listening time.
Any time spent rewinding audiobooks, perhaps to catch missed details, is also deducted from the allocated listening hours.
This contrasts with Spotify’s usual unlimited access to music and podcasts, introducing a specific constraint for audiobooks.
Spotify Audiobook Access vs Audible
Spotify’s new Audiobook Access plan directly places the platform as a new player in the audiobook market. However, their pricing and limitations put them at a disadvantage to Amazon’s Audible.
For one, Audible’s basic plan, Audible Plus, only costs $7.95 a month. This gives subscribers unlimited access to a select range of audiobooks. This is quite different from Spotify’s plan, which limits listening to just 15 hours per month.
If you’re looking for more, users can also go for the Audible Premium Plus at $14.95 a month. It not only provides unlimited listening from Audible’s large library but also includes a monthly credit. This credit lets you pick any audiobook to keep forever, which is something Spotify doesn’t offer.