Can You Listen to Audible Books After Cancelling? [Explained]

Yes, you can still listen to the purchased Audible titles after cancelling your membership. You own the audiobooks that you bought (through credits or cash) forever. You can redownload them as many times as you want on as many devices as you want.  

However, you will lose access to any audiobooks from the Plus Catalog upon cancelling your Audible subscription, even if they are already in your library.

All of the Audible books and other content belong to one of the following three categories.

1: Free Listens – Access without Membership or Trial

Audible has a Free Listens section offering hundreds of audiobooks and podcasts.

You can listen to all titles in this section without any membership plan or trial sign-up. If you decide to cancel your membership, do not worry about any Free Listen titles in your account’s library.

2: Plus Catalog – Only Available for Active Members

Plus Catalog is included with all membership plans. It has thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals that you can stream or download for offline listening. 

You can listen to unlimited Plus Catalog titles as long as your membership is active.

Upon canceling your Audible membership, you lose access to Plus Catalog titles along with exclusive discounts, any unused credits, and other membership benefits.

3: Purchased Titles – You Own Them for Life

The Audible books that you purchased through credit or cash are yours to keep forever. You can download and access them as many times as you want, irrespective of your membership status.

If you have deleted a purchased title from your device, you can always redownload it on as many devices as you like.

You can also continue to purchase audiobooks without an Audible membership. But they will cost you more without a subscription plan as Audible offers at least a 30% discount to its members on all purchases.

So, to answer the question “Can you listen to Audible books after cancelling?”, yes you will be able to access all Audible books that you purchased and titles from the Free Listen section. However, you will lose access to any title from the Plus Catalog.

7 Things to Know Before Cancelling the Audible Membership

1: Consider to Pause your Audible Membership

If you are considering canceling your Audible membership because of any of the following reasons

• To catch up with unfinished audiobooks
• Cannot afford Audible for now
• To have a break from audiobooks

You may consider pausing your Audible membership. There is nothing wrong with cancelling as you can reactivate your membership anytime. However, if you want a temporary break or have a few unused credits, pausing may be a better option.

It will immediately stop the next payment for three months (or until you resume your membership).

I recommend going for the pause option if you are not sure about where to use the unused credits. This will give you 3 extra months to use your credits and you can cancel your membership anytime during the paused period.

To pause your Audible membership

• Go to the Audible desktop website and sign in with your account
• Click on your Account Name > Account Details

• Click on the Pause Membership option

This will stop the payments for 3 months. You can resume the subscription at any time or it will be resumed automatically after 90 days.

Here are a few things to know about the pause option.

• You can continue using existing credits and can also buy more credits
• You will not receive monthly membership credits that come as part of your membership deal
• You cannot access the Plus Catalog during the pause period
• You can still access sales, offers, and 2-for-1 deals and enjoy the member discount

Members can pause their membership once every 12 months.

2: Consider Downgrading Membership Plan

Audible has 3 types of monthly plans and two types of yearly plans. Most users are subscribed to one of the monthly plans.

• Audible Plus plan costs $7.95/month and gives you unlimited access to the Plus Catalog with over 70,000 titles

• Audible Premium Plus plan costs $14.95/month and gives you access to Plus Catalog + 1 Credit to get any title from the premium selection including best sellers and new releases
• Audible Premium Plus – 2 Credits Plan costs $22.95/month and gives you access to the Plus Catalog + 2 Credits to get two titles from the premium selection

Most Audible users have an Audible Premium Plus subscription. You can consider downgrading to the basic Audible Plus plan if you think Audible is expensive.

This will give you access to thousands of audiobooks, Audible Originals, podcasts, and other Audible content in the Plus Catalog.

Know more about Audible plans and pricing

3: Use your Credits Before Cancelling

If you cancel your membership, you will lose your unused credits along with other membership benefits. Use all the credits before going through the cancelation process. You can pre-order upcoming titles using your credits.

If you want some time to decide where to use your credits, pause the membership and get 3 months extra to decide and use credits before cancelation. Look at the Audible Deals page for sales and offers to get better deals.

Note: Credits received through the App Store or Google Play membership do not expire and will remain in your account after cancelation. Any extra credits that you purchase through iOS or Android apps also do not expire.

4: Finish the Plus Catalog Titles You are Currently Listening to

You will lose access to the Plus Catalog after canceling your membership. If you are listening to a Plus Catalog title, complete it before the end of your billing cycle.

5: Do not Worry about Pre-orders

If you have any pre-orders pending, you will still get them delivered to you on the release date after canceling the membership. This includes all pre-orders ordered through credits or bank cards.

6: Purchasing Audible Books without Membership

You can purchase any title without the Audible membership. Use any of Audible’s accepted payment methods to make a purchase.

Audible accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and prepaid debit cards.

7: You can Reactivate Audible Account Anytime

If you change your mind and want to reactivate the Audible membership, you can do so anytime in the future. There is no limit on the number of times you are allowed to cancel or reactivate your Audible account.

I hope this section helps you with the decision to cancel, pause, or downgrade your subscription plan.

If you have made up your mind and want to go ahead with the cancelling process, follow these steps.

• Go to Audible’s desktop website and sign in to your account
• Click on the Account Name > Account Details

• This will take you to the Membership Details section where you can click on the Cancel Membership option

Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the cancellation process. You will get the email confirmation after the process is complete and your Account Details section will reflect the change.

You can only cancel the membership from Audible’s desktop website, not the app.