Types of Audible Memberships: Which Plan is Right for You?

One of the major benefits of Audible platform is that they offer different types of membership plans to cater to different needs of audiobook listeners.

Audible membership plans are divided into two main categories; Plus Plan and Premium Plus Plans.

These flexible plans ensure that every listener can find an option that aligns perfectly with their listening habits and budget.

This article discusses different types of Audible memberships to help you decide which plan is best choice for you.

Audible Plus Plan

The Plus plan costs $7.95/ month and gives users unlimited access to the Plus Catalog with over 70,000 titles from different categories.

Here are a few important things to know about Audible’s Plus Catalog

• All Audible members have unlimited streaming access to the Plus Catalog. You can stream (or download for offline listening) as many Plus Catalog titles as you like.
• You do not own the Plus Catalog titles so they are only available as long as you have an active Audible membership
• The Plus Catalog has thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Original and is frequently updated with new content
• You can check the most popular Plus Catalog titles from Audible’s Most Listened Audiobooks page

You can know more about Audible’s Plus Catalog from the following articles.

• 12 FAQs about Audible’s Plus Catalog
• How to search Audible Plus Catalog

With over 70,000 titles from different genres, 1000+ podcasts, sleep tracks and mediation programs, the Plus Catalog offers impressive variety of content, but it carries only a fraction of Audible’s entire catalog.

The Plus Catalog only carries about 10% of Audible titles, leaving much to be desired. These  titles are only available for borrowing and you do not own them.

Audible Premium Plus Plans

Audible Premium Plus plans start from $14.95/month and come with everything in the Plus plan and membership credits to redeem for any audiobook of your choice from Audible’s entire catalog.

There are four types of Premium Plus plans.

Premium Plus – 1 Credit plan is most popular plan that comes with 1 membership credit. Credit system is a major benefit of Premium Plus membership that gives members access to Audible’s Premium Catalog.

Consider Audible as a candy store that has two departments. One smaller department that only offers gummy worms and one big department with expensive and premium quality chocolates.

While you only get gummy worms with Plus plan (Plus Catalog titles), Premium Plus plans not only give your gummy worms but you get to pick one (or more) of the fancy and expensive chocolates from the big department.

Here are a few important things to know about Audible’s credit system.

• You can redeem one credit for one Audible book, regardless of its price. Number of credits you receive each month depends on your membership plan.
• When you run out of credits, you can purchase extra credits at discounted price. If you have 0 or 1 credit in your account, Audible offers you to buy more credits for a discounted price

• If you do not like an Audible book purchased with credit, you can return it and get back the credit to purchase another title
• If you do not use your monthly membership credits, they are carried over to the next month and you can use them when you want. Most Audible credits expire after 12 months from the issue date.
• You can check your account’s available credits with expiry dates from Account Name > Account Details > Credit Summary on Audible’s website

• There are some ways to get the credits for free
• You get to keep all Audible books purchased with credits even after canceling your membership plan

If you use your credits wisely, you can get any Audible book for just $10–$12, no matter how much it normally costs.

Learn more about how Audible’s credit system works

Premium Plus plans also come with exclusive sales and deals to get Audible books at discounted prices.

Which Audible Subscription is Best

I have discussed both types of membership plans in detail in the Plus vs. Premium Plus article.

Between the two types of Audible memberships, I always recommend the Premium Plus membership and i think its worth the extra payment.

For just $7 more per month, you get lots of more benefits than the Plus plan, including

• Membership credits: You can redeem monthly credits for any premium title of your choice including best sellers and new releases
• Exclusive sales and deals: Including 2-for-1 credit deals where you can grab 2 titles using 1 credit and sitewide sales where Audible’s entire catalog is on sale
• Cash purchase discount: Premium Plus members get discount on all cash purchases which is at least 30%

Audible’s credit system alone, that lets you pick premium titles, is worth the extra price.

If you want to get an expensive title and do not have credits in your account, you can buy extra credits and get the title for much less than the listed price.

Audible offers 30-day free trials for both type of membership plans so you can discover which one suits you best.

There is no risk as you can downgrade or upgrade your membership plan anytime you want.