Everand vs. Audible: Full Review for Audiobook Lovers
Everand vs. Audible: Which audiobook app should you choose? If you want to read more books this year, audiobooks are an excellent way to help you reach that goal. Check out my full review of both apps to decide which one is the right fit for you.
One of the best ways to reach your goal of reading more books this year is to take a lesson from Jon Acuff’s “All It Takes is a Goal” and steal back time during the day that you could be using to your advantage.
An excellent example? Using your time that you have to be doing boring adult things like driving in your car or washing dishes to sneak in more reading by listening to audiobooks!
I’ve written about the best audiobooks for new listeners to enjoy for their first read but I think it is time to chat about which audiobook app is the best for you as you’re getting started.
Today I’m giving you a full peek inside two amazing apps: Everand and Audible. Which one is right for you? Well . . . it depends.
What is Audible?
Audible is a subscription-based audiobook service that is owned and operated by Amazon.
When you buy an audiobook on Amazon, it will take you to the Audible website where you can choose to subscribe on a month-by-month basis.
Once you purchase an audiobook with Audible, it is yours to enjoy even if you cancel your subscription but it must be listened to within the Audible app on your personal device.
What is Everand?
Everand is a subscription-based audiobook service that also offers eBooks as part of their platform. It is not affiliated with Amazon in any way.
You can enjoy Everand on a month-by-month basis. Any books you “unlock” during your subscription will not be available for listening without an active subscription but will reappear in your profile if you re-subscribe.
Number of Book Credits Per Month
Audible audiobooks can be purchased two ways:
- Credit: Your subscription gives you 1 credit per month. Most books on the platform can be purchased with a single credit. You can save up to 6 credits at a time and individual credits expire after 1 year.
- Cash: Used up all your credits? You can purchase additional books with cash. Audible runs sales frequently throughout the year and if you purchase the Kindle version of the book first, you’ll see a significantly reduced cash price for the book on Audible.
Everand subscriptions work a little differently. Your monthly fee will give you three “unlocks” that you can use on their premium library of either audiobooks or eBooks.
Once you use this month’s unlocks, you cannot purchase additional reads, you have to wait until your next month to receive your next set of three unlocks.
Unused unlocks do not roll over, this is a “use it or lose it” method of purchasing your books.
WINNER:
Everand — based on the number of premium books you can listen to per monthly subscription price. Three is better than one.
Free Trials
Both Audible and Everand offer a 30-day free trial to explore how their apps work.
Audible offers 30 days free but also frequently offers a limited time “3 months for $.99 a month,” especially around Prime Days and the holiday season. Check to see if they are running a promotion here.
Everand offers a 30 day trial period with three unlocks. You can sign up for your free trial here.
WINNER:
Everand — with the same 30-day free trial, you can test three books instead of just one.
How to Listen
Both Audible and Everand offer apps you can download to your mobile device and listen on the go.
I have both apps on my iPhone and listen to audiobooks in my car using my Honda’s Apple Carplay feature. I also listen using headphones while I work around the house or go for walks.
Both Audible and Everand allow you to pick up where you left off in your book and listen from their websites. Sometimes at my desk I’ll pull up a tab with my book and listen while I work.
WINNER:
Tie
Audiobook Store Comparison
Audible: The audiobook store benefits from their partnership with Amazon. The store is neat and clean and excellent at recommending titles you are most likely interested in.
- Library: You can quickly and easily see which titles are already in you purchased library.
- Wish List: You can save titles you’re interested in purchasing. Audible will then email you if a title on your wish list goes on sale.
- Browse by Category: There is an extensive category list for browsing along with “Readers also enjoyed” suggestions on each book.
- Shopping Cart: When you want to purchase a book with a credit or cash, you can add it to your shopping cart and then select whether or not you want to use your available credits. This is a great option since sometimes books will go on sale for a significantly cheaper price than the credit price.
Everand: The audiobook and eBook library on Everand is extremely simple, clean, and pretty. Where Audible can feel a bit overcrowded and overwhelming, browsing on Everand feels very book-focused and colorful.
- EBooks vs. Audiobooks: You can search by format to find just what you are looking for.
- Saved: You can build custom lists for books you want to unlock in the future, books you’ve already unlocked, or by any theme you want to imagine. Instead of a traditional Wish List, you are free to make custom lists that make sense for you.
- No Shopping Cart: The simple 3 unlocks/month format means a shopping cart is unnecessary. Your number of remaining unlocks for the month appears at the top of the site so you always know how many you have left.
WINNER:
Everand — I frequently feel overwhelmed by the Audible store. I love how neat and clean this is.
Audible — Audible gets a shout-out for making my library so easy to find. Though I’d rarely look for it on the website, only in the app.
Listening Experience Comparison
While the actual narration of the book is the same on each platform, the experience of using the audiobook player app is a little different.
Audible Player:
The play window on Audible offers the ability to navigate by chapter and the breaks are cleanly listed and sync up with what you’d find in the print or Kindle copy of the book:
Everand Player:
The Everand player also provides breaks in the book but in my initial experience these do not match up with the print version of the book, making it hard to pick up between formats.
Listening Speed:
Both Audible and Everand offer the option to speed up or slow down the narration. Everand offers much higher speeds:
WINNER:
Audible — While both apps get the job done and allow me to listen wherever I am, I have found the Audible app to be more reliable, offer more features, and have excellent navigation.
Free Listens Included
Both Audible and Everand offer additional content for you to enjoy as a monthly subscriber beyond your purchased books.
You will find a wide variety of podcasts and “Unlimited” listens that can introduce you to new authors and genres.
Both platforms also offer Original content that is only available on their app.
Everand Originals:
Everand Originals are exclusive fiction and nonfiction ebooks and audiobooks, most of which can be read in just a few hours, from award-winning talent and best-selling authors such as Roxane Gay, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palanuik, Najwa Zebian, Scott Simon, Ada Limón, Charles Yu, and many more.
See the full Everand Originals library here.
Audible Originals:
Groundbreaking memoirs, exclusive series, addictive podcasts, and live performances—
featuring celebs you love and emerging talent.
Enjoy Originals, documentaries, immersive spatial audio, sleep meditations and more.
See the full Audible Original library here.
WINNER:
Audible — while both platforms offer more than one person could ever possibly listen to, Audible has the leg up on the sheer vast number of listens you could enjoy.
Which Platform I Would Choose
I have been an Audible subscriber for over a decade but I recently gave Everand a trial run. It is hard to compare 10 years to a 30 day trial but as an avid audiobook listener, I wanted to share my thoughts with you.
I really enjoyed the shopping experience on Everand and their suggested reads were much more in line with my interests than what Audible recommends. In my very first shopping session I discovered several titles of strong interest that I have never seen on Audible.
I also love the price! Getting 3 unlocks on Everand a month as compared to just 1 credit on Audible is a huge deal for budget-conscious book shoppers.
I listened to audiobooks in my car using both apps and they met all of my basic needs in the same way. I didn’t really have a preference for one vs. the other.
Audible is a clear winner is when I’m reading a book on both audio AND Kindle. I love to listen during the day while driving or working around the house but then enjoy reading on my Kindle in bed at night. My devices will automatically pick up between either book format and remember where I left off. This has been a game-changing mini habit for reading that has helped me to finish so many more books in a year.
However, that trick requires you own BOTH the audiobook and the Kindle book so it costs more money. If this is not a reading hack you use, this benefit would be meaningless.
So for the average audiobook listener who does not flip back and forth with a Kindle book, I can safely recommend Everand as the app that you need. You’ll have more premium books to listen to every single month and a nicer shopping experience to find them.
If you are a super-power audiobook listener who plows through tons of free content and podcasts and needs precise audiobook navigation, Audible would be the pick for you.
As a professional book blogger who writes book reviews and is constantly curating book lists, I will be keeping both my Audible subscription and my Everand subscription for the foreseeable future. Everand will help me to explore more current bestsellers faster while Audible will help me enjoy reading my book wherever I am during the day.
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