The Audible Free Trial: What You Actually Get
Audible has two plans, and they don't start the same way. Standard ($8.99 a month) gives you one audiobook a month that you can listen to while you're subscribed. Premium ($14.95 a month, formerly called Premium Plus) gives you one credit a month that buys a book you keep. The difference that matters most is what happens to that book if you cancel: on Premium it stays, on Standard it locks.
Where you sign up matters too. Amazon sells Standard, often with an intro offer instead of a free trial. Premium and its 30-day free trial are only on audible.com. We earn a commission when you start Standard through our links, and nothing on Premium. We recommend Premium anyway when it's the better fit. Prices and terms verified October 2026.
The cheapest way to try Audible
Audible Standard through Amazon. Check the current intro offer; your monthly pick locks if you cancel.
What each plan includes
Audible Premium
30 days free, then $14.95/month
1 credit a month, any audiobook in the full catalog, any price
Yours to keep, even if you cancel on day one
Unlimited listening from the Plus Catalog
Unused credits last 12 months
Prime members get 2 credits on their first trial
The genuinely risk-free trial. Spend the credit on anything and it's yours whatever you decide. Sold only on audible.com.
Start Premium on audible.com →Audible Standard
Intro offer, then $8.99/month
1 audiobook a month, any title in the full catalog
Access, not ownership: your picks lock if you cancel
Unlimited listening to a select catalog of Audible Originals and podcasts
No Plus Catalog, and an unused pick doesn't roll over
Prime members often get a Prime-only intro price
Right if you'll listen to a book a month and don't need to keep them. The intro offer changes often, so check the terms before you sign up.
See the Standard offer →The thing most guides don't say
A Premium credit buys the book the moment you use it. Cancel on day two and it stays in your library. A Standard pick locks when your membership ends and comes back only if you rejoin. If you want to keep what you listen to, start with Premium on audible.com. If you just want to try Audible as cheaply as possible, Standard is the lower-cost way in.
Ready to try Standard?
One audiobook a month, at Amazon's current intro price. Cancel anytime.
Amazon Prime members
Two Prime-only deals, neither of them free Audible
Prime doesn't include an Audible membership. It does get you two extras. First-time Audible customers get 2 credits instead of 1 on a Premium trial started on audible.com, and both books are theirs to keep. Amazon also runs Prime-only intro prices on Standard; in October 2026 it was $0.99 a month for three months plus a $20 Audible credit, then $8.99 a month. Separately, Prime Reading includes a small rotating set of Kindle books with Audible narration.
How to use your first month well
- 01
Use your credit or pick on the right book, right away
On Premium, a credit used on day one is yours whatever you decide later, so pick something you'll want to keep: a long performance you'll return to, or a narrator you've been meaning to hear. A 20-hour epic fantasy narrated by Nick Podehl or a Ray Porter title is a better use of a credit than a 5-hour thriller you'll finish once. On Standard, the pick doesn't roll over, so choose before your plan renews.
- 02
Explore what's included
Premium includes the Plus Catalog, thousands of titles you can listen to at no extra cost. Standard includes a smaller select catalog of Audible Originals and podcasts. Either way, how much you use the included titles tells you more about whether Audible fits your habits than any single book does.
- 03
Test Whispersync if you read Kindle books
Whispersync lets you switch between reading and listening to the same book without losing your place, the Kindle text and Audible audio stay in sync across devices. If you're a Kindle reader, a month is enough to know whether this feature changes how you consume books. Many listeners find it does.
- 04
Set a calendar reminder before your first full charge
Audible sends a reminder before a free trial ends, but set your own too, especially on an intro offer, which renews at full price on its own. If you decide not to continue, cancelling takes about 90 seconds through account settings. Unused Premium credits are lost when you cancel, so redeem yours first.
- 05
Browse by narrator before you commit
Audible's narrator search is the best in the business. Type any narrator's name directly into the search bar and you'll get their complete catalog with performance ratings. Use your first month to identify the narrators whose work you want to build a library around, that knowledge is worth more than any single title.
Cancellation: what you keep, what you lose
Cancelling before a free trial ends means no charge, and there are no cancellation fees. What you keep depends on your plan:
Premium credit used before cancelling: The audiobook stays in your library. You can re-download it any time through your Audible account, though Audible notes this isn't contractually guaranteed if a title is removed from the catalog entirely, an edge case, but worth knowing.
Standard pick: The book locks in your library with a padlock icon. You can see it but not listen to it. Access returns if you rejoin.
Included titles (Plus Catalog or Standard's select catalog): Access ends when your membership does. These were never purchased, they were benefits of the active membership.
Unused Premium credit at cancellation: Gone immediately. If you have one, use it before you cancel. There's no grace period.