Audible launches a cheaper ‘Standard’ subscription plan, posing a challenge to Spotify

Audible is rolling out a cheaper “Standard” subscription plan that costs $8.99 per month, the Amazon-owned company announced Tuesday. The new plan is $6 cheaper than the platform’s current “Premium” plan, which costs $14.95 per month.

The Standard plan includes one audiobook per month from the Audible catalog and unlimited listening from a curated library that includes a selection of Audible Originals.

Under the new Standard plan, subscribers will lose access to the audiobooks they have consumed when they cancel the subscription. The premium plan allows users to keep the audiobooks they have listened to even if they cancel the subscription.

The Standard plan also includes access to nearly 200 of the most popular titles available on the Wondery+ app, which will be closing in the coming months.

The Standard plan will launch in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany and France. The company says Audible is testing the plan in additional markets.

The launch of the new subscription plans comes as Audible faces increasing competition from Spotify, which launched audiobooks in 2022 and has bundled the format with music and podcasts as part of its Premium subscription.

Spotify said last October that the number of users listening to audiobooks rose by 36% over the past year, and listening hours increased by 37%. Additionally, she noted that more than half of Spotify’s 281 million premium subscribers have used an audiobook.

Spotify recently raised the price of its monthly subscription plan for the third time in three years, which could open the door to competitors like Audible.

“By expanding our membership options, we are increasing access to lighter listeners while enabling publishers and creators to reach new audiences — a win-win that grows the entire audiobook category,” said Cynthia Chu, Audible’s chief financial and growth officer, in a press release.

Audible says early testing of the new plan has shown strong member acquisition and retention rates, with testing in the UK and Australia showing the plan resulted in a two-fold increase in new member sign-ups compared to previous offerings. As it expands into new markets, the Standard plan is expected to bring millions of new customers, the company says.