Book app prices, tracked
Short answer
Reading subscriptions in 2026 cluster between $8 and $16 a month: Audible Premium Plus at $14.95, Libro.fm at $14.99, Kindle Unlimited and Everand at $11.99, Kobo Plus from $7.99. Only the credit memberships leave you owning the book, and a library card still beats all of them at $0.
Last checked 2026-08-01 — prices and verdicts are desk-reviewed, not verified at a live checkout. Tell us if something moved and we will date the fix.
| Service | Plan | Monthly | Annual | What you get | Keep it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audible | Premium Plus, 1 credit | $14.95 | $149.50 | 1 audiobook credit a month plus the Plus catalog | Yes |
| Audible | Plus (listen only) | $7.95 | — | Rotating Plus catalog, no credits | No |
| Libro.fm | Membership, 1 credit | $14.99 | — | 1 DRM-free audiobook a month, bookstore cut | Yes |
| Everand | Standard | $11.99 | — | Ebooks, audiobooks, magazines with availability limits | No |
| Kindle Unlimited | Standard | $11.99 | — | KU catalog ebooks plus some audio narration | No |
| Kobo Plus | Read and Listen | $12.99 | — | Kobo Plus ebooks and audiobooks | No |
| Kobo Plus | Read only | $7.99 | — | Kobo Plus ebook catalog | No |
| Scribd / Everand annual | Annual prepay | ≈$9.99 effective | $119.88 | Same catalog, prepaid | No |
| StoryGraph Plus | Plus | $4.99 | $49.99 | Deeper stats, charts, previews | Borrowed |
| Blinkist | Premium | $15.99 | $99.99 | Summaries, audio, Shortcasts | No |
| Shortform | Premium | $24.00 | $199.00 | Long-form guides with analysis | No |
| Fable | Free with paid extras | $0 | — | Book clubs, social reading; books bought separately | Borrowed |
| Libby | Library card | $0 | $0 | Library ebooks and audiobooks, holds queue | Borrowed |
| Hoopla | Library card | $0 | $0 | Instant borrows against a monthly cap | Borrowed |
Read the price with the ownership column
Two plans at $12 a month are not the same product if one leaves you with files and the other leaves you with nothing. The cheapest row on this page is the one that costs $0 and never pretended you owned anything; the most expensive is a $15 credit membership with three credits sitting unspent.
The switch that saves the most
For most readers it is not changing subscription, it is adding a library card beside the one they keep. Libby and Hoopla cover the backlist for free, which turns your paid plan into a tool for the handful of titles the library cannot get.
Q & A
Questions readers actually ask
- Which reading subscription is cheapest?
- A library card at $0, every time. Among paid plans, Audible Plus at $7.95 and Kobo Plus Read at $7.99 are the cheapest way into a catalog, and neither leaves you owning anything.
- Do annual plans actually save money?
- Usually 15-20%, and only if you would have stayed the full year. Prepaying a service you abandon in March is the most expensive plan on this page.
- What does 'keep it' mean in this table?
- Whether the books survive cancellation. Yes means purchased files or an owned library, No means access ends with the subscription, Borrowed means the title was always the library's.
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