Audiobookshelf
A server you run yourself for your audiobooks, podcasts and ebooks, with apps to listen on your phone.
Instead of Audible
Screenshot from www.audiobookshelf.org, taken 2026-10-23, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.
Audiobookshelf is a self-hosted server for audiobooks and podcasts that also handles basic ebooks in EPUB, PDF and comic formats. You put your files on a computer or small server you control, add the people who should have access, and listen through a web page or a phone app. It is open source under the GPL.
It is the way out of Audible if you own your audio files, because it plays what you have and keeps your place. It is also the one tool here that asks you to run a server, so it suits people who are comfortable with that. When we looked, the phone apps were still in beta, and one developer owns most of the project.
- A server you run for your audiobooks, podcasts and ebooks
- Plays the files you own and keeps your place
- Asks you to run a server, so it suits people who are comfortable with that
What stands out
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For comparison, we also reviewed Amazon Kindle (13/30) as a benchmark.
Other tools for “own my books”
Standard EbooksFree, carefully made editions of public-domain books, with no account and no catch.
CalibreManages, converts and reads your ebook library on your own computer.- Project GutenbergMore than 75,000 free ebooks from a volunteer library that started in 1971.
KOReaderAn open-source reading app for e-ink readers, phones and computers that opens almost any file.