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Scribd no longer runs a books-and-audiobooks subscription. That service is now called Everand, and it costs $11.99 to $28.99 a month for one to five book "unlocks." Audible runs $8.99 to $14.95 a month. Neither one is unlimited anymore.
If you came here to find out whether Scribd is still worth it, the honest answer is that the thing you're remembering — a flat $9 or $11.99 a month for as many ebooks and audiobooks as you could get through — was discontinued. Here's what replaced it, what Audible costs now, and how to pick.
What happened to Scribd
Scribd, Inc. split its products apart in 2023. Books and audio went to a new brand, Everand. Scribd.com kept the documents: research papers, legal filings, academic material, manuals, roughly 300 million pieces of content. SlideShare stayed separate for presentations. (Scribd, Inc., checked 30 July 2026.)
Then the pricing changed. On 31 October 2024, Everand announced it was ending unlimited reading and moving to a credit-style model. Existing subscribers kept their old plan until renewal and were migrated through 2025. The Scribd Help Center now states plainly: "Our Legacy plan has been discontinued." Switching off it is one-way, and legacy holders who switch also lose the bundled access to Scribd and SlideShare that came with the old plan. (Book Riot; Good e-Reader; Scribd Help Center, all checked 30 July 2026.)
Two content types also went away. Sheet music and magazines were removed from Everand after 28 January 2025. (Scribd Help Center, checked 30 July 2026.)
What each one costs right now
Prices below are US, taken from Everand's and Audible's own pages on 30 July 2026.
| Plan | Price | Books per month | Cost per book | Yours after you cancel? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everand Standard | $11.99/mo | 1 unlock | $11.99 | No |
| Everand Plus | $16.99/mo | 3 unlocks | $5.66 | No |
| Everand Deluxe | $28.99/mo | 5 unlocks | $5.80 | No |
| Audible Standard | $8.99/mo | 1 selection | $8.99 | No |
| Audible Premium Plus | $14.95/mo | 1 credit | $14.95 | Yes |
| Audible Premium Plus, annual 12 | $149.50/yr | 12 credits | $12.46 | Yes |
| Audible Premium Plus, annual 24 | $229.50/yr | 24 credits | $9.56 | Yes |
Sources: Everand, Scribd Help Center, Audible membership plans. Cost per book is the monthly price divided by the included books; do the division yourself if a price has moved since.
Note what the table says about Everand Plus: three unlocks for $16.99 works out to $5.66 a book, cheaper per book than either Standard or Deluxe. If you read two or more books a month, Standard is the worst value of the three.
The difference that actually decides it
Old comparisons framed this as ebooks-plus-audiobooks versus audiobooks-only. That's still true, but it's no longer the thing that matters most. The real split now is renting versus keeping.
Audible Premium Plus credits buy the audiobook. You keep it after you cancel. That's the only plan on either service where the book stays yours.
Everand unlocks are rentals. Everand's help page says unlocked books are yours "for as long as you're subscribed." Stop paying and they go. There is one softening detail: if you resubscribe later with the same email, previously unlocked books come back. Unused unlocks roll over for up to six months, then expire.
Audible Standard is also a rental, which is easy to miss because it looks like the cheap Audible. Audible's own page: "You lose access to titles from the Plus Catalog and to any audiobook selections you have made as an Audible Standard member." Standard also skips the Plus Catalog and member discounts that Premium Plus includes; TechRadar reported at its March 2026 launch that Standard gets a selection of Audible Originals and 200-plus Wondery+ podcasts instead of unlimited streaming. (TechRadar, 4 March 2026.)
So the cheapest way to build a permanent audiobook library is Audible Premium Plus on the 24-credit annual plan, at $9.56 a book. The cheapest way to get through the most books is Everand Plus at $5.66 an unlock, as long as you accept that they're not yours.
What you get without spending an unlock or a credit
Everand includes 20,000-plus audiobooks, ebooks and podcasts you can read or listen to without using an unlock, on every tier, out of a total library of 1.5 million-plus books. Audible Premium Plus includes the Plus Catalog for unlimited streaming; Audible Standard does not.
This matters more than the headline price. If the 20,000 free-with-subscription titles cover what you want, Everand Standard at $11.99 is functionally a lot of reading. If they don't, you're paying $11.99 for one book.
Trials, and one trap
Everand's free trial is 30 days if you sign up on the Everand website but only 7 days through the App Store or Google Play. Either way it includes one unlock. (Scribd Help Center, updated 6 March 2026.)
Audible's trial is 30 days for new customers. The trap: Audible's trial page says it "Auto-renews at $8.99/mo. after 30 days" — that's Standard, the rental tier, not Premium Plus. If you want the plan where you keep the books, check which tier you're on before the trial ends. Audible also runs promotional pricing frequently, so the number you see at signup may be a temporary rate. (Audible free trial, checked 30 July 2026.)
On credits: Audible credits are widely reported to expire 12 months after they're issued, with unused web-billed credits forfeited when you cancel. Audible's own help article on credit expiry returned a 404 when checked on 30 July 2026, so that one is likely but unconfirmed at the source.
Which to pick
Pick Audible Premium Plus if you want to own audiobooks, if you re-listen, or if you'd resent losing your library after a lapsed payment. The annual 24-credit plan at $9.56 a book is the best per-book price for kept audiobooks anywhere in this comparison.
Pick Everand Plus if you read three or more books a month, mostly once, and you want ebooks and audiobooks in the same subscription. $5.66 a book is the lowest number in the table.
Pick Everand Standard if the 20,000-title no-unlock catalog looks like enough on its own and the one unlock is a bonus. Check the catalog during the 30-day web trial before you commit.
Pick Audible Standard only if you want one new audiobook a month for $8.99 and genuinely don't care about keeping it. It's the narrowest plan of the five.
Neither is right if you wanted the old unlimited Scribd. Nothing on this list replaces it. Your library's Libby or Hoopla app is free and worth checking first.
One thing no comparison should skip: if you're looking for research documents, papers or manuals, that's Scribd.com, and it is not included in any Everand plan.
