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I have always loved reading, but somewhere between working, having my first child, and traveling the world, I stopped doing it. Then, a few years ago, I received an e-reader for my birthday. Although I have always preferred to have a physical copy of a book in my hands, I quickly became a huge fan of ebooks and audiobooks. Over the past couple of years, I have tried pretty much every ebook subscription service. Today I want to share my opinion and provide an in-depth review of Everand (formerly Scribd), one of the most popular services out there that I have been using for quite some time now. I will not only answer the most common questions people ask about Scribd and talk about its pros and cons but also compare it with other similar services, like Audible and Kindle Unlimited, and, as a bonus, provide a link to a 30-day free trial.
Everend is an audiobook and ebook subscription service that offers access to millions of titles. For a monthly fee of just $11,99, Everand members can listen to and read any number of audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, and sheet music. Because of its subscription approach, Everand is called the "Netflix For Books".
Launched in 2007, Everand (formerly Scribd) quickly became one of the best digital library platforms, with more than 80 million readers all around the globe. It's a combination of Audible and Kindle Unlimited, only cheaper.
Everand lets its members read and listen to as many books as they'd like. You can access millions of Scribd books on your mobile devices - Android, iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, or others - and read them anywhere.
You can use Scribd mobile application, browse their website, or read already downloaded books and magazines.
One thing that makes Scribd really stand out from competitors is the fact that any member can actually upload their own short stories and books to the platform for others to read.
In 2023, Scribd has separated its content in two separate products. The company has launched Everand, the app that now hosts all of audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, newspapers, and sheet music. And Scribd now hosts only documents.
Everand gives you access to their library through any of the devices listed above. All you have to do is sign up for a free trial or buy a monthly membership, log in, and search for a book or magazine you are interested in. Once you find what you are looking for, click on the "Save" button to add the title to your library. If you prefer to read the book offline, just click on the "Download" button. You can save content on up to four mobile devices at a time.
Everand membership costs only $11.99 a month. The price is the reason why I signed up with Scribd in the first place. Before, I would pay around 8-10 bucks for just one book, and now I had access to millions of titles for the same price!
If you are a student, you can get an Everand membership for just $4.99 a month; plus you get 30 days free to start. This is a great deal, but keep in mind that this offer is for new members only.
No, Everand is not free. However, if you are hesitating and don't want to buy a monthly membership, you can first sign up for a 30-day free trial and get access to all audiobooks and e-books, magazines, and sheet music that are available for members!
If, so some reason, after a month, you are not satisfied with the service, just go ahead and cancel your subscription. This way, you won't be charged a penny. The cancellation process is very easy and quick. If you fall in love with Everand as I did and decide to continue using the service, you don't have to do anything to renew your membership; Everand will automatically do that for you.
Many people are asking whether you can sign up for a free trial with Everand if you don't have a credit or debit card. And the answer is no. You have to provide your credit card information to get a 1-month free trial. However, you have nothing to worry about. Everand is a company with an excellent reputation, and they won't share your information with anyone.
Before writing this review, I went online to see what other Scribd members had to say about the service. And although most people are happy with Scribd, there were quite a few complaints, as well. Let's take a look at some of them.
Most of the negative reviews were from people who signed up for a free trial and then got charged a month later because they forgot to cancel their subscription. The majority of those cases were resolved by Scribd. However, I want to remind everyone once again: if you sign up for a free trial with Scribd and decide not to continue using it, don't forget to cancel your account before the end of the month to avoid any charges. If you looking for a completely free audiobook service, read a Librivox review.
Another thing some users complained about was the fact that sometimes Scribd doesn't have the book they need. I believe, that Scribd has a very impressive library, but, of course, they don't have all the books. In my experience, there were only a couple of times when they didn't have the book I wanted. And if you can't find a book you are looking for, you can e-mail the Scribd team and ask them to add the title and they might be able to help.
Several Scribd members also mentioned that when they read a lot of books (10+ a month) they keep getting a message that certain books are currently not available to them. I haven't encountered this problem myself, so I cannot confirm whether it is true or not. I will look more into this issue and if I find more information regarding it, I will update my review. As an alternative, you can find what is best for you in our selection of best audiobook services.
Scribd is very user-friendly and easy to use. Once you sign up for a free trial or purchase your membership, go to Scribd.com or download the Scribd app on your mobile device. That's it, you don't have to do anything else. Now you are all set and can start listening or reading any book you like.
You can browse by author, title, or category. When you find the book you like, just download it to your account. The cool thing is that once you download the book to your account you can read it even when you are offline.
The Scribd app has a clean and simple design and is very easy to navigate. You can browse the titles and categories, go from the e-book library to audiobooks, customize your account based on your personal interests, download books, and so much more.
Every book has a page that shows its cover, author, and synopsis. You can also read the reviews from other Scribd members there and see the related books. If you like the book, you can start reading it right away or add it to your personal library and read it later.
Scribd has over 1 million books available and its library is constantly growing. The categories include Biography, Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller, Humor,
Romance, Children's, Personal Growth, and many more. I love that Scribd has books for everyone in my family, including kids. I'm currently into personal growth books and I found so many great titles there! Now I only need to find time to read them all.
These are two things many people worry about. Scribd has been around for over a decade now and they have millions of members worldwide. As I said, I've been a Scribd member for quite a while and I never had any issue with them. I have never been overcharged or anything. But if you do encounter any problem, you don't have to worry about it, because the Scribd support team is fantastic.
Is Everand really better than Audible? That depends. Audible has always been considered to be a better service than Everand, but many people preferred Everand because it offered access to all books in their library for a low monthly fee. However, now that Audible launched an All-You-Can-Listen subscription plan that costs only $7,95 per month and includes unlimited access to thousands of audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts, more and more people are choosing Audible over Everand. Plus, Audible offers a 30-day free trial for new members and existing Audible users who have tried Audible Premium ($14,95/month) membership in the past.
Read Full Audible Review
So, even though I'm a loyal Everand member, I use Audible more often now. If you want to try Audible, you can get a free 30-day trial plus two free audiobooks at the link below.
Audible Premium, compared to Everand, is just too expensive - you pay $14.95 monthly and for that price get one audiobook. However, they have a huge selection of audiobooks and some titles that other audiobook platforms don't have. Another thing I love about Audible is that you get to keep all the audiobooks you purchased even after you cancel your subscription.
Audiobooks.com and how it compares to Scribd
Price: All-you-can-read (and listen) books for just $11.99 a month.
Free 1-month trial.
Huge ebook and audiobooks library.
Easy-to-navigate app and website.
Works on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, etc.
Great support team.
Student discounts.
Members get free access to Blinkist, MUBI, and other great services.
Possible to upload your own files (short stories, books, etc.).
Download books and listen/read them offline.
Use on up to four mobile devices.
Doesn't support Kindle Paperwhite.
Doesn't allow hiding some categories from search results.
Not possible to get a free trial without providing credit card information.
Kindle Unlimited is another digital subscription service that I like. It costs $9.99 per month and has over a million titles. They have lots of popular ebooks available, but their audiobooks collection doesn't compare with the one offered by Everand. Just like Audible and Everand, Kindle Unlimited has a 30-day free trial.
Everend is a great, affordable service, and I recommend it to all of my friends. If you read just one book in three months, then it's just not worth paying the monthly fee, and you might enjoy Audible more. But if you are anything like me and love reading, then I suggest you get a 30-day Everand free trial and give it a try.