This company notably powers the Libby app for borrowing books.
The main competitor for Libby is BorrowBox, which is owned by an Australian company. Not that you get to choose as a user; it's up to your local library which app they decide to use.
this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2025
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Not that you get to choose as a user; it's up to your local library which app they decide to use.
Itโs time to write to the local library system.
If you only use the digital services of your library you may also sign up in a different city. I was member of the Berlin library for a couple of years because it had the best overall service for me but never lived in or close to Berlin.
That's a good tip, although around my way it's standard to need to visit a local library at least once in order to finalise sign-up (in the UK it's standard to need to show photo ID when signing up, and libraries won't generally bother setting up a way to do that remotely).
I know one person who happily collects library memberships every time they're in a new area with a bit of time on their hands though. They've got a very impressive wallet-full of library cards!
For audio books I can recommend Thalia.de. They offer a monthly subscription plan ('Hรถrbuchabo') where you pay 7,95โฌ for one audio book per month. All audio books I've been looking for so far were included, even those that sell for 40โฌ+. You don't need an app, all downloads are plain MP3s without DRM that you can keep forever and the subscription can be cancelled any time. If you don't get an audio book in one month, you'll get credits, so you can get two audio books the month after.
Overall, a very fair deal from my perspective.
Be aware that Thalia is like Germany's Amazon competing out small, independant booksbops woth unfair methods for decades. I've boycotted them since the 2010's.
Is there a better German platform for audio books though? Sure, you could buy physical CDs and rip them but that's extra work and IMHO not ideal from an environmental perspective.
I used OverDrive in the past when they still offered plain MP3s but its successor Libby isn't for me. I'm forced to use their app, I have to block the audio book for everyone else, have to rush through as I can only borrow it for two/four weeks etc.
I recently discovered
Haven't bought from them yet but it seems like their stuff is drm-free? And they also sell ebooks? Unfortunately it seems like you can only pay via Paypal though ๐