Choosing between them is like picking between a highlights reel and the full game.
One saves you time. The other gives you everything.
Both are great. But they are built for completely different people.
Overview of Blinkist vs. Audible
Blinkist and Audible are two of the best apps for audiobook listeners.
If you want to learn more and expand your library, you should compare the two platforms.
Take a look at the following elements of these audiobook services.
That way, you can decide which one is better for you.
Features
This tool focuses on summaries of nonfiction books.
So you won’t find summaries of the latest romance or horror novel.
Blinkist now has over 5,000 titles, up from around 3,000 a few years ago.
It also covers popular podcasts in a feature called Shortcasts, giving you the key ideas in about 15 minutes.
Blinkist Premium members can now access full-length audiobooks too, not just summaries.
In May 2023, Blinkist was acquired by Go1, a global learning platform, which may bring even more content in the future.
Instead, you sign up to get access to new audiobooks each month.
That way, you can keep up with your reading, and you can use the month to listen to the entire thing.
Audible now has over 420,000 titles, making it one of the biggest audiobook libraries in the world.
Devices
You can use Blinkist on your smartphone, PC, or even your Kindle.
The app also connects to tools such as Evernote, so you can take and store notes.
Blinkist even provides a text version of the summaries.
So if you don’t have headphones or learn better by reading than listening, it’s a great option.
Audible works on both iPhones and Androids.
You can also use it on a tablet including Amazon Kindles, or stream it on your Fire TV.
If you want to listen on your PC, you can do that, or you can connect to a Sonos speaker.
To purchase audiobooks, you can use the app or website.
The website is a bit easier to navigate, and you can download the book from your library to stream offline.
Who It’s For
Blinkist is best for busy people who want to learn something new each day.
The platform provides a free book summary daily, so you don’t have to pay to use it.
However, they choose the summary, so you will need to pay if you want to learn something specific.
Either way, this tool is fantastic for people looking to learn about business and self-improvement.
Blinkist only provides summaries of nonfiction works.
The summaries are easy to digest, and they’re suitable for people who prefer to listen or read.
Many people actually subscribe to both Blinkist and Audible, using Blinkist to preview a book before buying the full version on Audible.
Customer Service
Blinkist offers excellent customer service, but they only communicate through email.
If you have any problems, you’ll need to wait for a response.
Of course, this can be nice if you don’t have time to sit and wait on the phone.
If you prefer to talk to a person on the phone, you’ll find Audible’s customer service more enjoyable.
While there may be a short wait, you can get the help you need.
Plus, you get to work with Amazon’s team since Audible is a part of Amazon.
Price
When you sign up for Blinkist, you can start for free.
That will get you one new summary per day, and you can stay a free member for as long as you like.
However, you can upgrade for $5.63 per month to get unlimited summaries.
If you spend $15.99 a month, you can connect to Evernote to save notes on the summaries you listen to.
Audible costs $7.95 per month for unlimited access to the catalog.
For $14.95 per month, you can get a credit for one new title per month that you’ll own for life.
If you don’t want to commit to an Audible membership, that’s okay too.
You can shop for audiobooks and pay the fee for whichever ones you want to download, and you’ll own those forever.
We’ve also compared Blinkist with other apps like Headway.
How to Sign Up
Another thing to consider is how easy it is to join either platform.
While you only have to do this once, it can help you make your decision.
Consider the steps to create an account with Blinkist or Audible.
Then, you can choose the platform that you prefer.
Blinkist
You can join Blinkist for free, either with a free account or a free trial.
The free account gets you limited access to many book summaries.
With a free trial, you’ll get more features for seven days before you have to pay.
Either way, you can go to the Blinkist website.
Click on Start free trial and follow the prompts on the screen.
This will take you through a quiz, including your goals, age range, and other factors.
Blinkist will then use your answers to recommend some books or podcasts.
You can get the full list by creating a full account at the end of the quiz.
Audible
The nice thing about Audible is that you can sign up using your Amazon account.
You’ll go to the Audible site and click on Sign Up in the top right hand corner.
Enter your Amazon email and password to continue.
Then, you can select a membership tier or simply search for audiobooks you want to purchase.
Alternatively, you can buy audiobooks on the Amazon website.
Download the Audible app to your phone or tablet to listen on the go.
Why Use Blinkist
Blinkist is a unique platform that can be useful for many people.
Before you give it a try, consider why it may be worth your time.
Read our full Blinkist review if you want to go deeper.
Pros and Cons of Blinkist
If you’re still curious about Blinkist, consider the following pros:
- Affordable pricing
- Works on different devices
- Unlimited access
- Free account
- Professional summaries
- Covers podcasts too (Shortcasts)
Sadly, this program isn’t without a few cons:
- No phone support
- No lifetime access to summaries
- Smaller library than Audible
Shorter Summaries
The main purpose of Blinkist is to provide short audiobook summaries.
You can listen for 15 minutes a day and learn something.
Of course, you can also read the summaries if you don’t have the chance to listen.
While Audible offers a few summaries, they’re all 30 minutes, twice the length of a Blinkist summary.
So if you’re busy with other tasks, Blinkist is the faster option.
Free Version
If you don’t care about which summaries you get, you can use the free version.
Blinkist will provide you with a new summary every single day.
You won’t have to worry about searching for a new summary.
Unfortunately, you won’t get unlimited access to their library.
However, if you’re busy, you might not care about that.
Unlimited Access
Maybe you’re willing to pay, in which case you’ll get unlimited access to summaries.
This access applies for as long as you maintain your Blinkist subscription.
Sadly, you’ll lose access to past summaries if you stop paying.
Compare that to Audible, where books you buy are yours forever.
If you want to explore other options, see our list of Blinkist alternatives.
Why Use Audible
If you find Blinkist doesn’t meet your needs, consider using Audible.
The following aspects make it an excellent choice for many users.
Pros and Cons of Audible
A few pros of using Audible include:
- Part of Amazon
- No membership required
- Full audiobooks
- Massive library of 420,000+ titles
- Works on many devices including Fire TV
But you should also consider the following cons:
- Book summaries aren’t as popular
- Can be overwhelming with so many choices
Lifetime Access
With an Audible Premium Plus account, you get a credit every month.
That allows you to purchase an audiobook that you’ll own forever.
Even if you cancel your subscription, you can revisit the books in your library.
Unfortunately, Blinkist stops giving you access to the summaries you’ve read once you cancel.
That means you’ll have to keep paying, so you could waste a lot of money.
Option to Purchase Books
You don’t need an Audible subscription to listen to books from the service.
Instead, you can go to Amazon to buy the audiobook version of available titles.
You’ll still need to use the Audible app to listen, but that’s free to download.
When you buy an audiobook, you’ll own it for life.
This is an excellent option if you like to listen to books occasionally, such as on long car rides.
Massive Library
Blinkist has about 5,000 titles, whereas Audible has over 420,000 titles.
Plus, Audible has books of all genres, not just nonfiction.
So no matter what you want to listen to, you can probably find it.
Plus, there’s even a collection of Audible Originals that you won’t find anywhere else.