Reading to Ruth › Advice for families
Where to find them, and how to listenFree audiobooks in the UK
You can listen to a great many audiobooks in the UK without paying anything. This guide lists the main places, says honestly what each is like, and covers what to do when the person listening can't manage an app.
Where the free audiobooks are
Details were checked in October 2026. Each service's own website has the latest.
Your public library
Most UK library services lend audiobooks free through an app, usually BorrowBox or Libby, to anyone with a library card. This is where to find recent bestsellers without paying. Popular books have waiting lists, loans expire, and the books play only inside the library's app.
LibriVox
LibriVox is a volunteer project that records books which are out of copyright and gives the recordings away: Austen, Dickens, Conan Doyle and thousands more. It is free and has no advertisements. The readers are volunteers, so the quality varies a great deal from one recording to the next.
RNIB Talking Books
Free for anyone who struggles to read because of their sight, with tens of thousands of titles, including modern ones. Books can be downloaded, played through an Alexa smart speaker, or posted on CD or USB stick. Register at readingservices.rnib.org.uk or ring the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999.
Listening Books
A charity library of more than 10,000 audiobooks for people who find reading print difficult because of an illness, disability or learning difficulty. Membership is £25 a year, and free if the fee would be a barrier. See listening-books.org.uk.
Low-cost, not free: Calibre Audio
A charity library of more than 25,000 audiobooks for people with a disability or condition that makes print hard to read. Adults pay £3 a month or £30 a year. See calibreaudio.org.uk.
| Where | Who it is for | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Public library | Anyone with a library card | Modern books, on loan, in an app |
| LibriVox | Anyone | Classics, read by volunteers, yours to keep |
| RNIB Talking Books | People with sight loss | Tens of thousands of titles, several ways to listen |
| Listening Books | People who find print difficult | 10,000 titles, streamed or in an app |
When they can't manage the app
Every one of those needs an app, a smart speaker or a computer. For many older people that is where it stops. The books are free and plentiful, and they still can't be reached.
My grandmother Ruth is 101, almost completely blind and hard of hearing. She found the blind book player too complicated, and couldn't hear her smart speaker well enough. So I built her a player with one button, and the family fill it for her.
Free classics, on one big button
Reading to Ruth is an audiobook player with one big Play button, on a tablet, phone or laptop they already have. It comes with a ready-made library of classics at no extra cost. The library is drawn from recordings that volunteers gave to the public domain. We listen to every one and keep only the readers who could sit beside the professionals.
The family choose the books from their own phones, and can record voice messages that play before the story. For a modern book, find it on your family page, see the price and press Buy, and we put it on the shelf at the normal shop price.
The player itself is not free: it is one payment, with no subscription. Library loans and RNIB Talking Books can't be moved onto it, so if they manage those happily, carry on using them as well.
A free library of classics, and one button to play them.
The player, the family page and unlimited voice messages, set up on a device they already have.
Price from 1 January: £74.99 Founding price now: £49.99 once
Founding price until 31 December 2026. One payment for the whole family. No subscription.
Get started — £49.99Try the player first
60-day money-back guarantee, from the day they first use it.
Questions people ask
Where can I get free audiobooks in the UK?
Your public library lends them free through the BorrowBox or Libby app. LibriVox offers free recordings of out-of-copyright classics. RNIB Talking Books is free for people with sight loss, and Listening Books is free for eligible people who can't afford its £25 fee.
Are audiobooks free for pensioners?
There is no general free audiobook scheme for pensioners, but a library card gives free audiobook loans to anyone, and RNIB Talking Books is free for anyone who struggles to read because of their sight.
Is LibriVox really free?
Yes. LibriVox recordings are made by volunteers and given to the public domain, with no charge and no advertisements. The books are older, out-of-copyright titles, and the quality of the reading varies.