Open-source Audible alternatives

Audiobookshelf is a self-hosted server for audiobooks and podcasts. You point it at folders of audio files on your own hardware, and it serves them to a web player and companion mobile apps, so your collection stays on machines you control.

The server streams all audio formats on the fly, keeps listening progress per user and syncs it across devices, and supports multiple users with custom permissions. It can search for podcasts and auto-download new episodes, fetch metadata and cover art from several sources, edit chapters, merge files into a single m4b and embed metadata into audio files. Basic ebook support covers EPUB, PDF, CBR and CBZ, and ebooks can be sent to a device such as a Kindle.

Audiobookshelf is released under the GPL-3.0 licence and is fully open source, including the Android app and the iOS app, which are both in beta. A Progressive Web App, Chromecast support, automated daily backups and open RSS feeds are also available. Folder structure and naming affect how the library is detected, so the documentation on organizing media is worth reading first.

Grimmory is a digital library you host yourself, built for avid readers. It organizes ebooks, comics and audiobooks on your own server, with a web interface for browsing, searching and reading, so your collection is not locked inside a single vendor's store or app.

Features include smart shelves that filter by rules and tags and support full-text search, and metadata lookup that pulls covers, descriptions, reviews and ratings from Google Books, Open Library and Amazon, all of which can be edited. A built-in reader displays PDF, EPUB and comic files inside the browser, with support for annotations, highlights and progress tracking. Devices can sync through Kobo, any OPDS-compatible app or KOReader, and multiple users can have separate shelves. Topics list many formats and OIDC sign-in.

Grimmory is built with Java and Angular, licensed under AGPL-3.0, and documented with a quick start guide and Discord community. It suits book collectors and households that want a private, shared reading library.