Kithara
At a glance
| Kithara | Audible | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A player for your own files and servers | A store and subscription with its own player |
| Price | Free; Pro is a one-time purchase | Monthly membership with credits, or buy titles outright |
| Catalogue | None; you bring the books | The largest commercial audiobook catalogue |
| Plays Audible purchases | No; Audible files are DRM-protected | Yes, only in the Audible app |
| Plays your own files | Yes: m4b, mp3, flac, opus and more | No |
| Server libraries | Audiobookshelf and the Kithara sync protocol (Pro) | No |
| Position sync | Through your own server (Pro) | Through Audible's cloud, across its apps and Kindle |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Data collection | None; no analytics or telemetry | Listening data tied to your Amazon account |
| Transcripts | On-device, searchable (Pro) | No |
| Android Auto | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Android | Android, iOS, web, Alexa, Kindle |
Checked against each app's own listing and documentation in September 2026. Apps change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Where Audible is the right choice
- You want to browse and buy in one place. Audible's catalogue, exclusives and credit pricing are the reason most people use it. Kithara sells nothing.
- Your library is already on Audible. Those files only play in Audible's apps. Kithara cannot open them, and this page is not going to tell you how to change that.
- You listen on many kinds of device. Phone, tablet, web, smart speaker and Kindle all stay in sync through Audible's account.
Where Kithara is the right choice
- You own DRM-free audiobooks. From shops that sell them without DRM, from CDs you ripped, from LibriVox, from your own recordings. Kithara plays all of them with proper chapters and remembers your place.
- You run a home server. Audiobookshelf turns a folder on a NAS into a library you can stream from anywhere, and Kithara is a client for it.
- You do not want an account or a subscription. Kithara needs neither, collects nothing, and the free features do not expire.
- You want to search inside a book. On-device transcripts find a line and jump to it.
Using both
Plenty of people do: Audible for new releases and exclusives, Kithara for everything bought elsewhere and the backlist on the home server. Thinking of leaving? What you keep, and where to buy instead. Listening stats and streaks in Kithara only count what Kithara plays, which is the one real cost of splitting your library.