ACX Alternatives: Where to Publish Your Audiobook (2026)

The main ACX alternatives are Authors Republic and INaudio for wide distribution, Spotify for Authors for Spotify alone, and selling direct. The catch is that most of them only distribute: you still need a finished audiobook. If you want a real narrator, production and wide distribution in one place, without Audible exclusivity, that is what Academy Voices does.

Below is what ACX's 2026 terms really say, what each alternative does and doesn't do, how libraries and smaller stores fit in, and how to choose.

Why authors look for ACX alternatives

ACX, Audible's audiobook marketplace, is still where most indie authors start. It is free to post a book, narrators can audition, and the finished audiobook goes to Audible, Amazon and Apple Books. Three things push authors to look elsewhere.

• Exclusivity. ACX's highest royalty requires an exclusive deal, and exclusive means Audible, Amazon and Apple Books only. No library apps, no Spotify, no Kobo, no Google Play.
• Royalty share locks you in. If you pay your narrator with a royalty share on ACX, the book has to be exclusive, and ACX pays those royalties for seven years.
• You do the work. On ACX you post the book, review auditions, manage the narrator, check every file and fix whatever gets rejected.

For many authors, the money question is about where listeners are. In our own catalog, only about one dollar in three comes from Audible. Libraries, Spotify, Apple and the rest bring in the other two. We wrote more about that in where to sell your audiobook besides Audible.

What ACX's terms look like in 2026

ACX changed its royalty model this year. From May 26, 2026, new titles earn 50% for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive, up from 40% and 25%. ACX says the old model ends by the end of the year. The new model also changes how membership listening is paid, which ACX explains on its own blog.

What did not change: exclusive still covers Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, ACX itself still sends nothing to libraries, and its distribution pages still describe a seven-year term. Some articles this year say the seven-year lock is gone. ACX's own help pages don't say that, so check the agreement in front of you before you rely on it.

If your book is already exclusive on ACX, you can ask to switch to non-exclusive 90 days after its first sale, under the terms ACX lists in its agreement pages. Royalty-share titles have been treated differently: in 2021 ACX said ending a royalty-share deal early needs the narrator's agreement. If you used royalty share, plan on the full seven years.

The ACX alternatives, one by one

Authors Republic

Authors Republic is one of the largest wide distributors for indie audiobooks, sending titles to Audible, Apple, Spotify, Google Play and library services such as Hoopla and Libby. It says authors take home 80% of earned royalties. It also runs a narrator marketplace where narrators charge $50 to $400 per finished hour, the author pays the narrator, and Authors Republic holds the payment until the work is done. It does not cast, check or produce the book for you. (Full disclosure: we publish our own titles through Authors Republic, so you get its reach either way.)

INaudio (formerly Findaway Voices)

Findaway Voices was owned by Spotify and shut down in 2025. Its distribution business continued independently as INaudio, which sends audiobooks to dozens of stores and library services and keeps a share of what they earn. Today it is distribution only: no narrator marketplace and no production. If a guide still tells you to use Findaway Voices, it is out of date.

Spotify for Authors

Spotify lets authors upload finished audiobooks for free, without exclusivity. Books sell on Spotify and are paid on sales and on Premium listening. It reaches Spotify listeners only, so most authors use it alongside a wide distributor, not instead of one.

Chirp, Libro.fm and libraries

You can't upload to these directly. Chirp, BookBub's audiobook store, says it takes indie audiobooks through two distributors, INaudio and Authors Republic. Libro.fm points authors to Authors Republic. Library apps such as Libby and Hoopla also take audiobooks through distributors. So if libraries matter to you, and they should, you need a wide distributor, not ACX.

PublishDrive

PublishDrive distributes ebooks, print and audiobooks on a subscription instead of a cut of sales. Its plans run from about $17 to $100 a month, depending on how many titles you publish, and each format counts as its own title. In return you keep all your royalties from the stores. It suits authors with several finished audiobooks who sell enough to cover the monthly fee. Like the others, it does not make the audiobook.

Kobo

Kobo sells audiobooks in its own store and through its Kobo Plus subscription. Authors can reach it through Kobo's own author portal or, more simply, through a wide distributor that already sends titles there. Either way you need finished files.

Google Play's auto-narration

Google offers free auto-narration, where a computer voice reads your book. It is cheap, but many stores and listeners treat it differently from a human performance, and it is not what most readers expect from a novel. We only make human-narrated audiobooks, so we won't recommend it.

Selling direct

You can also sell from your own website, or list a finished audiobook in a store like ours. Direct sales pay the most per copy, but you have to bring the listeners. It works best as an extra, next to wide distribution.

ACX alternatives compared

The pattern is clear in the table: almost every alternative assumes the audiobook already exists. That is fine if you can record and edit it yourself, or pay a narrator up front and manage them. If not, the hard part, finding a good narrator and getting clean files that stores accept, is still yours.

Where Academy Voices fits

We are the production step and the distribution step together. You post your book free. Real narrators audition, every one a person reading in their own voice, Certified Human Voice. You pick the voice and approve the first 15 minutes. We check every file, master it, and publish your audiobook to nearly 50 retailers, libraries and streaming services, plus our own store. It is never exclusive.

You choose how to pay your narrator: per finished hour, a royalty share with no narrator fee up front, or Royalty Share Plus, which adds one payment to your narrator. Every option has a one-time $350 production fee, and you can pay your narrator over time with Klarna or Affirm, if approved. You own your audiobook under every option. For the full numbers, see how much it costs to make an audiobook and royalty share without Audible exclusivity.

Already have an audiobook, from ACX or anywhere else? If you hold the rights to distribute it wide, we can publish it everywhere for a one-time $150 fee, or list it in our store for free.

One book, four routes: what it costs

Here is a 56,000-word novel, about 6 finished hours, taken down each road. The narrator rates are examples; yours will depend on who you hire.

• ACX, royalty share: nothing up front. You and the narrator split the royalties, and the book stays exclusive to Audible, Amazon and Apple Books for seven years.
• ACX, paying the narrator: ACX's own guide to paying for an audiobook talks about roughly $200 per finished hour for narration, so about $1,200 for this book. You manage the narrator and the files yourself.
• A distributor's marketplace: at $100 per finished hour, about $600 to the narrator, paid by you. You manage the narrator and check the files, then the distributor sends the book wide.
• Academy Voices: at $100 per finished hour, about $600 to your narrator plus our one-time $350 fee, around $950, and we handle casting, checks, mastering and wide publishing. Or royalty share: $350 and nothing to the narrator up front, still wide.

The cheapest route on paper is ACX royalty share. What it costs you is reach: no libraries, no Spotify, no Kobo for seven years. Whether that is worth it depends on where your readers listen.

What to check before you move an audiobook off ACX

If your audiobook already lives on ACX and you want it wide, sort these out first:

1. Your deal type. A book you paid for per finished hour, or recorded yourself, is the easiest to move once it is non-exclusive. A royalty-share book is tied to your narrator's agreement, so plan for the full term.
2. Your files. You need the final MP3s for every chapter, plus opening and closing credits and a retail sample. If you only have them inside ACX, ask your narrator or producer for the masters.
3. Your rights. Make sure you hold the audio rights and that no other agreement gave them to a publisher.
4. Your cover. Audiobook stores need a square cover, at least 2400 pixels on each side. Most book covers are tall, so you may need a square version.
5. Your timing. Stores and libraries list a new audiobook at different speeds, from a few days to several weeks. Don't pull the ACX version until you are ready.

None of this is hard, but it is easy to miss one step and wait weeks for a store to reject the book. If you would rather hand it over, we check every file before we publish it.

How to choose

• You have finished files and want the most reach: a wide distributor such as Authors Republic or INaudio, plus Spotify for Authors if you like.
• You want a narrator found, the book produced and published wide: Academy Voices.
• You want the most from Audible alone and are happy to skip libraries: ACX exclusive can make sense.
• You want royalty share without being locked to Audible: ACX can't do that. A wide royalty share can.

Questions authors ask about ACX alternatives

Is ACX still exclusive for seven years?

ACX's own help pages still describe a seven-year distribution term, and royalty-share titles must be exclusive. Exclusive titles have been able to ask to go non-exclusive 90 days after their first sale. Read your agreement before you rely on either.

What replaced Findaway Voices?

INaudio. Findaway Voices shut down in 2025 and its distribution business carried on as INaudio. It distributes finished audiobooks and does not produce them.

Can I sell my audiobook outside Audible?

Yes, if your ACX title is non-exclusive or you made the audiobook elsewhere. Wide distributors reach Apple, Spotify, Google Play, Kobo, Chirp and library apps.

Do I need ACX to hire a narrator?

No. You can hire a narrator directly, through a distributor's marketplace, or through Academy Voices, where real narrators audition for your book and we handle production.

How do I get my audiobook into libraries?

Through a distributor that supplies library apps such as Libby and Hoopla. ACX does not send audiobooks to libraries.

Want a real narrator and wide distribution without the exclusivity? See how it works, then post your book free and hear auditions before you pay anything.

ACX terms are from ACX's help pages and blog, and the other services' terms from their own sites, as of October 2026. We'll update this post if they change.