Scribd Review

 

Scribd is a major name in the audiobook industry, rivaling giants like Audible. It also has a considerably large user base due to its popularity. Because of this, you may have considered becoming one of their customers. If you want to find out more about their services, keep reading as we’ll look at everything you need to know before you take the leap.

Scribd At A Glance

Scribd has been around for a while. It was founded in 2007 and is located in San Francisco, California. Its creator was Trip Adler, who founded the site when he was a student at Harvard.

At first, anyone could publish titles on their site, so it became a host to different genres, whether audio or e-books.

A few years later, the Scribd store was created, allowing writers to sell their work. Soon, they rivaled major names while gathering tons of content from major distributors, including the big 5.

Subscription services became the fad, which Scribd took part in. They allowed their users to join their monthly subscriptions as of 2014. This is what helped them gain so many clients. Scribd boasts almost a million users!

The Pros

As we’ve run through everything you should know about Scribd, let’s asses its pros.

They Offer Free Trials!

It’s normal for streaming services to offer users free trials. If you want to access Scribd’s library, you can do so, as you’re allowed a month-long free trial. Of course, Scribd warns you when the 30 days are about to end, letting you decide if you want to keep using their services.

They’re Very Cheap

You’d be happy to know how much a basic Scribd membership costs as it’s probably the lowest in the game, beating names like Downpour.

With a basic Scribd membership, you only have to pay $8.99 a month! If you fail to pay, your account is not deleted but is put on hold until you’re ready to resume using Scribd’s services.

It Has A Huge Library

Scribd is a major name when it comes to the audiobook industry and it hosts a number of titles. At only $8.99 a month, you have access to over 200,000 audiobooks which is almost as much as major names like Audible.

What’s so great about Scribd is that it isn’t just known for audiobooks. The sites allows you to read e-books and comics as well. Because of this, you can expect their library to have over a million titles. As you can imagine, you’ll never be bored and will always have something to read.

Unlimited Access

Scribd is similar to Playster. Once you pay for it, you will have access to its complete library. Your access is unlimited so you don’t have to use credits to get hold of books.

Thus, Scribd follows a format similar to Netflix.

Do You Like Music?

As mentioned, Scribd doesn’t just offer audiobooks. You have a range of literature to entertain yourself with too. Because of this diverse library, you can expect to get your hands on sheet music as well.

Compared to its other services, no one does this, which makes Scribd a great resource if you’re a musician.

Do You Want To Share Your Work?

As mentioned, Scribd started out by letting users publish their own work on the site. If you like to, you can still publish your audiobooks or writing on the site, and allow users to access your work.

It’s Easy To Use

Similar to Scribd’s competitors, the site is very easy for users to navigate. Its interface has been designed in a way that’s very minimalistic. The minimalistic look makes it clutter-free and easy for you to find your way around.

In terms of the features, your account is synchronized across devices so you can access a book where you stopped through any device.

Moreover, additional features like adjusting the audio speed is available. You can also make notes and it lets you highlight e-books and add commentary.

The Cons

With the pros out of the way, let’s take a look at some of Scribd’s cons.

Not The Greatest Library

Although their library has over a million titles for you to choose from, less than a quarter of these are audiobooks. If you want more audiobooks, Scribd isn’t the place for you as you will only be exposed to 200,000 titles in its library.

This is small when compared to major names like Audible which offers almost double its number of audiobooks.

Their Synchronization Feature Is Bothersome

As mentioned, Scribd synchronizes your account across devices. This is great, but it can be a headache if different people are logged into the account and are accessing the same book. Scribd would register the users as the same person, not tracking their individual progress.

This can be tiresome as users have noted this aspect of the synchronization feature has affected their reading.

Lack Of Availability

Although you can use Scribd on your laptop and mobile devices, users don’t like the fact that you can’t access Scribd on their Kindle. This is a shame as many use Kindle to read their ebooks, and the majority of Scribd’s competitors allow their users to access their library via the device.

What You Upload Is Restricted

As mentioned, you can add audiobooks and e-books you’ve created to the site. This is great but you’re restricted as the files have to be less than 100mb. Otherwise, it’s too large for the site to accept.

This can be a problem if the work you’ve created is extensive, but it won’t fit the designated limit. Moreover, the files have to be in a specific format as not all file types are accepted. For example, if your file is EPUB, it won’t be uploaded to Scribd.

Conclusion

With that out of the way, this is everything you need to know about Scribd, including its pros and cons. Through the above information, you’ll see that there are countless benefits of having a Scribd account.

The site is great if you want access to a range of literature as it boasts over a million titles from countless genres. What’s more, its subscription fee is incredibly cheap.