Do you get to keep your audible books after cancelling

It’s a fantastic way to absorb books. A few years ago I had a daily cycle commute across Copenhagen which meant I was cycling for almost an hour every day. During this time Audible helped me use this time to devour books.

However since then I’ve moved apartments and jobs. I still find Audible valuable, I just can’t get through audiobooks in the way that I used to. I’ve often found my Audible credits are building up faster than I can get through audiobooks.

There is one thing I don’t like about Audible though. The dark patterns it employs in its attempts to keep users from unsubscribing. In fact I’d argue they’re downright nefarious. At every step of the cancellation process Audible’s design does its best to obscure your choices. You are repeatedly told that if you cancel, you will lose your valuable credits. To be clear you can pause your subscription for 30, 60 or 90 days at any time.

Therefore I thought it was only fair to demystify the process of pausing your subscription

How to pause your Audible Subscription

Step one

Head to the “Account Details” section under the profile menu.

Step two

Click “Cancel membership”.

Step three

This is the first step in the process which is a bit misleading as it implies clicking “continue cancelling” will result in losing your credits. This is not the case. Your credits are safe at this point. Click “continue cancelling”.

Step four

At this point things seem to start seeming very final. Again this is not the case, simply keep “I don’t use it enough” selected and click “Cancel membership”.

Step five

Finally the options! From here you can choose to either pause your membership, or select one of the other available offers. What you see here may vary slightly. In the past I have also been offered a 3 month membership period at half-price.

Step six

Enjoy your membership break and use up those credits. Don’t forget that Audible credits expire 12 months after being issued. Pausing your membership won’t prevent credits expiring.

What about annual Audible plans?

If you have an annual Audible plan, you won’t be able to pause your subscription. This is because you have effectively prepaid for the entire year upfront. However you can cancel your subscription and you will still be able to keep and access any audiobooks in your Library, even without a membership.

Looking for a way to use up your spare credits?

If you have a few credits to use up and would like some book recommendations, these are some books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed on Audible:

• Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
• Putin: Prisoner of Power by Misha Glenny
• Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense by Rory Sutherland
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition by Don Norman
• At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson