Audiobookshelf: Self-hosted audiobook and podcast server

What's a good source for DRM-free audiobooks? I'd love to ditch Audible and move to something like this, but I haven't found a store that has a good selection.

(Edit: thank you, everybody, for the great answers!!!)

Audible books can be.. liberated from such encumbrances. There’s a program called Libation.

You can strip the DRM from audible books and create mp4s using ffmpeg.

Although, given Amazon’s recent efforts with the kindle, I’m going to say they will probably remove the ability to download books soon

If you want to sail the high seas, MyAnonaMouse is one of the best private trackers.

You can quite easily flash you Kindle with new firmware that is more forgiving and abled.

Iirc Downbpour, I’ve just been using booklibconnect on my audibles tho.

Audiobookbay has a better audio book collection than MAM. Plus, it's a public tracker and doesn't require an invite

I primarily source my copyrighted audiobooks from Libro.fm and Downpour. Both have large (though not universal) catalogues.

Librivox has free, public domain audiobooks. The narrators are volunteers, so performance and recording quality varies, but there are some very good ones there.

Some podcasts provide legitimate audiobooks of copyrighted works, generally with similar quality caveats to Librivox. For example, the blog “Readings from Under the Grapevine” has a free, legally licensed recording of the Narnia series (except for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe).

I never buy audiobooks with DRM, even if the DRM is trivial to break. Amazon has made clear their intentions to lock media down ever further. I shouldn’t have to put up with that, so I’m not going to support them financially.

If I can’t find a copyrighted audiobook at one of the DRM‐free shops, I get it from my library, either through Libby or by checking out a physical copy. Not that these would be helpful for someone using Audiobookshelf…

I've tended to avoid public trackers when I can find what I want on private ones. I'm not sure that they are any safer in terms of consequences resulting from being noticed by media firms and relevant legal groups, but the transfer speeds are generally better (due to there being less leeching presumably), and public tracker UIs tend to be more filled with junk that sometimes gets past my ad/malware filters.

[Not a comment on Audiobookbay specifically, I don't remember having tried that one and it may be great for all I know]

What's been going on with the kindle? Would be interested in reading more about this.

If you're not looking to sail the high seas, I highly recommend Libro.fm. They have had almost any audiobook I have ever wanted (e.g., Andy Weir's books in English are only available on Audible), and you can choose a local library to support with your purchase.

I subscribe to their monthly plan, $14.99/month, which gets me 1 credit per month. If you buy one audiobook a month that's $14.99, using that credit, it pays for itself. I really like using my credits on expensive audiobooks, like $25 or something (I'm basically getting the book at a discount) and then I buy cheaper audiobooks using my credit card.

You can stream your purchased books with their app, but I download the files (everything is DRM-free) and move them into Audiobookshelf. Most of their older books are just ZIP downloads of MP3s, but newer books come in M4B format (one large file with chapter markers). Both work flawlessly with Audiobookshelf.

If you buy an audiobook on Audible (e.g., Andy Weir), you can download the AAX file from Audible and use a converter to convert the file to M4B (this strips the DRM and makes it work with Audiobookshelf). This is in a legal gray-area, depending on your jurisdiction.