Amazon Kindle vs Scribd

The book industry has changed in recent years, moving with technology and becoming more eco-friendly, expanding into the e-book industry. As it continues to evolve, we have seen the dissolution of certain bookstores, and others evolving into new areas, becoming large enough to split away from chains and start their own company.

There are benefits and downsides to each e-book provider, so which one is the best to use? Libraries have now moved into the online world, allowing you to read books online and download to your device (something I love by the way), coming in at a much cheaper price than online retailers. So, who do you spend your money with? Let's have a look at Amazon Kindle vs Scribd.

Amazon Kindle

Amazon has various different options available for reading. For those people who already have a Prime Membership, they offer 'Prime Reading,' an extension of the Amazon Prime membership, £7.99 per month in the UK, with selected books, magazines and 'more.' Kindle Unlimited however, seems to be their best option, 'Explore over 1 million titles, thousands of audiobooks and selected magazine subscriptions on any device.' 

Currently they offer this service with two months free, and renewing at £7.99 per month after. They also offer individual e-books and audiobooks at a selected price. Also bear in mind that Amazon Kindle books are uniquely available to the kindle app, and unable to read in other book applications.

Price: £7.99 per month

Scribd

Scribd used to offer free reading for some books and the ability to download to whatever device you chose, however they have tightened this up in recent years. They also have a great handy little chart on their website showing you the benefit of their memberships over other e-book retailers. They offer "unlimited" books, audiobooks from major publishers, and magazines and news for £9.99 per month.

Now, I will admit that I've actually been a member of Scribd for just under a year with my membership due to expire next month, and I will not be renewing again for another year. 

When I signed up for my free trial, I put it on hold at the end of my free portion as I was going away to work (I work abroad), and while I was away, it automatically restarted without my approval, and I was charged for the year. When contacting their customer service support, I was told that I couldn't have this refunded as there was nothing technically wrong with my membership - something which I will say I was very disappointed in.

My personal experience aside, I was also rather disappointed with their book availability. Looking for some of my favorite authors, sometimes only audiobooks were available, and some authors had no works available. I do understand that there are deals that have to be made for licensing to deliver these books, but for the books I was looking for (which are rather mainstream, nothing too exotic), they weren't available. It's also noted on their membership page that "unlimited" means: "Access an unlimited number of full length books, audiobooks, and other content. Restrictions on some titles may apply, see terms."

Price: £9.99 per month

Personally, for my next ebook membership, I would most likely choose Amazon Kindle Unlimited as they have a large library of books that I'm interested in reading. However, I do also love using my library membership, and downloading some books without a membership (i.e. from individual retailers such as Harlequin, Chapters etc.).

What e-book retailer do you use and would you recommend them?