Scribd vs Storytel

2024. Scribd rebrands as Everand



Scribd, that erstwhile haven for the bibliophiles, file-sharers, and audiobook aficionados of the cosmos, has undergone one of those grand existential makeovers, emerging with the curious new moniker Everand. Where once stood three familiar empires—Everand, Scribd, and SlideShare—each politely minding its own, now lies a singular, unified universe beneath the Everand banner. However, the company’s wizards have assured users that, in a sort of quantum way, everything will appear exactly the same. Yes, their login details and billing artifacts still hold up, and from the user's vantage point, the whole affair should feel remarkably ordinary. Just one grand, universal Everand, orbiting itself quietly as if nothing at all had happened.


2018. Scribd reintroduced unlimited audiobooks and eBooks



Scribd has reinstated an unlimited audiobook and ebook subscription service. This allows users to read as many ebooks, magazines, newspapers, sheet music and audiobooks as they wish each month while remaining a subscriber. Casual readers who consume a few books per month from major publishers will find Scribd's service appealing. However, avid readers may encounter restrictions—not in a literal sense, of course. After reaching a certain number of titles, users will lose access to the full Scribd catalog and will only be able to read from a restricted selection. The exact threshold for this limitation is not specified. Amazon Kindle Unlimited serves as Scribd's main competitor but is available only in select regions and lacks many titles from major publishers.


2017. Scribd removes digital comics



Scribd is no longer providing digital comics on their platform and has removed over a thousand single issues and graphic novels. The company found it economically unviable to pay the substantial royalties for each comic read and chose to suspend the service rather than attempting to make it viable. Scribd has faced several challenges in recent years, despite many of their competitors leaving the market. They initially removed over 225,000 romance and self-published e-books from their platform and later announced cuts to their audiobook system due to financial losses. They discontinued their unlimited audiobook plan and now subscribers can only access one title per month. In 2016, they shifted their business model from an unlimited service to a credit-based system.


2016. Scribd is limiting the number of e-books you can read



Starting this March, Scribd subscribers will receive Monthly Read credits that will allow them to read three e-books and one audiobook each month from the entire Scribd library, while still having access to an unlimited number of books from Scribd Selects, a rotating collection of titles. The company reports that 97% of its users read fewer than three books per month and are unlikely to be adversely affected by the change. The unlimited e-book subscription model is not a sustainable business strategy and many companies in this space have shut down. Entitle and Oyster raised a hundred million dollars over the years but were unable to make the concept succeed.


2015. Scribd acquired social reading app Librify



Ebook subscription startup Scribd has acquired Librify, a social reading app, the companies announced today. In a brief press release, Scribd claims that Librify’s “emphasis on the social reading experience” made the acquisition worthwhile. The news comes at a competitive time for the publishing industry, as Amazon, Oyster and others vie to be the ultimate Netflix for books — all while offering remarkably similar products. Scribd intends to integrate the start-up’s social features to enhance its own platform with a more robust social e-reading experience. “We appreciate Librify’s focus on the social reading experience and the impressive work they’ve done within reading communities,” Scribd co-founder and CEO Trip Adler said in a statement today. “This acquisition is a natural extension of the existing Scribd product and something we and our readers, have been eager to explore further.”


2015. Scribd adds 10,000 comic books for unlimited subscription



In case obtaining unlimited access to a vast library of e-books and audiobooks for $8.99 a month wasn’t sufficient for you, Scribd is announcing today that it’s branching out into comic books. The service is adding over 10,000 comics and graphic novels from publishers including Marvel, Archie, Boom! Studios, Dynamite, IDW/Top Shelf and Valiant. The subscription service, available across iOS, Android and the web, will provide readers the option to search for comic books and graphic novels by category, publisher and even prominent characters. Scribd also has around a dozen individuals on its marketing and editorial team who curate collections on the platform.


2014. Scribd adds 30K audiobooks to its $8.99/month ebook subscription



As of today, Scribd subscribers will have access to 30,000 audiobooks. The company has introduced a new audiobook section on its website and mobile applications. When it holds the rights to both the text and audio versions of a book, you’ll have the option to switch between the two. For instance, you could start reading a book at home and then continue listening to the story in your car via audiobook if you need to drive somewhere. Scribd is incorporating audiobooks without increasing its $8.99 monthly subscription fee. Scribd states that its e-book service now includes more than 500,000 titles. Subscriber numbers have increased by an average of 52 percent each month since January 2013 (when the company discreetly launched the subscription service).


2014. Scribd builds new discovery experience



Subscription ebook service Scribd is introducing a new book discovery engine. This new system combines editor tagging and curation with a revamped book categorization system that departs from the traditional BISAC book classification method, along with algorithms that integrate everything to offer users fresh and enhanced book recommendations. Currently, over half of Scribd titles are discovered by chance and the company believes that increasing this proportion is crucial for retaining more subscribers. Recommendation engines are more critical for subscription services compared to other types of retail operations because customer retention hinges on keeping users engaged.


2014. Scribd launches Windows Phone app, updates Android, iOS apps



The popular eBook subscription service Scribd announced significant updates to its existing iOS and Android apps, along with the official launch of its brand-new app for Windows phones and tablets. Current iOS and Android users will notice a refreshed browsing and book page experience, as well as updated fonts and color schemes. Readers using Windows phones and tablets will now have unlimited access to reading, anytime and anywhere, with all the features available to mobile web users. With the introduction of the Windows app, combined with existing apps for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Nook tablets, Scribd has been downloaded over 6 million times—making it available on more devices in more countries than any other subscription book service. This latest initiative aligns with the company’s broader global commitment to encouraging people to read more.


2014. Scribd adds notes and highlights to its reading app



Ebook subscription leader Scribd has just enhanced the reading experience. It updated its iOS and Android mobile reader apps with some exciting new features. First is highlighting—you can mark your favorite passages, paragraphs and quotes and share them with your friends. You can also add notes, annotations and ideas as you read. The third new feature is Image Zoom, which allows you to zoom in on maps and other illustrations for a closer look. Your notes, highlights and bookmarks automatically sync across all your mobile devices and you can view them on a per-book basis.


2014. Scribd takes on Amazon - launches app for Kindle Fire



E-book subscription service Scribd has introduced a new app for Kindle Fire tablets, offering an alternative to Amazon's own Kindle e-book store. Scribd is already accessible on iOS and Android devices, as well as on the web, but this new Kindle Fire app represents its initial foray into e-readers designed specifically for books. “Since launching our subscription book service, readers globally have been requesting an app compatible with Kindle Fire," stated Trip Adler, CEO and cofounder of Scribd. "It’s one of the most popular reading devices available today and we want to allow our users to enjoy Scribd on any of their devices."


2013. Scribd and Oyster sing more book publishers



Competing ebook subscription services Oyster and Scribd have secured agreements with new publishers to expand their offerings. Oyster has teamed up with Perseus. While Oyster did not disclose the exact number of titles Perseus will be distributing through its service, notable additions include *Friday Night Lights*, *Masters of Sex* and *Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage*, all available to subscribers for $9.95 a month. Meanwhile, Scribd has reached an agreement with self-published ebook distributor Smashwords, which will more than triple Scribd’s existing catalog. Smashwords' titles will increase the number of ebooks available through an $8.99 monthly subscription to over 325,000. These titles will also be offered for individual purchase on the broader Scribd platform. It’s worth noting that Oyster also has a partnership with Smashwords. Currently, Oyster and Scribd appear to have very similar, if not entirely overlapping, catalogs.


2013. Scribd wants to be the Netflix for e-books



Scribd, the well-known document publishing and sharing service (formerly dubbed YouTube for documents), now aims to become Netflix for e-books. It is launching a subscription service that allows users to pay $8.99 per month for unlimited access to e-books and other written materials. This price is lower than the newly introduced mobile e-book platform Oyster ($9.99 per month) and eReatah, which operates more like a book club with plans starting at $16.99 per month. The book catalog is also similar, with Scribd relying on the same publishers as Oyster, including HarperCollins, Kensington, Red Wheel/Weiser, Rosetta Books, Sourcebooks and Workman. However, unlike Oyster, which appears to be the main competitor, Scribd is available on iPhone, iPad, Android devices and in web browsers.