Booken vs Sponge Audiobooks
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Booken
This app provides a simple and efficient way to listen to your audiobook files. It offers features for importing, managing, and tracking your listening progress, with playback controls accessible from your phone and Apple Watch.
- Import own audiobook files
- Track listening progress
- Mark books as finished
- Lock screen playback controls
- Apple Watch companion app
- Variable scrubbing speed
- Adjustable playback speed
Read full descriptionHide full description
A lightweight and easy to use player for your audiobook files. Manage your files - Import your own files straight into the app - Manage and see the progress of the books you've listened to - Mark books as finished Listening features - Control playback directly from the lock screen/control center or from the Apple Watch companion app - Easily navigate books with variable scrubbing speed and chapter selection - Change playback speed Listen from your watch - Easily download your favorite books to your watch when you need to listen without your phone - Navigate local files on your watch with chapter selection and custom skip duration - Keep your progress synced between your phone and watch with both automatic and manual syncing options
Sponge Audiobooks
Listen to audiobooks directly on your Apple Watch without needing your iPhone. Supports offline playback and connects to various audiobook sources like Librivox and Audiobookshelf. Ideal for children to enjoy stories independently.
- Play audiobooks directly on Apple Watch
- No iPhone required
- Offline playback via downloads
- Supports Librivox and Audiobookshelf
- Sync progress to Audiobookshelf
- Designed for Apple Watch For Your Kids
Read full descriptionHide full description
Play audiobooks directly from your Apple Watch. No iPhone required. Connect to multiple different sources of audiobooks, from the great Librivox site online, or use your own self-hosted audiobooks with Audiobookshelf. And more sources are on the way! Designed particularly for Apple Watch For Your Kids (formerly "Family Setup"). Kids can listen to audiobooks instead of staring at screens. Features: - No iPhone required - Download to play books offline. Swipe to the left to download. - Auto sync progress to Audiobookshelf server (when available) - Add many audiobook sources. Press+Hold to copy a source - No need to type URL or password on your tiny watch: https://spongeaudio.com/setup-sources.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sponge Audiobooks at 5.0 against Booken's 4.5. Sponge Audiobooks also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Booken's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sponge Audiobooks holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Booken has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Booken ships an update every 2 months, Sponge Audiobooks monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Booken | Sponge Audiobooks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Riley Brookins | Expeditionary Logic |
Customer experience
Booken
Sponge Audiobooks
In-app purchases
Booken
No in-app purchases
Sponge Audiobooks
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Booken free?
Is Sponge Audiobooks free?
Which has better reviews, Booken or Sponge Audiobooks?
Do Booken or Sponge Audiobooks have ads?
Which is updated more often, Booken or Sponge Audiobooks?
Other comparisons
