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Audiobooks should be accessible

epubaudio.xyz is a protest against audiobook tools that are too expensive for many people to use regularly.

Listening to a book is not merely a convenience. It can make reading more accessible to people with dyslexia, blind and visually impaired readers, people who struggle with printed text, and students who cannot afford commercial audiobook editions or costly subscriptions.

The goal​

The vision behind epubaudio.xyz is to create the most affordable practical way to turn an EPUB into an audiobook. Instead of charging a large subscription fee or adding a margin to narration costs, the project lets readers use their own text-to-speech provider account and pay the provider directly.

The project should remain focused on:

  • keeping the cost of narration as low as possible;
  • making books accessible without unnecessary barriers;
  • giving readers control over how their books are narrated;
  • improving the product openly with people who share this idea.

Cost of using epubaudio.xyz​

There are currently no plans to charge for using epubaudio.xyz itself. This may change in the future because storing books, generated audio, and other user data on server-side infrastructure such as Amazon S3 creates ongoing costs.

If a fee becomes necessary, the goal will be to cover these infrastructure costs while keeping the service as affordable and accessible as possible. Text-to-speech provider usage remains separate and is billed directly by the provider.

Help develop the idea​

If you want to contribute, suggest an improvement, support accessibility work, or help shape the project, please get in touch through the contact page.