Kobo Books vs Playary

Kobo Books is a digital platform for buying and listening to audiobooks, with apps for iOS and Android and playback on select Kobo eReaders with Bluetooth. The mobile app lets listeners pause, fast-forward, rewind, and resume playback. Downloaded audiobooks can be played on a smartphone or tablet without an internet connection, and Bluetooth headphones or speakers can be used with the app. Kobo Plus Listen costs $7.99 a month after a 14-day free trial, plus applicable taxes. Kobo Plus Read & Listen costs $9.99 a month after the trial, plus applicable taxes. These subscriptions include audiobooks, or eBooks and audiobooks in the latter plan, but neither includes every title. Subscription credits also apply only to eligible audiobooks. Audiobooks cannot be played in the Kobo Desktop app or on a laptop or desktop computer. On iOS, audiobook purchases must be made through Kobo.com because the app does not support in-app purchases. Kobo Plus members can open up to 15 books offline in an eReader or app during a 30-day period before reconnecting and syncing. Kobo is based in Toronto and was founded in December 2009.

Playary is a digital entertainment platform for music, audiobooks, podcasts, movies, and series. It is available on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows, and currently supports Turkish and English. Playary says its service is free, with premium membership options possibly introduced later. Users can download content for playback without mobile data and create unlimited playlists to copy, share, or explore. Content controls include explicit-content filters and blocking for artists, albums, or songs. Podcast subscriptions can be imported or exported through OPML, though imports include only podcasts in Playary's catalog. The service supports video podcasts as well as audio and may embed videos hosted by services such as YouTube and Vimeo. Separate platforms let artists and podcasters upload and manage content. Playary says sensitive personal data is encrypted in transit with TLS and at rest, and describes role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication. Its terms require users to be at least 13 or meet the applicable digital-consent age unless parental consent applies.