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ACX audiobook options and what they cost

ACX does not publish one price for producing an audiobook. As of 6 October 2026, a royalty-share deal on ACX's current exclusive terms pays the rights holder 25 percent and the producer 25 percent, with nothing stated as an upfront production fee. A pay-for-production deal pays the rights holder 50 percent if distribution is exclusive and 30 percent if it is not. The distribution term is seven years. The per-finished-hour rate, if you pay one, is whatever you and the producer agree. ACX does not print a standard rate on those royalty pages.

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The short answer

  1. ACX, the Audiobook Creation Exchange, distributes a finished audiobook to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. It does not distribute to libraries.[254]
  2. Exclusive royalty share, version 3.1 dated 26 May 2026: 25 percent to the rights holder and 25 percent to the producer, on a la carte sales, member cash sales, and membership listening.[255]
  3. Pay-for-production, same date: 50 percent to the rights holder if exclusive, 30 percent if non-exclusive. The producer is paid the rate you agreed, not a rate ACX publishes.[256]
  4. Exclusive distribution means you cannot sell the audiobook anywhere else. Non-exclusive means you can. The term is seven years either way.[254]
  5. The legacy headline rates, 40 percent exclusive and 25 percent non-exclusive, are still named. ACX's 26 May 2026 update says the legacy model is to be discontinued by the end of the year.[254][257]

01

What is ACX?

ACX is Audible's production and distribution system for audiobooks. Its distribution help says a title is sold through ACX and offered for digital download on Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. Titles with worldwide rights go to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Spain, and Brazil. Someone outside those stores can still buy from the .com sites if the book does not violate that country's content laws. Promo codes are only for the US and UK stores. ACX says it does not distribute to libraries. If you want library distribution, the same page tells you to choose a non-exclusive agreement and arrange the library sale yourself. ACX does not state a fee to open the account on that page.[254]

  • Retail distribution through ACX: Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books.
  • Libraries are not an ACX channel.
  • An account fee is not stated on the distribution page checked here.

02

How does royalty share differ from pay-for-production?

ACX's royalty-share payment terms, version 3.1 dated 26 May 2026, are written for exclusive distribution. Audible pays the rights holder 25 percent of net receipts on a la carte sales, 25 percent of net receipts on member cash sales, and 25 percent of average member value per unit on membership listening. It pays the producer the same three 25 percent rates, on the rights holder's behalf, as the producer's payment for making the audiobook. The document does not list an upfront fee, and it does not include a non-exclusive royalty-share table. Pay-for-production terms of the same version and date are different. You pay the producer for the finished audio under the rate in your agreement. Audible then pays you 50 percent on the same three bases if you granted exclusive rights, or 30 percent if you granted non-exclusive rights. Net receipts means amounts Audible actually receives, minus returns, refunds, and applicable taxes and duties. Average member value is Audible's allocation of membership fees across the titles a member listened to. ACX also names Royalty Share Plus as a marketplace deal type. The royalty-share terms page checked here does not state the Royalty Share Plus split.[255][256][257]

  • Royalty share, exclusive: 25 percent and 25 percent. No published upfront price.
  • Pay-for-production: you pay the producer, then keep 50 percent or 30 percent.
  • Royalty Share Plus is named. Its split is not on the royalty-share terms page.

03

What drives the production cost?

The May 2026 royalty pages do not publish a per-finished-hour dollar rate or a total production cost. On a pay-for-production deal the cost is the rate you and the producer agree, applied to the finished hours. On a royalty-share deal the published payment is the percentage split above, not a production invoice. Length matters because finished hours are the unit of a pay-for-production rate, and ACX does not print a current words-per-hour figure on these terms. A separate audio row on this site records royalty share as no upfront payment and professional narration as about $1,000 to $3,000. That narration range is a third-party estimate from ScribeCount. It is not a price on ACX's May 2026 pages, and this answer does not treat it as one. Ask the producer for a rate and a finished-hour estimate, and keep that quote next to the royalty terms rather than inside them.[29][255][256]

  • ACX's current royalty terms: no standard per-finished-hour price.
  • Pay-for-production cost equals agreed rate times finished hours.
  • The $1,000 to $3,000 narration range is a third-party estimate, not an ACX price.

04

What exclusivity rules apply?

ACX's distribution article, updated for the agreement last revised on 26 May 2026, says Audible has the right to distribute the audiobook for seven years. Exclusive distribution means you may not sell or distribute the audiobook on any site outside Audible's channels. Audible then distributes it to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books only. The headline royalty on that article is 50 percent on the new model, or 40 percent on the legacy model. Non-exclusive distribution means the book is still sold on those three retailers, and you may also sell it elsewhere, in other formats, including to libraries that ACX itself does not serve. The headline non-exclusive royalty is 30 percent on the new model, or 25 percent on the legacy model. The pay-for-production terms match the new 50 and 30 percent figures. The royalty-share terms are the 25 and 25 split, and they are published only for exclusive distribution. ACX's 26 May 2026 royalty-model update says the legacy model will be discontinued by the end of the year, and that you then enroll existing titles or stop distribution. New marketplace offers sent after 26 May 2026 use the new model. Enrollment of an existing title takes effect on the first of the following month.[254][255][256][257]

  • Seven years, exclusive or not.
  • Exclusive: Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books only. New rate 50 percent, or 25 and 25 on royalty share.
  • Non-exclusive: you may sell elsewhere. New rate 30 percent on pay-for-production. No non-exclusive royalty-share rate is in the terms checked here.

05

What other audio routes exist?

This page does not rank distributors. Two official alternatives already in the directory are worth naming because ACX's own page says it does not reach libraries. Spotify for Authors states direct upload, non-exclusive distribution, and that you keep ownership. Voices by INaudio describes non-exclusive distribution across retail, library, and educational channels. Neither description is a reason to pick one, and neither cancels an ACX exclusive term you have already accepted. If the audiobook is in an exclusive ACX agreement, you cannot place that same recording on those other services during the term. Read the audio directory and the narration task for the services, then read each service's current terms before you upload. Ebook exclusivity under KDP Select is a different contract. It does not, by itself, decide the audiobook.[31][73][254]

  • Spotify for Authors: direct upload, non-exclusive, you keep ownership.
  • Voices by INaudio: non-exclusive retail, library, and educational distribution.
  • An exclusive ACX term blocks those other uploads for that recording.

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