ACX

What ACX does

ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) is a web-based marketplace, founded in 2011 and wholly owned by Audible, Inc. (an Amazon subsidiary), that connects rights holders—independent authors, literary agents, and publishers—with a network of more than one million narrators and production studios to produce retail-ready audiobooks. The platform supports the full production workflow: title claiming, narrator search and audition, flexible payment negotiation (per finished hour, royalty share, or hybrid), human quality-assurance review, and distribution exclusively to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books/iTunes. Supporting tools include ACX Audio Lab for audio file analysis across eight technical metrics, royalty tracking dashboards, promo codes, and Amazon Author Central integration.

ACX operates a marketplace-take-rate revenue model rather than charging creators for platform access. Under the legacy royalty structure, creators received 40% on exclusive distribution and 25% on non-exclusive; in April 2026, Audible replaced this with a new model offering 50% exclusive or 30% non-exclusive royalty rates, with opt-in eligibility for the all-you-can-listen (AYCL) subscription program and creator-suggested pricing. Narrators are paid directly by authors via the chosen payment structure. The platform has produced 339,000+ titles since inception, representing 31% of Audible's catalog, and saw a nearly 40% increase in listening hours in 2024.

ACX serves three primary customer segments: independent authors seeking audiobook distribution, narrators and studios seeking projects, and traditional agents/publishers managing audio rights at scale. Recent product investments include a generative-AI Voice Replica beta for narrators, dual/duet narration support, an enhanced listening-analytics dashboard, and the first ACX Author Summit held at Audible's Newark, NJ headquarters in May 2025. ACX is operating with 11–50 employees and is part of Amazon's broader audio content and subscription ecosystem.

Name

ACX

Legal name

Audible, Inc.

Website

https://acx.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Audiobook Production Marketplace

NAICS

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512), Software Publishers (513210), Record Production and Distribution (51225)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Audiobook Self-Publishing & Production Services (Narration, Studio, ACX-style) (MPAJAJAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audiobook Technology & Services (Hosting/CDN, DRM, Analytics, Ad Insertion) (MPAJAIAI), Audiobook Retail & Subscription Platforms (Direct-to-Consumer) (MPAJAIAD)

Keywords

• Audiobook creation marketplace
• Narrator matching platform
• Audiobook royalty distribution
• Rights holder services
• Audiobook production platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Newark

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Audiobook Distribution Royalties (Exclusive): ACX creators can select exclusive distribution to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books for a 50% royalty rate. This applies to both a la carte purchases and membership listening engagement.
2. Audiobook Distribution Royalties (Non-Exclusive): Creators can opt for non-exclusive distribution at a 30% royalty rate, allowing them to distribute elsewhere as well.
3. Narrator Payment - Per Finished Hour: Authors can pay narrators by the finished hour for completed audiobook production. This is a production cost paid upfront to narrators.
4. Royalty Share Revenue Split: Authors and narrators can arrange to split royalties from audiobook sales instead of or in addition to upfront payment.
5. All-You-Can-Listen (AYCL) Program Revenue: Under Audible's new royalty model, creators can opt-in titles to the AYCL program, earning royalties based on member engagement across all listening consumption methods.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) is an online marketplace operated by Audible (an Amazon subsidiary) that connects rights holders (authors, agents, publishers) with professional narrators and production studios to create audiobooks. The platform supports project posting, audition management, payment negotiation, and quality assurance review, with completed audiobooks distributed to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. The service is free to use; ACX generates revenue through a royalty share on audiobook sales distributed through its channels.

Product overview

ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) is a single unified platform for creating and distributing audiobooks. The core ACX platform connects authors with narrators to produce retail-ready audiobooks distributed through Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Supporting the platform are dedicated toolkits: the ACX Rights Holder Toolkit for authors and publishers, and the ACX Producer Toolkit for narrators. The ACX Audiolab feature provides audio quality analysis during production. ACX recently introduced Audible's New Royalty Model offering flexible 50% exclusive or 30% non-exclusive royalty rates with all-you-can-listen program eligibility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACX Audio Lab: A tool that provides instant feedback on audio files, analyzing 8 important metrics including RMS, peak levels, bitrate, and spacing.
• ACX Author Profile Pages

Products and services

• ACX Audiobook Creation Exchange Platform Online marketplace where authors, agents, and publishers (rights holders) can post audiobook projects, review auditions from narrators, negotiate payment terms, and distribute completed audiobooks to Audible, Amazon, and Apple Books. Includes separate workflows for Authors, Narrators & Studios, and Agents & Publishers.
• ACX Audio Lab Standalone audio file analysis tool that provides instant feedback on uploaded audio files across 8 metrics (RMS, peak levels, bitrate, spacing, and others) to help authors and narrators ensure submissions meet ACX technical requirements. Used for audition preparation, equipment calibration, and pre-submission quality checks.

Quantifiable outcome

• 31% of Audible's entire catalog comes from ACX titles
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Aggregators (phasing out by end of 2026)minorOthersACX currently allows aggregators to distribute content, but this eligibility will end by the end of 2026. Aggregators are being phased out to streamline direct distribution relationships. Content partners are directed to contact [email protected] to discuss agreements with Audible's third-party team.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• PublishDrive: PublishDrive is an ebook and audiobook distribution and analytics platform serving indie authors and publishers. It overlaps with ACX on rights-holder distribution and royalty tracking functionality.
• BookBaby: BookBaby provides self-publishing services including audiobook production and distribution for indie authors. It is a partial competitor to ACX on the production-services side of self-published audiobook creation.
• Kobo Writing Life: Kobo Writing Life is Rakuten Kobo's self-publishing platform focused on ebooks with growing audiobook support. It overlaps with ACX as a rights-holder-facing creation and distribution platform for independent authors.

Direct peers

• Draft2Digital: Draft2Digital is a self-publishing distribution platform that aggregates ebook and audiobook titles and routes them to major retailers including Audible, Apple, and Spotify. It overlaps with ACX on audiobook distribution and rights-holder services.
• Smashwords: Smashwords is an indie ebook and audiobook distribution platform serving self-published authors with multi-retailer distribution. It overlaps with ACX on enabling independent authors to reach retail audiobook marketplaces.
• Findaway (Spotify): Findaway (now part of Spotify) operated Findaway Voices, a self-publishing and audiobook distribution marketplace connecting authors with narrators and distributing to multiple retailers. It is the closest direct competitor to ACX's marketplace model.
• Authors Republic: Authors Republic is an audiobook distribution service for indie authors offering wide retail distribution (Audible, Apple, Google, Spotify, Storytel). It directly competes with ACX on multi-retailer audiobook distribution for self-published creators.

Broad incumbents

• Tantor Audio: Tantor Audio is a long-established audiobook publisher and producer that produces narrated audiobooks at scale. It overlaps with ACX on the production and rights-holder side, though it is publisher-led rather than marketplace-led.
• Ingram Content Group: Ingram operates CoreSource plus audiobook distribution via IngramCore and Findaway Voices legacy services. As a major book industry incumbent, it offers adjacent audiobook creation and distribution services overlapping with ACX's supply pipeline.
• Spotify (Audiobook Creation): Spotify acquired Findaway in 2021 to power its audiobook ambitions and is building creator-side tools for indie authors. It is a strategic competitor to ACX's parent Audible in the audio content supply chain.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/acx_com
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AudibleACX
• Facebookfacebook.com/goacx
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/audiobook-creation-exchange-acx

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACX