The Palace Project
How much does The Palace Project cost?
Prices are current as of 11 Sept 2026.
The Palace Project has no in-app products on record in the United States.
10+ alternatives to The Palace Project
| The Palace Project |   CloudLibrary |   Chirp Audiobooks |   Libro.fm Audiobooks |   Boundless |   myLIBRO |   Bookshop.org: Read/Buy Ebooks |   BookBub |   Little Free Library |   NetGalley Shelf |   PINES (Georgia) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 4.1 |
| Reviews | 5.3K | 331K | 93K | 42K | 18K | 7K | 1.6K | 1.1K | 180 | 118 | 18 |
| Released | 2021 | 2011 | 2018 | 2016 | 2023 | 2017 | 2025 | 2015 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 |
The Palace Project reviews
4.6 out of 5, based on 5,279 reviews.
What people like
- Huge selection of books available.
- Easy to switch between libraries.
- Free with your library card access.
What they complain about
- App crashes constantly and freezes.
- Audiobooks lose your place frequently.
- Phone overheats during audiobook playback.
- Search function is terrible to use.
Good
It good and easy too
Very buggy
I use Hoopla and Libby without issues for my library books but Palace is the worst. Close to half the time it can’t begin playing Audiobooks and I have to fiddle with it to get it to work.
Lots of glitches
Love the books, but I feel I’m constantly troubleshooting every book I want to read. Can’t place holds or download audiobooks without logging out, logging back in, deleting the app and re-downloading.
Not Kind To Users
Just another library app that limits the user’s choice. This is the second app that my library has used that doesn’t allow patrons to use e-readers. I understand not wanting to be involved with the Amazon ecosystem, but sometimes they are the best of a bad situation. Reading on tablets and phones are worse for reader’s eyes, but for some reason these reading apps don’t seem to care. Most e-readers are optimized for the readers comfort, which becomes more important as people age. I know there are many reasons for companies to limit options, but it seems odd that they willingly choose to put these burdens on the end user. Would not recommend.
The palace project
Good app but it takes for ever to load
I like it.
Like other library apps, it offers a full selection from my library.
Not playing
Audiobook just isn’t playing. Just spinning, grayed out icons forever.
Percentage Read
I have a question when will the app be able to show percentage read. I think many users will find that feature helpful. Instead of doing math to find out what percentage has been read. I can see that the audiobook player has been updated. Now it really remembers the last section read. Keep improving. Thanks.
Only place I could find a particular audiobook, BUT terrible UI/UX
The app sometimes has trouble remaining connected to my library accounts, needed to be restarted in order for the audiobook player interface to show up for the book I borrowed, and most annoying of all you are not able to track how far along in the audiobook you are (it does not show a %)
Please adjust speed to 3x
The Palace Project is a great app all in all. My specific library has titles available in this app and not on Libby, so sometimes it’s the only choice if I want to listen to specific audiobooks. That being said, it is EXTREMELY limiting when the maximum playback speed is only up to 2.0x. It would be very much appreciated if future updates would support playback speeds up to 3.0x.
Covenant of water
Very good I’ll be sorry when it’s done
So glitchy
It gets 2 stars for book selection but I have so much trouble actually getting books to play (audiobooks). At least half (no hyperbole, literally half) of the time it just freezes up. When I check out a new book it has what can only be described as a panic attack and just doesn’t work. I thought it was because I had an old phone, but she was put out to pasture and I’m coming at you from a iPhone 17, brand new, and it still is just baaaaaaarely functional. It’s currently having a mental breakdown about playing a new book and I’m so annoyed I came to write a review. I’m going to keep using it despite my rage because the selection is good and way less wait time than Libby, and it’s free so how much can I really expect but just know there is hate in my heart when I press that icon.
Dark Mode
Desperately, desperately needs dark mode! I read on this app at night mostly, and it would be so much better with a dark mode! I do like that you can switch between libraries in your network easily, and the selection is vast…but dark mode would make it perfect! Please?
Way too glitchy
I initially loved this app. I still appreciate the fact that I can get free audiobooks, but it is way too glitchy on my iPhone. At times it overheats my iPhone, and at other times I can’t switch from one app to another without it starting over at the previous chapter. It has difficulty keeping track of where I’m at in the book and I’m constantly having to forward. Most recently, I can be listening on the app and open up my messages and it immediately goes back to the beginning of the chapter. Super frustrating.
Better, but …
This is basically a very good reader, but there are a couple of things that could be made better. Sometimes when you try to move forward one page you can end up going 10 or more forward. Quite disorienting because there is no way to easily figure out where you are, and you have to flip back until you find the right place. I also find that when I’m reading in the dark, I can’t get the app dark enough to be easy on the eyes.
Getting better.
It took a few weeks but the Palace team got some things fixed so the app works for me. They were responsive and didn’t ignore the glitches. Still wish for checkout history and ability to renew. But for a small team they are doing great!
This App is the Worst
I've never used an app that fails so consistently and so spectacularly. I can't count the number of times I get a notification that a book is ready and then am unable to access it over and over again. That's just one of multiple issues. Do not recommend until they invest some real money and time improving the experience for users.
Love the options they offer but …
Would be nice if it would show you the books you already checked out Like a time line of when things got returned
This App Stinks
I really wish our library system would move to another app. This one literally heats up my phone after 20min of use & quits. I’ve tried rebooting it and it does it every time without fail and it’s always this app. Please consider moving to a different one!
Helpful Update
Love the update allowing more flexibility in listening speed. Hope they can do an update to add a listening percentage .
This is AMAZING
Im sooooo happy I found out about this on Reddit! My library is Ventura County and, sorry, it’s pretty pathetic. Not a lot of readers here perhaps.
Need Offline Downloads for Audiobooks
Keep losing ability to listen to audiobook I rented. Have to keep deleting and reinstalling app daily to occasionally get access to audiobook and does not work well off mobile data
Need More Playback Speed Options & Historical Book Reads
Would really like more Playback Speed Options to go along with author reading speeds. The 1.5 to 2.0 jump is way too much. Also wish there was a way to see what books you’ve read and returned. PLEASE MAKE A 1.75x PLAYBACK SPEED!!!
Barely functional
Two stars for the huge book selection which is why I downloaded, but the functionality of the app is incredibly poor. Every single time I try to play audiobooks that I’ve checked out, the app says the audiobooks are unavailable and to try later; it takes a very frustrating amount of time restarting the app to get it to play (I’ve spent up to 30 minutes at a given time just trying to get anything to play). Other bugs include having to manually move to the next chapter because it’ll stop at the end of chapters and sometimes it will start jumping around the chapter. The app also will get up to 98% of downloading the book to the device and stop so it never actually downloads. This would be such a great app given the selection, but at this point it’s not worth the frustration. I hope these issues get solved & I can finish my book.
Ugh
I love the available options on Palace, but it’s so hard to listen to audiobooks. It jumps around and constantly loses the place you were at. PLEASE fix it. I shouldn’t have to add a bookmark every 5 min out of fear of losing my place. It also deleted downloads randomly so I have to wait all over again and get a ton of error messages before it will finally work. The app is too glitchy
Update
I previously said that this is a terrible app. Now I can say without hesitation that it is the worse app of all time. Everytime I stop listening, I have to delete the app and reinstall it or else I have 2 reading going at the same time. Who thought it was even possible?
please add more speed options
great app with good ui but NEEDS to have the options to put audio at faster speeds than 2x. please give the option for 3x or 4x speed.
Bare bones
This app is as bare bones as it gets. You can barely filter, and when you do - the minute you select something to view and return to the list, the filtering is gone. And forget about sorting…there is NONE. As for information detail on the books, I’ve noticed several that had inaccurate data. For instance on Title: The Rumor Author: Elin Hilderbrand they have the publication date listed as 2026 when in fact it should be 2015.
Great app but lots of bugs
I love palace and have been using for a number of years. Lately though I’ve had a lot of trouble loading and listening to audiobooks. I hope this will be fixed soon, it’s made for a frustrating experience and I don’t want to give up on the app.
Terrible App for Audiobooks
Continually freezes and have to delete and download the app. Don’t waste your time.
Unreliable app
I will continue to use this app because I believe in the power of libraries. But oh my god. I’ve had to delete the app and redownload it so many times to get it to work (maybe it’s because my phone is old and if that’s the reason I’m sorry)
Almost impossible to use
I have downloaded this app on 3 devices, one newer and two older. It is extremely slow or just never works and we have to close the app and start all over again. A very frustrating user experience. Not sure how much we'll use it.
Cool but Frustrating
I like having access to more books from my library but some things frustrate me. When reading ebooks, moving to the next page frequently jumps me to middle of the book not the next page. I’ve updated the app and restarted my phone to no avail. Also, I would like to add books to lists like Libby. I see books I want to read later but can’t tag them so I remember.
Vers. 4.3 crashing
No longer opens after update to iOS version 26.1. I will revise my review if there is a fix.
Good App (But Could Be Great With Some Extra Features)
This app is a nice addition to other apps I use, like Libby and Hoopla. It’s easy to navigate but I wish it had some other features I’ve come to appreciate from those other apps, mainly being able create lists of works I want to bookmark/save so I can easily browse what’s available to borrow, showing borrowing history and a more customizable listening speed vs the 0.25x increments you can change on audiobooks. I would definitely utilize this app more if these features were added since it can be frustrating remembering what is available to borrow from my library.
Idea great, but glitchy
I love this idea, and if it worked properly, I would give it five stars. But it is prone to numerous glitches. It’s really frustrating.
Problems
Frequently stops and loses its place when listening to audio books. Received only half of The Calamity Club. Would not download the whole audiobook so I had to return it and purchase it on Audible to listen to the last half.
Crashes
Crashes every time I use it
Really frustrating
The app has a good selection, but is incredibly glitchy and frustrating! Problems include: *New iPhone draining at roughly 2% every few minutes *Causes my phone to overheat. It’s so hot you can hardly handle it *app crashes and just stops while NOT saving current place. *reverts to last chapter after current chapter ends. *randomly skips to another part. Really frustrating issues and use only as last resort for books. Super sad this has so many problems.
Great selection but frequently difficult to play audiobooks
I have been using the palace project for about 18 months and while I am very happy with the quality selection of audiobooks frequently I have to try and download the item several times as the book struggles to play audiobooks
Wait until the app matures
Nothing much available through this app yet. And the search function is the worst I have ever seen.
Glitchy
Good since the app is free with my library access. However, many helpful features such as listening to an audiobook while browsing, tracking list of books you’ve read, liked or would like to borrow is missing. The app sometimes loses your place or the sound plays twice at the same time with an echo. I appreciate the feature to listen at higher speeds. I wish there was 1.75 and speeds higher than 2.0
Great catalogue seriously hurt by the quality-of-life features present in other apps. DEVS PLS READ
This message is for the developers. The app is amazing, but it feels like it was designed by book lovers, not web designers. I want to love the app so much. I LOVE its selection and am so thankful for my access to it. BUT the more and more I use it the more and more frustrated I am with the app. Developers: please contract a web designer. Seriously. Seriously. Seriously. Please. Please. Please. The features that this app doesn’t have are mind boggling. Save a book to your wishlist; different playback speeds; author profiles; a renew feature; customizable reader controls. I can only find an incomplete list of books of an author by looking on the page for another book they wrote. Please. In web design, an extra click can cost companies millions of views. You have an amazing app that is KILLED by its lack of quality of life features present in other apps.
The Palace Project FAQ
- Is The Palace Project free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 175 countries it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does The Palace Project have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to The Palace Project?
- CloudLibrary (4.7 from 331,414 reviews), Chirp Audiobooks (4.8 from 92,652 reviews) and Libro.fm Audiobooks (4.9 from 42,405 reviews).
The Palace Project download
Last updated 28 days ago.
The Palace Project sells in 175 countries. It was released 5 years and 2 months ago, on 7 Aug 2021. It holds a 4.6 rating from 5,279 reviews.
Supports 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish.
How much does The Palace Project make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.