In a major shift away from its unlimited subscription model, Scribd Inc. will launch a credit-based system for its Everand reading platform, offering expanded access to titles from all five major trade publishers. The new service, set to roll out in the U.S. on October 30, will provide access to more than 1.5 million e-books and audiobooks through two subscription tiers.

"It's all about catalog selection in a subscription setting," said Greg Voynow, head of global content partnerships at Scribd Inc. "Being able to get a vast majority of the New York Times bestsellers... our customers want reliability." Under the new model, Voynow noted, users will know with certainty whether specific titles, including those from such bestselling authors as John Grisham, will be available when they sign up for the service.

The new offering introduces two tiers for Everand: a Standard plan, priced at $11.99 monthly, for one premium title, and a Plus plan, priced at $16.99 monthly, for three titles. Both plans maintain unlimited access to magazines, podcasts, sheet music, and a select catalog of e-books and audiobooks, including Everand Originals.

This restructuring comes with expanded partnerships with all of the Big Five trade publishers: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster. According to Voynow, the platform will receive new releases simultaneously with their market release, eliminating previous windowing restrictions.

The company plans to transition existing users from its unlimited model throughout 2025, with the legacy unlimited service being completely phased out by the second quarter. "We've done a lot of research," Voynow said, emphasizing that expanded title selection from top publishers, including much in demand genre fiction, emerged as users' primary consideration.

International expansion is slated for early 2025, with a particular focus on Spanish-language content. Voynow said that Everand currently maintains a six-figure catalog of titles in various languages, including German and Portuguese, though immediate growth efforts will concentrate on English and Spanish–language markets.

This news represents a significant departure from Everand's previous "all-you-can-eat" model, and is one that Voynow said the company felt was better for publishers overall. "We want publishers to understand that we are truly pivoting to a model that respects the value as they see it of all their content," Voynow said.