What Is Audio Erotica? (Plus, 11 Places to Tune In)

Paging all frisky listeners: It’s time to check out audio erotica. What’s audio erotica, you ask? Think of it as a type of adult content, which, as you might have guessed, delivers pleasure by way of a sexually explicit listening experience—usually steamy storytelling, complete with all the sexy sound effects you’d hear in porn, minus the visuals. As such, audio erotica leaves a little more to the imagination—much like an erotic novel, but without the pages to turn. (Hint: So your hands are free for other things.) Read on for the full scoop, plus 11 places where you can tune in and test the waters.

We’ve already explained the basics of audio erotica—it’s a sexy and sometimes quite graphic listening experience—but one thing you might not know is that many of the most popular audio erotica apps and platforms are led by women, and the content across the board tends to be both more tasteful and more inclusive than standard porn. In fact, it has been heralded as the future of ethical pornography (i.e., the kind that doesn’t degrade women or depict them as sexual objects). Now that you know the deal, here are the best websites and apps that deliver the goods.

Everybody has their own personal taste when it comes to audio erotica, which is why we curated a list of places where you can listen to content that isn’t too skeevy, too vanilla or too cheesy. Here are our top picks.

• Cost: $6 per month or $70 per year

This female-founded start-up was created with the vision of providing erotic content that empowers women in their sexuality—you know, as opposed to some of the more degrading, decidedly not feminist porn out there. DipSea offers a diverse library of sensual stories for your listening enjoyment—all of which feature characters and scenarios that are relatable, and moments of sexual pleasure that don’t sound rehearsed—as well as ‘pillow talks’ in which the characters speak to you directly. Plus, this app allows you to pick an immersive storytelling experience that reflects your sexual orientation, gender identity and personal interests, so pretty much anyone can find a fantasy that floats their boat.

• Cost: free

Quinn is a website that allows users to submit their own content, and the offerings include a wide range of audio clips in which the creator speaks directly to you, providing a rewarding masturbation session or role-playing experience for one. The options include straight and queer content narrated by male or female voices, and the title of each track serves as a brief description of the scenario. However, with the exception of the ‘safe for work’ category, much of the audio is pretty explicit—so if dirty talk isn’t your thing, this option probably isn’t for you. Still, the content on Quinn is completely free to access (i.e., no subscription necessary), making it a low stakes way to give audio erotica a try.

• Cost: limited free access; unlimited access with a subscription of $8 per month or $60 per year

Audiodesires is a web-based app run exclusively by women, with a focus on the sexual needs of females. (Note: That means all the audio is narrated by female voices.) The content available includes sexy ASMR sound clips to help get you in the mood, as well as a library of erotic stories, with new ones added every week. The platform also has a handy rating system that indicates how steamy (or kinky) any given story will be, so it’s particularly easy to find an audio experience that speaks to you. Bonus: Audiodesires allows users to tune into four free stories per month (and if you like what you hear, $4 per month will buy you unlimited access).

• Cost: free

You can find all kinds of erotica at Girl on the Net—a sex blog that features erotic novels, non-fiction user stories, X-rated illustrations and, most recently, audio erotica as well. New posts go up regularly and, as the name suggests, this site is (anonymously) female-run. It’s also cost-free so you can get curious without having to commit any of your hard-earned cash to those dirty thoughts and desires.

• Cost: free

If you’re interested in a no-frills form of audio erotica that really keeps it real, it doesn’t get much more straightforward than the Orgasm Sound Library—a free online database in which women can upload the sounds of their real-life, toe-curling climaxes. The audio clips range in length—you can tune into something short and sweet, or a more extended orgasm if you wish—and feature varying degrees of abandon, as you might suspect. Bottomline: If you’d rather skip the storyline and proceed right to the sounds of pleasure, you might enjoy this option (and if you do, you can also anonymously share your success).

• Cost: free

For those who want to ease their way into the world of audio erotica, the comparatively tame content available on Emjoy is an excellent option. Emjoy is run by a team of sexual wellness experts, and the result is definitely less raunch and more self-care. When you sign up for the app, you’ll find tools to help you track what you do and don’t like in the sack, as well as guided meditations that focus on body positivity, exploration and other concepts that encourage positive sexuality; you’ll also have access to a variety of erotic stories with content that’s on the milder side, but still sexy enough to put you in the mood.

• Cost: free

You can tap into your inner voyeur with &Jane, a unique platform on which women give a first-person narration of their own real-life erotic encounters. In other words, this one allows you to enjoy a descriptive retelling of another woman’s very good sex. Any subscriber can privately and anonymously share their story, or you can choose to remain an audience member and enjoy a steady stream of new content. Either way, this app makes sexual empowerment sound very, well, sexy.

• Cost: free

Kampsite follows the same model as &Jane, but the stories are all narrated by gay men. In other words, this is the way to go if you are gay, bisexual (or curious) and interested in hearing positive, authentic sexual encounters told in a first-person male perspective. It’s also worth noting that a portion of all the subscription fees is donated to The Trevor Project, a leading organization in suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth.

• Cost: $15 for a monthly subscription; $75 for a yearly subscription.

Now back to fiction: You can explore a whole host of sexual fantasies on FrolicMe—a British platform that has oodles of explicit entertainment, including films, photos and (of course) audio. The audio category features stories that spare no detail and use sound to great effect, but the X-rated content is always sex-positive (i.e., no non-consensual encounters here). You’ve gotta pay for your pleasure, though—roughly $15 per month for a recurring subscription.

• Cost: free

Fans of erotic novels will be keen on Literotica, a hands-free variation that relies on user-written content to depict steamy sexual encounters and dirty deeds. And apparently users are pretty, er, active, since new content is uploaded daily and covers a wide range of fantasies and kinks. In fact, the content is so diverse it’s safe to say there’s truly something for everyone—and all of it is free.

• Cost: free

If you’re seeking a soundtrack for self-pleasure, Mr. Racy is for you. And no, we’re not talking about Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” Mr. Racy soundtracks are decidedly more explicit, featuring heavy breathing, moaning, screaming, grunting and all the other sounds associated with real life sex. Again, the tunes are totally free so you might just give it a try and see what a little audio can do for your imagination.

Audio erotica is an ethical way to get your rocks off that allows your ears and imagination to get the job done without feeding you raunchy visuals that might fall woefully short in comparison to your own fantasies. Now that you’ve been turned on to it (so to speak) we’ll leave you to tune in.