Audio Erotica Apps Are Having A Moment

It’s in your podcast ads and your social media feeds. It’s also probably a few swipes deep on your friends’ home screens, TBH. Audio erotica is not as fringe as it once was. In 2023, representatives for audio erotica app Quinn told The New York Times its average listenership had grown from 3.2 million minutes a year in 2021 to 14 million minutes a month. And while Quinn might be one of the most recognizable names in audio erotica, it’s far from the only option. For the discerning hornball, there are many more curated apps, with surprisingly high production value, to choose from.

Take Quinn, for example: the audio erotica app with original stories told at all different lengths and some notably voiced by beloved celebrities like Jesse Williams, Victoria Pedretti, and Thomas Doherty. Andrew Scott, aka the Hot Priest, was just tapped to voice three 30- to 40-minute episodes, where he moans and gasps, and lusts after you, the listener. Quinn’s library includes countless other stories divvied neatly into categories, like medieval erotica, meet-cutes, and banter-heavy scenes.

Read any About Us page on these apps’ websites, or any interview with their founders, and you’ll find they share a similarly impassioned mission to bring pleasure and well-being to an inclusive group of people, one who has been historically underserved. Audio erotica has become the medium where women and LGBTQ+ creators (not just the app founders, but freelance voice actors and writers, too) can create content with audiences with desires like theirs in mind — the complete opposite in nearly every way from the kind of porn made for cishet men.

In a world where visual porn has skewed our perceptions of what people having sex should look and sound and be like, audio erotica offers space to envision a romantic encounter exactly as you, the listener, wishes. And it turns out, what the listener wants has more banter, meet-cutes, medieval themes, and Irish accents than you're likely to find on Pornhub.

“There’s clearly this gap between what erotic content has traditionally meant and what women are looking for,” said Quinn founder Caroline Spiegel in an interview with The New York Times. “Now, there’s a growing opportunity to give women products and services that fill their sexual needs, because they have their own money to spend.”

If you’d like to dip your toes (or other parts) in the ever-expanding ocean of audio erotica, we recommend you start here:

Dipsea

30-day free trial, then $69.99 annually

Dipsea is all about centering the female gaze (female ear?) in its thousands of audio stories, with more added each week. You can dive into longform romances – some of their series have more than 20 chapters and counting – or shorter scenes. Sure, you could sift through their categories for BDSM audios, queer romances, moaning only audios, and more, but some of Dipsea’s most interesting selections are actually sexless. Take Killian’s Flat, one of the app’s “sleep scenes,” in which a hot Irish guy tells you how grateful he is to come home to you before tucking you in and milling about your flat, tidying up, while you doze off. HOT.

The app also houses written erotica, if you prefer to read your stories from time to time, and a library of sexual wellness audio curated by experts. They’ll teach you everything from erotic breathwork and sexting with more rizz to trying anal play for the first time.

Quinn

7-day free trial, then $4.99 monthly or $47.99 annually

Who doesn't want Jesse Williams to whisper sweet nothings into their earbuds, especially when he’s voicing a hot faerie? All that and more awaits on Quinn, whose categories of audio romance are oddly specific yet perfect: sleepy boyfriend, strangers to lovers, and even a category labeled “for BookTok.”

Quinn also focuses on promoting diversity in its creators and characters, with playlists dedicated to Black creators and nonbinary voices, stories with plus-size characters, and audios that forgo using gendered language entirely. So, if you want an inclusive library of content to choose from, Quinn may be the place to start.

Cuddle

3-day free trial, then $12.99 monthly or $59.99 annually

“You look so weary, traveler. Let me help with that,” reads the caption below an image of a very chesty tavern girl. Cuddle’s archives aren’t as large as Dipsea’s or Quinn’s, but they add hundreds of new stories each week, both audio and written. If your priority is finding short stories that cut to the chase quickly, this is your app: search by what turns you on, and settle in for an average of 15 minutes (though some audios are as short as seven, because sometimes you just want to cut to the chase).

OhCleo

Free unlocked content, and each creator sets their own subscription fee

Long before these well-designed audio erotica apps, there were creators writing and voicing their stories online, whether on YouTube, Tumblr, or in podcast form. OhCleo is sort of like the OnlyFans of audio content, a platform for creators to post and interact with their listeners. And no matter what you like, you will find it here. If vampires, aliens, and pirates are your speed, great. Or, opt for the most female gaze-coded categories ever: stories heavy on Scottish accents, “domestic bliss,” and one of our personal favorites: forearms.

Bloom

Some free stories, or $131.40 annually/$29.95 monthly for access to everything

Bloom has a little bit of everything: audio walkthroughs about kink for beginners, community creators who take users’ fantasy submissions and turn them into stories, and of course, the actual audio erotica. This app’s categories are a little closer to what a typical porn site’s would be (as in, they don’t center diversity). Some standout genres include mythical creatures, historical erotica, and scenes where you have to be quiet, lest the side characters overhear you.

Rosy

Some free content, or $9.99 monthly for the basic membership

Not unlike OMGYES, the sexual wellness platform touted by Emma Watson back in 2019, Rosy is as much about women’s health as it is erotica. Upon signing in for the first time, the app walks you through the creation of your personalized wellness plan. You can set goals for how much time you want to invest each day in learning about women’s health — the app has a catalog of info on menopause, for example — and a small collection of erotica stories to choose from. You’ll have to subscribe to get to them, and the selection is much smaller, but if you’re wanting a bit more of a wellness experience with your orgasms, you might like Rosy.