If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, nothing changes on your Kindle except the name. Amazon renamed the service Kindle+ on October 22, and its US price is still $11.99 a month plus taxes. You can still borrow up to 20 titles at a time and keep them with no due date while you pay.
Amazon’s description no longer quotes a catalog of more than 5 million books, and it now leads with eBooks that come with a matching audiobook.
Amazon’s updated Kindle+ page
Amazon made the change by updating the Kindle+ explainer on its news site. A note at the bottom says the page was updated on October 22 “to reflect that Kindle Unlimited has been renamed Kindle+.”
The price and the 20-title limit match the version of the page saved on September 16. Titles still work on any Kindle device and in the free Kindle app for phones, computers and tablets.
As before, a Prime membership comes with only a curated selection of the Kindle+ catalog. Prime members also keep their one free book a month through Amazon First Reads.
If you cancel, you keep access until the next billing date. After that you lose your Kindle+ titles, and Amazon doesn’t refund fees already paid.
What the new page says about the catalog
In September, the page counted “more than 5 million digital books” in Kindle Unlimited. The October version says “millions of eBooks” and gives no figure.
Thousands of Kindle+ eBooks now come with a companion audiobook, so you can switch between reading and listening to one title at no extra cost. That line sits near the top of the new page. In September, narration already covered “thousands” of titles, so the wording doesn’t show that the audio catalog grew.
To find those titles, look for the headphone icon next to the Kindle+ logo on a book’s page. You can listen on a Kindle as well as in the app.
The October page names People, Reader’s Digest and Men’s Health among the magazines. The September page also named USA Today and Bloomberg Businessweek, which the new one doesn’t mention.
Kobo Plus costs less
Kobo has sold its Kobo Plus subscription since at least 2019, so e-reader owners now have two Plus plans to choose between. In the US, Kobo Plus Read & Listen costs $9.99 a month and covers eBooks and audiobooks. Kobo also sells an eBooks-only plan and an audiobooks-only plan, each at $7.99 a month.
By our arithmetic, Kindle+ costs $24 a year more than Kobo’s combined plan. The eBooks-only plan widens the gap to $48 a year.
Kobo’s sign-up page promises “millions of eBooks and audiobooks.” Its help center counts “hundreds of thousands of eBooks” in Kobo Plus. Both companies’ size claims are marketing, and you can’t check one catalog against the other title for title.
Kindle+ caps you at 20 titles at a time. On Kobo, an e-reader or the app can open up to 15 Kobo Plus books offline. Then it has to reconnect and sync before you open more.
Kobo’s free trial for new subscribers runs 14 days in the US. Amazon asks you to check whether you qualify for a trial on its sign-up page.
If you move your billing address to a country without Kobo Plus, you keep your titles until the billing period ends. Then the subscription is canceled. Kobo’s list of Kobo Plus countries leaves out Germany, Japan and Brazil, all of which Kindle+ covers.
Which devices each plan works on
Kindle+ books open only on Kindle devices and in the Kindle app. Kobo Plus books open on Kobo e-readers and in the Kobo Books app, and they can’t be imported to a Sony Reader, for example.
Not every Kobo plays audiobooks. The six-inch Kobo Clara BW does, over Bluetooth headphones or a speaker. Only two early models, the Kobo Mini and the Kobo Wi-Fi, can’t use Kobo Plus at all.
You can start a Kobo Plus trial from a Kobo e-reader, but you can’t change or cancel the plan there or in the iPhone app. For that, use Kobo’s website or the Android app.
Staying or switching
Current subscribers don’t need to do anything about the rename. Moving to Kobo Plus saves $2 a month on the combined plan. You’d leave your Kindle+ books behind, though, so the move only pays off if you were going to buy a Kobo anyway.
