Amazon Rebrands Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+, Adds AI-Narrated Audiobooks

Kindle+ will continue to offer unlimited access to a selected catalog of ebooks, comics and magazines, The Verge reported. Subscribers will also have access to thousands of companion audiobooks in the U.S. catalog at no extra cost, allowing them to switch between reading and listening where they left off. Amazon spokesperson Josh Pflug told The Verge in an emailed statement that the subscription continues to offer the same reading experience with access to millions of titles and now includes thousands of audiobooks in the U.S. catalog at no extra cost.

The service remains a standalone subscription separate from Amazon Prime, according to The Verge. Users can still borrow up to 20 titles at once, with no return dates. ZDNet reported that Kindle+ is a rebrand rather than a new subscription and that the reading experience remains largely unchanged.

The two reports differed on the monthly price. ZDNet reported that Kindle+ costs $12 a month, while The Verge reported $11.99 a month. ZDNet also reported that Amazon will not increase the price of the subscription.

Under the expansion, authors using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform can make more eligible audiobooks available in Kindle+, including AI-narrated titles, ZDNet reported. Amazon offers its Virtual Voice service free to KDP authors, allowing them to have books narrated by AI at no cost. The Verge reported that virtual voice audiobooks will automatically be available as new titles are enrolled in KDP Select, and authors can opt in to AI narrators for previously published titles.

The Verge reported that audiobooks created through Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange marketplace for authors who prefer a human narrator will also be available through Kindle+, starting with U.S. subscribers. Amazon plans to expand availability to other markets over time.

ZDNet reported that KDP authors enrolled in Kindle+ earn money for pages read, not per download, with earnings depending on the month’s payout rate and total pages read. It also noted that AI-narrated books may detract from the human dimension of audiobooks and could take work from professional narrators, while authors may choose a free virtual narrator over a human one.

Listening to books on Kindle devices and the Kindle app is not new, according to ZDNet. Some Kindle Unlimited ebooks included free access to professionally narrated audiobooks, though not all, and accessibility features such as Assistive Reader and VoiceView offered text read aloud. ZDNet reported that readers seeking human-narrated and dramatized audiobooks should still use Audible and other platforms such as Libby through local libraries.

Editor's Summary

Amazon has renamed Kindle Unlimited as Kindle+ and added AI-narrated audiobooks to its catalog while keeping the subscription separate from Prime and limited to 20 borrowed titles. The reports disagree on whether the monthly price is $11.99 or $12, though ZDNet said Amazon is not raising the price. The change expands listening options for subscribers and gives KDP authors a free AI narration route, a shift that could affect professional narrators.