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Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime Reading – which service is improve for me?

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Comparison - Kindle Unlimited vs Amazon Prime Reading
Kindle Unlimited is a standalone digital subscription; Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime membership

In this updated comparing, you volition learn most major features, eligible books, compatible devices, offered deals, and counterfoil terms.

Amazon offers so many digital services that it'south easy to get lost and misfile their names, features, and prices. Kindle Unlimited, Amazon Prime, FreeTime Unlimited, Prime Video, Aural Channels, Amazon Music Unlimited, Kindle Owners' Lending Library…

Some of these services are standalone subscriptions; some are a part of circuitous membership programs. Are you certain you lot are choosing a service that meets your needs the about?

In this overview, we will compare 2 pop digital services offered by Amazon: Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading. You will learn about major features, uniform devices, eligible books, cancellation terms, and offered deals.

Let's get-go with cursory definitions of each service:

Kindle Unlimited is a standalone subscription-based service that gives unlimited admission to over ane million Kindle ebooks, Aural audiobook companions, too as digital newspapers, magazines, and comic books. The monthly fee is $nine.99, and you can endeavour information technology for 30 days gratuitous of accuse.

⇢ More most Kindle Unlimited

Amazon Prime Reading is a part of Amazon Prime (multi-benefit subscription that costs $12.99 per month). It gives unlimited access to a rotating option of about 1,000 hot Kindle ebooks, popular magazines, children's books, comics, and short reads.

⇢ More almost Prime number Reading

At the end of the mail, you lot will see nearly important features compared in a handy table, merely before that, let's compare the features and facts in detail.

Kindle Unlimited vs. Amazon Prime Reading

Subscription comparison

Both Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading are subscription-based services, but there is i substantial divergence betwixt them:

  • Kindle Unlimited is a separate subscription service,
  • Prime Reading is a function of a larger subscription – Amazon Prime.

Therefore, comparison these 2 services ane-to-one doesn't make sense.

Kindle Unlimited costs $nine.99 per month, and you go simply this very service.

Prime Reading is not the only benefit of Amazon Prime membership. For $12.99 per calendar month, Amazon Prime subscription offers several benefits, including:

  • Free two-day shipping to addresses in the contiguous U.s.a.
  • Free aforementioned-day delivery in sure areas
  • Prime Instant Video – unlimited streaming of movies and Telly shows
  • Prime Music – unlimited access to millions of songs and playlists
  • Audible channels – costless admission to original audio content

As you see, Prime number Reading is just ane of the benefits yous tin access – and probably non the most important one. Free 2-twenty-four hour period shipping and video streaming are the virtually mutual reasons to join Prime number.

Available titles

Kindle Unlimited gives freedom to explore over 1 million Kindle books, magazines, and comics
Kindle Unlimited digital subscription gives gives admission to over 1 million Kindle books, magazines, comics, and audiobook companions.

Amazon no longer provides the exact number of items in specific categories or on search results pages. However, comparing the catalogs of eligible books is quite easy.

Kindle Unlimited catalog includes over 1 million titles – information technology's what Amazon claims on the sign-up page. The last time nosotros could track the exact number (the finish of 2017), more 1.4 million items were Kindle Unlimited eligible. It's about one-4th of the entire Kindle Store.

Amazon Prime Reading catalog includes well-nigh i grand titles. The number of eligible books seems pretty limited, but you accept to keep in mind two things:

  • The listing of titles is rotating
  • Yous can employ other services included in Prime membership

Every month, new titles are added to Prime Reading – and some titles are gone. The mechanism is the aforementioned as, for example, in Netflix. It's worth checking out the listing of eligible titles one time a month to spot the newcomers.

The second thing is more than of import. When you are a Prime number member, you lot can admission digital books via a few services:

  • Prime Reading
  • Kindle Owners' Lending Library (the service seems to have been discontinued, though)
  • Kindle First,
  • Audible Channels

Content details

Both services give admission to similar digital content, when it comes to format and nature:

  • Kindle ebooks – some of them are in Kindle in Motion format enabling you to play embedded video, audio, or interactive elements
  • Audiobook companions – you tin can add an sound track, powered by Audible, to eligible books to be able to seamlessly switch betwixt reading and listening
  • Digital magazines
  • Comic books

Both services include the aforementioned content. In other words, you won't detect in Prime Reading what'southward not included in Kindle Unlimited.

The content in both services has major characteristics:

  • The majority of titles is exclusive to Kindle Store – these books are self-published via Amazon'south Kindle Direct Publishing platform or released by Amazon'due south ain imprints, such as Montlake, AmazonCrossing, Thomas & Mercer, or 47North
  • There are almost no books from big publishers – if you are looking for bestsellers from Random House or Simon & Schuster, yous'll be disappointed to find nigh of them are not included, although yous tin buy them in the Kindle Shop
  • A regular toll of a majority of books is less than $v – information technology's good to keep information technology in heed when evaluating whether it pays to join each service. Every bit the books are released in the Amazon ecosystem, their prices are much lower than bestsellers from Big 5 publishers. Regular prices of these books are usually $3.99, $four.99, or $v.99.

Eligible devices and apps

Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading books availability
Both Kindle Unlimited and Prime number Reading books can exist accessed from Kindle e-readers, Burn tablets, likewise as Kindle apps for iPad/iPhone and Android.

Both services tin can be accessed from:

  • Kindle e-reader
  • Fire tablet
  • Kindle reading app for iOS and iPadOS (iPhone and iPad)
  • Kindle reading app for Android

If you apply other devices, you can browse the catalog of each service in your web browser and add your books to the device this fashion.

Note: Y'all won't exist able to read magazines from the Prime Reading itemize on Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for Mac, and Kindle for PC.

Borrowing and returning books

If you lot accept the Kindle e-reader or Burn tablet, y'all can access catalogs of both services directly and infringe eligible books seamlessly.

You tin do the same using your Kindle app for iOS or Android.

In both services, at that place are no due dates, so you lot can keep the downloaded titles equally long equally you want.

What you demand to know is that you can keep up to 10 books from each service on your connected devices or apps. If you desire to infringe the 11th title, yous'll need to return one of the previously downloaded books.

Counterfoil terms

In both services, when y'all cancel the subscription, you'll keep the borrowed books until the next billing date.

The day after the end of the subscription, the borrowed books will be removed from your device or app the moment you connect it to the spider web.

Y'all will, however, keep all the notes and highlights you've made. You will be able to admission them online at kindle.amazon.com.

Toll comparing

As we've already mentioned, comparison Kindle Unlimited with Amazon Prime number is of no apply, as the latter service gives many other benefits – and most of them are not related to reading.

However, let'due south speedily become through fee structures to allow yous take an idea of how much each service will cost y'all.

Kindle Unlimited

The most common subscription program of Kindle Unlimited is a monthly fee, which is $9.99. Your subscription will be automatically renewed each calendar month until you cancel it.

If you subscribe to the service for the offset time, you are eligible for a 30-day free trial, after which yous'll outset paying the monthly fee.

If you cancel your subscription during the free trial, your credit card won't be charged.

Amazon Prime

You tin can select from 2 subscription plans:

  • Monthly program – $12.99
  • Annual plan – $119

If yous choice upwardly the annual subscription, the monthly price will be lower: $9.92 compared to $12.99 from a monthly plan.

However, if yous would like to cancel your annual plan after, allow's say, ii months, you won't get an automatic refund for the remaining menstruum. Please keep information technology in mind when selecting the subscription programme.

Available deals

Amazon offers several deals throughout the year for Kindle Unlimited, and almost none for Amazon Prime.

Therefore, y'all can just save money on Kindle Unlimited subscription. Usually, the deals are offered for Prime number Day and Blackness Friday & Cyber Mon. Plus, at that place are a few less attractive deals in the meantime.

The usual deal for Kindle Unlimited is based on longer-time subscription plans. For case, y'all can save:

  • 25% on 6-month subscription – $44.95 $59.94
  • 33% on 12-month subscription – $80.32 $119.88
  • 40% on 24-calendar month subscription – $143.85 $239.76

Some Kindle Unlimited deals volition let you save fifty-fifty 96%, for instance, when the 3-calendar month subscription is offered for only $0.99.

Some fourth dimension ago, Amazon introduced also Kindle Unlimited extend plans that are addressed to active members. Y'all tin purchase one of the long-term plans and salve roughly between 20 and twoscore%.

When is the best time to bring together Kindle Unlimited? If y'all are not eligible for the free trial anymore, you should hunt for deals. The best deals are offered for Black Friday & Cyber Monday.

When is the all-time time to join Amazon Prime number? It's a few weeks before Prime 24-hour interval, and a few weeks before Blackness Friday. Y'all will be able to test most features during the upcoming event, while all the same enjoying the thirty-24-hour interval costless trial.

Side-by-side comparing

To make things uncomplicated, we've put everything yous wanted to know nearly Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime Reading into a comparing tabular array.

Kindle Unlimited vs. Amazon Prime Reading – comparison table

Kindle Unlimited vs. Amazon Prime Reading – comparing table

Kindle Unlimited Prime Reading
Subscription-based Yes Yes
Part of Amazon Prime No Yeah
Number of available titles one,400,000
Explore
1,000
Explore
Kindle books Aye Aye
Comic books Yes Yes
Digital magazines Yes Yes
Audiobook companions Yeah Yes
Number of books to keep simultaneously 10 10
Due dates No No
Uniform devices Kindle e-readers,
Burn tablets
Kindle due east-readers,
Burn down tablets
Compatible apps Kindle for iOS,
Kindle for Android
Kindle for iOS,
Kindle for Android
Costless trial Yes,
thirty days
Yes,
30 days
Subscription plan Monthly Monthly,
Almanac
Monthly subscription fee $9.99 $12.99
Annual subscription fee north.a. $119

Which service is meliorate for me?

The difference betwixt the two services is clear:

  • Kindle Unlimited is for gorging readers
  • Amazon Prime number Reading is for occasional readers

If you want to read the hottest new bestsellers released by large publishers frequently, none of these services will meet your needs.

Before joining Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime, make sure to explore catalogs of eligible books to find out how many books you'd desire to read. You can exercise it without being subscribed. Simply, use the spider web browser on your calculator:

  • Kindle Unlimited – catalog of eligible books
  • Amazon Prime Reading – catalog of eligible books

Useful links

If you want to acquire even more nigh two services before making the final decision which one to choose, make sure to follow these links:

  • Amazon Prime assistance pages – if you consider getting Prime, you'll notice here the following back up topics: overview, managing ownership, eligible items,
  • Amazon Prime number Reading help – official guide: how to borrow books, which devices and apps are eligible, and more,
  • Kindle Unlimited FAQ page – most of import questions almost Amazon's ebook subscription are answered here,
  • Amazon Prime tips and tricks – our handy guide to all things related to Amazon'due south multi-do good subscription,
  • Things to know about Kindle Unlimited – our popular list of things y'all should know before joining Amazon'south digital subscription,
  • The catalog of Kindle Unlimited books – the landing page includes pop titles in romance, literary fiction, biographies, as well as books with narration,
  • The catalog of Prime number Reading eligible titles – if you want to check out what's the current selection without the need to sign upwardly to Amazon Prime number.

All images: Amazon.

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