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What you need to know
- Kindle Unlimited is now Kindle+, keeping the $11.99 monthly price, 20-title borrow limit, and existing user data intact.
- The subscription now includes thousands of additional audiobooks sourced via Audible’s ACX and Amazon’s synthetic Virtual Voice tech.
- The expanded audio catalog is currently exclusive to US subscribers, with a broader international rollout planned for a later date.
Amazon has rebranded its Kindle Unlimited subscription as Kindle Plus, expanding its ebook subscription into a wider identity and adding thousands of audiobooks to the mix.
The US monthly price is still $11.99, but the expanded catalog means subscribers can access more audio content, including books narrated by AI, without having to pay for another subscription.
The rebrand was launched on October 22, and Amazon has kept the core benefits the same. Subscribers still can check out up to 20 titles at a time from a rotating selection of ebooks, comics, and magazines, with no return deadlines. History, bookmarks, notes, and progress all transfer in as well, so existing members won’t have to start over just because Amazon decided the old name needed an upgrade. Kindle Plus is not associated with Amazon Prime and Audible.
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Audiobook expansion
Along with the rebrand, Amazon is adding thousands of titles, including audiobooks created through its Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) and AI-generated recordings via its Virtual Voice technology, as per ZDNet. The latter allows self-published authors to transform their written work into narrated audio without hiring a human narrator, potentially bringing more books to listeners who’d rather press play than flip pages.
But there is a catch. Qualifying ebooks enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing’s KDP Select program can be automatically included in Virtual Voice audiobooks by the authors. This will make it easier to grow the catalog but also raises questions about how much of the new selection will feature synthetic narration and whether the experience will be comparable to professionally narrated audiobooks for listeners.
The change gives readers more options to switch between reading and listening without adding another bill. Amazon’s approach provides a less complicated path for authors to publish in audio, but AI narration won’t be for everyone, particularly those who like expressive performances.
At the moment, the expanded audiobook selection is only available in the US, but Amazon promises wider international availability at a later date. The company has not set out a firm timetable for other markets.
Kindle Plus is therefore more than a fresh logo, but it’s not a total revamp either. The question is whether Amazon can make its growing audio library worth exploring while giving subscribers enough clarity about who’s actually reading their next book aloud.