Kindle Unlimited in questions and answers

The most important things about Kindle Unlimited in a form of single-minded questions and answers.

Kindle Unlimited is an ebook subscription service offered by Amazon since July 2014. For a monthly fee of $9.99, you get unlimited access to over 1.4 million Kindle books, but also thousands of audiobooks, and dozens of magazines.

Many people confuse Kindle Unlimited with other subscription-based service from Amazon – Prime.

Prime membership also offers benefits for Kindle users, naming only Kindle Owners’ Lending Library or Prime Reading. What’s more, catalogs of eligible books in both services are very similar in size and the selection of titles.

As a result, these two separate services are often perceived as one thing. Therefore, many readers look for answers about “Kindle Prime,” “Prime Kindle Unlimited,” or even “Kindle Cloud Unlimited.”

The purpose of this post is to clarify confusions about Kindle Unlimited. Therefore, the form of simple, single-minded questions and answers is the most effective way to do it.

The list below is much longer than the one on Amazon’s Learn more about Kindle Unlimited official page.

Kindle Unlimited in questions and answers

What is Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription-based service that gives unlimited access to ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines offered by Amazon.

What is included in Kindle Unlimited?

The catalog of Kindle Unlimited eligible titles includes:

• over 1.4 million Kindle ebooks – the list includes popular titles in romance, mystery, science-fiction, and non-fiction. Hovever, there are still not enough bestsellers from big publishers,
• over 20 thousand Kindle ebooks with audio narration – some of the Kindle books mentioned above come together with a professionally narrated Audible audiobook,
• over 30 current editions of popular magazines – the list includes GQ, National Geographic Traveller, People, Shape, Bon Appétit, or Bloomberg Businessweek.

How much is Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 per month.

From time to time, Amazon offers also 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year subscription plans for Kindle Unlimited. You’ll find more details under “Are there Kindle Unlimited deals?”

Is Kindle Unlimited available in yearly subscription?

No, Amazon currently offers only a monthly subscription plan.

However, in Kindle Unlimited deals (described below), one of the promoted plans is the yearly subscription.

How does Kindle Unlimited work?

Kindle Unlimited is a digital content subscription. Just like video or music subscriptions, you pay the fee once a month, and for that price ($9.99) you get full access to over 1.4 million Kindle ebooks (about one-third of the entire Kindle Store), Audible audiobooks, and digital magazines.

When you are subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, and find the eligible ebook in the Kindle Store, you’ll see on its product detail page “Read for Free.” Click on it, and the book will be delivered to your connected device.

How many books can I get with Kindle Unlimited?

You can download up to 10 titles to your device or application. If you want to get more, you’ll need to remove the titles downloaded earlier.

As you see, unlimited access doesn’t mean unlimited download.

Do Kindle Unlimited books have due dates?

No, borrowed Kindle Unlimited ebooks have no due dates. It means you can keep them on your device as long as you want.

Can I try Kindle Unlimited free?

Yes. You can try Kindle Unlimited free of charge for 30 days. After that time you will be charged a monthly fee of $9.99.

Will I be charged if I cancel Kindle Unlimited during free trial?

No, you won’t be charged.

Can I unsubscribe during the free trial?

Yes, you can do it. Read the details in the next answer.

How can I cancel my Kindle Unlimited subscription?

You can unsubscribe from Kindle Unlimited any time. To cancel the subscription:

1. Go to “Manage your Kindle Unlimited Membership” within your Amazon account,
2. Under “Manage Membership” select “Cancel Kindle Unlimited Membership,”
3. Select “End Membership”.

Will I get the Kindle Unlimited refund if cancel the subscription?

No, you won’t get a refund for the time between the cancellation date and the end of the current subscription period.

It is particularly important when you choose longer subscription plans, described above. If you buy a 12-month Kindle Unlimited subscription and decide to cancel it after two months, your subscription will last another ten months, and not renew for the next subscription period.

Are there Kindle Unlimited deals?

Yes, from time to time Amazon offers deals on Kindle Unlimited. So far, it happened during Black Friday / Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day.

During the deal, you can save up to 40% on Kindle Unlimited, but this is combined with signing up for a longer period.

For instance, this was Prime Day 2016 Kindle Unlimited deal:

• 6 months – $44.95 $59.94 – you save 25%,
• 12 months – $80.32 $119.88 – you save 33%,
• 24 months – $143.85 $239.76 – you save 40%.

Is Kindle Unlimited available for customers living outside the US?

Yes and no.

No, if you are an Amazon.com customer, but not a US resident. So, if you live for instance in Lithuania, and shop in the US Amazon store, you won’t be able to sign up to Kindle Unlimited.

Yes, if you are a customer of one of Amazon stores localized in major countries: UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, China, Japan, Brazil, or Mexico.

In a table below, you’ll see the Kindle Unlimited fees by country:

How can I find Kindle Unlimited books on Amazon?

In a browser on a computer, go directly to the catalog of Kindle Unlimited ebooks on Amazon.com.

Use the search bar to look for specific titles. Search results will be limited only to Kindle ebooks that are available via Kindle Unlimited.

Alternatively, you can go to Kindle Store. In the left-hand sidebar, you’ll see “Kindle Unlimited” among Popular Features. If you search the Kindle Store, you can narrow the results by checking “Kindle Unlimited eligible” box in the left sidebar, under “Show results for.”

Can I browse Kindle Unlimited books without subscription?

Yes, you can. The simplest way is to browse the catalog of ebooks that are included in Kindle Unlimited.

What is Prime Unlimited?

There is no such thing as “Prime Unlimited.” Many users confuse two separate services:

• Kindle Unlimited digital subscription,
• Amazon Prime multi-benefit subscription.

These two services are being confused because Amazon Prime includes a couple of benefits that either by the name or the character can be perceived as Kindle Unlimited. They are:

• Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – you can borrow one Kindle book per month,
• Prime Reading – you get unlimited acess to a rotating list of over 1,000 Kindle ebooks, magazines, comic books,
• Prime Music – you get unlimited access to digital music,
• Prime Instant Video – you get unlimited access to digital movies.

What is the difference between Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime?

They are two separate subscription services offered by Amazon.

Kindle Unlimited is a digital content subscription. For $9.99/month you get access to Kindle ebooks, Audible audiobooks, and digital magazines.

Amazon Prime is a multi-benefit subscription. For $10.99/month or $99/year you can enjoy a free two-day shipping of millions of items, or free access to Prime music and videos. On a list of over 20 features, there are Prime Reading, Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL), Kindle First, and Audible Channels. Read more in this article.

Below, you’ll find a comparison between Amazon’s two subscription-based services.

What is the difference between Kindle Unlimited and KOLL?

KOLL is Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. This feature is a part of Amazon Prime membership – therefore it has nothing to do with Kindle Unlimited.

When you are a Prime member, you get access to Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. You can borrow one ebook from KOLL catalog per month with no due dates.

Find below a comparison between Kindle Owner’s Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited.

Can I subscribe to both Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime?

Yes, they are different subscriptions and you can sign up separately.

However, we advise to learn more about each service and find out if one of them satifies you more.

If you are into reading digital content, you can choose Kindle Unlimited. If you buy a lot of physical goods on Amazon, you should go for Prime.

What are Kindle Unlimited compatible devices?

You will get access to Kindle Unlimited on:

• any device from Amazon – Kindle e-reader, Amazon Fire tablet, Amazon Fire phone,
• any mobile device with a free Kindle app – including Kindle apps for iOS (iPad and iPhone) and Android (f.e. Samsung Galaxy Tab),
• any computer with an internet browser – via Kindle Cloud Reader web app.

Can I read Kindle Unlimited ebooks on a PC computer?

Yes. You can read Kindle Unlimited ebooks on a PC computer.

In your internet browser (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.), go to Kindle Cloud Reader at url address read.amazon.com and sign in with your Amazon credentials.

Can I access Kindle Unlimited from a Mac computer?

Yes. You can access and read Kindle Unlimited ebooks on your Mac computer.

In your internet browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.), go to Kindle Cloud Reader at url address read.amazon.com and sign in with your Amazon credentials.

What is Kindle Unlimited with Narration?

Some of the Kindle Unlimited eligible books come together with an audiobook edition that is synced with the Kindle edition using Whispersync for Voice technology.

Kindle Unlimited with Narration means you can switch seamlessly between reading your Kindle ebook and listening to it without losing your place.

Check out the catalog of Books with Narration in Kindle Unlimited.

What happens when I cancel Kindle Unlimited subscription?

After cancellation, you will still be able to use Kindle Unlimited till the end of the current payment period.

On a first day after the termination of Kindle Unlimited, when you sync your device or app with your Kindle account, all Kindle Unlimited books (you can have up to 10) will be removed.

However, your annotations and highlights will remain in your account. You can access them in a web browser at kindle.amazon.com.

Is there Kindle Unlimited for Students?

No, currently Amazon doesn’t offer Kindle Unlimited subscription at special low fees for students.

Does Kindle Unlimited include textbooks?

Yes. Almost 40,000 Kindle textbooks are available within Kindle Unlimited. However, it’s only about 10% of over 400,000 titles from the Kindle Textbooks Store.

Here you can browse the catalog of Kindle Unlimited textbooks.

Can I give Kindle Unlimited as a gift?

Yes. To do that, go to a special Kindle Unlimited Gift page.

Select one of the subscription plans:

• 6 months – $59.94,
• 12 months – $119.88,
• 24 months – $239.76.

Double-check whether “This is a gift” box is checked, and click “Add Kindle Unlimited to Cart” button.

Proceed to checkout. You will be asked to give an email address of the recipient of the gift, as well as a date of gift delivery.

Kindle Unlimited – further reading

Below, there are some useful resources that will let you further explore Kindle Unlimited before signing up for the free trial.

• free Kindle reading apps – you’ll be able to read Kindle Unlimited books on them; Kindle e-reader or Amazon Fire tablet is not needed,
• how to download a Kindle Unlimited book – a step-by-step guide on how to get an eligible book to your Kindle app,
• things to know about Kindle Unlimited – a list of tips and facts you should know before joining Kindle Unlimited,
• a guide to Amazon Prime – if you are hesitating whether to choose Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime,
• Amazon Prime: benefits for Kindle users – this list includes all what Kindle users can get from signing up for Prime,
• Kindle Unlimited vs. KOLL – a comparison between Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (Prime feature) and Kindle Unlimited,
• Kindle Unlimited help – most important topics for the subscribers, including termination terms, gifting, and audiobooks.

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