Who Should (and Shouldn't) Get Kindle Unlimited
Is Kindle Unlimited worth it? Here's my honest opinion after 3 years of experience with the book subscription service from Amazon.
As we head into the holiday season, Amazon will be offering great deals on Kindle Unlimited, but is it worth it?
I've been an active KU subscriber, on and off, for over 3 years but have actively maintained my subscription for the last 6 months.
I want to share my experience with this book subscription and share things for you to consider as you plan your reading goals for the new year.
You can read all my pros and cons below, but the short answer is:
Yes, Kindle Unlimited is definitely worth it for some readers but not for others. Everything depends on how many books you consume in a month, how attached you are to revisiting old titles, and whether or not you'll take advantage of some of the perks the program offers.
What is Kindle Unlimited?
Spend any time at all on the Amazon Kindle books store and you'll be inundated with labels on books touting they are part of the Kindle Unlimited library. But what is that?
Kindle Unlimited is Amazon's book subscription service that allows readers to borrow digital ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines from the KU Library indefinitely for one monthly fee.
If that sounds too good to be true, it's because it is. There's totally a catch:
While you can borrow an unlimited amount of KU books, you are actually limited to how many you can borrow at one time.
Subscribers can load up to 20 kindle books to their account at any given time. If you want a new book, you'll need to return one of your 20 before you can download the new one.
How Much It Costs
Currently, Kindle Unlimited costs $11.99/month plus taxes. Amazon often hosts new member sales and promotions, especially around the holidays.
It is important to note that this is in comparison with the average price of a Kindle book which has risen significantly in the last year or so. While many books can still be found for 99 cents - $1.99, most best selling fiction Kindle books tend to fall between $10 - $15.
What's Included in the Subscription
- Millions of Kindle ebooks but not ALL of the books on Amazon are included in the KU library
- Amazon Original Collections
- Magazine Subscriptions to popular titles like Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Living, Food Network, and The Pioneer Woman
- Audiobooks in Audible with their Matching Kindle Books for taking advantage of Whispersync
- Comic Books and Manga
General Pros and Cons
Nothing is ever perfect, right? There are both pros and cons to the KU membership:
Pros:
- Guilt-Free Borrowing: Test out as many books from the library as you want, as long as you keep your total under 20 at one time.
- Fun Discovery of New Authors
- Save Money: If you purchase more than 2 books per month, you might spend less on a subscription. This is especially true if you want the audiobook version and it is available.
- No Due Dates: Your borrowing term can be as long as you want it to be, no library due dates to battle with.
Cons:
- Options are Limited: Not all Kindle books are in the KU library.
- Discovery Can Be Difficult: It often feels like the same books are recommended over and over again. Finding fresh titles that are in the KU library can be challenging.
- Limited to 20 Books at a Time: I've run up against my limit many times and I always get annoyed. Because discovery is challenging, I prefer to queue up a lot of options at once. I'd love to be able to save more options to save time in hunting.
Who Will LOVE It
There are several types of readers that will strongly benefit from a Kindle Unlimited membership:
Heavy Fiction Readers
If you read more than 2 - 3 books per month and love the idea of being able to sample a book before committing completely, you will easily get your value in a month.
This is especially true if you don't mind waiting a while for the bestsellers to join the library. If you don't mind reading slightly older titles, you'll have so many options to choose from.
Audiobook + Kindle Readers
If you want BOTH the Audible and the Kindle version of your book without having to purchase both of them, KU automatically adds the ebook to your library when you choose an audiobook.
The audiobook will appear in your Audible app while the Kindle book will appear in your Kindle app. You'll need to return them both when you're finished.
If you finish even just one audiobook per month and you will likely save money with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
You can see all the Kindle Unlimited audiobooks they offer here.
Cookbook Readers
ME. I'm a huge, huge fan of cookbooks on super niche topics. The Kindle Unlimited cookbook library is incredibly extensive and I've found some super great cookbooks to test out over the last couple of years.
Magazine Readers
Kindle Unlimited comes with access to dozens of magazine subscriptions including popular titles like Magnolia, Pioneer Woman, BH&G, Southern Living, Food Network, Taste of Home, and sooooo many more.
The latest issues get downloaded automatically to your Kindle every month when they are released. You have access to them as long as your subscription is active.
The current magazine issue does not replace the previous issue, so you can build up a little library of magazines for reading in binge sessions if you like.
If I canceled my magazine subscriptions and went all-digital, I could likely afford at least 6 months of Kindle Unlimited a year!
You can see all the Kindle Unlimited magazines they offer here.
Spicy Romance Readers
If you're a steamy romance fiction lover, you'll love the huge variety of titles included in the KU library. Picked a book and it's not for you? Guilt free exchanging and diving in on something else.
Adventurous Indie Readers
Do you love reading independently published books and discovering new-to-you authors? KU offers plenty of options to dive deep into the library and find hidden gems that aren't the center of BookTok.
Minimalists Who Read
If you like a neat and tidy Kindle device with just a few options to pick from, KU is perfect.
Perhaps you love magazines but want to clear the clutter in your house and avoid stacks of printed copies. You could load up your Kindle with magazine subscriptions.
However, you'd need to consistently read around 12 titles or more to make the KU subscription worth it for a year.
Who Will NOT Like It
There are plenty of readers who will not find enough value in a Kindle Unlimited subscription:
Slow Readers Who Savor
If you take your time and read just one or two books a month, you will likely spend less money just buying your Kindle books outright. Especially if you stalk my Kindle book sale updates and get them when they are less than $5 each.
Collectors
If you want to build a Kindle collection with titles that you can open again and again and reference back to in the future, you will not like having to always search for and download your favorite titles.
I frequently reference my highlighted text in older books. The good news here is that if you do re-download a book you previously borrowed, your highlighted text will still be there.
Anti-Subscribers
For those of us who are annoyed that massive companies charge us monthly fees and we own nothing at the end of it, the entire idea of "renting" a Kindle book is ludicrous. If you want to read free Kindle books, you can just download them from your library instead and save the entire fee.
What I Buy vs. What I Borrow
As hostess of the Peanut Blossom Book Club, I'm constantly devouring books as I hunt for our annual book lists.
I buy tons of Kindle books when they go on sale, I'm always hunting for the best Amazon deals. I prefer to keep them in my library because I highlight the content to help trigger my memory when writing book club questions or planning the matching party menus.
So if it is a book club book -- I buy it. I want access to it all the time and I don't want to risk not having it in the Kindle Unlimited library.
I tend to use my Kindle Unlimited subscription to sample titles before I buy them, to have access to free magazines, and to peruse dozens of cookbooks I wouldn't have purchased otherwise.
Will I Keep My Subscription?
I've built a fairly impressive-sized Kindle library with purchased copies of books but I'm still also a Kindle Unlimited subscriber because it helps me discover new titles before I have to commit.
The Kindle Unlimited subscription has been useful enough for me as a book blogger that I will keep my subscription.
FAQ
What happens to my books after I cancel?
You will lose access to any KU books you borrowed if you cancel.
Can I see back issues of magazines?
You can only see the back issues that have been automatically downloaded to your device while your subscription is current.
If you cancel your KU subscription, you will lose access to all of your magazines. If you renew in the future, you'll only have access to the new magazines that start to appear from when you renew forward.
What happens to the audiobooks I borrowed?
If you cancel, you will lose access to the audiobooks you borrowed. This is different than canceling your Audible subscription. When you get an audiobook with an Audible credit, you own it forever whether or not you continue to pay for your Audible subscription.
Is it hard to cancel?
I did not find it difficult to cancel, but you may have to dig around in the settings before you find it.
Do I need a Kindle device?
You do not need a Kindle to use Kindle Unlimited. I actually use it most on my iPad because I love the larger screen for browsing and the full-color screen for enjoying the magazines and book covers.
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