Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It in the UK? What £9.49 a Month Gets You

The 60-second answer

Kindle Unlimited costs £9.49 a month. It works like a library card for eBooks: you borrow up to 20 titles at a time, read as many as you like, and return one to make room for the next. When your membership ends, the borrowed books disappear from your devices.

Whether it saves you money depends on what you read. The catalogue is huge, but it is mostly books from authors who publish directly with Amazon. Before you pay, search for the last few books you enjoyed and see whether they carry the Kindle Unlimited label.

What you get for £9.49 a month

• Millions of eBooks, with up to 20 borrowed at the same time.
• Thousands of audiobooks. Many Kindle Unlimited eBooks also have audio narration, shown by a headphones icon, so you can switch between reading and listening.
• Hundreds of magazines, including Stuff, T3, National Geographic Traveller, OK! and Cosmopolitan UK.
• Reading on any Kindle e-reader, or on the free Kindle app for iPhone, Android, tablets and computers.
• A free trial for eligible new members (30 days when we checked). It then renews at £9.49 a month unless you cancel, and it is usually only available if you have not had one in the last 12 months.

The catch: which books are missing

Most Kindle Unlimited books come from authors enrolled in Amazon's KDP Select programme, which is aimed at self-published writers. As the book-publishing platform Reedsy puts it, the service is "rather lacking in mainstream books": a few famous series appear, but they are few and far between.

That is not a problem if you enjoy discovering new authors, long-running series or genre fiction. It is a problem if your reading list comes from newspaper reviews and bestseller charts. On the Amazon website, you can filter your search to show only Kindle Unlimited titles. Try it with your favourite authors before you start a trial.

Do you need a Kindle?

No. The free Kindle app works on phones, tablets and computers, and your place in a book syncs between them. That is fine for short reading sessions, especially on a tablet.

A Kindle e-reader is more comfortable for long reading. It uses an E Ink screen, which reflects light like paper instead of shining light at your eyes, so it is easier to read in sunshine and the battery lasts far longer than a phone or tablet. If you read for an hour or more most days, an e-reader makes the subscription more enjoyable, but it is not required.

Kindle Unlimited, Prime Reading or your library?

• Prime membership includes a smaller selection of eBooks and audiobooks. If you already have Prime and read a few books a year, try that before paying for Kindle Unlimited.
• Your local library may lend eBooks and audiobooks free through the Libby app with a library card. Popular titles can have a waiting list, but new bestsellers are more likely to appear there than on Kindle Unlimited.
• Kindle Unlimited is the best of the three when you read a lot, read quickly and like the kind of books it is strongest in.

A simple test: will it save you money?

Add up what you spent on eBooks last month, or what the books you read would have cost. If the total is regularly more than £9.49 and most of those books are in Kindle Unlimited, the subscription saves you money. If you read one book a month, or mostly new releases, buying the books you want is usually cheaper.

Try it without wasting money

• Before starting the trial, check that five books you would like to read next are included.
• Set a reminder a few days before the trial ends. Deleting the app does not cancel the membership.
• If you cancel, your membership stays active until the next billing date. After that, you lose access to your Kindle Unlimited titles.