Amazon Launches Kindle Unlimited – Is It Worth It?

Amazon launched a new service in the U.S. this week – Kindle Unlimited. For $9.99 / month, you can access more than 600,000 books and 2,000 audiobooks.

The ‘Netflix for books’ program has some similarities to Netflix in that there is a broad range of books but maybe not the specific book that you are looking for. But, just like you can always find something to watch on Netflix, the same is true for finding a book on Kindle Unlimited.

 Amazon is offering a 30-day free trial. There are a few things to consider before signing up:

• You can ‘only’ borrow up to 10 books at a time.
• Since the books have a DRM (digital rights management) wrapper, borrowed books can only be accessed with a valid subscription.  If you decide to terminate your subscription, you will no longer have access to any of your Kindle Unlimited books.
• Do you read enough to make this worthwhile?   Consider what your average cost per book has been and, based on the data below, decide if it is worth your while.   Note that the number of books are rounded up.   For example, if your average cost per book is $1.99, you will need to read 61 books in a year to make Kindle Unlimited cost effective for you.  If your average cost per book tends to run higher, such as $10.99, you only need to read 11 books in a year for this to be worth your while.

For many, Kindle Unlimited is a good deal.  You just need to decide if it’s a good deal for you.