Pros & Cons of a Kindle Unlimited Subscription

Are you ready to take your reading to the next level and considering a Kindle Unlimited subscription? Before making the plunge, check out this article on everything you need to know + my honest opinion on whether or not Kindle Unlimited is worth it.

_{This blog contains affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission when you purchase through them. This does not impact the price for you and all opinions are 100% my own. I truly appreciate your support.}

WHY I GOT A KINDLE UNLIMITED SUBSCRIPTION

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been considering the purchase of a Kindle Unlimited subscription for a while, but just haven’t made the plunge.

I debated getting a membership for so long and here were some of the reasons why I struggled with my decision:

I have SO many physical un-reads on my shelves so I didn’t want another reason to not read them
I wasn’t sure that I would read enough ebooks to justify the monthly cost
Were there even books that I wanted to read on KU? I wasn’t totally sure

Ultimately, I found myself wanting to read more and more on my kindle and tablet.

As much as I LOVE physical books and will always obtain physical copies of my faves, the ease and convenience of an e-book was just becoming more and more tempting.

Plus, I absolutely love reading on my kindle at night. Not having to fuss with a reading lamp has been a saving grace.

So I figured that now was as good a time as any to give Kindle Unlimited a go. So before I just into my thoughts, let me tell you a bit about the Kindle Unlimited subscription first.

HOW DOES KINDLE UNLIMITED WORK? IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW

First off, Kindle Unlimited (KU) is Amazon’s online book subscription service that allows you to read as much as you want from their selection of over 1 million e-books.

The service works similar to a library in the sense that you “check out” books and can store up to 10 titles in your KU library at any given time. Once you hit that max of 10 titles, you will have to “return” a book to get a new one.

There is no limit to how many books you can read in a month. Although you can only store 10 Kindle Unlimited titles in your library at once, you can read as many books as you’re able to consume.

Personally, I haven’t found there to be any issues with this because you can always re-check out books you’ve already read and if you made any notes or highlights while reading, those annotations will still be there!

You do not need to be an Amazon Prime member to use Kindle Unlimited. It is a separate subscription and all you need is an Amazon account, which is free.

You do not need a separate kindle device to read KU books. You can read KU books from any device that supports the Kindle app such as ipads, phones, tablets, etc.

I personally use the Amazon Fire tablet and Kindle to read – both affordable options under $100!

KINDLE UNLIMITED PRICE

A Kindle Unlimited subscription is $9.99/month. That includes unlimited books every single month, access to select audiobooks, and three magazine subscriptions. You can get a free month of Kindle Unlimited here.

PRIME READING VS. KINDLE UNLIMITED

Prime Reading is an exclusive service for Amazon Prime subscribers and is separate from Kindle Unlimited. It’s the same concept as KU, but Prime Reading only offers around one thousand titles, compared to KU’s one million.

If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership, you cannot access the Prime Reading library.

Want to sign up for Amazon Prime? You can get a free 30-day trial here!

IS KINDLE UNLIMITED WORTH IT: PROS

I have found myself reading more than I have in months.

I’m not sure what it is, but I read so much faster when I’m reading on a kindle or tablet. And like I said before, being able to read at night without the hassle of a reading lamp is so nice! Although, I definitely get less sleep now.

It has a larger library than any other online book subscription that I’ve seen.

I have tried a number of online book subscriptions and KU by far has the best selection of titles. Not only is there great variety, but with over 1 million selections, you will never run out of books to consume!

I also love the variety of authors that are available on Kindle Unlimited.

There are a lot of indie/self-published authors on KU, which could be a pro or con depending on the style of books you like to read. But just because there aren’t a lot of best-sellers doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of other great ones! I have found some amazing stories from fantastic authors that I don’t think I ever would have found otherwise.

It provides insights into your reading!

Maybe this is just the analytical nerd in me, but I LOVE that it gives me data on my reading habits. It shows you how many books you’ve read/month, how many days you’ve read, and more!

IS KINDLE UNLIMITED WORTH IT: CONS

The limit of KU books in your library can feel a bit restricting.

For me, it’s easy to fall down a KU rabbit hole and find dozens of new books that I want to read, but if I’m not saving them to a library, I easily forget that they exist. I’ve combatted this by creating a private “Kindle Books” Amazon list. Anytime I’m in the Kindle or Amazon app and I find a new book, I just add it to my “Kindle Books” list so I can reference it later.

Keep in mind, this limit only applies to KU books. You can have as many purchased e-books in your library as your device can hold.

If you don’t have an e-reader of some sort, you won’t find KU very useful.

While I tried reading off of my phone for a couple of months, it just was not working out for me. I invested in both a Kindle and a Fire Tablet and both have been a game-changer for me.

MY HONEST THOUGHTS ON KINDLE UNLIMTIED

Overall, I am so so happy that I took the dive into a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I’m reading more than I ever have, discovering new authors, and am thoroughly enjoying the books that I’m reading.

But here’s the honest truth. If you don’t like reading e-books, if you don’t read more than two/month, or if you only read best-sellers, new releases, etc — KU might not be for you.

However, if you’re looking to expand your library, have access to hundreds of thousands of amazing books at your fingertips, love finding new authors and stories, and enjoy e-reading, you should 100% give KU a try. I promise you won’t regret it.