Kindle

Amazon's consumer e-book reading app, distinct from Kindle Direct Publishing, the author-facing service

As of 1 September 2026, Kindle is free to use. The free e-book and audiobook reading app for buying and reading titles from Amazon's Kindle Store. Softwr lists it under Publishing. Kindle is made by Amazon.com, Inc., available on iOS, Android, Web.

Visit siteVisit Kindle

Overview

What Kindle does

The Kindle app lets users buy, download and read e-books and, through integration with Audible, listen to audiobooks, with features like adjustable text size, X-Ray annotations, Whispersync page and bookmark syncing across devices, and offline reading of downloaded titles. It works on phones, tablets and Kindle e-ink devices, and as a browser-based cloud reader. The app itself is free with no subscription; revenue comes from the price of individual e-books and audiobooks purchased through the Kindle Store, plus the optional Kindle Unlimited subscription (10.99 USD a month in the US at time of writing) which gives access to a rotating catalogue of included titles rather than the full store catalogue. Kindle e-books bought through the app are DRM-protected by default and tied to an Amazon account, which is the lock-in mechanism worth understanding: books purchased are not freely transferable to another platform's reading app without stripping protection through third party tools, which may violate the platform's terms of service. Buyers are readers wanting cross-device access to a large e-book catalogue, and Amazon's dominant e-book market share means Kindle often has the widest new-release and backlist availability of any single storefront. The trade-off is a closed ecosystem: a Kindle library represents ongoing dependence on an Amazon account and the Kindle format rather than a portable, DRM-free personal collection.

What people use it for

Reading e-books purchased from the Kindle Store across a phone, tablet and dedicated e-reader with synced position
Switching between reading and audiobook listening on titles with Audible integration
Subscribing to Kindle Unlimited for readers who consume many books from its included catalogue
Reading downloaded books offline while travelling without a data connection

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Kindle.

Purchased e-books are DRM-protected and tied to an Amazon account by default, so a Kindle library is not portable to another platform's app without stripping protection through third party tools.
Kindle Unlimited only includes a rotating subset of titles, not the full Kindle Store, so many popular or newly released books still require a separate purchase even with an active subscription.
Public library e-book lending through Kindle depends on library systems like Libby/OverDrive integration working correctly, and syncing issues between library loans and the Kindle app are a recurring user complaint.
Amazon can and has remotely removed purchased content from user accounts in rare disputed-rights cases, which is a real, if uncommon, risk of the DRM-locked model.
Reading on a phone or tablet inside the app lacks the e-ink glare-free reading experience of a dedicated Kindle device, which is a different purchase entirely.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Kindle

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Kindlevs
Kindle Direct Publishing
Kindle Direct Publishing: If you are an author or publisher looking to publish and sell books rather than read them

Pricing

What Kindle costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Free app

Free

Pay per book purchased, no subscription required

Kindle Unlimited

$10.99 /mo

Access to a rotating catalogue of included e-books and audiobooks, not the full Kindle Store

Capabilities

Features

E-book reading
Adjustable font, layout and brightness with page-turn and highlighting tools
Whispersync
Syncs reading position, bookmarks and notes across phone, tablet and e-ink devices
Audible integration
Switch between reading and listening to a title with narration synced to reading position where available
Offline downloads
Books download to the device for reading without a data connection
Kindle Unlimited
Optional subscription giving access to a rotating catalogue of included titles
X-Ray
In-book character, place and term reference tool for supported titles

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Is the Kindle app free?

Yes, the app itself is free; you pay for individual e-book and audiobook purchases, or optionally subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

Can I read Kindle books on a non-Amazon device?

Somewhat; Kindle apps exist for most major platforms, but the books remain DRM-locked to your Amazon account rather than being a portable file format.

Is this the same as Kindle Direct Publishing?

No, Kindle Direct Publishing is the separate author-facing platform for publishing and selling books; this is the consumer reading app.

Keep looking

Where to go from Kindle

Best Publishing software for

Compare Kindle with

Other Publishing software

Everand
Unlimited ebook, audiobook, magazine and sheet music subscription, the consumer reading service formerly called Scribd
From $11.99/mo11 researched notes
Kobo
Rakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free plan11 researched notes
Libro.fm
Audiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notes
Storytel
Unlimited audiobook and ebook subscription, strong in Europe and Latin America, no library card needed
From $14.99/mo11 researched notes
Wattpad
User-generated fiction publishing and reading app, owned by Naver alongside Webtoon
Free plan9 researched notes
Moon Reader
Android ebook reader app with a one-time purchase, deep format support and no subscription or store lock-in
Free, then $4.99/one-time10 researched notes
Shopify
The most trusted ecommerce platform to start, grow, and scale your business
From $24/mo13 researched notes
IngramSpark
Print-on-demand and distribution into the wholesale catalogue that bookshops order from
10 researched notes
Calibre
Ebook library management and format conversion
Open source7 researched notes
Atticus
One-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
From $147/one-time11 researched notes
PublishDrive
Ebook distribution aggregator that moved from a royalty-share model to flat-fee subscription pricing, so authors now keep 100% of the store royalty rather than splitting it with the platform
Free plan11 researched notes
Affinity Publisher
Desktop page layout application, free since the Affinity range was relaunched by Canva
Free plan11 researched notes
Kobo Writing Life
Rakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free plan11 researched notes
Libro.fm
Audiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notes
Atticus
One-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
From $147/one-time11 researched notes
PublishDrive
Ebook distribution aggregator that moved from a royalty-share model to flat-fee subscription pricing, so authors now keep 100% of the store royalty rather than splitting it with the platform
Free plan11 researched notes
Kobo Writing Life
Rakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free plan11 researched notes
Kobo
Rakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free plan11 researched notes

Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Kindle, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

Best Publishing software alternatives

View all Publishing software