Are All Books Free On Kindle Unlimited? [Complete Guide!]

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. – meaning I may get a commission if you decide to purchase through my links, at no additional cost to you.

Kindle Unlimited is an excellent service if you really want to take advantage of reading a ton of books! But, one question you may have in mind is whether all books are free with Kindle Unlimited!

All books available as part of the Kindle Unlimited library on Amazon are entirely free for Kindle Unlimited members. However, you still have to pay for books that are not available with Kindle Unlimited subscription.

This might sound confusing at first, but rest assured, we shall go through all the details in this article that will help you demystify everything and enable you to understand the Kindle Unlimited service in greater detail!

So, let’s get started!

Quick Tip! Check out this special deal on Amazon that offers 3-months of Kindle Unlimited for FREE with this Kindle model! You can also try Kindle Unlimited for 30 days for FREE (no strings attached!)

Are All Books on Kindle Unlimited Free?

All books available as part of the Kindle Unlimited library are entirely free to use as long as you pay the $9.99 Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription fee. However, not all books available on Amazon are accessible through the Kindle Unlimited service! (more on this later)

Furthermore, since you are paying the monthly subscription fee, the books you read through the Kindle Unlimited subscription aren’t technically free. 

But, other than that, if you’re wondering whether you have to pay to buy books in addition to the subscription fee, the answer is “No”. You basically don’t have to pay for any Kindle Unlimited book once you have an active subscription.

Does Kindle Unlimited Include All Books on Amazon?

Not all books from Amazon are included in the Kindle Unlimited library. Books that are part of Kindle Unlimited typically carry the “Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited” label on the book purchase page.

The usage of “Unlimited” in Kindle Unlimited is a bit misleading. When I first heard about Kindle Unlimited, the immediate thought that I had was instead of paying for individual books on Amazon, I basically have to pay a subscription fee and access all the books from the site!

While this might be partially true, as you do get access to over 2 million book titles without having to pay for the book individually, not all books from Amazon are included in the Kindle Unlimited service.

I previously wrote a detailed article on this topic, be sure to check out that article for more details.

It is interesting to note that while Kindle Unlimited does include a few classics and some of the most well-known book series, such as The Lord of the Rings, or the Harry Potter series, most books available on Kindle Unlimited are from no-name indie authors. 

Then again, you do find some well-known authors, too, such as Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, Mary Poppins, and Agatha Christie, to name a few. Still, generally speaking, you’ll mostly find upcoming authors who are perhaps releasing their first book.

Don’t get me wrong, you will still find some outstanding books and terrific authors, just that they haven’t made a name yet, and you may not recognize them!

How to Know If a Book is FREE on Kindle Unlimited?

As I previously mentioned, all the books that are available as part of the Kindle Unlimited library are completely free. You don’t have to pay a single additional dollar in addition to the subscription fee. 

So, perhaps a better question is how to know if a book is available with Kindle Unlimited.

Typically, if a book is available with Kindle Unlimited, you will see the “Kindle Unlimited” icon on the book purchase page (as shown in the image above).

You will see an option that says something along the lines of “Read for $0.00 with Kindle Unlimited”.

Furthermore, since not all books are available with Kindle Unlimited, it can take some time to find the books that are available from the ones that you like. However, you can easily use this link to access just the Kindle Unlimited books on Amazon (you can thank me later for saving you some time).

You can also get a 30-day free trial of Kindle Unlimited using this link if you haven’t yet tried the service and wondering how well it works. 

How Many Books Do You Get With Kindle Unlimited?

So, I know what you are probably thinking – “Is Kindle Unlimited truly unlimited?”. How many books do you really get with Kindle Unlimited?

Generally speaking, you can access only 20 books simultaneously with Kindle Unlimited. However, once you’ve finished reading some books, you can return them and add more Kindle Unlimited books to your library.

This way, you can continue to read as many as you like. You indeed get access to 2 million titles as advertised by Amazon. However, you just can’t read them all at once. You’ll have access to about 20 titles at a time. 

In case you can’t locate the Kindle Unlimited books that you added to your personal library, you can use the Kindle Unlimited Central Dashboard to access, manage and return your Kindle Unlimited books.

How Long Can You Keep a Book from Kindle Unlimited?

You can keep a Kindle Unlimited book in your personal library for as long as you have the subscription active. If you decide to cancel the Kindle Unlimited membership, you will no longer have access to the Kindle Unlimited books downloaded to your reading device.

In addition to that, you may also need to return a book to get access to more books to read. So, you can retain access to a book as long as you don’t return the book to Amazon or cancel the Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Kindle Unlimited is akin to how a library works rather than a bookstore. You pay to get access to millions of books, borrow certain books at a time, and return some books to get access to more books!

Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It?

This question actually deserves an article in and of itself! Rest assured, I shall write a detailed article with data to understand whether Kindle Unlimited is truly worth it or not. [Edit – Please check out the article here]

Until then, here’s a summarized version of whether Kindle Unlimited is worth it or not after using it for several months – 

Kindle Unlimited is totally worth it if you are a voracious reader and read more than 4 to 5 books a month. If you are someone who enjoys reading classics or perhaps new stories from fresh authors, you will indeed find Kindle Unlimited to be worth the money!

However, if you prefer to get access to the latest book releases from well-known authors, then Kindle Unlimited may not be as valuable to you.