Does Kindle Unlimited Include All Books? [Full 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.

If you are an avid reader, Kindle Unlimited is one of the best services for reading books. After all, the option of reading unlimited books sounds really promising! But do you really get unlimited book options? Are all the Kindle versions of the books available in Kindle Unlimited?

Not all Kindle books from Amazon are available in Kindle Unlimited. If a book is available on Kindle Unlimited, it will usually have a “Read for free with Kindle Unlimited” option on the book purchase page.

There is a lot to know about the Kindle Unlimited service, irrespective of whether you are already a member or if you are planning to get the subscription. In this article, we shall understand the book options available on Kindle Unlimited in great detail. 

By the end of this article, you should have a fair idea of which books are available on Kindle Unlimited, how many books you can get on Kindle Unlimited, how to view just the Kindle Unlimited library on Amazon, and how to get Kindle Unlimited for free, and much more!

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 Kindle Books Available in Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited indeed has a huge library of book titles. Amazon boasts that you can access over 2 million books with Kindle Unlimited! None of us will ever actually read so many books. Still, the possibility of accessing such a wide and vast variety of books makes the service feel truly unlimited!

Not all Amazon Kindle books are accessible through Kindle Unlimited. Books available on Kindle Unlimited require special licenses and approval from the author. Therefore, if an author disagrees with the terms of Kindle Unlimited, their book is unavailable to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Furthermore, the revenue share of books on Kindle Unlimited hardly favors the authors. Subsequently, many renowned publishers avoid making their books available to Kindle Unlimited members. 

As a result, there are very few mainstream books available to read on Kindle Unlimited. On the flip side, you can read books written by upcoming authors and indie writers. Authors of the books on Kindle Unlimited may not have a big name, but many of the books are really good!

How to Get Kindle Unlimited for Free?

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service. This means you must pay a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 to access all the books available in the Kindle Unlimited service!

However, you can get Kindle Unlimited for FREE for a period of 30 days by clicking on this link! You can choose to cancel the service before the end of 30 days. Do remember that after the 30-day period, you will be charged the normal subscription fee of $9.99 per month.

Also, check out my other article that shares multiple ways to get Kindle Unlimited for free or save money when using Kindle Unlimited!

That said, it is a great way to try out Kindle Unlimited to see if the service is worth it for you. 

One thing to note is that Kindle Unlimited is independent of Amazon Prime. This means you don’t get access to Kindle Unlimited if you are an Amazon Prime member. This also means you don’t have to be an Amazon Prime member to access Kindle Unlimited. 

Amazon Prime members also get access to limited books for free through Prime Reading. There is a significant difference between Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading, so it doesn’t really matter whether you have one or the other. You may still want to have both.

Check out my other article to know more about the difference between Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading.

How Many Books Do You Get with Kindle Unlimited?

You can read up to 20 books at any given point in time as a Kindle Unlimited member. If you want to read more titles, you can simply return the books that you’ve completed. You can also avail up to 3 full magazine subscriptions, which do not count towards your borrowing limit.

While it sounds impressive to know that you can access over 2 million titles through Kindle Unlimited, the reality is that Kindle Unlimited works like a library. You don’t actually own the books that you read. 

You can read as many books as you like with Kindle Unlimited, but you can borrow only 20 titles at any given point. Furthermore, if you cancel the Kindle Unlimited subscription at any point, you will no longer be able to access the books that you borrowed or downloaded to your Kindle device.

Another thing to note is that the Kindle book library can change from time to time. This means that certain books may become inaccessible for Kindle Unlimited members even though they may have been previously available for members.

How to Know if a Book is Available for Kindle Unlimited Members on Amazon?

Generally speaking, books that are available for Kindle Unlimited members will typically carry a “Read for Free with Kindle Unlimited” button on the book purchase page. If this option is not visible, this means the specific title is not available to the Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

It is usually relatively straightforward to figure out whether a book is available to access through Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

When you search for a particular book, look for the “Kindle Unlimited” button (as indicated in the image above) on the book purchase page. Click on this button to add this book to your Kindle Unlimited library.

Once you’ve clicked on the button, you can access the title using your Kindle Unlimited Central Dashboard. Here, you will find all your Kindle Unlimited titles. You can also manage your Kindle books. For instance, you can send a book to your Kindle device or return the book once you are done reading. 

How to Access the Kindle Unlimited Book Library on Amazon?

As we have learned already, not all Kindle books from Amazon are available for Kindle Unlimited members. Thus, finding a book to read using Kindle Unlimited can sometimes be really cumbersome!

However, there is a faster way to access just the Kindle Unlimited books!

To access all Kindle Unlimited books on Amazon, first, open Amazon on your web browser. Then, click on the “All” option on the top-left corner of the page. Next, click on “Kindle E-readers and Books”, and then on “Kindle Books”. Finally, enable the “Kindle Unlimited Eligible” option on the sidebar on the left part of the screen.

Here’s a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of the aforementioned instructions –

Step 1 – Open Amazon Marketplace in your Browser

The first step is simply opening the Amazon site on your web browser. It is even better if you are logged into your Amazon account associated with the Kindle Unlimited membership.

Step 2 – Click on “All”

Next, click on the “All” option visible towards the top left corners of the website just underneath the Amazon logo. This will open up a hamburger menu on the left part of the screen.

Step 3 – Select the “Kindle E-reader and Books” Option

From the options that appear in the hamburger menu on the left, simply click on the “Kindle E-reader and Books” option. 

This will further open a new set of options in the menu on the left.

Step 4 – Click on the “Kindle Books” Option

As a next step, click on the “Kindle Books” option under the “Kindle Store” section in the hamburger menu that appears. 

Step 5 – Enable ”Kindle Unlimited Eligible” Books

The final step of the process is to enable the option to show just the Kindle Unlimited books.

To do this, simply click on the “Kindle Unlimited Eligible” option shown on the left part of the screen. This will filter out all the books that are not part of the Kindle Unlimited service.

You should now be able to browse the options and search for the Kindle Unlimited book that you would like to read.

Alternative Method to View Just Kindle Unlimited Books

A faster way to enable this option is to first click on the “Kindle Books” tag underneath the Amazon product search bar (as shown in the image above).

Then, once the page loads, simply put a checkmark to enable the “Kindle Unlimited Eligible” option. Again, this will filter out all the non-Kindle Unlimited book options.

Are All Books in Kindle Unlimited Free?

One of the other questions that you may have is whether you have to pay for books even once you’ve purchased a Kindle Unlimited subscription, or are all the books completely free?

All books available as part of the Kindle Unlimited service are completely free. You do not have to pay any money to access these books apart from the monthly subscription fee.

One could argue that since a user has to pay for the Kindle Unlimited subscription service, the books aren’t technically free. However, for the sake of clarity and understanding, you do not have to pay to access or read books that are available with Kindle Unlimited service in addition to the subscription fee itself.

For more details, check out my other in-depth article on this topic.

Does Kindle Unlimited Include New Releases?

Kindle Unlimited does include new book releases from time to time from well-known authors. However, most books in the Kindle Unlimited library are timeless classics or from no-name indie authors. 

Kindle Unlimited is Amazon’s way of providing upcoming authors a platform to publish their work and gain recognition (or at least have a possibility of that happening!). As a result, most of the books available are from the Amazon KDP service (digital publishing service designed for authors to publish their books on Amazon).

So, several new releases are included in Kindle Unlimited, both from budding authors and established authors. 

It is important to emphasize that even though the vast majority of the books on Kindle Unlimited are from no-name authors, there are quite a few well-known book series too. You will find books such as the Lord of the Rings series, the Harry Potter series, and books by Mary Poppins, Agatha Christie, Jane Austin, and Charles Dickens, to name a few!

Is Kindle Unlimited Worth It?

This topic actually merits its own article! I’ll be sure to write a detailed article covering various factors that will ultimately help you understand whether Kindle Unlimited is worth it for you or not [Edit – I’ve published the article, please check it out here!]

Until then, here’s the short version of my take on this – 

Kindle Unlimited is worth it if you are a voracious reader and read more than 2 to 4 books a month. However, if reading the latest releases or reading books from well-known authors is your primary goal, then it is best to avoid Kindle Unlimited for reading.

Most books that are available on Kindle Unlimited are usually priced in the $2 to $5 range. Occasionally, you will find more expensive books also available. This means you will need to read 2 to 4 books every month to recover the cost of the subscription service!

About the Author

Akansha is a former business journalist and a seasoned communications professional. She is the founder of TheBookBuff, an avid storyteller, and a lifelong biblophile! Check out her profile page to know more about Akansha.

Similar Posts