It's been nearly a year, but Amazon is finally taking Alexa+ out of Early Access and making it available to everyone, both Prime and non-Prime members alike. Alexa+ is Amazon's new-and-improved voice assistant, which uses AI to deliver a richer and more personalized experience over the original Alexa.
Up until now, Alexa+ has only been available in what Amazon called Early Access —while that was a bit of a misnomer, as it's already in use in tens of millions of devices — Alexa+ will now be available to anyone, regardless of whether you have a Prime membership, or own an Echo device.
Alexa+ pricing and availability
For Amazon Prime members, Alexa+ will be included as part of your subscription. If you're not a Prime member, you can subscribe to Alexa+ for $19.99/month, which is in line with the price for other AIs, such as Gemini.
However, Amazon is also offering a free tier of Alexa+, which the company says will have all the same features as the paid tier, but with limits; for starters, you will only be able to use it on Alexa.com and the Alexa app, and it will be limited by use, though the company would not provide details as to the number of tokens or activity.
How to get Alexa+
You'll be able to access Alexa+ in one of three ways: Through an Amazon Echo device, via the Alexa app on your phone or tablet (for Android and iOS), or via Alexa.com.
Alexa+ will work on Amazon Echo devices up to eight generations old, which includes not just smart speakers and displays, but Echo Buds, Echo Auto, and Amazon Echo Frames. Pretty much anything except first-generation Echo speakers can access Alexa+.
Additionally, Alexa+ is also available on Fire TV streaming sticks as well as Amazon Fire TVs, and Amazon Fire tablets.
Upgrading to Alexa+ is voluntary; you'll receive prompts on your devices, but you can also say "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+" to start the process.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
