Amazon launches Alexa+ nationwide, offering AI assistant free to Prime members

Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is now available to everyone in the U.S.

Alexa+, Amazon's upgraded, generative AI-powered version of its Alexa assistant, is available to all U.S. customers as of Wednesday. The company said that the AI feature will be free to Prime members across devices. Meanwhile, anyone can use Alexa+ for free via the Alexa website or mobile app, with some limitations. "We have tens of millions of customers using Alexa+ now, and now we're going to make it available to all Prime members...Prime members enjoy unlimited access -- it's basically a paid tier level of access that we're including in Prime now," notes Daniel Rausch, VP of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, in an interview with TechCrunch. Announced last year, Alexa+ is model agnostic -- meaning it runs on a combination of Amazon's own foundation models and those from other companies, allowing the assistant to do more than the basic tasks of its predecessor using whatever AI technology is best for the job. As an AI assistant, Alexa+ can carry on natural language conversations that include follow-up questions and back-and-forth chat. In addition to performing smart home tasks, scheduling timers, or offering news and weather, as before, the new assistant can do most things that other AI chatbots can do -- like planning an itinerary for a trip, updating a shared calendar, finding and saving recipes to a library, making movie recommendations, helping with homework, exploring a topic, and more. Plus, integrations with services like Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, Uber, Angi, Expedia, Square, Yelp, Fodor's, OpenTable, and Suno will allow Alexa to perform more complex tasks, like scheduling a dinner reservation or requesting an Uber ride. Amazon has not yet shared user adoption numbers on this more "agentic" use case (where the AI acts autonomously to complete tasks) for the AI helper. During its year-long beta testing period, Alexa customers had the option to try the AI feature or roll back to the prior version. The company tells TechCrunch the option to revert to the old Alexa will continue to be available, but couldn't say for how long. Likely, Amazon wants a bit more time to improve the AI experience before making it a requirement for users. The percentage of those opting out is also a key metric to track, but Rausch notes that the figure is in the low single digits, suggesting that most customers are not so unhappy with Alexa+ that they're giving up. Still, Amazon has had to work to resolve bugs and address user feedback ahead of this launch. Some beta testers complained that Alexa+ was too chatty, or interrupted at the wrong times, for instance. Others complained about Alexa's new voice. Amazon has taken in this feedback and made changes over time. For instance, the company revised the onboarding experience to have Alexa explain how to change her voice, as some preferred Alexa's "OG" voice. (That voice is still available as Alexa+ voice No. 2, but it now uses AI to add more inflection.) "Eventually, we had her use her new version of her old voice, and then switch back again, just to show customers," says Rausch, describing the changes the team made to onboarding. In another example, Amazon tried to make Alexa less prone to unwanted interruptions. Now, Alexa will ask, "Is that for me?" when the AI is unsure who is being addressed. Rausch points out that the overall experience is configurable, too. If customers don't want the follow-on mode, for instance -- which allows Alexa to continue listening after responding -- they can turn it off. Asked if users will be able to change the AI assistant's personality, as in other AI chatbots, where the AI can be set to be personal, professional, quirky, nerdy, and more, Rausch says simply, "Stay tuned." During the beta, Amazon reported positive adoption trends in terms of both usage and engagement, with few customers opting for rollbacks. Music streams increased by 25% after customers upgraded to Alexa+, and more customers are engaging deeply with recipes, a feature that has seen 5x growth. Overall, customers are having 2 to 3 times more conversations with Alexa+, compared with the original Alexa. While Alexa+ will be free to U.S. Prime members, non-Prime customers could opt to pay $19.99/month for standalone access -- a price that's comparable to something like ChatGPT Plus. Amazon notes the free experience on web and mobile will have some limits, but these are mainly in place to protect against abuse. "I think we've got some great, generous limits. We're not talking about exactly what they are today, but...there are some [limits]," Rausch says. The Alexa+ experience in the U.S. will be available across Alexa devices, including Echo products, Fire TV, Alexa.com, the Alexa mobile app, and Alexa-enabled devices from partners including Samsung, Bose, and others, with more to come.

Amazon rolls out Alexa Plus nationwide and launches a new free tier

Amazon has announced that its generative AI-powered digital assistant Alexa Plus is now available to all Prime members in the US via any Alexa-enabled device, Alexa.com, and the Alexa mobile app. If you don't have Prime, you can access the assistant on a new free tier on the web and app, or pay $20 a month for unlimited access to Alexa Plus, without Prime. Alexa Plus initially launched in March 2025 in an Early Access program and, over the last year, has slowly expanded to tens of millions of users, Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, told The Verge in an interview. Now, the smarter, more conversational assistant is moving out of Early Access and is officially available to anyone in the US. Early Access recently launched in Canada and Mexico, and according to Rausch, a closed Beta program is being trialed in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, with Early Access expected to follow. In the US, the new tiers for using Alexa Plus are as follows: If you have Prime and use any Echo devices, Alexa Plus will arrive shortly (or may already be there) via a software upgrade. You can also say "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa Plus" or log in to your Amazon account at Alexa.com. Rausch says you can choose to opt out of the upgrade. And if you decide you want to revert to the old Alexa after upgrading, that is still an option. If you don't have Prime but want to try Alexa Plus, you can go to Amazon.com/AlexaPlus. Based on an entirely new architecture and powered by large language models from Amazon Nova and Anthropic, Alexa Plus is a ground-up rebuild of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. It has moved from being a basic command-and-control voice assistant to a "foundational AI assistant" that can understand and respond to natural language. Now, in addition to setting timers, playing music, and controlling smart home gadgets, the voice assistant can answer more complex queries, respond to more in-depth requests, and make it easier to control your smart home by creating routines with your voice. It can also manage your family's calendars and meal plans, provide step-by-step recipe directions, make restaurant reservations, book an Uber or a home repair person, or buy concert tickets. You can also use Alexa Plus as a text-based chatbot via Alexa.com on the web, where it's designed for deeper research, planning, and generating content. Since its launch, Rausch says people have been using the Alexa Plus voice assistant twice as much. "We continue to see week-over-week customer engagement with Alexa Plus going up." The chatbot version of Alexa Plus is newer; the web interface launched last month, and the Alexa app was recently redesigned to put the chatbot front and center. "A lot of customers aren't sure about subscribing to an additional AI chatbot experience for an additional $20 a month," says Rausch. "I'm excited that Prime customers just have a world-class unlimited tier access to a foundational AI assistant as part of their Prime benefits."

Amazon's AI-Powered Alexa+ Now Available to Everyone: Here's How to Get It

Amazon's AI-powered assistant, AIexa+, is finally out of Early Access and available to all users in the US through Alexa-enabled devices, Alexa.com, and the Alexa app. Alexa+ improves upon the original Alexa by adopting chatbot-like capabilities to provide more personalized responses and fulfill more complex tasks. You can ask Alexa+ questions about a topic, just as you would on Gemini or ChatGPT, or use its agentic capabilities to find restaurants, make reservations, or book rides. On supported devices, the voice assistant saves you the time of opening browsers or tabs and typing queries. Amazon says the upgrade was made possible by a new architecture built on large language models from both Anthropic and its own Nova program. Early Access began rolling out in mid-2025, and some Prime members received automatic free upgrades early this year (which some customers didn't appreciate). As Alexa+ exits preview, it remains free for Prime members, while others need to pay $19.99 a month to access it. To start using the AI voice assistant, Prime members can say "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+" or log in to their Amazon account via Alexa.com. Non-paying customers can also get a taste of Alexa+'s AI capabilities, albeit only via text. They can head to Alexa.com and start an interaction by dropping a query in the prompt box.

Amazon rolls out Alexa+ to all U.S. customers, making its AI assistant free for Prime members

Amazon is betting that an AI assistant best known for turning on lights and answering trivia questions can become a sought-after benefit of its Prime membership, in the same league as free shipping and streaming video. The company is making Alexa+, the generative AI-powered upgrade to its voice assistant, available free starting today to all U.S. Prime members, nearly a year after it was unveiled. Tens of millions of customers used Alexa+ through an early access program, the company says. Today's rollout opens it up to Amazon's full U.S. Prime membership base, which is estimated at more than 200 million individual members by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Alexa+ offers more natural, free-flowing conversations than its predecessor, along with agentic capabilities such as ordering takeout, and booking dinner reservations and rides, in addition to core features such as coordinating across family calendars and checking smart-home cameras. But the broad rollout comes more than three years into the generative AI era, with AI habits already ingrained for many users around ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others. Given its late start, Amazon is hoping that unlimited access to Alexa+ via Prime (including a browser-based chat experience at Alexa.com) will help close the gap against those rivals. In that way, the option to subscribe to Alexa+ for $19.99/month outside of Prime feels less like a play for standalone subscribers and more like a way to reinforce the market value of what Prime members will be getting for free. Amazon is also offering a free but limited version of the Alexa+ chat experience at Alexa.com and in the Alexa app for non-Prime users. ChatGPT's free tier limits users to a handful of messages before downgrading to a less-capable model. Google plans to replace its Google Assistant with the AI-powered Gemini across Android devices, making Amazon's timing all the more urgent. Daniel Rausch, Amazon's vice president of Alexa and Echo, said in an interview that the Prime benefit is aimed at customers who use AI tools but can't or don't want to pay for a standalone subscription. Rausch cited the example of students and others who "bounce around between different chat assistants" when they hit usage limits on free tiers. He said offering unlimited access to what amounts to a paid AI service, without those usage caps, is "a really big deal for Prime customers." Whether consumers see it as a true replacement for other AI chatbots remains to be seen. Working on this story, for example, I tried uploading the interview transcript, past coverage, and Amazon's blog post to Alexa.com for reference and analysis. The site was only able to accept one document at a time, unlike other chatbots that can handle multiple uploads simultaneously. It's a small but telling limitation for anyone accustomed to the competition. But that's a business use case that may not represent consumer patterns. Amazon's larger pitch isn't that Alexa+ is a better ChatGPT, it's that it can do things other AI assistants can't. For example, having uploaded those materials individually, I can now ask Alexa+ on my Echo devices to reference them in its responses -- something I've been doing already in the Alexa+ early access program with emails from our kid's school and other family documents. Rausch said 76% of what customers do with Alexa+ is unavailable in any other AI, according to Amazon's own internal data. He cited functionality such as smart home controls, family calendar management, music discovery, booking reservations, and the thousands of device and service integrations that Amazon has built up over a decade. Based on the early access period, customers are conversing with Alexa+ two to three times more than they did with the original version, according to Amazon, and engagement continues to grow week over week rather than tapering off after an initial honeymoon period.

Alexa+ launches for all US users, here's how to upgrade (or skip it for now) - 9to5Mac

Alexa+ is Amazon's new AI-infused version of its popular assistant. Following a slow initial rollout, Amazon has just made Alexa+ available to all users in the US. Here's how to upgrade to Alexa+, or skip it for now. Not long before Apple is expected to unveil Siri's big AI upgrade, Amazon has just launched the AI-powered Alexa+ to all US users. You can start using Alexa+ through several free and paid options: Amazon says that Early Access members have been using Alexa+ far more than they used the standard Alexa. After touting new Alexa+ capabilities such as conversational chat, deep research, and answering complex queries, Amazon says, "overall, customers are interacting with Alexa+ more than twice as much." So how do you gain access to the new assistant? Current Alexa users will not automatically be upgraded to Alexa+ and its new capabilities -- at least not yet. However, getting started with Alexa+ is very easy. If you're ready to start using Alexa+, Amazon offers the following instructions: Prime members can easily start using Alexa+ by saying, "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+" or by logging into their Amazon account at Alexa.com. Customers can learn more about Alexa+, and sign up for Amazon Prime (or if eligible, start a free 30-day trial) to enjoy the full set of benefits, including Alexa+ by visiting Amazon.com/AlexaPlus. Customers without Prime can also start using the new free Alexa chat experience today by visiting Alexa.com. So if you are not interested in upgrading to Alexa+ yet, Amazon won't force you to. You'll just need to avoid asking Alexa for the upgrade, or choosing any of the upgrade options on Alexa.com. Have you been using Alexa+ at all, and if so, how is it working for you? Let us know in the comments.

Amazon's new AI Alexa isn't free anymore

Alexa+ offers ChatGPT-style conversations and advanced agentic AI capabilities, officially exiting its early access phase with a limited free web-based text option available. The days of free Alexa+ for everyone just ended, with Amazon announcing today that it will start charging non-Prime members who want to use the AI-supercharged voice assistant on their Echo devices. Starting now, full Alexa+ access will cost $19.99 a month for those without Prime, while Prime members will get Alexa+ as a free benefit with their subscriptions. Amazon also announced a new free tier of Alexa+ that lets you text chat with the assistant over a web browser. The free version of Alexa+ will be "limited based on use," Amazon added. Amazon had previously announced that non-Prime members would have to pay for Alexa+ access. But up until now, Alexa+ was free for everyone during its "early access" preview period. With Amazon now charging for Alexa+, it's fair to say that the AI-enhanced assistant is essentially out of beta. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that Alexa+ is no longer in an early access mode. Those who'd rather not pay extra for Alexa+ can still use the "classic" Alexa, which Amazon has promised will remain free. It's been nearly a year since Amazon unveiled Alexa+ -- for the second time -- at a splashy event in New York City. Previously, Amazon had touted its plans for a new generative AI-powered Alexa during its 2023 fall hardware event, well before it got the "Alexa+" name. Unlike the old Alexa, Alexa+ offers ChatGPT-style conversational abilities and can suss out your intentions in ways the legacy Alexa voice assistant couldn't. Alexa+ also promises "agentic AI" abilities, capable of acting on your behalf and performing multi-step tasks that could eventually include filling out forms on the web. But while chatting with Alexa+ is undoubtedly a different experience than it is with the "classic" Alexa, it's not always better. As I've written previously, Alexa+ can be both surprising and exasperating, sometimes correctly guessing your intentions and other times diving into wild tangents when it misunderstands your meaning. For the most part, I've been giving Alexa+ a pass given that it was in "early access" and thus free for everyone. But now that Amazon is charging for Alexa+, it's time to get real about what it does right, when and how it fumbles the ball, and whether it's actually worth the cash. Stay tuned for my full review. This story is part of TechHive's in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.

Alexa+ now available for everyone -- and there's even a free tier for non-Prime members

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. 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. 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.

Alexa+ is now available to everyone in the US, and free for Prime members

All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. For ages, Alexa has been a staple of Amazon Echo devices, serving as the loyal voice assistant. But Amazon is upgrading Miss Alexa to Alexa+, an assistant that does far more than play music and answer your questions. Alexa+ is Amazon's AI assistant coming to all Echo devices for Prime members. Not a Prime member? Well, you can still chat with Alexa+, too. Here's everything to know about Alexa+, now free for Prime members. Alexa+ is Amazon's upgraded AI assistant. The program had been beta tested by millions of users since its announcement in early February 2025. Alexa+ combines the ease and convenience of the classic Alexa voice assistant with AI for an assistant that can perform more complicated tasks. Where it differs from standard Alexa is that you don't actually need an Amazon smart home Echo device to use it. Now you can access Alexa+ on the web or through the Alexa app. So do you need to pay for Alexa+? Not if you're a Prime member. The AI assistant is now included as a Prime benefit. If you're not a Prime member, you can still use Alexa+'s chat function on Alexa.com for free, but that's it. If you want the full benefits of Alexa+ and you're not a Prime member, you can pay $19.99 a month for access. However, considering Prime membership is just $14.99 a month, just sign up for Prime, as you'll get additional benefits outside of Alexa+. Alexa+ takes Alexa to the next level. Alexa+ can be used anywhere with its web services and app, compared to Alexa, which is accessed through Echo devices. It has a chatbot feature where you can ask it all of life's questions. It also helps you stay more organized by planning meals, booking repairs, and managing calendars. It will also help you plan trips and date nights, write emails, craft workout schedules, and control your smart home devices.

Alexa+ is now available for free to everyone in the US on Prime - but early users say you should tread carefully

Full capabilities require a Prime membership or subscription Having launched an early access program for Alexa+ last February, a year later Amazon is opening wide the next-gen AI doors for all users in the US. A limited version is free for everyone on the web, with the full feature set free to Prime users, or available for a $19.99-per-month subscription. There's still no news about a global rollout. The upgraded Alexa is "smarter, more conversational, more personalized, and can get a wide range of things done on your behalf" enthuses Amazon in its press release. It's an upgrade similar to Gemini taking over from Google Assistant (which isn't going all that smoothly, by the way). To upgrade, if you're a Prime subscriber all you need to do is say "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+" within earshot of one of your devices, or log into the Alexa website and do it from there. If you don't have Prime, you can chat with Alexa+ for free on the web, or sign up for the full package through the same website. The full package includes features like access from any device (not just the web chat), and sharing Alexa+ with your whole household. To get that, you need to either sign up for Prime ($14.99 a month) or just pay for Alexa+ on its own ($19.99 a month). In theory, there are lots of good reasons to make the jump to Alexa+. As Amazon points out, rather than just getting it to play your music, you can ask it questions about artists and genres. It can help with meal plans, homework, travel itineraries and more - it's a full ChatGPT-style experience. It can still do the basics (like control your smart home gadgets), and it can remember the context of previous conversations. There are also the beginnings of agentic capabilities here, so you can ask Alexa+ to order takeaways and book cabs using simple commands. Amazon says Alexa+ is "making life easier and more delightful for customers", and that people are using it twice as much as the old Alexa, on average. Tens of millions of users have already switched over, Amazon says. For now, you can still return to the old Alexa if you want to, but clearly that's an option that's not going to be around forever. Alexa+ is very much the future of AI assistants as far as Amazon is concerned, and we can expect a wider global rollout soon. Alexa Plus, Bringer of Sorrow from r/alexa The idea of Alexa+ sounds great, until you take a quick peek at the Alexa board on Reddit. Post titles such as "Alexa+, bringer of sorrow" don't inspire much confidence, and users are reporting issues with slow responses, smart light connections failing, and problems doing some of the basic tasks that Alexa was fine with. There have been regular posts about Alexa+ breaking smart home routines, spouting inaccurate "AI slop" when responding to questions, getting calendar scheduling wrong, and simply talking too much (which perhaps explains the increased engagement Amazon is talking about). One user even reported having an issue with their Alexa device playing porn noises, while another post titled "Don't be afraid to leave Alexa+" talks up the benefits of going back to the old AI. While bugs are to be expected in a massive switchover like this, it certainly looks as though there are plenty of them doing the rounds right now. In the interests of balance, we were mostly impressed by Alexa+ when we tried it out, and it's fair to say Reddit doesn't reflect the experiences of all Alexa+ users. However, it does seem that you might be in for one or two early issues if you make the jump.

Amazon's AI Assistant Now Free to All Prime Members

We may earn a commission when you click links to retailers and purchase goods. More info. In February of last year, Amazon launched Alexa+ in early access, its generative AI-powered assistant. This week, Alexa+ is now available to all users in the US. What's even better, it's completely free to Prime members. What to do with Alexa+: Alexa+ is designed to complete tasks that most other AI services offer, but it's specific in the sense that people invested into the Amazon ecosystem of services and smart home devices can benefit more greatly. For example, Alexa+ can order takeout, find restaurants and book reservations, book a ride, schedule home repairs, as well as automate smart home services. Alexa+ ties in nicely to the Ring ecosystem, with one example being the alerting of unusual patterns around your home. If you have Ring, Echo, or Fire TV devices then the upgrade seems like a no brainer. How to get started: Prime members can start using Alexa+ by saying, "Alexa, upgrade to Alexa+" or by logging into their Amazon account at Alexa.com. Alexa+ is priced at $20/mo, but again, it's free to Prime members. Non-Prime members can access a free tier of the assistant via the Alexa app or at Alexa.com.

Amazon rolls out Alexa+ nationwide in the US

Amazon said on Wednesday that it is expanding its enhanced voice assistant, Alexa+, to all US users, nearly a year after launching it in early access. Previously limited to select customers via a waitlist or on newer compatible devices, the generative AI-powered service is now available to everyone, marking a major overhaul of the voice experience Amazon has offered for over a decade. Introduced in 2025, Alexa+ offers advanced features, such as handling multiple requests and proactively carrying out tasks, such as booking a service or ordering a ride. Priced at $19.99 a month, the service is free for Prime subscribers and offers a trial version via a web and mobile interface. The move aims to reposition Alexa in a competitive landscape that is now dominated by AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. With this rollout, Amazon is also adapting Alexa+'s interface to contemporary habits, emphasizing access via browser and mobile rather than only through Echo devices. The company is seeking to reinvigorate its presence in a rapidly changing voice-assistant market, where generative AI is redefining interaction standards.