Amazon announced on Wednesday that Alexa+ is now available to everyone in the U.S., almost a year after it first launched a new version of its virtual assistant.
Before this, Alexa+ was in a “preview” stage, meaning only people on a waitlist or those with newer devices could use it. Alexa+ is an upgraded version of the original Alexa, which has been around for 11 years. It can now handle multiple requests at once and even do things for you, like book a repairman or call an Uber.
Starting Wednesday, Amazon will charge USD 19.99 per month for Alexa+. However, Prime members who pay USD 139 a year for their subscription can use it for free. There’s also a free version available for everyone to try on the Alexa+ website and app, but access is limited.
In the past few weeks, Amazon started upgrading some Prime members to Alexa+ without asking, which upset some users who wanted to stick with the original Alexa. If they prefer the old version, users can go back by using a voice command.
Amazon is updating Alexa because of the rise of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude. Alexa+ brings a website and app into focus, similar to how people use chatbots through text or voice on browsers and smartphone apps.