Amazon to charge non-Prime consumers to use Alexa

Amazon charges non-Prime customers $19.99 per month for Alexa+, a generative AI upgrade to the Alexa voice assistant, while bundling it free with Prime memberships that cost $14.99 per month.^[1] The upgrade, announced in February 2025 & made broadly available on February 4, 2026, uses large language models to add conversational AI & multi-step task automation to Echo devices.^[2] Users who don't subscribe retain access to classic Alexa, but multiple reports document that the underlying infrastructure changes have degraded previously reliable features on existing Echo hardware.^[3]

Amazon sold over 500 million Alexa-enabled devices between 2014 & 2023.^[4] The business model relied on selling Echo speakers at or below cost, expecting consumers to use voice commands to shop on Amazon. That didn't happen. A former senior Amazon employee told The Wall Street Journal: "We worried we've hired 10,000 people and we've built a smart timer."^[5]

Internal documents reviewed by the WSJ revealed Amazon's devices division lost over $25 billion between 2017 & 2021.^[5][6] Consumers predominantly used Echo devices for free functions: setting alarms, checking weather, & controlling smart home devices rather than purchasing goods through the assistant.^[5] By late 2023, Amazon was exploring a paid subscription tier to recoup those losses.^[7]

On February 26, 2025, Amazon officially announced Alexa+, positioning it as a generative AI overhaul powered by large language models from Amazon & Anthropic.^[2][8] Early Access began in March 2025, limited to select Echo Show devices in the United States.^[8] The service reached general availability on February 4, 2026, opening to all US users.^[2]

At the same time as the Alexa+ announcement, Amazon removed the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" feature from Echo devices, effective March 28, 2025.^[9] This feature had allowed certain Echo models to process voice commands locally without transmitting audio to Amazon's cloud. Amazon told users the generative AI features "rely on the processing power of Amazon's secure cloud," making local processing no longer supported.^[9]

Alexa+ costs $19.99 per month for non-Prime subscribers. Prime members ($14.99 per month or $139 per year) get it at no additional cost.^[1][2] The standalone Alexa+ subscription is more expensive than Prime itself, creating a pricing structure where subscribing to Alexa+ alone costs $5 more per month than the entire Prime bundle.^[1]

Non-Prime users who don't pay for either subscription receive a limited free tier: text-based chat through Alexa.com & the Alexa mobile app, with usage caps.^[2] There is no free Alexa+ experience on Echo, Fire TV, or tablet devices. Amazon's support forum confirmed: "If you prefer using the original Alexa, it will remain available on your devices."^[10]

The new AI features include multi-step task orchestration (booking an Uber, making a restaurant reservation, & messaging a contact in a single command), conversational context that carries across multiple exchanges, proactive suggestions, & integration with services like OpenTable & Ticketmaster.^[8][2] Classic Alexa functions (timers, alarms, weather, basic smart home control) remain available without a subscription.^[10]

This change fits a broader pattern of companies adding subscription fees to products after purchase. In September 2024, a coalition of 17 consumer advocacy groups including Consumer Reports & US PIRG urged the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on post-purchase "software tethering."^[11] An FTC staff study in November 2024 found that nearly 89% of smart products surveyed failed to disclose how long they would receive software updates; manufacturers' failure to provide this information may violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.^[12]

Users who opted out of Alexa+ or reverted to classic Alexa report that the infrastructure changes made to support the new service have degraded previously reliable functions. One reviewer described the situation: "Reviews wrap their thoughts in this narrative that the new version is an upgrade, but nearly everything they're writing suggests that it's a downgrade."^[3]

Specific complaints documented across tech publications & user forums include response delays of up to 15 seconds for basic requests like weather & music playback, music playlists stopping mid-song, multi-device spatial awareness breaking (a speaker down the hall answering instead of the one nearby), & simple commands being ignored or misunderstood.^[3][13]

Echo Show 5 owners reported that the Alexa+ update removed their primary use for the device: the large, dimmable bedside clock display. Users found the only workaround was switching the device language to "English (Canada)" to revert the interface.^[14]

Amazon had already begun moving previously free features behind a paywall before Alexa+ launched. In 2024, the company discontinued Alexa Guard, a free home monitoring service that detected smoke alarms & breaking glass. Those features moved to Alexa Emergency Assist at $5.99 per month. Only the home/away mode & away lighting automation remained free.^[15][16]

Beginning in early 2026, Amazon began automatically upgrading Prime members' Echo devices to Alexa+ without explicit opt-in consent.^[17] Users could revert by saying "Alexa, exit Alexa+" after the automatic upgrade, but there was no way to prevent the initial forced migration.^[17]

The removal of local voice processing on March 28, 2025, means all voice interactions with Echo devices are now transmitted to Amazon's cloud.^[9][18] Users can still opt to have recordings deleted immediately after processing, but doing so permanently disables Alexa Voice ID, the feature that recognizes individual household members & personalizes responses.^[18]

Users who want Alexa+ personalization must allow Amazon to retain biometric voice data. Amazon was required to pay a $25 million civil penalty to the FTC & DOJ in May 2023 for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by retaining children's voice recordings indefinitely to train AI algorithms, even after parents requested deletion.^[19]

Panos Panay, Amazon's Senior Vice President of Devices & Services, told Forbes in March 2026: "My goal is how we make AI simple, easy, pragmatic, practical and useful."^[20] He cited engagement metrics showing that compared to classic Alexa, "Alexa+ has twice as many conversations and engagement on the calendar has doubled. Photos, 3x, shopping, 3x, recipes and cooking, 5x."^[20]

CEO Andy Jassy disclosed at the Q1 2025 earnings call that Alexa+ had reached 100,000 users.^[21] That figure represented roughly 0.02% of the 600 million Alexa devices Amazon had sold by that point.^[8] Jassy acknowledged that consumer AI assistants remain "rather primitive and inaccurate," estimating that most multi-step AI agents currently achieve accuracy rates between 30% & 60%.^[21]

At the Q2 2025 earnings call on July 31, Jassy indicated that Amazon sees an opportunity to embed advertisements into Alexa+ conversations, describing it as a "lever to drive revenue." Amazon's advertising revenue grew 22% year-over-year in Q2 2025.^[22]

The service expanded internationally with a UK Early Access launch on March 19, 2026, at GBP 19.99 (£19.99) per month for non-Prime users, free for Prime members.^[23]

Ahead of the public launch, Amazon ran an internal beta with over 6,400 employee testers in a Slack channel. Feedback was described as "unbearably erratic." One tester reported that Alexa+ exceeded a request to turn off a single light by shutting down the power strip connected to their aquarium filter, killing their pet fish. Others reported that previously reliable music playback broke entirely, with one writing: "All my experiences thus far with Alexa+... haven't convinced me that... anything would justify paying a subscription fee."^[24]

After general availability in February 2026, consumer reception was mixed. Engadget described Alexa+ as "just incompetent enough to be annoying."^[25] Users reported that Alexa+ provides lengthy, unsolicited responses to simple queries & that smart home routines previously working on classic Alexa broke after the upgrade.^[13]

Consumer Reports gave a more positive assessment, noting that Alexa+ handles natural language commands better than its predecessor & is much better at understanding children's speech. But the review also noted persistent bugs including address errors during Uber bookings, delayed smart home device recognition, & full-screen advertisements displayed on Echo Show devices despite the service being a paid upgrade.^[26]

Tom Forte, senior consumer internet analyst at Maxim Group, suggested that if Amazon succeeds with Alexa+, the competitive focus could shift from the OpenAI-Anthropic race to Alexa versus ChatGPT.^[27]

• Amazon Echo changes terms of voice usage
• Amazon
• List of products and services with post-purchase license change
• Internet of things
• Planned obsolescence