# How much Kindle Unlimited comes with Prime



## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

I have Prime.  But I'm confused about offers I see giving me Kindle Unlimited ebooks.  
Is it similar to the Prime feature of being able to get one ebook a month?
Do we get one Kindle Unlimited per month?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Most of the books in the KOLL for Prime members are also in KU, and vice versa. However, I have come across a very few in one that aren't in the other.

If you're a prime member, you get the one a month, which you can keep as long as you like, but then can't borrow again until you've returned it and it's a new month. So you can borrow today, or on the 31st of January. Either way, you can't borrow again until Feb 1 and you return the book you have.

With KU, you can have up to 10 borrowed at a time. _Best as I can tell, you do NOT get one more as a 'KOLL/Prime' borrow in addition._ In fact, books that are in KU and also Prime eligible, no longer have the 'prime' tag. My conclusion is that subscribing to KU *overrides* the KOLL benefit of Prime. Arguably that makes the subscription somewhat less valuable; OTOH, unlimited minus 12 is not much less than unlimited.

Prime, of course, costs $99 a year -- but it's so much more than one free borrow a month. You also get one free pre-release a month as well as streaming video and music and, for me, most of all, expedited shipping at no cost, or a $1 credit on digital content if I am willing to go 'no rush'.

KU costs $9.99 per month which runs to $119.88 per year. But the Zon periodically offers 'specials' on the subscription price. You get the first month free in all cases, and when they're running a promo you commit to 6 or 12 months you get a discount. I believe they'll only let you have the discount once in your lifetime, though.


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

Thanks, Ann
It was the "one free pre-release a month" that I was seeing with my Prime acct. and confusing it with Kindle Unlimited.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

joangolfing said:


> Thanks, Ann
> It was the "one free pre-release a month" that I was seeing with my Prime acct. and confusing it with Kindle Unlimited.


Yes . . . that's a separate program: Kindle First. . . . there's a thread in the Book Corner about the offers this month.


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## Larrue (Jun 28, 2009)

I received a kindle prime membership for Christmas. How do I know if a book is part of the prime membership? I see books that are part of kindle unlimited clearly marked that they are free to those members. And then I see a kindle price and next to that the check mark and PRIME. Does that mean that if I buy it under my prime membership it will be free?

Is there a way to search for just kindle prime books?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Larrue said:


> I received a kindle prime membership for Christmas. How do I know if a book is part of the prime membership? I see books that are part of kindle unlimited clearly marked that they are free to those members. And then I see a kindle price and next to that the check mark and PRIME. Does that mean that if I buy it under my prime membership it will be free?
> 
> Is there a way to search for just kindle prime books?


Amazon Prime and Kindle Unlimited are two different programs.

Prime means expedited shipping, free music and movie streaming, one borrow a month and one free pre-release per month via Kindle First.

Kindle Unlimited (KU) is a separate service that costs, generally, $9.99 per month and provides for unlimited borrowing throughout the year. You may have up to 10 books borrowed at a time.

If you have a PRIME membership, you can identify the books that are eligible for the 1 BORROW a month program by 'prime' tag next to the KINDLE BOOK price on the product page.

For a complete list, go to Amazon and show all BOOKS, narrow to kindle edition, and then narrow to Prime.

Most of those books are also Kindle Unlimited as well, and if you HAVE KU, you won't see the Prime tags. KU is already a more extensive borrowing program.

To get your free book each month, search the full site for Kindle First. Here's the link: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/digital/kindle/first. Each month that will take you to the selections for the month. Each book is one that will be officially released the first of NEXT month. They're Amazon imprints and will be regularly priced at $4.99 to $5.99. They also will all be part of KU when they're released.


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## Larrue (Jun 28, 2009)

Ann, 
Thanks for the search link. My concern was that the unlimited books were clearly identified as free for those subscribers but then there was a price for the kindle book for non unlimited users. I see that the books have the check mark and prime next to  them. I just wanted to make sure that if I ordered it there would be no charge to my account as a prime customer. I thought that the free prime member books would probably say "free for prime members".


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Larrue said:


> Ann,
> Thanks for the search link. My concern was that the unlimited books were clearly identified as free for those subscribers but then there was a price for the kindle book for non unlimited users. I see that the books have the check mark and prime next to them. I just wanted to make sure that if I ordered it there would be no charge to my account as a prime customer. I thought that the free prime member books would probably say "free for prime members".


Just to be clear, you don't order the monthly prime loan of a book. You have to borrow it from a kindle device. You cannot do that on the computer or any of the apps like on a ipad. Must be a kindle fire or a kindle e-ink. From the device you would click the button that says borrow, not the buy button. I subscribe to KU now so I don't know how different it looks.
On my Voyage, you go to the kindle store. Then click on the menu. In the drop down there is a selection for kindle owners lending library, which is what the prime included borrow is called. THere it gives me the prime logo and also the KU logo on the books listed. That is where you can browse. Most are the same, meaning most of the books are in both, the KOLL program and in the KU program.

You can borrow through the kindle one book per month included in your prime membership. You keep the book until you borrow another one. You can only borrow one book for the calendar month. So you can borrow a book now in January and keep it lets say until February 20'th and get your february borrow. Your January one will then be gone. So at most you get 12 borrows in a year if you don't miss a month. They don't roll over so if you don't get the january borrow in january, its gone.

The books you would get with the prime logo do not say free to read for prime member. Not until you click on a book on your kindle and on that page it will give you the option to borrow the book with prime. It will also tell you if you need to wait if you already borrowed one for that month. And that you have to return the one you already have if you are elgible . It will do that for you on the device.


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

Atunah:
Thank you for explaining that. I had often seen the "free for prime members" thing, but I never clicked on it because I assumed it would fling me into the KU program and I didn't want to sign up for that (I'm trying to keep my monthly recurring costs down). Now I understand it is a different thing, which encourages me to take advantage of it since I'm already paying for it with Prime.

thank you so much for the clear explanation. I really had no idea.
Amy


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## Larrue (Jun 28, 2009)

Atunah said:


> Just to be clear, you don't order the monthly prime loan of a book. You have to borrow it from a kindle device. You cannot do that on the computer or any of the apps like on a ipad. Must be a kindle fire or a kindle e-ink. From the device you would click the button that says borrow, not the buy button. I subscribe to KU now so I don't know how different it looks.
> On my Voyage, you go to the kindle store. Then click on the menu. In the drop down there is a selection for kindle owners lending library, which is what the prime included borrow is called. THere it gives me the prime logo and also the KU logo on the books listed. That is where you can browse. Most are the same, meaning most of the books are in both, the KOLL program and in the KU program.
> 
> You can borrow through the kindle one book per month included in your prime membership. You keep the book until you borrow another one. You can only borrow one book for the calendar month. So you can borrow a book now in January and keep it lets say until February 20'th and get your february borrow. Your January one will then be gone. So at most you get 12 borrows in a year if you don't miss a month. They don't roll over so if you don't get the january borrow in january, its gone.
> ...


Atunah,

Thank you so much for your explanation. I would have ended up making a purchase of a prime eligible book and learning the hard way. I had no idea that you ordered from your kindle device. I have a fire and paper white.

I don't post much on here but have learned so much over the years just from reading other people's posts. Another question I have is how to get the music which is a question for another time and another thread which I will look for to get answers.

Thanks again.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

yes . . . what Atunah said . . . . apologies for not being clearer.

Your one borrow a month as a Prime member has to be done from a kindle device. A Fire counts, but the kindle app on a phone or other tablet does NOT. If you remember that it's called the *Kindle Owners* Lending Library -- often abbreviated KOLL -- it makes sense. 

Do remember, though, that if you accidentally click and buy something, you have 7 days to return it. It's quite easy to do from the Manage your Content and Devices page.

KU titles can be borrowed via a computer or from the kindle or a kindle app.


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