Kobo has announced that it will be launching its Kobo Plus service in the US, which allows users to access unlimited ebooks and audiobooks for a monthly fee. The service offers three different plans; the “Read” plan or the “Listen” plan for $7.99 per month or both for $9.99 per month. Users can access the books through Kobo’s e-readers or their iOS, Android, and desktop apps, and can read up to 15 Kobo Plus books offline over a 30-day period.
Kobo Plus has been available in a few countries, including Canada, New Zealand, and Portugal, but this is the first time the service is being offered in the US. While this is good news for readers who want to avoid Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription, the selection of books available through Kobo Plus is limited. Currently, the library accessible to subscribers includes 1.3 million ebooks and 100,000 audiobooks, with Kobo adding more each month. In comparison, Amazon boasts “over three million digital titles” included with Kindle Unlimited.
It’s worth noting that Kobo Plus and Kindle Unlimited do not offer carte blanche access to every ebook on the store, only select titles. The author of the article signed up for the free trial and found that out of the 72 books on their wishlist, they could only get four through the Kobo Plus subscription. However, this may be due to their niche tastes, as they had a similar experience with Kindle Unlimited.
Lastly, the article mentions Libby, a free app that gives users access to ebooks and audiobooks via their local library. While the catalog depends on the quality of the user’s local library, it’s worth checking out if they’re not familiar with it already.