19 August 2026
Amazon makes Alexa+ free on Fire TV without Prime membership
First reported
Engadget and TechCrunch ran this on , all on the same day.
- Amazon is automatically upgrading all compatible Fire TV devices in the U.S. to Alexa+, its AI assistant that understands conversational questions instead of requiring specific voice commands.
- Previously, Alexa+ cost $19.99 monthly for non-Prime members. Now it comes free to all Fire TV users, including those on Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Fire TV Cube, and compatible Hisense and Panasonic smart TVs.
- Alexa+ lets users ask for show recommendations by theme or description like 'historical drama with a strong female lead' rather than naming specific titles, and control smart home devices through conversation.
- Amazon reports that users have nearly twice as many conversations with Alexa+ compared to the original Alexa, suggesting people engage more actively with their TVs since the upgrade.
- Google, Roku and other major tech companies have similarly added AI assistants to their TV platforms this year, marking an industrywide shift toward making conversational AI a default TV feature.
Reported by TechCrunch, Engadget