Amazon’s latest push into AI-powered assistants just went mainstream. After nearly a year of testing and limited availability, Alexa+, the generative AI upgrade to the company’s Alexa voice assistant, is now fully available to all customers across the United States, bringing a more conversational, capable, and flexible experience to millions of users.
Announced earlier today, Alexa+ combines the familiar smart-speaker features of traditional Alexa with a new layer of artificial intelligence that helps with complex queries, deeper conversations, planning, and task completion. The rollout represents Amazon’s most visible effort yet to compete with standalone AI assistants and models that have captured consumer attention in recent years.
For Amazon, the move is as much about reinforcing the value of its broader ecosystem as it is about AI innovation. Prime members in the U.S. now get unlimited access to Alexa+ at no additional cost, while non-Prime users can either try a limited free version via the web or mobile app or subscribe for full access at $19.99 per month.
Alexa+ builds on the foundational voice-assistant technology that Amazon has refined over years, but the addition of generative AI marks a shift in ambition. Users can now engage in more natural, back-and-forth dialogue, ask follow-up questions, and tackle broader tasks than basic voice commands.
Where traditional Alexa could handle set tasks, spiking a playlist, setting a timer, controlling a smart light, Alexa+ aims to be more expansive. Early descriptions from Amazon and demonstrations during its initial reveal showed the assistant capable of planning itineraries, managing shared calendars, offering personalized content recommendations, helping with research, and even making reservations or booking services through third-party integrations.
Amazon’s strategy with Alexa+ appears to lean heavily on partnerships. The assistant can tap into services like Uber for ride-booking, OpenTable for dining reservations, and others, positioning itself as a hub that bridges voice control with real-world actions.
Alexa+ first entered the public eye in early 2025, when Amazon unveiled it as a next-generation assistant built on large language models and advanced processing designed to understand context and complete tasks beyond simple voice queries.
During its beta phase, which lasted nearly a year, millions of users reportedly participated in early access trials, with Amazon noting that engagement levels, measured by frequency of use and depth of interaction, climbed significantly compared with the original Alexa experience. This period allowed developers and users to refine expectations and helped Amazon iterate on the product ahead of today’s launch.
The full public rollout now opens Alexa+ to every U.S. customer across Amazon’s ecosystem, including Echo devices, Fire TV, the Alexa mobile app, and a new browser-based experience at Alexa.com, giving users more ways to interact with the AI both at home and on the go.
Amazon’s decision to bundle Alexa+ as a benefit of Prime membership signals a broader shift: voice AI is no longer just a utility; it’s now a strategic lever for customer retention and differentiation. With rivals such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI-backed assistants gaining attention, integrating generative AI into a mass-market product could give Amazon an edge with users who already rely on Alexa for smart-home control, entertainment, and daily routines.
For non-Prime users, a paid tier at $19.99 per month puts Alexa+ squarely in the range of other subscription AI services, offering a choice between limited free use and full access via a standalone plan.
In practical terms, Alexa+ is meant to feel less like a device feature and more like a companion for everyday life. Whether that’s answering complex questions, generating ideas, helping with household coordination, or integrating with external services, Amazon wants Alexa+ to be both informative and actionable.
Critically, users who have adopted Alexa+ during early access, and those just starting with the full launch, are getting their first real taste of what a generative AI-powered assistant can offer outside of a pure chat interface. More than a voice command tool, Alexa+ is Amazon’s bet on a future where AI assists across tasks, decisions, and experiences at home and beyond.
