Is Kobo Plus Worth it?

Kobo offers a service called Kobo Plus, which is a subscription that provides unlimited access to select eBooks and audiobooks. But is having a Kobo Plus subscription worth it? To answer this question, we'll need to discuss the cost of a Kobo Plus membership, compare that to the cost of buying eBooks, and discuss the collection of books offered on Kobo Plus.

Note that this is discussing Kobo Plus and not Kobo VIP. They are completely different services from each other.

The Cost of a Kobo Plus Membership

Kobo offers 3 plans:

1. Kobo Plus Read
2. Kobo Plus Listen
3. Kobo Plus Read and Listen

Kobo Plus Read and Kobo Plus Listen give you unlimited access to only eBooks and audiobooks respectively while Kobo Plus Read and Listen gives you unlimited access to both types of content.

The prices of these plans will depend on your region. For example, in Canada, Kobo Plus Read and Kobo Plus Listen cost CAD 9.99 a month while Kobo Plus Read and Listen costs CAD 12.99 a month. Compare those prices to the United States where the Kobo Plus Read and Kobo Plus Listen plans there cost USD 7.99 a month while the Kobo Plus Read and Listen plan costs USD 9.99 a month.*

*The prices listed are reported at the time this post was written.

Kobo Plus vs Buying an eBook or Audiobook

How much does an eBook cost? The price may vary but from my observations, they'll usually cost between $5 and $20 with some being outside of that range. That being said, the price of a Kobo Plus subscription is the equivalent of finishing about 1 or 2 eBooks or audiobooks a month. Based on price alone, if you can finish at least that many books consistently, then you would make up the cost of the subscription. In that sense, it would be worth it.

However, keep in mind that you do not own the books you access with Kobo Plus. If you cancel your Kobo Plus subscription, you lose all access to content accessed with the plan until you renew it again.

How Good is Kobo Plus's Collection?

Kobo Plus offers unlimited access to eBooks and audiobooks, but not all content is part of the Kobo Plus collection. Despite this, the library Kobo Plus offers is still quite large. It offers millions of eBooks and hundreds of thousands of audiobooks and new titles are added regularly.

There is a variety of content from different genres and authors. With a large collection available, you will probably find something that you would like. As you choose books to read, Kobo Plus will find recommendations for you to read next based on those choices.

Researching the experiences of other users' experiences with Kobo Plus, the reception of the service varies. They remarked on the wide collection of eBooks and audiobooks available, but the quality of content offered differs from genre to genre. Furthermore, they found that some of the bigger authors the users would have liked to have on Kobo Plus were usually not available.

Considering all of this, if you are open to trying out different authors of varying quality and levels of fame and would like to explore all kinds of titles, then Kobo Plus might be worth looking into. However, if you consider yourself a picky reader and have particular preferences, that is something you would have to take into account when assessing Kobo Plus.

Alternatives to Kobo Plus

Alternatives to Kobo Plus are available. One major competitor Kobo Plus often gets compared to is Kindle Unlimited. Kindle is owned by Amazon and the Kindle Unlimited library is much larger than the Kobo Plus library. However, it has its own set of restrictions, which may be a drawback of the service. For example, whereas you can add as many books as you want on Kobo Plus, you can only add up to 10 books at a time on Kindle Unlimited.

If you are looking for eBooks to read for free, you can consider using Libby, which is an app that connects to your local library and allows you to check out content with your library card. From there, you will have access to a variety of content for free. However, if multiple people place a hold on a book, you will have to wait in line for your turn. Once you check out a book, you will have to return the book after some time.

I would recommend checking out the alternatives to Kobo Plus and see if they better suit your needs. Weigh the pros and cons of each alternative and see how they fare against Kobo Plus.

Try the Free Trial

If you're still not sure if you are willing to pay for a Kobo Plus subscription, Kobo offers a free one-month trial for the service. That is plenty of time for you to browse through Kobo's collection and try it out. However, to start the free trial, you will need to add your credit card and if you want to cancel the trial, you will need to cancel it before it is over to avoid being charged.

Conclusion

Here are my key findings from trying out Kobo Plus and researching it:

• Finishing 1 or 2 eBooks or audiobooks a month will most likely make up the cost of the monthly subscription cost of Kobo Plus.
• Kobo Plus offers a variety of content that you can access with a subscription. You may find something that suits your tastes.
• However, the content may vary and you may not always find what you're looking for.

The monthly cost is decent for the amount of access you have and the catalog is huge. My experience with Kobo Plus has been good as I can check out all kinds of books and see what's available and I am open to suggestions. If I feel that I won't read a lot of books at any point in time, I can always cancel my subscription and then re-subscribe. On the other hand, pickier readers may find browsing through the collection annoying and not worth it.

I'd say at the very least, give the free trial a shot and take the time to see if you like it. You can always cancel the subscription before the free trial ends. If you plan to keep the subscription, you can always cancel it at any time and come back whenever you want to.