Amazon Is Making Alexa+ Free for These TVs

Jake Peterson Jake Peterson Senior Technology Editor ExperienceJake Peterson is Lifehacker’s Tech Editor, and has been covering tech news and how-tos for nearly a decade. His team covers all things technology, including AI, smartphones, computers, game consoles, and subscriptions. Read Full Bio August 19, 2026 Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google We may earn a commission from links on this page. Credit: Amazon Key Takeaways Amazon is giving many Fire TV users Alexa+ for free. The AI platform is typically locked behind a Prime subscription or its own separate $19.99 monthly plan. Only "current-generation" Fire TV devices will be eligible for free Alexa+, but Amazon says it may add more devices over time. Table of Contents It's 2026, which means every tech company needs to have its own AI service—often available as a subscription, of course. For Amazon, that's Alexa+, which officially rolled out earlier this year. The experience is comparable to other smart AI platforms like Gemini: You can ask Alexa+ more complex questions and queries than Alexa proper, but you can also still rely on it for smart home control. For the most part, however, Alexa+ is locked behind a paywall: If you have Prime, you have Alexa+; if you don't, you need to pay $19.99. It's a steep entry price for Amazon users without a Prime subscription. That's now changing, depending on your TV. Amazon announced on Wednesday a new initiative to roll out Alexa+ for free for compatible Fire TV devices. The company says that millions of customers are already using Alexa+ on their Fire TVs, and while it doesn't specify, my guess is the vast majority of those are Prime users. It seems Amazon is trying to fill the gaps in its user base here, by offering Alexa+ to Prime-less Fire TV users. What does Alexa+ look like on Fire TV?Amazon says that Alexa+ delivers a "smarter, more conversational voice experience" than its original Alexa assistant. Alexa+ is designed to understand context better than the previous iteration, which means it should be able to respond to more detailed, complex questions. In addition, Amazon says the assistant remembers your preferences, and returns more relevant recommendations. According to Amazon, Alexa+ users have almost twice as many chats on Fire TV with the bot as they did with Alexa. Amazon thinks that's because Alexa+ understands the questions more clearly. The company says that its latest AI assistant can surface results from "tens of millions" of movies, TV shows, and sports programming, without users needing to scroll through those titles themselves. For example, Amazon recommends asking Alexa+ things like "Recommend me a top-rated thriller." If those results aren't quite what you're looking for, the company suggests you follow up with "something newer" or "with a female lead." Alexa wasn't designed for that type of back-and-forth, but Amazon says Alexa+'s contextual awareness makes it possible.While Alexa+ works with entertainment, it's still a smart home assistant, too. You can ask Alexa+ to move a show or movie to another Fire TV in your house, access live camera feeds from your security system, run scenes and routines, control individual smart devices, check the weather, and set timers. What do you think so far? Which Fire TV devices are compatible with free Alexa+?According to Amazon, not all Fire TVs are eligible for free Alexa+. As of this announcement, only current-generation Fire TV devices, including Fire TV Sticks, the Fire TV Cube, Amazon Ember smart TVs, and other smart TVs with Alexa+ built-in (such as those from Hisense and Panasonic) will get free Alexa+ automatically. That said, Amazon teases that it may add support for more devices over time. The full list according to Amazon's help page is:Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen)Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen)Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd)Fire TV Omni Mini-LED SeriesFire TV Omni QLED SeriesFire TV 4-SeriesFire TV 2-SeriesHisense U6Panasonic W95Panasonic Z85APanasonic Z95APanasonic Z95BAmazon says you don't have to activate anything or download an app: Your TV should soon have Alexa+ on its own. However, if you want Alexa+ across other Amazon products, you will need to either subscribe to the platform, or subscribe to Prime. Lifehacker has been a go-to source of tech help and life advice since 2005. Our mission is to offer reliable tech help and credible, practical, science-based life advice to help you live better. Our Mission Our Team Newsletter © 2001-2026 Ziff Davis, LLC., A ZIFF DAVIS COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Lifehacker is a federally registered trademark of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of Lifehacker. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.