Free Alexa+ on Fire TV in the United States

Amazon will activate Alexa+ for free on all compatible Fire TVs in the United States, without requiring a Prime subscription. The company announces an automatic update and features for natural language search, recommendations, and smart home control. Google and Roku have already integrated more conversational assistants into their TV platforms, and Amazon reports an increase in interactions with Alexa+.

Amazon Sees Increased Interactions on Fire TV

Amazon reports that users of Alexa+ have nearly doubled the number of conversations on Fire TV compared to the previous version of the assistant. This shift towards more conversational interfaces is also seen among other players: Google rolled out Gemini on Google TV earlier this year, replacing traditional search with AI-assisted interaction modes. Roku also evolved its voice assistant towards AI last year.

Natural Language Search and Smart Home Control

The Alexa+ update is set to bring conversational search, AI-powered recommendations, and control of connected devices on Fire TV. According to Amazon, there is no longer a need to request a specific title: users can ask for suggestions based on theme, age, or popularity, with queries like “a highly-rated thriller” or “a historical drama with a strong female lead.” The assistant can also help control the smart home, including displaying feeds from Ring cameras on the TV.

Free Deployment and Access Conditions

Amazon plans to make Alexa+ free on all compatible Fire TV devices in the United States, without the need for a Prime subscription. The company specifies that the migration to Alexa+ will be automatic, with no app download or registration required. This includes all current-generation Fire TV Sticks, the Fire TV Cube, Amazon Ember smart TVs, and other models featuring Alexa+, including those from Hisense and Panasonic. Until now, Alexa+ was charged at $19.99 per month for non-Prime subscribers and was only available on the new Fire TV devices announced last fall.