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The best Kindle alternatives for those looking to ditch Amazon

Whatever your reason for wanting to move away from the tech giant, there are plenty of options available to you.

Amazon is undoubtedly the king of the castle when it comes to e-readers. Its range of devices is loved by millions, the Kindle Store is the world's best-stocked e-book marketplace, and subscription offerings like Kindle Unlimited keep the most die-hard bookworms busy all year round. But it's never been easier to take your business elsewhere if you disagree with Amazon's business practices or simply don't want to be tied into a giant company's ecosystem (both very reasonable concerns).

The fact that Amazon recently ended support for a number of its older models, effectively turning them into e-waste, is one important reason, among many others, to consider alternative products. Some changes to Kindle Unlimited have also irked a lot of people, with the company now counting magazines toward your 20-title borrowing limit and ending automatic delivery of new issues. The Kindle is arguably the best product Amazon makes, but it's far from perfect. And you wouldn't be alone in looking for alternatives.

There's no shortage of non-Kindle options to ditch Amazon for, but here are our top picks to help you make your decision.

Kobo Clara Color

Kobo is one of the biggest thorns in Amazon's side here, and we love its Clara Color e-reader so much that it currently sits above all available Kindles in our best e-reader guide — not to mention the list of alternatives. Much like the Kindle Colorsoft, the Clara Color's obvious appeal is its ability to render book covers and pages in color. Color E Ink displays are considerably quieter than what you get with an LCD or OLED tablet, but if you want to read comics or graphic novels on an e-reader, you'll have a much better time than if you used a monochrome device.

The Kobo Clara Color features an adjustable warm light for comfortable late-night reading, a waterproof design, and a dual 2GHz processor. This makes it noticeably faster when turning pages than its predecessor, the Kobo Clara 2E.

Kobo's eBook store isn't as comprehensive as Amazon's alternative, but it's well stocked and if you're a library user, you can take advantage of built-in support for library reading apps like Libby. (If you are not a member of a public library in the United States, you should consider joining, as it will greatly improve your digital reading experience!)

Kobo Color Balance

If the Kobo Clara Color (above) appears to be a direct competitor to the Kindle Colorsoft in terms of features and design, then the closest comparison on price would be the Libra Color. It's a step up from the Clara Color in many ways and is more versatile than Amazon's Colorsoft.

The main difference is pen support, which allows the Libra Color to moonlight as a small note-taking device, while also being the place where you read Colson Whitehead's latest novel. It also has an auto-rotating screen and page-turn buttons, the latter being something Amazon stopped offering on its Kindle line after the now-discontinued Oasis (incidentally, still my e-reader of choice).

If you're used to turning the page with a touchscreen, you probably won't be too excited about buttons, but some people just prefer to read with them, and the Libra Color delivers that.

Boox Palma 2 Pro

The folks at Boox would likely take issue with the Palma 2 Pro's status as a direct Kindle alternative, mainly because they don't consider the device an e-reader per se. The company prefers to call it an e-paper mobile device, and its format certainly makes it look more like a sleek smartphone than a digital paperback. But if you like the idea of carrying your entire library of books in your pocket and don't mind the small screen, this is a great option.

In our testing, we found that the Palma 2 Pro's Kaleido 3 E Ink display is ideal for reading, with an experience further enhanced thanks to the snappy touch interface and quick page turns. As it works on Android, you're not limited to just one reading app, with apps like Kindle, Kobo, Libby and Google Play Books all accessible. With the built-in Google Play Store, you can also use the Palma 2 Pro as a replacement smartphone if you want, but with a limited screen that might test your patience.

Kobo Clara BW

Not everyone needs a color e-reader, and some would even say that it makes plain black text look worse. The simplest recommendation if you're looking for a direct alternative to Amazon's standard black and white Kindle is the Kobo Clara BW. It has a comparable 6-inch screen and slim dimensions that make it easy to slip into a coat pocket. It's also waterproof (a feature the base Kindle doesn't offer) and offers an eye-friendly dark mode for nighttime reading. You don't get page-turn buttons, but at this point they're rare on entry-level e-readers.

As we've already established, Rakuten's e-book store isn't as comprehensive as its Amazon equivalent, but it's still very well stocked. And if you want to download EPUB files, Kobo's native support makes it a better option than a Kindle. Like other Kobo e-readers, the Clara BW also has Libby built-in, making it easier for you to borrow and read library books on your e-reader.

Boox Go Color 7

The Boox Go Color 7 is probably best presented as an alternative to the Kindle Colorsoft for those who wisely prefer not to be trapped in an ecosystem. Boox actually beat Amazon and Kobo to the color e-reader market, and has been perfecting them ever since, with the Go Color 7 (2025 refresh) being the one to buy. As on the Palma 2 Pro, the Kaleido 3 screen here is about as vibrant as E Ink color screens are these days. That is, they're still quiet compared to a tablet, but bring your covers and comics to life in a way that a monochrome screen simply can't.

Running Android 12, the Go Color 7 can function as both a tablet and an e-reader, and the Gen II model added stylus support for note-taking. But you're here for its reading credentials, and that's where the Go Color 7 excels. On the hardware side, you get programmable buttons and adjustable front lighting with temperature control. There are also speakers for audiobooks if you don't have headphones handy.

The real unique selling point of the device is its software flexibility. The built-in NeoReader app is suitable for all your DRM-free EPUB files, but more often than not you'll probably be reading on an app like Kobo Books or Libby, all of which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. It's definitely not as seamless as Kobo or Amazon's preconfigured setups, but if you're familiar with Android, you can easily read from many more places on a Boox device.

remarkable paper Pro

If the Amazon device you're looking for an alternative to is the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, your best options still come from companies like Boox or Kobo. But if you fancy another brand, you might consider the reMarkable Paper Pro. It's best to think of it as a writing tablet that supports a few colors, rather than as an e-reader first and foremost. Although it doesn't have a vibrant screen like the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the reMarkable Paper Pro is still a very capable E Ink writing tablet. It can be equipped with a keyboard accessory - something the Kindles of the world don't offer - and allows for much faster typing than writing alone.

reMarkable also has superior software to Amazon when it comes to editing your handwritten and typed notes on your tablets and phones. But it's worth noting that reMarkable charges around $3 per month for the privilege of using features like the ability to search your handwritten notes for text, as well as integrations with Slack and your Google or Outlook calendars, for example. You can still access some useful tools at the free tier, like handwriting conversion and third-party cloud storage, of course. So if you're looking to move away from all subscription models altogether, it's worth finding out if you can live without some of the features listed.

iPad (2025) with A16

Often, people end up in the e-reader market because they want to get away from tablets and their many temptations. And that's completely understandable. But if you don't own any type of device and just want a do-it-all solution that also isn't an Amazon product, Apple's entry-level iPad is worth considering. As a tablet, it's one of the best you can buy, with a super-fast A16 chip that will get through most everyday tasks with ease. It also has an unrivaled app library and a solid screen, although it's still not laminated like those on more expensive iPads.

The iPad can also be your only e-reader if you want. Although it's a little large for comfortable one-handed use, it's not bulky, and because it uses an LCD screen, you can continue reading at night. An E Ink screen mimics paper much more effectively and is significantly easier on your eyes, and that's a big part of what makes these devices appealing. But the iPad still offers a good reading experience. And you can always minimize distractions by customizing the software accordingly.

Amazon and Kobo have apps for iPad, but you'll definitely also want to take advantage of Libby support if you have a library card, as the app is great on Apple's tablet and lets you read millions of ebooks for free. (At least that's what I hear from my American colleagues. Here in the UK, adoption of the app hasn't been as smooth.)

To learn more about our favorite e-readers (including Kindle models), you'll find lots more information in our buying guide.

Is there a better alternative to Kindle Unlimited?

If you read a lot of books, a subscription is worth considering. Kindle Unlimited is basically Amazon's Netflix for books, giving you access to millions of digital books, comics, and magazines for $12 a month. Kobo has a direct competitor called Kobo Plus, which costs $8 per month for an e-book or audiobook-only subscription, or $10 per month if you want both.

Kobo Plus has fewer titles available than Kindle Unlimited (around 1.5 million versus more than 4 million for the latter), and Amazon requires self-published authors on its platform to agree to an exclusivity clause, giving it an advantage. But there's no limit to the number of books you can read at once on Kobo Plus, unlike Kindle Unlimited, which turns out to have a somewhat misleading name. Amazon limits you to 20.

If you'd rather not shell out money for media you don't actually own, the best option is an app like Libby. If you have a valid library card, you can connect it to your Libby account and borrow e-books, audiobooks, and magazines from your local library. Reading through Libby is possible on Kindle devices, but it's more seamless on Kobo devices, since you can link your library card and download books to read directly from your e-reader.