Kindle

Is There a Genuine Kindle Alternative?

June 30, 2025Companies & Brands Article

Books are as popular today as they’ve ever been, with the only real difference being the way that we consume them.

The good news for a lot of people is the fact that you don’t even need to actually read them anymore, with audiobooks being a viable alternative for those that either struggle to read for some reason or else feel that they don’t have the time to do so.

Kindle has long been the market leader when it comes to eBook readers, but many might feel that they’d rather look somewhere else if possible. The question is, is there a genuine alternative on the market?

Why Some People Might Want to Avoid Amazon

Jeff Bezos famously founded Amazon in a converted garage of his home back in 1994. Originally named Cadabra, it was renamed to its current title in the November that year and it launched for public sales in the July of 1995. The company was an online bookseller when it first hit the market, adding music and videos a couple of years later before gradually expanding to become the behemoth that it is today.

There are numerous other companies that have been bought by Amazon over the years so you might not even know they’re part of the company, such as Twitch and Ring.

It is perhaps unsurprising that a company the size of Amazon has faced numerous criticisms over the years. The manner in which some of its employees are treated has long been in the public sphere and liable to upset some, for example, whilst the company has also made controversial moves such as reclassifying books with an LGBTQ+ theme as ‘adult content’.

When Amazon dropped Parler, Time Magazine produced an article that was critical of the power that such companies have over the rest of the internet, whilst Bezos’s links to the Trump government have also raised some eyebrows.

The Kindle Story

The first Kindle was released into the world on the 19th of November 2007. It originally bore the codename ‘Fiona’ and was the brainchild of Bezos, who told his employees that he wanted them to build the world’s best electronic reader in order to get out ahead of the competition.

In the years that followed, Amazon looked to develop and change the Kindle in order to make it as accessible as possible, using it to offer different things than simply being an eReader with an E Ink system that made it look just like you were reading the pages of a real book, even if it didn’t feel like that.

The company also moved to launch applications that would work on the likes of iPhones, iPads, Blackberries and Android devices, so as to allow people to begin reading on one device and then continue doing so on another one. You can even listen to an audiobook version of something, then it will sync with your reading device to ensure that you’re in the same place on all of your devices.

There are numerous different Kindle models in existence, allowing people to use the one that they think best suits their needs, depending on what it is that users are hoping to get from the experience.

The Best Alternatives

Jeff Bezos’s original request from his staff to build the best eReader on the market was one that they took seriously and one that continues to offer one of the most user-friendly experiences that there is. That is obviously problematic for people who don’t like Bezos or what Amazon stands for, but the good news is that there are alternatives available if you would really rather avoid having to give your money to one of the world’s richest people.

Here is a look at the best ones:

Actual Books

Let’s be honest, there is no device in the world that can offer users the same experience as holding an actual book. Sure, it’s difficult to take ten or 12 books away with you if you’re a quick reader heading to Spain for a fortnight, but there really is no alternative to the physical feel of a book in your hands.

Kobo

The only real alternative to the Kindle is the Kobo. The company has been battling it out with Amazon for eReader supremacy for some time and might well be the only one that can be taken seriously by those looking to avoid the Bezos empire where possible.

Your Smart Device

Whether you own an Android or an Apple product, your smartphone or tablet will have some form of eReader available for you to use. This can be an app that doesn’t necessarily have to be the Kindle application, allowing you to read what you want when you want.

ReMarkable

It would be unfair to suggest that the ReMarkable is a genuine alternative to a Kindle, owing to the fact that it is about the size of a pad of paper, but it is arguably the device that rivals the Kindle best when it comes to giving you that genuine paper feel.

Nook

The last company worth mentioning is Nook, which is similar to the Kobo in the sense that it is trying to be a real alternative to the Kindle but without the brand recognition. There are even differently sized models for you to choose from.

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