Readly vs Kindle Unlimited: Best Value Magazine App?

Ready to start reading your favourite magazines from the comfort of your phone or tablet?  There are a handful of services which now let you take a look at physical magazines from a small screen.  Rather than having to buy magazines outright, downloading an app or two might seem pretty appealing.  That’s why a magazine subscription app service like Kindle Unlimited or Readly generally offers big deals to entice more people.  It’s quick and convenient to read magazines through an app – surely?

In this review, I’ll be offering a quick breakdown of Readly vs Kindle Unlimited.  What separates the two apps?  Is there any difference in terms of value and pricing?  There’s no better time than the present to dive in and take a look.

Best Magazine Subscription Deals

First of all, take a look at the deals that both Readly and Kindle Unlimited are offering.  Right now, you can get Kindle Unlimited for any device for free for two months – and you can activate this deal until the end of April, so act fast.  After that, you’re looking to pay £7.99 per month.

Wouldn’t you know it – Readly are offering the exact same deal!  Get two months completely free, and then pay £7.99 per month.  At first, then, there’s not much to really tell between the services – so let’s dig a bit deeper.

Although before we get started, if it’s not already obvious, you can currently sign up to both services and make use of two months completely free, then just cancel the one you don’t want before the trial is over. Go get your digital magazine fill!

Readly vs Kindle Unlimited: A Quick Summary

Don’t have much time to read the full facts?  Here’s a really brief summary.

• Readly offers thousands of magazines, while Kindle Unlimited offers around a million titles also including books.
• Readly lets you register up to five users and devices per account.  With Kindle Unlimited, it depends on who has access to your Amazon login.
• You can seemingly download as many magazines as you like with Readly.  Kindle Unlimited lets you ‘borrow’ up to ten books at a time.
• Kindle Unlimited seems to be more technically proficient and easier to use than Readly. 
• On the whole, Kindle Unlimited seems to offer more value, but Readly is friendlier for those people looking to share with family and friends.

Is Readly Any Good?

Readly tends to be a big winner with people who are looking for a speedy interface and a decent range of magazines to pick from.  Some reviewers have referred to it as the Spotify of magazine subscriptions, which is a big figure to live up to.

On the whole, Readly offers a great range of magazines which you can pore through, subscribe top and read back issues of.  Everything from classic car mags to The Beano are available here, which is great news if you’re a voracious reader.

Some users feel that the app isn’t that intuitive on the whole and can be tricky to use.  There are also a few issues with the magazines you can actually download – there are a few big names missing from the line-up.

How Much Does Readly Cost?

At present, Readly is free for two months, moving to £7.99 per month after your free trial.

How Does Readly Work?

Readly is pretty simple on the whole.  Simply sign up through the app with iOS or Android and start looking through magazines by title or genre.  You can add favourite magazines through a virtual shelving system, subscribe to your favourites, and download issues to read offline.  Like a magazine which you’d normally flick through, you can swipe through magazines using the Readly interface.

How Many Devices Can I Use Readly On?

Readly will let you set up to five user profiles, and you can use the same subscription on up to five different devices.

How Many Magazines Does Readly Have?

Readly reportedly offers subscriptions for over 4,500 different publications, but we’d defy you to check that by counting.  Therefore, there’s probably a fair amount for you to get into.  As stated, there are a few big names missing, but on the whole, you get a fair overage.

What Are the Most Popular Magazines Available on Readly?

Some of the biggest mags available for you to download and read through the Readly app include GQ, Take a Break, T3, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Hello and The Beano.

Can You Share a Readly Subscription with Friends and Family?

Yes – you can share your subscription on up to five devices with the same number of profiles, making it super-flexible for just £7.99 per month.

Is Kindle Unlimited Any Good?

Kindle Unlimited is likely to appeal to anyone who uses their Amazon Prime account a lot.  What Kindle has over Readly, on the whole, is that it offers more titles – but that’s because it caters to books, too.  It also has a slightly different system; in that you can borrow up to a specific number of books at a time.  It’s pretty intuitive, on the whole, and again, it seems to be flexible across most devices.

How Much Does Kindle Unlimited Cost?

As with Readly, you can expect to pay £7.99 for the service, with a two month free trial currently underway.  However, keep in mind that it’s not included with an Amazon Prime subscription, and unlike Readly, you can only keep a few books at a time.

How Does Kindle Unlimited Work?

Just as you would through Readly, you can explore digital bookshelves through the Kindle app, and choose which titles you’d like to download.  Pick up to ten to read at any time, and there’s no fees or timescales penning you in place.  You can therefore choose from a huge range of books and magazines that you’d normally need to pay handsomely for.

How Many Devices Can I Use Kindle Unlimited On?

This isn’t too clear, but generally, if you can sign into your Amazon account on the device, you can use it.  This means that you should be able to share it with friends and family, though only through one Amazon or Kindle account.

How Many Magazines Does Kindle Unlimited Have?

Ready?  Amazon’s magazine subscription service lets you borrow up to a million titles.  That is, at least, what the marketing tells us.  It’s worth keeping in mind that this applies to books AND magazines, however.  Even so, it’s an impressive tally.  But does that necessarily mean Kindle is better than Readly just for the sheer amount of content available?

What Are the Most Popular Magazines Available on Kindle Unlimited?

Kindle Unlimited’s most popular mags are a mixed bag on the whole.  They list Style at Home, Pick Me Up, Official Xbox, Woman’s Own, Web User, Inside Soap, Linux Format and Men’s Health as their main titles.  There are a few mags here which Readly states are popular, too, though it seems a different type of reader might be looking into Kindle more.

Can You Share a Kindle Unlimited Subscription with Friends and Family?

To an extent, yes, but it’s worth knowing the ins and outs.  Ultimately, you can only use the service through one Amazon or Kindle account.  Therefore, provided that you can use the Amazon account on another device, you can share your books and magazines.  However, as a digital magazine subscription service, it would be nice for there to be a multi-user option, much like Netflix.

Which is the Best Value for Money, Readly or Kindle Unlimited?

This is where things can start to get a little tricky.  Who wins in the battle between Readly vs Kindle Unlimited?  Crucially, they are two quite different services.  Kindle offers magazines AND books, while Readly offers magazines only.  Therefore, as they are both the same price, you might find it tempting to say Kindle wins out.  However, there are a few other points to consider.

Kindle Unlimited seems to be aimed at solo users.  Readly offers a Netflix style approach to account sharing, which means you can actually add people and devices.  With Kindle, you have one connection to one device through your solo Amazon account.  Therefore, provided other users have the option to log into your Amazon account, you are golden.

Readly tends to be a little less user-friendly, at least right now.  Kindle has been around for longer thanks to Amazon developing the specific e-book model all those years ago.  Therefore, the more intuitive experience is yours for the taking via Kindle Unlimited.

However, Readly lets you download magazines, as many as you like – provided that you are on a subscription.  Kindle Unlimited, not so much.  You get access to ten different books at a time.  Then again, unless you’re a really voracious reader, it’s unlikely this will be a major issue for you.

Altogether – it’s hard to say what is the best app for magazines.  Both offer great value, and while Kindle Unlimited gives you a broader choice for your money, Readly seems to be better for the magazine side of things.  It has a way to go before it’s as technically impressive as Kindle, mind.

With both running free deals right now – why not give them both a go while the lockdown persists?  Take a look at both and let me know in the comments below if you have a preference.