The Amazon Kindle is one of our favorite e-readers, but it’s not everyone’s favorite — there are great alternatives out there that are quality and in some cases, much more affordable.

Maybe you want to branch out from the Kindle store and try out other ebook distributors. Maybe you don’t own many Amazon products, so the whole “Amazon ecosystem” isn’t that useful to you. Whatever the reason, there are plenty of excellent alternatives to Amazon Kindle, from brands like Kobo and Boox, that you should consider too. We’ve tested a few, and share our recommended picks below.

Updated April 2026 to reflect product availability — our previous editors’ pick, the Boox Palma 2, has been discontinued.

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The best Amazon Kindle alternatives in 2026

Many of our top picks came from Rakuten Kobo, an Amazon Kindle competitor, with other options coming from brands like Apple. I share key specifications under the “What to know” menu to consider when shopping.

Best overall

If you are looking for a low-cost e-reader this is the one to get. It’s Kobo’s lowest-priced e-reader and is very similar to a Kindle, with a glare-free black and white screen that’s perfect for reading text. You can purchase books directly from the Rakuten Kobo store, rent books from your local library with the built-in Libby/Overdrive app or read ebooks you’ve purchased from other stores. The device is compact and lightweight, and is IPX8 waterproof, so it’s well-suited for travel.

Best color

NBC Select contributing writer Maria Cassano tested this color e-reader for a few weeks after the brand sent her one to try out — she recommends it to any avid reader. It’s easy to read books from the Kobo store and the public library, plus you can read online articles by syncing the device with the Pocket app.

But the color touchscreen, page-turning buttons and note-taking stylus (sold separately) are what really solidified this e-reader as one of Cassano’s favorites. You can read more in her Kobo Libra Colour review.

Best for note taking

This is Kobo’s best e-reader for note taking. It comes with the Kobo Stylus 2, which has a convenient built-in highlighter button and eraser cap. You can use the stylus to write and annotate any ebook or document you have on the device. It’s also easy to import and export files to your Dropbox or Google Drive account. Plus, the larger 10-inch screen is much more comfortable to write on than the brand’s smaller devices.

Outside of note-taking, the Elipsa 2E works similarly to the other Kobo e-readers on this list — you can read all kinds of ebooks and also listen to audiobooks by pairing any wireless earbuds.

Best for comics and graphic novels

I use an iPad and the Libby app anytime I want to read a graphic novel or comic book. I linked the lowest-priced iPad, the iPad (A16), above, but really any iPad can handle comics and graphic novels — I personally use an older iPad Air (4th Generation) for this kind of reading.

While e-readers like the Kobo Libra Colour have color displays, none can match the vivid, colorful screen of an iPad. And for graphic novels and comics, where half the fun is enjoying the artistry and detail in each illustration, a high-resolution screen is a must.

The downside is battery life: This iPad (A16) gets up to 10 hours of battery life — that’s nothing compared to the days or even weeks of our other picks.

Best public library

I’ve mentioned Libby above: It’s a free public library app, not a dedicated e-reader device. You can download it on your phone or tablet, connect it to your local library card and browse, rent and read ebooks from the app. I’ve used it for more than six years to read books on my phone and tablet. You can also sync your Libby app with an actual e-reader (like the Kobo Clara BW, for example) and send e-books from the app on your phone to your e-reader.

How I picked the best Amazon Kindle alternatives

To pick the best Amazon Kindle alternatives, the NBC Select team tried models from brands like Kobo and Boox, and kept the following criteria in mind when using them:

• Compatibility: One of the main reasons to get a non-Kindle device is access to non-Kindle storefronts. Our top picks can purchase and read content from multiple storefronts, in multiple file formats.
• Screen: Different kinds of screens are better suited to different tasks — a tiny black and white screen isn’t very comfortable for reading comic books, for example. We made sure to include e-readers with different screens suited to different tasks.
• Battery life: Nobody wants another device to remember to charge. Nearly all of our top picks have days or weeks of battery life, enough for vacations and weekend getaways.

How to shop for Kindle alternatives

Regardless of the type of e-reader you are shopping for, there are a few things to keep in mind as you shop.

Where (and what) you can read

E-readers from brands like Amazon and Kobo are mostly restricted to a single bookstore: the Kindle store or the Kobo store respectively. While both brands also support alternatives like the Libby app, these traditional e-readers are more limited than devices like the Boox Palma or Apple iPad.

If you are looking to read everything: news articles, library books, comic books or internet PDFs, a device that runs Android or Apple software may be more flexible than a traditional e-reader. But if you are an ebook purist, traditional e-readers have the simplest interface and longest battery life.

Screen size and resolution

A big, colorful screen is not always best. How sharp and crisp text and imagery appears on your screen depends on a few things: screen size, brightness, resolution and pixels-per-inch (PPI) to name a few. If you are just reading ebooks, a simple e-reader like the Rakuten Kobo Clara BW is more than enough. But if you really want colorful comic book pages to pop, something like a tablet will render each page with more detail and resolution than a color e-reader display.

Why trust NBC Select?

I am a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology, fitness and the outdoors, including stories on fitness trackers, running shoes and camping for beginners. I’ve been using Amazon Kindle devices and Kindle alternatives for years, including some of the recommendations above. For additional perspective, I spoke with other NBC Select staffers about their experience using e-readers outside of Amazon Kindle.