What Is Amazon FreeTime? Amazon Kids Explained

Thomas Joseph

Amazon FreeTime is Amazon's old name for Amazon Kids. Amazon officially renamed FreeTime to Amazon Kids and FreeTime Unlimited to Amazon Kids+. Today, Amazon Kids is the free child-profile and parental-controls layer, while Amazon Kids+ is the optional subscription for premium kid content on compatible devices.

Table Of Contents

What Amazon calls it now

If you still see FreeTime in an old setup guide, product listing, or forum thread, read it as legacy branding. Amazon's current help pages define Amazon Kids as the child experience and note that Amazon Kids+ is the add-on for unlimited premium content.

Amazon Kids vs. Amazon Kids+

Feature Amazon Kids Amazon Kids+
Main purpose Child profile plus parental controls Optional content subscription inside the Kids experience
Cost No extra charge to create a child profile Paid plan with pricing that can vary by plan, bundle, and marketplace
Content source Your shared library and approved content Premium kid-friendly books, videos, apps, games, and more
Parental controls Yes Yes
Best for Parents who mainly want limits and profile controls Parents who also want Amazon's catalog of kid content

Amazon's own help page says you can create a child profile at no additional cost, then optionally subscribe to Kids+ for broader content access.

What parents can control

Current Amazon help pages show that parents can manage screen time, age filters, educational goals, web browsing, in-app purchases, and recent activity. The Parent Dashboard also lets parents control device access and permissions, while Fire Tablet child-profile settings include tools for purchase requests, web history, store access, Bluetooth, and volume limits.

Which devices work with it

Amazon currently says child profiles can be created on compatible Fire Tablet, Fire TV, Kindle e-reader, and Alexa devices. Amazon also warns that Kids features vary by device, so the controls on a Fire tablet will not be identical to what you get on an Echo speaker.

How setup works today

The current path is simple: create a child profile on a compatible device, then manage it from the Amazon Kids Parent Dashboard on the web or app. On Echo devices, Amazon says you can manage Amazon Kids in the Alexa app under Settings, where you can enable Amazon Kids for supported devices or create a voice ID for your child.

What changes on Alexa

On compatible Echo devices, Amazon Kids on Alexa gives children a kid-focused Alexa experience. Amazon says voice purchasing is turned off, communication is limited to the household and approved contacts, and parents can review activity through the Parent Dashboard. Amazon also notes that Alexa may not always recognize a child's voice, so profile behavior can differ if voice ID is not detected.

What happens to activity and old profiles

Amazon says parents can review a child's digital activity in the Parent Dashboard, and can also review or delete Amazon Kids on Alexa recordings through Alexa privacy settings. One current detail worth knowing: Amazon says inactive child profiles are automatically removed after 18 months unless you manage that setting.

Bottom line on Amazon FreeTime

Amazon FreeTime is not a separate current service anymore. The modern version is Amazon Kids, with Amazon Kids+ as the optional subscription. If you only need child profiles and parental controls, Amazon Kids is the core feature to look for; if you also want Amazon's curated content catalog, that is where Kids+ fits.

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