Amazon brings Alexa+ to India with Hindi support, free early access

Amazon's AI-powered Alexa+ comes to India with English and Hindi support, an India-focused voice and integrations with services such as Swiggy, MakeMyTrip and District by Zomato

Amazon is bringing Alexa+, its generative AI-powered version of the Alexa voice assistant, to India, with the service beginning Early Access from Wednesday. The new version supports English, Hindi and ‘Hinglish’ at launch, while Amazon said more Indian languages will be added in the future.

 

Alexa+ was first announced in 2025 and began rolling out in the US earlier this year. Amazon is now adapting the assistant for India, with teams in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai working on parts of the technology, including speech recognition and language models designed to handle code-mixed Hinglish and Indian cultural references.

 

Alexa+ is free for all customers during the Early Access period. Once that ends, it will remain free for Prime members. Prime Lite, Prime Shopping Edition and non-Prime customers will need to subscribe separately at Rs 2,000 a month, unless they move to a qualifying Prime plan. 

Alexa+ gets India-specific voice and language support

Alexa+ can switch between English, Hindi and Hinglish during a conversation, including within the same sentence. Amazon said the assistant has also been trained to understand Indian terms and references that may not have direct English equivalents.

 

This includes terms such as "dhai baje" and "ek paav", as well as family relationships such as bhanja, bhateeji, jethani and devar. Amazon also said Alexa+ has been tuned to understand references to Bollywood, cricket, Indian festivals and cultural preferences.

 

The assistant does not require the wake word to be repeated for every follow-up question. Users can continue a conversation naturally and change topics without starting over.

 

Amazon is also working on additional Indian languages, although it has not specified a timeline for their rollout.

Alexa+ can handle tasks, not just answer questions

Amazon's pitch for Alexa+ is that it can perform tasks across services rather than simply answer questions.

 

Users can ask Alexa+ to manage their calendar, send emails, create shopping lists, recommend meals, control smart home devices and find products on Amazon. It can also remember information provided by users, such as dietary preferences, favourite restaurants or important dates, and use that information in later interactions.

Alexa+ can also work with documents and images. Users can upload school schedules, appliance manuals, handwritten recipes and study material through the Alexa app or by emailing them to Alexa. They can then ask questions based on those documents.

 

Another change is continuity across devices. A conversation started on an Echo Show can be continued through the Alexa app or while using Fire TV, with Alexa+ retaining the context of the earlier interaction. Amazon said browser access at alexa.com will also come to India soon.

Alexa+ gets more Indian services

Alexa+ will work with a range of entertainment and smart home services in India. Amazon said customers can use it with Atomberg, Qubo, Dreame and Wipro smart home devices.

 

For entertainment, Alexa+ supports Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, JioSaavn and Prime Video, with Netflix also listed among supported services.

 

Amazon also said more services are coming. These include EazyDiner for restaurant reservations, Swiggy for food delivery and dining reservations, District by Zomato for event and dining reservations, MakeMyTrip for travel bookings, Home Triangle for home services and TripAdvisor for travel planning.

Shopping comes to Alexa+

Alexa+ also gets a more direct role in shopping.

 

Users can ask it to find products on Amazon.in, refine searches conversationally, compare product features, summarise verified customer reviews and answer questions about products. It can also track prices for items on wish lists and notify users when prices fall.

 

Amazon said Alexa+ can also use information about a user's previous purchases and preferences when suggesting products. It can recommend alternatives if an item is out of stock and ask for confirmation before placing an order.

 

Voice-based ordering through Amazon Now is also coming. Amazon said users will eventually be able to search for groceries and daily essentials, add them to a cart and place orders through Alexa+, with Amazon Now handling fulfilment.

Smart home controls become more conversational

Alexa+ can control compatible smart home devices without requiring users to remember specific device names.

 

For example, a user can say that a room is too hot and Alexa+ can adjust the connected AC. Users can also create multi-step routines by voice, such as changing the lights, closing curtains, starting a Fire TV and playing music with a single command.

 

The assistant can also recognise individual household members through voice and visual ID, allowing responses and routines to be personalised for different people in the same home.

 

Amazon describes this broader ability to anticipate actions based on routines and context as "ambient AI". The company said Alexa+ can use factors such as time of day, location within the home and established habits to provide reminders or flag schedule conflicts.

Alexa+ availability and price in India

Alexa+ is available free to all Indian customers during Early Access. Customers can check eligibility through Amazon's Alexa+ page, while purchasing a new eligible Echo or Fire TV device provides immediate access.

 

Most Alexa-compatible Echo devices will support Alexa+, although Amazon says the service is not available on certain older Echo generations. The company has also introduced the Echo Show 8, Echo Show 11, Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio as devices built with additional processing, memory and edge computing capabilities for Alexa+.

 

After Early Access, Alexa+ will remain included with Prime. For Prime Lite, Prime Shopping Edition and non-Prime customers, Amazon has set the standalone price at Rs 2,000 per month.