Kobo charges $3.99 monthly to sync your personal ebook library

Kobo is setting a price tag on a feature that competitors provide for free. The company will charge subscribers $3.99 per month in Canada to upload, store, and sync personal ebooks and documents across devices. This paid model distinguishes the new service, Stack, from Amazon's Send to Kindle tool, which allows users to push files to their libraries at no cost.

Stack is part of a major version 6.0 update to Kobo's e-reader software. The update is currently available as a beta option. The service supports EPUB and PDF files up to 200MB in size. Users can upload content via a drag-and-drop interface on the Kobo website or by emailing files to a dedicated address provided upon subscription. Once uploaded, documents, reading progress, highlights, and annotations sync across iOS and Android apps, the web interface, and supported e-readers.

Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn confirmed the launch details on Threads. The initial rollout excludes the United States. The service is live in Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Spain. Pricing in the UK is set at £2.99 per month. Kobo is offering a 90-day free trial for new subscribers.

Device support is initially limited to recent hardware, including the Clara BW, Clara Colour, Libra Colour, and Elipsa 2E. Kobo's website states that access for older devices made between 2018 and 2024 will arrive soon. If a user cancels their subscription, they have a 60-day grace period to download files and export notes. After that window, all uploaded data is permanently deleted from Kobo's servers.

The version 6.0 firmware update includes several other changes alongside the Stack launch. Users can now link multiple library cards to borrow books from different institutions through Libby. Devices with pen support will see lower stylus latency. The update also adds larger font options for accessibility and supports EPUB files protected by LCP DRM.