Alexa finally escapes Echo speakers with a web version

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For years, Amazon’s Alexa has lived a mostly stationary life, stuck inside Echo speakers, occasionally yelling reminders from the kitchen counter. 

Now, Alexa is discovering the wider internet. 

Amazon has begun rolling out a web-based version of its next-generation assistant, Alexa+, giving users a brand-new way to chat with it that doesn’t involve shouting across the room.

For some users, typing Alexa.com into a browser now opens a full chatbot-style interface. 

Instead of talking to a glowing cylinder, you’re greeted by a large text box, suggested prompts, and neat little buttons to copy answers. 

Basically, the same vibes you’d expect from ChatGPT or Google Gemini. As The Verge points out, it all feels very familiar, and that’s exactly the point.

The web version lets users type instead of talk, upload files for Alexa+ to analyze, and manage everyday things like shopping lists and calendars on a proper screen. 

There’s also a sidebar that pulls in your chat history from Echo devices, basic smart home controls, and access to uploaded documents. 

In theory, you can start a conversation in your living room and finish it at your desk without explaining everything again.

Amazon is pitching this as a productivity upgrade, and honestly, it makes sense.

Tasks that feel clunky with voice commands, like editing documents, reviewing files, or copying generated text, suddenly become easy when you have a keyboard and mouse. 

Alexa+ can plan trips, write letters, create study guides, analyze uploaded files, help you shop, and even book restaurants, then hand over the results for you to reuse elsewhere.

That said, this is still Alexa with its shoes untied. 

The web interface is noticeably more bare-bones than its rivals, lacking advanced features like custom bots, creative canvases, or deep file handling. 

It works, but it doesn’t yet feel like a power user’s playground.

For now, Alexa+ is free while Amazon tests things out. Eventually, it’ll be bundled with Amazon Prime, while non-Prime users will face a $20 monthly fee.

Still, putting Alexa+ on the web is Amazon’s clearest signal yet that it wants Alexa to compete with modern AI chatbots, not just turn off your lights.

The question now isn’t whether Alexa can chat, it’s whether people will finally start typing to her on purpose.