Amazon will stop paying developers for making Alexa skills

Amazon will soon stop paying developers to create skills for Alexa. In a notice spotted by Bloomberg, Amazon told developers it’s ending monthly payouts after June 30th, 2024.

Amazon started paying developers of popular Alexa skills in 2017. The company both offered a $100 monthly credit to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and paid developers based on how popular their skills were. While many developers didn’t make any money from their skills, a small number reported making thousands each month — at least at the very start of the program.

However, as reported by Bloomberg, Amazon began paring back the amount of money it paid developers in 2020 since the skills weren’t bringing in a significant amount of money for Amazon.

This shutdown of both payment programs aligns with Amazon’s broader cutbacks around Alexa. Last year, Amazon laid off hundreds of workers in its Alexa division as the company moved forward with plans to “supercharge” Alexa with AI. Amazon has also rolled out large language model (LLM) tools that developers can use to make AI-powered Alexa experiences.

Amazon spokesperson Lauren Raemhild tells The Verge the company is now focused on these newer tools that use LLMs. “These are older programs launched back in 2017 as a way to help newer developers interested in building skills accelerate their progress,” Raemhild says. “These older programs have simply run their course, so we decided to sunset them.”

According to Raemhild, less than 1 percent of Alexa developers were still using either reward program. Developers can also still make money through in-skill purchases, which let users pay for content through the developer’s skill, but it likely doesn’t replace the monthly payments directly from Amazon.