Do you find yourself shopping online on Amazon? You’re not alone because Amazon has tens of millions of customers monthly.
Maybe you still don’t have an Amazon Prime membership and wonder, “How much Is Amazon Prime, and is it worth it?”
You’ve come to the right place for answers.
I wrote this guide to explain Amazon Prime’s membership fee, benefits, potential downsides, and alternatives to Prime subscription.
Let’s begin.
What Is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service that gives you access to discounts, free streaming services, free shipping, and other perks.
I’ll discuss Amazon Prime’s benefits in detail later, but you can consider it a loyalty program you pay for regularly.
How Much Is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime costs $14.99 monthly for the monthly plan or $179.88 annually. Meanwhile, the annual plan fee is $139, equal to approximately $11.58 monthly.
Choosing the annual plan saves you almost $41 on your Amazon Prime membership fee each year.
However, I also understand that paying $139 upfront may not fit everyone’s budget. If you don’t want to pay almost $140 immediately for a single subscription, I think the price of the monthly Prime membership is still reasonable.
Note: You need to enter your credit card information to sign up for a free trial. If you don’t want to pay after your free trial, cancel your membership. Otherwise, Amazon will automatically charge your card and upgrade you to a paid membership plan.
How Much Is Amazon Prime Video?
Existing Prime members get Amazon Prime Video for free.
However, non-Prime members can subscribe to Prime Video as a standalone service for $8.99 monthly.
Although a standalone membership is cheaper than an Amazon Prime subscription, it doesn’t include Amazon Prime’s other benefits like free same-day delivery, free two-hour delivery of groceries, unlimited music streaming, and other exclusive persk.
How Much Does Amazon Prime Cost for Students?
The current pricing for an Amazon Prime Student membership is $7.49 monthly or $69 annually. Students also get a free six-month trial of Prime Student instead of the standard 30-day free trial.
To be eligible for an Amazon Prime Student membership, you must meet the following requirements.
- You must be 18 to 24 years old.
- You must have an Amazon account.
- You must be a college student actively enrolled at a US school.
- You must provide a valid email address containing the domain suffix .edu.
- You must provide proof of enrollment.
Besides a discounted membership plan, Amazon Prime Student members enjoy perks like access to exclusive deals and promos, three free months of Calm Premium, and a free month of Course Hero.
A standalone Prime Video membership (no other Amazon Prime benefits) costs $8.99 monthly or $107.88 annually.
How Much Is an Amazon Prime Membership for Seniors?
Amazon Prime for seniors costs only $6.99 monthly, approximately a 46% discount from the standard Amazon Prime monthly cost of $14.99.
This special discount applies to seniors enrolled in any of the following government assistance programs.
- Medicaid
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly called food stamps)
- Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or WIC
- Supplemental Security Income or SSI
How Much Is Amazon Prime a Month for SNAP Recipients?
You can enjoy a 46% discount on your Amazon Prime plan if you come from a low-income household that uses SNAP EBT cards. You only need to pay a $6.99 monthly fee on your Amazon Prime membership instead of $14.99
As an Amazon Prime member who qualifies for government assistance, you can enjoy the same benefits regular Prime members do, including free shipping and Prime Music and Video.
You can also use your EBT card on Amazon to purchase eligible items, like fruits and vegetables, canned goods, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, bread, cereals, and frozen foods.
What Does Amazon Prime Cost for Educators?
Some think teachers can get Amazon Prime for free or a 50% discount on their membership fee. However, it’s not free or discounted for educators.
There’s no special price for teachers—they must pay the standard Amazon Prime subscription fee.
How Much Does an Amazon Prime Membership Cost for Veterans
Amazon Prime pricing does not include a free or discounted plan for veterans and military personnel. This misconception probably stems from Amazon’s special deals in the past.
In 2019, Amazon started offering a 50% discount to Prime members who paid for an annual subscription on Veterans Day. However, the company discontinued the program in 2022, three years after its launch.
Can I Avoid Paying My Amazon Membership Fee?
There’s been a rumor about certain websites sharing codes allowing people to enjoy Amazon Prime membership for one year for free.
The only way to avoid paying the Prime membership fee is to sign up for their free 30-day trial (or a 6-month trial for students). However, you can only do this if you haven’t been a Prime member in the last 12 months.
You also need a valid credit card to sign up for the free trial.
What Are the Benefits of Amazon Prime?
Your Amazon premium subscription gives you access to all the benefits of Amazon Prime at no additional cost.
Here are some of the perks of an Amazon Prime membership:
Shipping Benefits
- Free same-day shipping to eligible ZIP codes
- Free release-date delivery on eligible preorder items shipped to ZIP codes within the continental US
- Free two-day shipping within the contiguous on eligible items
- Free no-rush shipping
Streaming Benefits
- Free Prime Video
- Amazon Music for Prime Members
- Discounts on Amazon Music Unlimited
Shopping Benefits
- Prime Try Before You Buy (Try eligible women’s, men’s, kids, and baby items before buying.)
- Exclusive savings at Whole Foods Market for Amazon Prime members
- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
- Two-hour delivery in eligible cities (Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods)
- Prime Early Acces (30-minute early access to lightning deals)
- Exclusive access to specific deals and discounts
Entertainment Benefits
- Prime Gaming (free games, in-game content, etc.)
- Prime Reading (Borrow free books, magazines, and more from Amazon’s Prime Reading catalog.)
Can I Get a Refund of My Amazon Yearly Fee After Cancelation?
You’re only eligible for a full refund if you paid for a membership, never used any Prime benefits, and canceled within three business days of converting from the free trial.
You can only receive a partial refund based on the remaining time in your membership if you’ve used any of the Prime perks.
Amazon typically processes refunds within three to five business days.
Is Amazon Prime Worth It?
Whether Prime is worth it for you depends on how frequently you shop online and order food deliveries.
Amazon Prime is worth it if you’re a regular Amazon shopper because you enjoy extensive discounts and free shipping. You also get early access to promos, like Amazon Lightning Deals.
Amazon Prime is also worth it if you enjoy streaming movies and TV shows because you get Prime Video at no additional cost.
On the other hand, spending $139 yearly (or $179.88 if you have the monthly plan) isn’t worth it if you rarely shop online. You’d likely spend much less than $139 in shipping fees if you didn’t have free shipping with Amazon Prime. Another option is to ask a friend who is an Amazon Prime member to order for you.
Are There Alternatives to Amazon Prime?
Walmart Plus is one of the best alternatives to an Amazon Prime membership. At $98, Walmart Plus’s annual plan is $40 cheaper than Amazon Prime’s. Meanwhile, Walmart Plus’s monthly plan is $12.95 monthly.
The question is: What is Walmart Plus?
Like Amazon Prime, Walmart Plus is a paid loyalty program. As a Walmart Plus member, here are some benefits you can enjoy:
- Free delivery ($35 order minimum)
- Free shipping (no order minimum)
- Fuel savings (10 cents per gallon)
- Video streaming (Paramount+)
- Pluto TV (selected ad-free streaming content)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Much Is HBO on Amazon Prime Video?
US Prime members can sign up for HBO Max for a $14.99 monthly subscription, allowing them to access over 15,000 hours of curated content from Warner Bros.
How Much Is Starz a Month on Amazon Prime?
Starz’s subscription fee is cheaper than most of Amazon’s add-on streaming services like HBO Max and Showtime.
Starz costs $8.99 monthly or $74.99 annually for Prime subscribers. The annual subscription is 30% cheaper than the monthly payment plan.
What Does Amazon Prime Include?
Prime members enjoy these key benefits.
- Free same-day delivery
- Free standard shipping
- Free two-day shipping
- Free release-date shipping
- Fast expedited shipping
- Discount on prescriptions and other products on Walgreens and Amazon Pharmacy
- Free Twitch channel subscription
- Exclusive deals
- Free unlimited photo storage
- Access to over a thousand books and magazines through Prime Reading
- Ad-free access to video and TV streaming
- Amazon Music Unlimited
- Early access to some promos
What Is an Amazon Prime Card?
Consider applying for the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, which gives you 5% cash back on purchases on Amazon and Whole Foods Market and comes with a $100 Amazon gift card.
However, this card only gives 3% cash back for non-Prime members.
What Is Amazon Prime Photos?
Amazon Photos is a secure online storage for photos and videos that Prime members can access for free.
What Is the Amazon Family Program?
This program allows you to share Amazon benefits with family members. Adults can manage the profiles of teens and children in the Amazon Household.
How Much Is Amazon Prime Going Up?
Amazon raised the price of Prime annual membership from $119 to $139(or $12.99 to $14.99 for those paying monthly).
The 17% Amazon Prime cost increase forced some Prime members to cancel their subscriptions.
Amazon cited increasing inflation and operating costs as the reason for the price hike.
The Bottom Line
Amazon Prime is worth your money if you spend more than $139 in shipping and delivery fees yearly and enjoy its video and streaming services, in-game content, Amazon Photos storage, and discounts.
I hope my guide on Amazon Prime’s cost helped you determine whether the subscription is worth it and suits your preferences, shopping habits, and budget.
Do you regularly shop at Whole Foods? Did you know you can save at Whole Foods Market with Amazon Prime?
