Millions of Americans pay for Amazon Prime every month without using even a third of what it includes. Others are leaving real money on the table by not knowing about the cheaper plans they qualify for. This guide covers every current benefit, every plan price, the discounts most people miss, and the honest math on when Prime actually pays for itself — and when it doesn’t.
Before you spend any more time reading, here are the straight answers to the questions that bring most people to this page.
- 1 How much does Amazon Prime cost right now? The standard plan is $14.99 per month or $139 per year, plus applicable sales tax. Paying annually saves you roughly $40 compared to month-to-month. If you qualify for Medicaid or SNAP, Prime Access drops to $6.99 per month with the same core benefits. Students and adults ages 18–24 pay $7.49 per month or $69 per year after a six-month free trial. There is no senior-specific discount — the best option for fixed-income seniors who qualify for government assistance is Prime Access at $6.99/month.
- 2 Does Amazon Prime still include free two-day shipping on everything? No — Prime includes free fast shipping on eligible items, but not on everything sold on Amazon. The good news is that “fast” has evolved significantly. Amazon now delivers over 8 billion items at same-day or next-day speed in the US annually, and same-day coverage has expanded to more than 9,000 cities and towns. But shipping speed still depends on the specific item, the seller, your address, and what time you order. Products from third-party sellers without Prime-eligible fulfillment may still take several days.
- 3 Is Prime Video included with a membership — and are there ads? Yes, Prime Video is included — but the standard included tier now shows ads during most content. Amazon added limited advertising to Prime Video’s included tier. If you want ad-free viewing, that requires the Prime Video Ultra add-on, which costs an additional $4.99 per month ($45.99 per year for annual Prime members). The included tier still supports HD, HDR, and up to four simultaneous streams, so for most households the ad-supported version is workable — but it is worth knowing upfront that what you’re getting is not the same as Netflix or Apple TV+ ad-free at a comparable price.
- 4 What benefits does Amazon Prime include besides shipping and video? Quite a few that most members never fully use: Grubhub+ food delivery membership (worth $9.99/month standalone), free Alexa+ AI assistant (worth $19.99/month), 10¢/gallon gas savings at 7,500+ stations, unlimited photo storage, Prime Reading (eBooks and magazines), Prime Gaming (rotating free games and a Twitch subscription), pharmacy discounts through RxPass, and exclusive pricing at Whole Foods Market. The total stated value of bundled benefits significantly exceeds the $139 annual cost — but only if you actually activate and use them. Many people pay for years without ever redeeming Grubhub+, Alexa+, or the pharmacy benefit.
- 5 Can two people in the same household share one Amazon Prime membership? Yes — Amazon Household lets you share Prime benefits with one other adult and up to four children or teens at no extra charge. Each person keeps their own Amazon account, their own order history, and their own privacy. The requirement is that both adults agree to share a payment method as a trust verification, so this works best for spouses and committed partners rather than casual roommates. For a couple splitting $139, the per-person annual cost comes out to under $70 — less than the student plan, and roughly the same as a streaming-only service.
- 6 Is there a way to get Amazon Prime cheaper or even free? Yes — several ways. The most reliable: qualify for Prime Access at $6.99/month if you receive Medicaid or SNAP. New members can try the full membership free for 30 days (six months for eligible students). Some wireless carriers — including certain Metro by T-Mobile plans — bundle Prime at no extra cost with a phone plan. Splitting the cost through Amazon Household effectively halves what you pay. Using a cash-back credit card to pay for Prime can offset a portion of the annual fee over the year.
- 7 What is Amazon RxPass and is it worth it for prescriptions? RxPass is a Prime pharmacy benefit that gives you access to a curated list of generic medications for a flat $5 per month — with free two-day delivery on every prescription. It covers generic versions of commonly prescribed medications across a range of conditions. The catch is that it covers a fixed list of generics only — it won’t replace specialty medications or brand-name drugs. For seniors or anyone managing multiple chronic conditions with common generics, the math can work out very favorably. You need an active Prime membership to access it, and it is not available to people enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare.
- 8 Can I cancel Amazon Prime and get a refund? Yes — you can cancel at any time, and Amazon typically issues a prorated refund for unused time on an annual membership, provided you haven’t made significant use of Prime benefits during the current billing period. If you have used benefits like free shipping or streaming during the current cycle, refund eligibility may be limited. Monthly members can cancel to prevent the next charge with no refund owed. The cancellation process is straightforward — go to Account & Lists, then Memberships & Subscriptions, and select End Membership.
Amazon offers several membership tiers depending on your age, income, and how long you plan to stay subscribed. Here’s exactly what each one costs and who it’s right for.
All Prime benefits included. Saves roughly $40 versus paying monthly. Smart choice if you expect to use Prime for at least 10 months — otherwise the monthly plan is more flexible.
Same benefits as annual, more flexibility. Better if your usage is seasonal (Prime Day, holiday shopping) or if you’re unsure how much you’ll actually use it.
Same core benefits as standard Prime. Requires proof of eligibility through an active EBT card or Medicaid enrollment. Amazon verifies periodically — you must re-verify to maintain the discount.
For eligible students and adults 18–24. Includes a six-month free trial before any charge. Same core benefits as standard Prime, though sharing through Amazon Household is not available on this plan.
If you want access to Prime Video’s included catalog but have no interest in shipping benefits, Amazon offers a standalone video plan at $8.99 per month. No shipping, no Grubhub+, no pharmacy perks — just the streaming library with the same limited-ad experience as the included Prime Video tier. This makes sense only if you’re certain you won’t shop on Amazon regularly, because the full Prime membership at $14.99/month adds shipping and all other benefits for just $6 more per month.
Several things are commonly assumed to be included with Prime but actually cost extra:
- Ad-free Prime Video (Ultra): $4.99/month extra — included Prime Video now shows ads
- Amazon Music Unlimited: $10.99/month or $109/year — Prime includes shuffle-only basic access, not on-demand full catalog
- Unlimited grocery delivery subscription: $9.99/month extra — free same-day delivery on grocery orders over $25 is included, but unlimited delivery from Whole Foods and Fresh requires the add-on
- Amazon Kids+: Prime members get up to 40% off, but it is a separate paid subscription
- Kindle Unlimited: Not included — separate subscription required for the full Kindle library
Most Prime members actively use two or three benefits and don’t realize there are eight or ten more sitting idle in their membership. Here’s what you’re getting — and what activating each one actually looks like.
This is why most people sign up, and it has gotten significantly faster than the original two-day promise. Amazon delivered over 8 billion items at same-day or next-day speeds in the US in the past year — a number that keeps climbing. Same-day delivery now reaches more than 9,000 cities and towns across 44 states, and in major metro areas, Prime members routinely receive orders placed in the morning by evening. Two-day delivery remains the standard fallback outside metro coverage. The “No-Rush Shipping” option earns you $1–$3 in digital credits when you’re flexible on timing — useful for accumulating credit toward Kindle books or Prime Video rentals.
Prime membership includes free same-day delivery on grocery orders over $25 from Amazon Fresh — available in most areas. At Whole Foods Market in-store, Prime members scan their app or Whole Foods card to unlock an extra 10% off all storewide sale items, plus rotating weekly Prime-exclusive discounts on specific products. Produce, proteins, and prepared foods are frequently discounted. Note that unlimited grocery delivery (from Whole Foods and Fresh, without an order minimum) is an optional add-on at $9.99/month for members who order groceries multiple times per week.
Prime Video gives you access to Amazon’s library of original series, movies, and licensed content — including acclaimed originals like The Boys, Fallout, Reacher, The Rings of Power, and more. The included tier supports HD, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and up to four simultaneous streams with up to 50 downloads for offline viewing. The catch: the standard included tier now shows limited advertising during most content. Ad-free viewing requires the Prime Video Ultra add-on at an extra $4.99/month. Individual channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) can be added at their own subscription rates. Live sports including Thursday Night Football are included at no extra cost for Prime members.
Prime membership includes access to Amazon’s music catalog in shuffle mode — think of it like a curated radio experience rather than an on-demand jukebox. You can listen to genre-based stations and playlists, but you can’t choose a specific song and play it on demand without Music Unlimited. Amazon Music Unlimited, which gives full on-demand access to over 100 million songs including HD and spatial audio, costs Prime members $10.99/month (or $109/year) — a discounted rate versus the non-Prime price of $11.99/month. If on-demand music is important to you, this is a reasonable add-on, though Spotify Premium at $11.99/month may serve most users just as well.
Prime Reading gives access to a rotating library of eBooks, audiobooks, comics, and magazines at no extra cost — readable on any Kindle device or the free Kindle app on phones and tablets. First Reads lets you claim one free Kindle book per month from editors’ picks before the general release date — and keep it permanently even after your membership ends. The rotating nature means the selection changes; it’s not a guaranteed library of millions of titles. For that, Kindle Unlimited is a separate subscription. But for casual readers who enjoy discovering new books without committing to a price, Prime Reading delivers genuine ongoing value.
Prime Gaming is easy to overlook if gaming isn’t your focus — but it includes a rotating collection of free PC game downloads each month, in-game content for popular titles like Apex Legends and League of Legends, one free monthly Twitch channel subscription, and access to Amazon Luna’s cloud gaming library of 50+ titles through a browser or app. Treat Prime Gaming as a recurring monthly bonus rather than a fixed catalog — what’s available rotates, and access to a specific title ends when the offer changes. For gamers already paying for Prime, it’s legitimately useful. For non-gamers, it’s simply a benefit that quietly sits unused.
RxPass is one of the most underused benefits in the entire Prime bundle. For a flat $5 per month, Prime members can fill an unlimited number of eligible generic prescriptions — with free two-day delivery on every order through Amazon Pharmacy. For anyone managing multiple chronic conditions with common generics — blood pressure medications, metformin, statins, anxiety medications, and similar — this can represent hundreds of dollars in annual savings versus retail pharmacy pricing. Medications included in RxPass are a curated generic list; it does not cover brand-name drugs, controlled substances, or specialty medications. Important: RxPass is not available to anyone enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid.
Prime membership includes a free Grubhub+ subscription — a perk that would otherwise cost $9.99 per month if you subscribed directly. With Grubhub+ activated, you pay no delivery fees on eligible orders over $12 from hundreds of thousands of participating restaurants across all 50 states. Additional perks include lower service fees, 5% credit back on pickup orders, and exclusive offers. This benefit requires activation — you must link your Amazon Prime account to a Grubhub account to start using it. For anyone who orders food delivery even a few times a month, this one perk alone can approach or exceed the cost of the annual membership.
Prime members can save 10 cents per gallon at more than 7,500 participating fuel stations — including BP, Amoco, and ampm locations. To use this benefit, you download the free earnify gas app and link it to your Amazon Prime account. Saving 10¢ per gallon on a 15-gallon fill-up saves $1.50 per tank. Fill up weekly and that’s close to $78 per year — more than half the annual membership cost recovered from gas savings alone, assuming you have a participating station nearby. This is a newer Prime perk that many long-time members don’t know exists.
Alexa+, Amazon’s upgraded conversational AI assistant, is included free with Prime — non-Prime members pay $19.99 per month for it. It works on compatible Echo devices and adds genuinely expanded capabilities: natural multi-step conversations, restaurant reservations through OpenTable, Ticketmaster event reminders, food ordering through Grubhub and UberEats, and more sophisticated task completion than standard Alexa. If you already own an Echo device and use it regularly, activating Alexa+ costs you nothing extra as a Prime member. The benefit applies only to compatible devices — older Echo models may have limited Alexa+ functionality.
Prime members get unlimited storage for full-resolution photos through Amazon Photos — no compression, no quality reduction. You also get 5 GB of free video storage. For anyone paying for iCloud or Google One photo storage, this alone can offset a few dollars of Prime’s monthly cost. Photos sync across all your devices using the free Amazon Photos app and can be shared with up to five family members. You can also display photos on a Fire TV or Echo Show, and Prime members get a 45% discount on photo prints through Shutterfly. Note that video storage beyond 5 GB requires additional purchase.
Use this table to quickly compare what each plan costs, who can get it, and what’s different between them. All plans include core Prime benefits unless noted.
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Who Qualifies | Free Trial | Household Sharing | All Core Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard — Annual | — | $139/yr | Anyone | 30 days | Yes | Yes |
| Standard — Monthly | $14.99/mo | $179.88/yr | Anyone | 30 days | Yes | Yes |
| Prime Access | $6.99/mo | $83.88/yr | Medicaid / SNAP / EBT | 30 days | Yes | Yes |
| Young Adults / Students | $7.49/mo | $69/yr | Ages 18–24 or students | 6 months free | No sharing | Yes |
| Prime Video Only | $8.99/mo | $107.88/yr | Anyone | No trial | No | Video only |
Prices are current US rates before applicable sales tax. Amazon may adjust pricing — always verify on amazon.com before purchasing. Prime Access requires periodic re-verification of eligibility. Young Adults plan requires annual re-verification of age or student status.
Whether you’re deciding whether to sign up, wondering if your current plan is the right one, or trying to get more out of what you’re already paying for — the answer looks different based on where you’re starting from.
If you are currently enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP, or another qualifying government assistance program and you’re paying the full $14.99/month or $139/year, you’re almost certainly overpaying. Prime Access gives you every core Prime benefit for $6.99/month — and many members who qualify have no idea it exists. To switch, go to amazon.com/prime and look for the Prime Access option. You’ll need to verify your enrollment status through Amazon’s verification portal, which typically involves confirming your EBT card or Medicaid information. You can re-verify annually to maintain the discounted rate.
Run this quick math: count how many Amazon orders you placed in the past 12 months. If each order would have cost $5–$8 in shipping without Prime, you only need 18–28 non-Prime orders per year for shipping savings alone to match the $139 annual cost. Most people who shop regularly on Amazon clear that bar easily. Where it gets obvious is when you layer in even one or two additional benefits — if you also order from Grubhub at least twice a month, the Grubhub+ perk alone saves $20+ in delivery fees monthly, more than the cost of the membership. The calculation tilts against Prime if your actual Amazon order count is fewer than 10–12 per year and you don’t use other benefits.
RxPass through Amazon Pharmacy is worth investigating carefully. For $5 per month added to your Prime membership, you get unlimited fills on an eligible generic medication list. If you take two or three common generics — metformin, lisinopril, atorvastatin, sertraline, and similar medications are frequently included — the math can be compelling compared to paying per prescription at a retail pharmacy. Check whether your specific medications are on the RxPass list before signing up. Critically: RxPass is unavailable to anyone enrolled in Medicare Part D or Medicaid. If either applies to you, Medicare or Medicaid drug coverage should be your primary pharmacy channel — do not pay separately for RxPass on top of it.
Prime Video has genuine standout content — several critically praised originals and exclusive sports coverage — but it’s no longer a clean, ad-free streaming experience without the Ultra add-on. At $14.99/month for standard Prime plus $4.99/month for ad-free video, you’re at $19.98/month before other services. If streaming is your only interest and you don’t shop on Amazon regularly, the $8.99/month Prime Video standalone plan makes more sense than the full membership. If you already subscribe to Netflix or Apple TV+ and are happy with the content, Prime Video as a second service may deliver diminishing value — it depends entirely on how much you’ll actually watch Amazon’s specific catalog versus what you already have.
This is the most common situation — and research suggests more than half of US adults are reviewing their subscriptions right now to cut back. Before canceling, spend 15 minutes on amazon.com/prime/benefits and actually activate the things you haven’t tried: Grubhub+, the earnify gas savings app, RxPass (if applicable), and Alexa+ on any Echo device you own. Many members who think they’re underutilizing Prime are simply not using benefits they’ve never activated — and activating them costs nothing. If you go through that checklist and genuinely can’t find $139 worth of value in your own usage patterns, cancel — you can always restart, and new accounts sometimes qualify for additional trial offers.
Most people get less than half the value available in their membership. These are the things worth doing if you’re going to pay for Prime either way.
This is the single highest-impact change most Prime-paying households haven’t made. If you live with a spouse, partner, or trusted adult family member, add them through Amazon Household at amazon.com/myh/manage. Both adults get full Prime benefits — including shipping, Prime Video, Grubhub+, and everything else — while each person keeps their own separate account, order history, and login. The shared payment requirement means you’re extending trust, so do this with a partner or family member rather than a casual acquaintance. The per-person cost comes out to $69.50 annually — less than the student plan.
Amazon Prime is not a take-it-or-leave-it annual commitment. If you use Prime heavily during Prime Day in summer and the November–December holiday season but rarely shop between February and May, consider timing your subscription accordingly. Cancel after the holiday season and restart before Prime Day to capture the highest-value periods without paying year-round. You can also pause your membership — Amazon allows pauses for members who don’t want to commit to canceling outright. This strategy works better for monthly subscribers who aren’t locked into annual billing.
At checkout, when you don’t actually need something urgently, selecting No-Rush Shipping earns you a small digital credit — typically $1–$3 per order — applied toward your Amazon account. These credits accumulate and can be used for Kindle book purchases, Prime Video rentals, or other digital Amazon purchases. It won’t cover your Prime membership cost alone, but over the course of a year, a household that chooses No-Rush shipping on 20–30 orders can accumulate $30–$90 in digital credits. That’s real value if you read Kindle books or watch rental movies, essentially earning entertainment credits for not needing packages immediately.
The 10¢/gallon fuel savings at BP, Amoco, and ampm stations is one of the least-activated benefits in the Prime bundle. Download the free earnify app, link your Amazon Prime account, and start scanning at the pump — it takes about five minutes of setup and delivers ongoing savings with no effort afterward. At one weekly fill-up of 15 gallons, you save $1.50 per tank — roughly $78 per year. For two-car households filling up twice weekly, that can recover a significant portion of the annual membership cost purely from a perk most members ignore.
The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card earns 5% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases for Prime members, with no annual card fee (beyond the Prime membership itself). For a household spending $300/month on Amazon and Whole Foods combined, that’s $180 in annual cash back — already more than the $139 Prime membership cost. Additional categories earn 2% at restaurants, gas, and drugstores. Card approval is based on creditworthiness. This is not a recommendation to carry a balance or spend more than you would otherwise — it only makes financial sense if you’re paying your balance in full each month. But for existing Amazon and Whole Foods shoppers who pay balances monthly, the math can make Prime effectively free.
This page is for general informational purposes only. Amazon Prime membership costs, plans, benefits, and eligibility requirements are subject to change at any time — verify all current pricing and terms directly at amazon.com before making any subscription decisions. Plan availability may vary by location. RxPass is not available to individuals enrolled in Medicare Part D or Medicaid — consult your existing drug coverage before purchasing. Grubhub+ benefit requires account linking and is subject to ongoing availability while both Prime and Grubhub offers remain active. Fuel savings require earnify app download and account linking; participating stations subject to change. All streaming content libraries, gaming catalogs, and reading selections rotate and may change without notice. Amazon Household requires agreement to share payment method between participating adults. This content is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Amazon or any of its affiliated brands.