Walmart+ is sold as a bundle: grocery delivery, free shipping, a streaming service, cheaper gas and a pile of small in-store extras. The trouble is that most people use two of those and pay for all of them. This page does the arithmetic instead of the sales pitch. You will see the exact prices, the number of delivery orders where the fee pays for itself, which perks are worth real money, which are trivia, and what to do in the situations that actually cause regret: the trial that auto-renews, the streaming service you already pay for, the household where only one person drives.
Key Takeaways, Answered Fast
The questions people ask right before they click “join,” with the short answer first.
What Walmart+ Costs, Plan by Plan
There is one membership with three price tags. Which tag you get depends on how you pay and who you are. Walmart’s membership page shows the annual fee and the discounted rate; the monthly price appears across consumer-finance coverage and is consistent in every source we compared.
- A short stretch, like moving or a holiday season
- Testing before committing
- Anyone who plans to cancel within seven months
- Regular grocery or shipping orders
- Households that would pay for Peacock
- Anyone staying beyond eight months
- Qualifying government-assistance recipients
- College students
- Anyone who can verify eligibility
Divide $98 by $12.95 and you get 7.57. That means paying monthly stays cheaper only if you will cancel before the eighth month. After that, annual wins. If you are not sure you will stay, start monthly, set a calendar reminder at month six, and switch to annual if you are still using it.
One detail in that chart is worth pausing on. A person on the Assist rate who pays monthly spends $77.64 over a year, which is $28.64 more than the $49 annual Assist price. A person on the standard annual plan spends $98. If you qualify for Assist, the annual version is the cheapest cleanly-priced option on the table.
The Perks, Ranked by Real Dollars
Walmart’s own marketing says annual members save an average of $380 a year, with a footnote giving $382 and noting it excludes the fee. That is a company-wide average, built from the members who use the most perks, so we did not use it. We priced the perks one at a time instead.
| Perk | What you get | Fine print that matters | Realistic yearly value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery delivery | Free delivery on orders over $35, as fast as same day | Time slots first come, first served; in-stock items only | Largest for frequent orderers |
| Shipping | Free next-day and two-day shipping, no minimum | Excludes most Marketplace items | Depends on order count |
| Express delivery | $10 fee instead of $17.95 to $19.95 | Not free for members | Up to $9.95 per use |
| Streaming | Paramount+ Essential or Peacock Premium | One service; switch every 90 days; extra sign-up needed | $59.99 to $109.99 if you would pay anyway |
| Fuel | 10 cents per gallon at participating stations | Station network only; app steps for CITGO | $43.30 at 433 gallons |
| Photo prints | 25 free 4×6 prints each month | Up to 300 a year; ordered at the Photo Center | Up to $54 at $0.18 each |
| Money services | One fee-free service per quarter | Check cashing, money orders, transfers, bills | Roughly $1 to $8 per use |
| Auto care | Free flat repair and road-hazard warranty | Qualifying tires; bring tire to the center | $15 repair value |
| Burger King | 25% off digital orders; free Whopper every three months | Members only, through the app | About $25 from the Whopper |
Photos ($54) plus gas ($43.30) plus the Whopper ($25) plus one flat repair ($15) is $137.30, which looks like a win until you ask whether you actually print 300 photos, drive 433 gallons through a participating pump, eat at Burger King every quarter and get a flat tire. We ran the figures and concluded that the small perks are garnish. Delivery and streaming are the meal.
The Break-Even Math Nobody Shows You
Every membership article tells you to “add up your savings.” Here is how to actually do it. Start with delivery, because it is the only perk that can pay for the whole fee by itself.
One secondary source puts the non-member delivery fee at $7.95 to $9.95 per order. Another cites a minimum shipping savings of $6.99 per order for orders under $35. Walmart’s own page confirms express delivery runs $17.95 to $19.95 for non-members versus $10 for members. We use the $7.95 and $9.95 figures below and flag them as estimates, since the fee varies by location and time slot.
Read that chart as a weekly-versus-monthly question. Order groceries every other week and you place about 26 orders a year, so delivery alone avoids $206.70 at $7.95 an order, or $258.70 at $9.95. Order once a month and you place 12, avoiding $95.40 at $7.95, which is just short of the fee, or $119.40 at $9.95, which clears it. The difference between “worth it” and “not worth it” is often one extra order a month.
| How often you order | Orders a year | Fees avoided at $7.95 | Fees avoided at $9.95 | Net after $98 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 52 | $413.40 | $517.40 | +$315 to +$419 |
| Every other week | 26 | $206.70 | $258.70 | +$109 to +$161 |
| Monthly | 12 | $95.40 | $119.40 | −$3 to +$21 |
| Every other month | 6 | $47.70 | $59.70 | −$50 to −$38 |
It assumes every order would otherwise carry a fee. In practice, non-members pay no delivery fee on some pickup orders, and delivery fees are not identical across stores and times. So the table is a ceiling for delivery savings. Run it against your own last three receipts before you rely on it.
Real Situations, Real Answers
The generic advice ends at “if you shop at Walmart a lot.” These are the specific spots where people actually stall.
That is roughly 24 orders and about $190 to $239 in avoided fees at the assumed rates, so the annual plan is clearly ahead on delivery alone. The catch is the $35 minimum. A one-person grocery run that comes in at $28 does not qualify for free delivery, so you either add something or pay the fee. If you find yourself padding orders to hit $35, the savings shrink.
This is the case the membership was built for. Fifty-two orders a year dwarf the $98 fee, and the gas, streaming and pharmacy perks stack on top. The question is not whether to join but whether to go annual. If you are certain you will keep it past eight months, annual saves $57.40 over monthly.
Shipping has no minimum for members, but non-members can already get free shipping at a spend threshold on many items. If you order from Walmart.com a handful of times a year, you may never reach the point where the fee beats the shipping you would have paid. Count your last twelve months of shipping charges before you sign up. If the total is under $98 and you do not want the other perks, skip it.
This is the best argument for joining. Peacock Premium is listed at $109.99 a year in one pricing comparison, which is more than the whole membership. If you already pay for it, the membership effectively costs you nothing and you gain delivery and gas on top. If you do not watch either service, the streaming perk is worth nothing to you and should not enter the math.
Walmart says you can pick one ad-supported service every 90 days. That is useful for following a single show season, but it also means you cannot hold both at once. Pick the one you will use in the next three months, then re-evaluate at the next window. Registration is a separate step through the streaming service, so do not assume it activates automatically when you join.
The fuel discount is 10 cents a gallon at participating Walmart, CITGO, Exxon, Mobil and Murphy stations. Walmart expanded the network to include CITGO this year, taking it from roughly 13,000 to more than 17,000 stations, an increase of about 30 percent. To use CITGO you open Gas Savings in the app, pick CITGO, and link a Club CITGO account, then enter the linked phone number at the pump. If your commute passes a participating station, 800 gallons a year is $80 back. If your nearest stations are not on the list, the perk is worthless.
The Student rate is $49 a year or $6.47 a month, per Walmart’s membership page. That alone changes the arithmetic: five to seven delivery orders cover it at the assumed fees. Dorm and off-campus students without a car are the clearest winners, since delivery replaces a ride or a bus trip. Verify eligibility on Walmart’s site before the trial ends so the rate applies at renewal.
The Assist rate is half price: $49 a year or $6.47 a month. Kiplinger describes it as available to people on Medicaid or other eligible programs. One review reports that the membership fee cannot be paid with EBT, so plan to use a regular payment method. Eligibility is checked online through Walmart, and we could not confirm which documents are requested, so start the verification before you need the membership.
One consumer-deals site lists AARP members at $58 for the annual plan. We did not find that price on Walmart’s own pages, so ask the AARP benefits page or check at checkout before assuming it. If it applies to you, it sits between the Assist rate and the standard rate.
Free pharmacy delivery has no order minimum, and orders can arrive as soon as the same day, though eligibility depends on the medication type and InHome delivery is excluded. For someone who is housebound, recovering from surgery or caring for a parent, this can be the single most valuable perk on the list even though it has no fee-equivalent number attached. Ask the pharmacy which of your medications qualify before you count on it.
Delivery is only as good as the radius. Free delivery from your local store is a great perk if a store delivers to you, and a useless one if it does not. Enter your address on Walmart’s site before joining and look at the delivery windows it offers. If the earliest slot is days away, the membership is mostly a shipping and streaming plan.
The grocery perk only covers items in stock at your store, which means substitutions and shortfalls are part of the deal. Treat the first two or three orders as a test. If the quality of substitutions or the missing-item rate bothers you, you have a clear signal before the annual renewal.
Short, heavy-ordering periods are where the monthly plan is a smart choice. Three months of weekly orders at $12.95 a month costs $38.85, cheaper than the $98 annual fee you might not need once things settle. Cancel when the rush is over.
More Moments That Decide Whether It Was Worth It
It happens constantly, and it is the single most common reason people feel the membership “wasn’t worth it.” The fix is mechanical, not motivational. Put the cancel date in your phone the moment you sign up, with a note that says exactly what to check: did I place a delivery order, did I link the streaming service, did I save more than I would pay? If the answer to all three is no, cancel that day.
The fuel discount attaches to the member’s account, so only the member’s fill-ups earn it. If both adults drive, the second person either needs to share benefits, if that feature applies to your account, or the savings only accrue to half your gallons. One outside source says a paid member can invite one adult in the household. We could not confirm the details on Walmart’s pages, so open the membership section of the app and look for an invitation option before you plan around it.
Delivery availability, time slots and which store fulfils your order vary by address, and slots are first come, first served. Check at the exact hours you shop. If your realistic windows are always full, the perk is a theoretical one. A membership that delivers on Sundays in a big city can be a very different product from one at the edge of a delivery zone.
Walmart lists early access to select deals for paid members, online only and while supplies last, including events like Black Friday. For deal hunters, that has a real use: items that sell out fast are sometimes gone before the general public sees them. It is not a discount on its own, so do not count it as a dollar value in your math.
Scan & Go lets you scan items with your phone as you shop and pay without standing in a line. Walmart’s listing for it carries no fine print, and the feature requires the Walmart+ app. It is a time saver, not a money saver, so value it as such. For a parent with a stroller or a person who hates queues, it may be the perk you notice most.
The membership includes a standard Pawp online pet care plan, and additional services are billed by Pawp directly. Kiplinger values Pawp at $99 a year depending on how many vet visits you move online. Treat that as an upper bound. If you rarely call a vet for minor questions, you will not extract much from it.
Walmart lists a OnePay 5 percent cash back credit card, with separate registration and approval, and subject to credit approval. We have not evaluated the card’s terms here. If a card’s rewards are the only reason you are tempted to join, read its rate and fee schedule on its own terms and weigh it independently of the membership.
Members get savings on one qualifying money service every three months: check cashing, money orders, money transfer sends, bill payments, or loading cash to a digital account. FinanceBuzz notes customer fees for these services usually run $1 to $8. That is a small number, so only count it if you use the Money Center regularly.
Some people buy nothing for two months and then place six orders in a week. For them the order count matters less than the timing. If the burst lands inside a single monthly billing period, the monthly plan covers it for $12.95 and you can cancel afterward. If bursts recur through the year, annual is the better fit, because you would otherwise be signing up and cancelling repeatedly.
Treat the recommendation as a hypothesis. A friend who orders every week has a very different budget from yours. Ask them one question: how many deliveries did you place last month? That number, multiplied by twelve, is the only part of their experience that transfers to you. Everything else, including the streaming service they love, is a preference.
After the first full month, add up three lines: delivery or shipping fees you did not pay, gallons discounted at ten cents, and any streaming subscription you cancelled because of the perk. Divide the annual fee by twelve and compare. If the monthly savings are less than $8.17, you are on the wrong plan or the wrong store.
Myths Worth Dropping
Walmart’s own marketing gives $380 a year, with a footnote citing $382 before the fee. That is an average of members who use the perks, and averages across a skewed group describe the heaviest users. Your number depends on your orders. Use your own receipts.
The perk waives the delivery fee on orders over $35. It does not set prices, cover tips where applicable or guarantee the same price as the shelf in every store. Compare a basket across a store visit and a delivery order once, so you know the difference for your address.
It covers most items sold and shipped by Walmart. Most Marketplace items, freight and location-based surcharges are excluded. Check the item page before you assume it ships free.
Not if your need is short. The monthly plan costs $12.95 and the annual plan $98, which means annual only wins if you stay past the seventh month. A three-month burst of heavy ordering costs $38.85 monthly versus $98 up front.
Run the Ten-Minute Audit Before You Join
Do this once, with your last three months of receipts and subscriptions in front of you. It takes ten minutes and replaces every guess on this page with your own numbers.
- Count your Walmart delivery or shipping orders over the last three months, then multiply by four. That is your yearly order count.
- Multiply by the fee you would have paid, using $7.95 as a cautious number. Compare the total to $98, or $49 if you qualify for the half-price rate.
- Check your streaming bills. If Peacock or Paramount+ is already on your card, subtract that annual cost from the $98.
- Estimate your fuel gallons at participating stations and multiply by $0.10.
- Add only the extras you truly use, not the ones you might use.
- If the total clears $98 with room to spare, join annual. If it falls short, skip it or try the monthly plan.
How It Stacks Up Against the Alternatives
Membership comparisons usually get lazy and list two prices side by side. The honest comparison is about what each service replaces in your life. Here is how we framed it.
| Option | Yearly price | Best at | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart+ annual | $98 | Walmart-store groceries, shipping, gas, one streaming service | Only items from Walmart |
| Amazon Prime | $139 | Broad shipping and video library | Grocery add-on cost reported at $9.99 a month |
| Instacart Plus | $99 | Multi-store grocery delivery | No streaming, no gas, no shipping |
| No membership | $0 | Occasional shoppers | Per-order fees add up |
The Prime and Instacart prices come from third-party comparisons, so confirm them on each company’s page before deciding. The structural point holds either way: Walmart+ is the cheapest of these if your shopping is concentrated at one store, and Instacart Plus wins if you split groceries across several stores. Prime wins if you shop widely online and value its video library. Kiplinger notes the Walmart+ grocery perk is a weak fit for loyal Whole Foods shoppers or people who order from many stores.
We found that the question “Prime or Walmart+” is usually the wrong one. The useful question is “which of the things I already buy does each one cheapen?” If the answer is groceries from a Walmart within delivery range, Walmart+ wins. If it is household goods, books and electronics from everywhere, Prime does.
Yes, and some households do. The reasoning is simple: Walmart+ handles groceries and gas, Prime handles everything else. Together they cost $237 a year at the listed annual prices ($98 plus $139). That is only sensible if each one clears its own price on its own. If either does not, drop it.
The Trial, Renewal and Cancellation Playbook
The $1 thirty-day trial is genuine, but it is also the point where most regret begins. Walmart’s page lists the trial at $1 for 30 days; at least one outlet describes it as free, and another mentions a shorter trial. Those descriptions conflict, so rely on what the sign-up screen shows you on the day you join. The trial converts to a paid membership at the then-current price unless you cancel.
- Set a reminder the day you join. Put it two days before the trial ends so you have time to decide.
- Use every perk you care about during the trial. Place a delivery order, link the streaming service, try the gas discount. A perk you never tested is a perk you cannot value.
- Total your savings. Compare avoided fees and used perks to $98, not to the $1 trial price.
- Choose monthly or annual deliberately. Annual wins after the eighth month.
- Cancel through your account page, or contact customer care. DealNews notes you can cancel from the account page.
- Save the confirmation. Keep the email or screenshot in case a charge appears later.
We looked for a clear, official refund policy for unused months of an annual membership and did not find one we could verify. Search results for this query were dominated by low-quality pages, so we did not rely on them. Before paying for the annual plan, read the current terms on Walmart’s site, and if you are close to a renewal date you do not want, cancel before it processes.
One of the outlets we compared notes that member benefits may be modified or discontinued without notice. That has real consequences for an annual purchase: you are paying up front for a bundle the company can reshape. The gas network grew this year, new in-store perks were added, and the streaming choice has evolved. Those moves favored members, but the terms do not guarantee that direction.
Fact-Check Notes: Where Sources Disagree
We compared Walmart’s membership page and corporate announcements with reporting from Kiplinger, DealNews, Tom’s Guide, FinanceBuzz and a few consumer sites. Where they conflict, here is what we did.
Walmart’s page says up to 10 percent Walmart Cash on Walmart+ Travel bookings. DealNews says up to 5 percent on Expedia-powered bookings. We cite Walmart’s figure as the stated maximum and recommend checking the booking page, since the rate may vary by booking type.
Walmart advertises up to $129 a year in savings. Kiplinger prices Paramount+ Essential at $59.99 a year and Peacock Premium at $109.99. DealNews lists Paramount+ Essential at about $8 a month, or roughly $96 a year. Services change prices often, so we show the lower and higher figures and tie the value to what you would pay anyway.
Kiplinger says the trial lets you keep the membership for $75 for the year, while another site says some members may renew at $49 and that results vary. We excluded both from our math because they are promotional and not available to everyone.
Walmart’s page says members save up to $9.95 on Express fees, a $10 fee versus $17.95 to $19.95 for non-members. DealNews confirms the $10 fee is not waived. We treat Express as a discounted option, not a free one.
Non-member delivery fees ($7.95 to $9.95) come from a secondary source and vary by store. The one-adult household sharing feature, the AARP price and the EBT fee-payment note each appear in a single outside source. We label them throughout. The company-reported gas savings figure of $109 a year is from weekly users who had been members at least twelve months, so it describes heavy users, not the typical member.
Where to look next
Key sources: Walmart membership page and corporate announcements; Kiplinger; DealNews; Tom’s Guide; FinanceBuzz.
Prices, perks and eligibility change. This page is general information and not financial advice. Confirm current terms on Walmart’s website or in the app before you join or renew.