An Amazon Prime membership is the best way to get the most out of your purchases from the world’s best-known online retailer. There are plenty of benefits and it’s essential if you want access to dedicated flash sales like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday.
The subscription service started out as a way to get free, unlimited next-day delivery, but quickly grew into a full-featured digital service with various Amazon services built-in (albeit with some caveats) such as video streaming , music, books, cloud storage and loads. more. Amazon also partners with other companies from time to time, offering things like free Deliveroo Plus.
Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon Prime, including prices, plans, and what you’re getting.
How to get Amazon Prime for free
Amazon offers a 30-day free trial on almost all of its Prime services (except Prime Student, where the free trial lasts six months!). This will automatically bill you once the 30 days are up, so be sure to cancel Amazon Prime if you don’t want to pay.
Depending on who you are and what you’re looking for, there are several free trials available.
Learn more in our complete guide on how to get Amazon Prime for free. We also have a separate article on how to sign up for Amazon Prime.
How much does Amazon Prime cost?
Amazon Prime is available with a few different subscription models, with the most recent price hike occurring in September 2022. The best value is the initial sum of £95/$139 for the year, which equates to around £7.91/$11.58 per month. Don’t forget to take advantage of the 30-day free trial first, provided you haven’t subscribed before.
You can also get Amazon Prime with a monthly subscription, but that costs more per year. It is £8.99/$14.99 per monthor £107.88/$179.88 per year.
The last option is for those who want to subscribe to the Prime Video service without the rest of the benefits that come with the full Prime package.
Prime Video only
Prime Video alone costs £5.99/$8.99 per month, but we’d be hesitant to recommend it when the annual option costs almost the same and gives you all the extra features.
The Prime Video-only plan is front and center on Amazon’s website, but you’ll have to dig a little deeper in the US. Our sister site TechHive shows you how.
First for students
Amazon also offers a dedicated Prime student plan. It’s half the price of the usual Amazon Prime, at £4.49/$7.49 per month or £47.49/$69 per year.
After validating your student status (via an education email address), you benefit from the same advantages as the classic subscription. Additionally, an impressive six-month free trial is offered.
For more, see our separate guide to Amazon Prime Student.
Qualified government assistance (US only)
If you are based in the United States, there is another option. All EBT and Medicaid recipients can get a Prime membership for $6.99 per month after a 30-day free trial.
This award does not expire, but you will need to re-check your status every 12 months.
What do you get with Amazon Prime? Benefits Explained
If you’re still wondering what you’re getting with Amazon Prime and whether it’s worth it, let’s take a look at its benefits to help you decide. Amazon Prime Video and Prime Music might be a few services you’re already familiar with, but there are plenty more…
Amazon Prime Delivery
The main feature of Amazon Prime is delivery. You’ll get unlimited one-day delivery at no additional cost on millions of eligible items. Some addresses are available with same-day delivery, and even better, there’s also Prime Now, which promises delivery within two hours or less in certain areas. The latter has now been integrated into Amazon’s main service.
Amazon is also offering a £1 promotional discount to thank customers who have chosen No-Rush Delivery.
Free Deliveroo Plus (UK)
Prime subscribers can also get a year of free Deliveroo Plus in the UK. Deliveroo’s premium service offers unlimited free delivery, provided your order is over £25 instead of the usual monthly rate of £3.49. Embedded in the cost for Prime, Deliveroo Plus customers save almost £42 a year.
Go to Amazon to link your Deliveroo account now. The benefit replaces Amazon’s ill-fated Amazon Restaurants delivery service, which Amazon retired in 2019.
Amazon
Car or garage delivery (USA)
Prime members in the US can have groceries and merchandise delivered right to their car. If you’re wondering how it works, you’ll need to use the Amazon Key app to connect your car to Amazon, which lets you use optional drive-in delivery when you checkout. Keep in mind that the app only works with certain “connected” cars, i.e. cars with an internet connection.
The benefit has been temporarily suspended due to the pandemic, but Amazon has changed it to deliver your orders to your garage instead.
Garage delivery works with the MyQ app. If you don’t have a smart garage, you can separately purchase a smart garage door opener, which allows the delivery person to temporarily access your garage. Drives are thoroughly checked and instructed not to enter your garage beyond five feet. Learn more about Amazon garage delivery.
First Early Access
Prime members get access to many deals 30 minutes before the rest of their customers, which can sometimes be the difference between getting a great deal and missing out altogether.
Amazon Prime Day Deals
Prime Day is similar to Black Friday where thousands of products are discounted but only for Prime members. Check out our full guide to Prime Day.
Amazon fees
Since July 2020, Amazon Fresh has been free for anyone with a Prime subscription in the UK. It offers customers fast same-day delivery of produce, as well as meat, seafood, snacks and other essentials with a minimum order value of £15. Service has expanded to include Morrison’s and Co-op, depending on where you live.
You can also get free two-hour delivery on orders over £40. Check if Amazon Fresh is available in your zip code.
The service replaced Amazon Pantry which was the retailer’s original answer to online grocery shopping. Amazon discontinued Pantry in the UK in June 2020.
In May 2021, Amazon also integrated Prime Now into the service, allowing customers to access same-day delivery from local grocery stores in less than an hour.
There are now physical Amazon Fresh stores in the US and UK where you can shop without the inconvenience of checkout. Tech-packed stores know what you grabbed from the shelves and will charge you once you step outside.
In the US, you can still shop online, with optional pickup and free 2-hour delivery on orders over $150.
Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card (US)
Prime members in the United States can also earn 5% when shopping at Whole Foods Market using the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card. Without Prime, the card gives 3% back to customers.
Free Two-Day Prescription Shipping (US)
US customers can also order prescriptions through Amazon Prime and receive free two-day shipping and discounts of up to 80%. You also get a membership card that you can use at over 60,000 pharmacies. Keep in mind that the service is not a form of insurance and cannot be combined with your existing insurance.
Amazon Music Prime
Also included is Music Prime, which has a huge selection of songs (over two million) available for streaming.
However, if you want access to the full library of 100 million songs with full playback control and up to Ultra HD audio quality, Amazon’s answer to Spotify is Amazon Music Unlimited. This has a separate subscription cost of £9.99/$9.99 per month, but is discounted to £8.99/$8.99 with Prime.
Learn more about Amazon Music in our comprehensive guide.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon’s Netflix rival is called Amazon Prime Video, and there you’ll find thousands of movies and TV shows, including some exclusive ones, to stream. Even better, you can download them to watch offline.
We’ve picked our favorite movies on Amazon Prime here.
Prime Video now also lets you watch 20 exclusive Premier League matches per season at no additional cost to its subscribers, indicating that Amazon is gearing up to deliver even more exclusive content to attract new users.
Amazon Channels
Prime members also get access to Amazon Channels, which offers 40 TV channels at a small additional cost. We have a complete guide to Amazon channels here.
First game
Players can get additional benefits through Prime Gaming (formerly known as Twitch Prime). It includes free games every month and ad-free viewing on Twitch itself.
Discount on Alexa Skills
If you have Amazon smart speakers in the house and use Alexa a lot, Prime is giving you 20% off all skill purchases.
Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, Main Reading and First Readings
Prime members can borrow one book per month from the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library at no additional cost, as well as one book from Kindle First choices.
You’ll also be able to download and read books, comics, and magazines from the library of over 1,000 titles available for free with Prime Reading.
Books borrowed from the lending library can only be read on a Kindle device, but Prime Reading titles can be accessed from any device. Check out our complete guide to Prime Reading.
There’s also Amazon First Reads, which lets you choose one of six Editors’ Picks each month for free.
Amazon Prime Pics
Prime Photos lets you upload and store unlimited full-resolution photos and 5GB of video in the cloud to keep them safe and accessible from any device. It’s a worthy alternative to storing your photos on Google Photos if you need more storage.
Household Amazon
Some of these benefits are not limited to one person either. With Amazon Household, you can share features with another adult member of your household and up to four children.
Amazon family
You can also join Amazon Family, which, in addition to all the Prime benefits, gives you 20% off diaper subscriptions and other exclusive offers and discounts. You will need to provide a few details about yourself and your family to qualify, and only one membership is available per household.
Try before you buy
Prime Try Before You Buy (formerly known as Prime Wardrobe) allows customers to try on selected clothes, shoes, watches and accessories before they buy. You have 7 days to try on the items and only the items you keep are charged to you. Here’s how it works.
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