[Updated 2024.2] Amazon Prime Student now has a new option: people ages 18–24 can sign up directly. You no longer need to be a student to get six free months of Prime membership. After that, it costs $69 per year, which is still cheaper than regular Prime.

Amazon Prime (Annual Fee $139)

Amazon Prime is Amazon’s flagship membership program and the most traditional, broad-based option. If you shop on Amazon frequently, it is highly recommended.

Main Benefits:

  • FREE Two-Day Shipping: Items sold/fulfilled by Amazon are eligible for free two-day shipping. This is probably the main reason most people buy Prime. The shipping fees you save can easily add up to more than the annual membership cost. Amazon Prime Shipping Benefits.
  • Membership Sharing: Two people in one household can share all Amazon Prime benefits through Amazon Household while paying only one membership fee. See details at About Amazon Households.
  • FREE Same-Day Delivery: Some states also offer same-day delivery. FREE Same-Day Delivery.
  • Prime Video, Music, Photos: You can access some movies and TV content for free via Prime Video, music via Prime Music, and photo storage via About .
  • Prime Pantry: For household essentials and snacks, you can use Pantry to schedule recurring deliveries with free shipping. Prices are also comparable to major retailers like Walmart and Target. Prime Pantry
  • Prime Early Access: Amazon runs promotions such as Amazon lighting deal, and Prime members can get access 30 minutes early. About Prime Early Access.
  • For a full summary of benefits, see: Amazon Prime Benefits Overview

If you shop on Amazon often, having a Prime membership is usually worth it, if only for the shipping savings.

Other Benefits

Currently, Prime members (including student Prime) can get a free six-month subscription to the Washington Post, but you need to sign up through the Amazon link. It will auto-renew after six months, so if you do not want to keep it long term, you can cancel auto-renew directly at the link below.

Prime members are also set to receive Whole Foods 10% discounts and exclusive savings. At the moment, this benefit is only available in Florida, and it will expand to all states this summer. It is also very easy to use: just get a Prime code in the app and scan it at checkout to receive the discount. More details below:

Trial and Purchase

The full-year Prime membership costs $139. If you prefer the monthly option, it is $14.99 per month. After becoming a Prime member, you can cancel at any time, and you may be able to contact customer service for a prorated refund on the unused portion.

If you are still not sure whether you need Prime, you can consider getting a 1-month free trail to test out the service and features:

Amazon membership discounts appear a few times each year. Last year, the discounted price was $68 per year. However, the timing varies from year to year and cannot really be predicted. Normally, you may also be able to get a discount on a new membership through cashback portals.

TopCashback steps:

  • Sign up for TopCashback (sign-up link, user guide)
  • Search for Amazon on TopCashback and enter Amazon’s cashback page
  • Click Continue to go to Amazon.com and complete your Prime sign-up. A few days later, TopCashback will give you $15 cashback

Ibotta cashback app steps:

  • After you complete the sign-up, the $20 Amazon gift card will show as pending within 72 hours, and then be added to your Ibotta account within 45 days

*Note: This offer is only available for new one-year Prime memberships at $119. Student Prime, Renew Prime, and monthly Prime memberships are not eligible.

In addition, if you are low-income and have an EBT card, you can sign up for Amazon Prime for $5.99 per month, or $72 per year.

How to avoid sales tax

Amazon now also charges tax on Prime memberships in many states (list of taxable states). If you want to save this tax, you can add an address in a tax-free state to your Billing Address field, preferably a hotel address in a tax-free state, and then use that billing address to gift Prime to yourself. What if your credit card billing address does not match? Just buy enough gift cards first. Then you can pay for Gift Prime directly with gift cards and no credit card is needed.

PS: In fact, you can use this billing-address trick to save tax on anything that does not need to be shipped.

Amazon Student (Free!)

If you are currently a college student in the US, congratulations: Amazon offers a free Amazon Student membership. Even better, after the free 6-month trial ends, you can still buy Prime at half price!

Main benefits:

  • On your first signup, you can get six months of Prime membership (with the benefits described above), including unlimited free two-day shipping
  • Free shipping: After the six-month Prime trial ends, as long as your order is at least $35, Amazon Student still gives you free shipping, though usually not two-day delivery. (Currently, Amazon also offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)
  • Buy Prime at half price: Amazon Student members can purchase Amazon Prime at half price ($69) and continue enjoying two-day delivery and all Prime benefits

The Prime membership you get through Amazon Student cannot be shared with others, but paying only half price for Prime while still getting all the other benefits is still a great deal.

How to sign up

First-time Amazon Student members can get six months of Prime benefits for free.

There used to be an extra $5 or $10 off coupon for new signups, but there is currently none.

Amazon Family

Amazon Family (formerly Amazon Mum) is a great fit for moms who buy baby products on Amazon, especially consumables such as diapers. Diapers and baby products add up quickly, and this membership can save you quite a bit. If you have a Prime membership, you can get this membership for free and enjoy the extra Amazon Family benefits.

Extra benefits:

  • 20% off diapers: By ordering diapers through Subscribe and Save, you can get up to 20% off, with scheduled monthly deliveries and no shipping fee.
  • Baby Registry discount code: If you complete your Baby Registry signup, you can get a 15% off discount code that can be used on all baby products sold by Amazon, including strollers, cribs, bassinets, and more.
  • Exclusive promo codes: You may receive exclusive Amazon Family promo codes for children’s items, household goods, and more
  • Free videos and books: Members can watch children’s TV shows for free and get free children’s e-books
  • All Prime benefits included: Amazon Family includes all Prime benefits, such as free two-day shipping, membership sharing, Pantry, and more.
  • More details: About Amazon Family

Trial and signup

If you want to try out Amazon Family benefits, you can get a free one-month trial:

If you are already an Amazon Prime member (non-student version), you can join Amazon Family for free directly.

You can follow the same money-saving method used for buying Amazon Prime membership: buy Prime first, then join Amazon Family.

Amazon Music Plan

Amazon Prime itself already comes with a free Music Plan (2 million songs). However, if you especially enjoy listening to music or want early access to new releases, Amazon’s Music Plan is also quite good. The Music Plan includes 100 million songs and also releases some new tracks in real time.

Benefits

  • Works across multiple devices, has no ads, and allows offline downloads
  • Includes a total of 100 million songs, including hot new releases available the same day they come out

Trial and signup

If you want to try the benefits of Music Unlimited Plan, you can get a free one-month trial regardless of whether you have Prime. If you are a Prime member, you may also get a $10-$20 discount code to pay for next month’s membership fee.

If you want to subscribe directly, Amazon Music has three plan options:

  • Echo Plan: Only $3.99 per month, but requires a compatible device such as Echo, Dot, etc. Intro link
  • Individual Plan: If you are a Prime member, it costs only $7.99 per month or $79 per year; non-Prime users pay $9.99 per month. Purchase/trial link
  • Family Plan: $14.99 per month or $149 per year, covering up to six people with all the benefits of the Individual Plan. Purchase/Trial Link

    • Amazon Kindle Unlimited

    If you have a Kindle device and enjoy reading on it, an Amazon Kindle Unlimited membership is also a great option.

    Benefits

    • Unlimited reading from more than 1 million books, free access to popular magazines of the month, and free access to more than 1,000 audiobooks
    • Works on any device with the Kindle app installed

    Trial and Sign-Up

    If you want to try out the benefits of the Kindle Unlimited Plan, you can get a free 1-month trial:

    If you want to subscribe, Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 per month.

    Other Memberships

    Amazon also offers free trials for some other subscription services, which may be worth checking out if you're interested: