29 Benefits That Make an Amazon Prime Membership Worth Every Penny
These Amazon Prime benefits make the membership fee worth it! Make sure to take advantage of these Amazon Prime perks in 2024!
When you think of Amazon Prime benefits, free 2-day shipping probably comes to mind — but a Prime membership is so much more than that! Amazon Prime includes some amazing perks like free streaming, games, and books.
If you’re wondering about Amazon Prime’s benefits, we have the details! We compiled a list of all the incredible incentives and perks that make the cost of an Amazon Prime membership so worth it! If you’re ready to get the most for your money, make sure to take advantage of the benefits on this list!
Not yet a Prime member? Here are some questions you may have:
- What is Amazon Prime? – It’s a subscription service that offers fast shipping, grocery delivery, streaming, and more!
- How much does Amazon Prime Cost? – Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 annually.
- Do you really save with Amazon Prime? – You bet! Just See our list below to see just how much!
Ready to check it out? Sign up for your 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime!
29 of the best Amazon Prime membership benefits in 2024:
1. The free same-day, 1-day, AND 2-day shipping pays for the membership cost.
Getting packages FAST is one major benefit of Amazon Prime. Prime members have access to several speedy delivery options like free one-day shipping on over 20 million items and free two-day shipping on others. Members in select cities can even get same-day shipping and 2-hour grocery delivery! Check out all of Amazon’s shipping options here!
This benefit alone can cover the cost of the yearly membership. For comparison, Target’s shipping fee is $5.99, and Walmart’s is $6.99. If you place just 2 orders per month, you’d spend $143.76 on shipping from Target or $167.76 a year on shipping from Walmart. Both of those expenses are more than the cost of an annual Amazon Prime membership!
Plus, since Amazon recently upped the spending requirement for free shipping from $25 to $35 for non-Prime members, there’s no better time to join Prime.
2. Score an Amazon credit with “No Rush” shipping options.
Don’t need it that fast? Choose a lower shipping speed, and you’ll be rewarded with a credit for future orders. Depending on the offer, you can use your No-Rush Rewards to shop for select digital products, including instant video downloads, Kindle eBooks, Digital Music, and Amazon Appstore apps.
Hip Tip: Want to earn even more rewards? Request to join Amazon’s Shopper Panel! There’s usually a waitlist, but once approved, you can earn Amazon credits each month for enabling ads and taking surveys. Plus, if you can get approved to upload receipts you can score an additional $10 credit each month for uploading 10 receipts.
3. The 2-hour local grocery delivery is one of the best Amazon Prime perks!
Prime members may receive 2-hour grocery delivery from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. The selection of items available includes groceries and household essentials. Plus, Prime members get 10% off everyday favorites at Amazon Fresh and can snag an extra 10% off sale items at Whole Foods.
If you live in a populated area and are looking for convenient grocery delivery options, check out this awesome Prime perk! Depending on your order, there may be additional delivery fees.
Plus, if you are a Prime Visa member, you can score 5% cash back on your Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, and Amazon.com purchases.
4. Choose your own delivery day.
Want to get your packages delivered on a certain day because you work from home that day? If you’d like to receive your packages on the same day each week, Amazon Day Delivery is for you! This service is offered exclusively to Prime members, and it lets them choose a weekly delivery day for all of their orders purchased throughout the week.
5. Have packages delivered safely inside with Amazon Key.
Not at home? Not a problem. Amazon has the option to keep your packages secure! If you are a Prime member in an eligible location, you can get your packages securely delivered inside your garage or gate with Amazon Key. Not only are background checks done on all drivers, but you can even watch the delivery using a camera and smartphone app. Plus, permission to enter your garage or gate can be revoked anytime.
Note: For Amazon Key deliveries, you must link your garage or gate door to the Amazon app, which is compatible with smart garages like myQ, Genie Aladdin Connect, and OHD Anywhere. To use Amazon Key, you may be required to purchase a myQ Smart Garage Control, a Genie Aladdin Connect Door Opener, or a Ring Access Controller. If you’d like to view the delivery via a camera, you need to purchase the Ring Indoor Cam or Ring Stick Up Cam.
6. Receive new releases by mail the day they come out.
Be among the first to get new video games, books, music, movies, and more on their release day without having to step foot in a store! Just choose “Release-Date Delivery” at checkout on qualifying items, and your package will be delivered on its official release day. Pretty sweet!
AND with Amazon’s pre-order price guarantee, if the price changes between the time the item is listed for sale and the end of the day on its release date, you will be charged whatever the lowest price was that was offered by Amazon.com.
7. The ability to stream TV and movies from Prime Video is one of the best Amazon Prime perks, and it can save you hundreds per year!
Why pay for Netflix or Hulu when you have Prime Video!? As a Prime member, you can already watch thousands of popular movies and TV shows at no extra cost, including exclusives and award-winning Amazon Originals.
However, if you decide that you want access to more channels, Prime members can pay for Amazon Prime Video Channels and watch the channels they want—no cable required. Prime members can subscribe to premium channels like HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, CBS All Access, and Cinemax for as little as $4.99 per month. If you’re unsure if you want to subscribe to a channel, most have free trials available!
This Prime perk can save you a ton. First off, non-Prime members have to pay $8.99 a month to get access to Prime Video. That’s over $107 a year! If you have Prime, these streaming services are included with your subscription.
Plus, if you choose to cancel your Netflix or Hulu, you’ll save even more! For example, a standard Netflix subscription costs $15.49 per month or $185.88 per year! A Hulu subscription without ads costs $17.99 per month or $215.88 per year! Both of those subscriptions cost more than an annual Prime membership, which offers you WAY more perks than just streaming!
8. Save over $130 a year when you ditch Spotify and stream millions of songs via Amazon Music instead.
Amazon Music is a benefit included in your Prime membership at no extra charge. It features over 100 million songs and more than 2,000 playlists and stations—all ad-free, with unlimited skips! You’ll also be able to listen to top podcasts.
Plus, members can also listen to curated All-Access Playlists both on and offline and Prime Music is available on all Alexa-enabled devices or you can also listen on your smartphone or computer.
If you ditch Spotify and just use Amazon Music, you’ll save $10.99 a month or $131.88 a year!
Want to listen to your songs in HD? You can with Amazon Music Unlimited. Try it free for 30 days. You’ll get access to all the songs and podcasts of Amazon Prime Video and you’ll be able to listen to them offline, in HD, and with Echo and Fire TV devices.
After the free trial ends, Prime Members pay just $8.99 a month for an individual plan. That’s $2 less a month than non-Prime members have to pay! Or consider upgrading to a family plan for $15.99 per month so everyone in your home can enjoy this benefit.
9. Play free video games & get exclusive in-game content with Prime Gaming.
Calling all gamers! Your Prime membership scores you awesome perks like free in-game content, access to a massive, rotating collection of free PC games, and a free subscription to a Twitch channel each month!
10. Get early access to Lightning Deals plus access to exclusive Prime prices.
Scope out all the latest offers and get early exclusive access to Amazon deals before they go live to non-Prime shoppers. Prime Early Access Lightning Deals will read “Prime Early Access” when advertised on pages other than the product detail page. You’ll also have access to exclusive Prime prices on tons of your favorite items!
11. Try the latest fashion essentials before you buy.
Shop risk-free from home! With Prime Try Before You Buy, you can choose up to six pieces of select clothing, shoes, and/or accessories to try at home completely free for seven days before having your account charged. Just send back whatever you don’t love (Amazon pays for shipping) and only pay for what you keep! This is one of THE BEST Amazon Prime perks!
Hip Tip: See a style you’ve fallen in love with but can’t afford? Upload a photo to Amazon’s Style Snap and the company will show you listings that look like your photo. This way you can compare prices and snag the best deal!
12. Shop Woot! deals and score free shipping.
Woot! is a daily deals site that offers special daily deals and other limited-time offers. And because Woot! is owned by Amazon, Prime members can shop the daily deals on Woot! and score free standard shipping on Woot! orders and free express shipping on Shirt.Woot! orders.
13. The Your Essentials feature makes it easy to restock items you need.
Never run out of your favorite products with Your Essentials. Formally called Virtual Dash Buttons, Your Essentials are personalized shortcuts to re-order your favorite products. You can add new essentials from the product details page of any product available with Prime shipping.
This Amazon Prime perk makes it fast and easy to shop for all the products you buy most often, all from the Your Essentials page—your personal clickable shopping list.
14. Access to the Prime Reading Catalog is among the best Amazon Prime benefits. Bookworms can save anywhere from $50 to a few hundred!
Bookworms can revel in the hundreds of thousands of books that you can borrow for FREE, with no return due dates or late fees. In fact, you can borrow books, magazines, best sellers, and more from the Prime Reading catalog and read them on your Fire tablet, Kindle e-reader, or the FREE Kindle reading apps for iOS and Android. The catalog even includes books from tons of different genres and books with audible narration.
This great perk can really save you money! The average cost of an eBook is about $3.99, so if you typically read one book per month, you can save $47.88 by reading with Amazon Prime.
Paperback books cost even more. The average range is around $9.99 to $15.99. If you skip your paperback and read 1 Amazon Prime eBook each month instead, you’ll save between $119.88 – and $191.88 per year.
We’re loving these savings! 🙌
15. Download a free eBook every month – about a $48 yearly value. It is one of our favorite Amazon Prime perks!
With First Reads, Prime members can download a FREE eBook every single month and read it in advance of its release date from a selection of Editor’s Picks (no Kindle device necessary)! If the average eBook costs $3.99, this perk is valued around $47.88.
Each month, there are several First Reads books to choose from, and the titles span a variety of genres. We suggest waiting until mid-month to claim your freebie. By then, many other readers have reviewed the book which can help you decide which title is worth downloading. 😉
Want discounts on audiobooks? Try Audible free for one month! Prime members get 2 books to keep!
16. Save over $100 by storing all your photos on the cloud for free.
With most photos being digital these days, photo storage is important. That’s why Amazon Photo is one of the best Amazon Prime membership benefits. With Amazon Photos, members get unlimited, full-resolution online photo storage. Prime members also get 5GB of FREE video storage and any additional storage needed can be purchased for just $1.99.
Save and share your photos on desktop, mobile, and tablet! Plus, should you ever choose to cancel Prime, you’ll still be able to keep 5 GB of combined photo and video storage!
This is such a money-saving Prime perk! Places like T-Mobile charge customers $15 a month for unlimited photo storage – that’s $180 a year!
17. Get some of the best prices during Amazon’s Prime Day Events.
Every summer, Amazon hosts Amazon Prime Day. It’s an event that offers some of the lowest prices all year. Though anyone can shop the Prime Day event, it’s Prime Members who will be offered extra discounts and rock-bottom prices. Amazon also hosts a similar sale in the fall, Prime Big Deal Days, where you can get early access to all the holiday deals. Both of these events offer great prices for Prime members.
In addition to all the great deals, we always see lots of opportunities to earn additional free Amazon credits to help you save even more during Prime Day.
The dates of these events vary each year and have not been officially announced yet, but expect Amazon Prime Day to come around sometime in mid-July and Prime Big Deal Days to occur around October. 🗓️
18. Amazon Prime members get FREE Grubhub+ for an entire year – a $120 value!
No energy to make dinner? No problem! Amazon Prime Members now get Grubhub+ for FREE. A Grubhub+ account gets you unlimited $0 delivery fees on orders of $12 or more. You’ll also get reduced service fees, 5% Grubhub+ credit back on pickup orders, and exclusive members-only offers like discounts and freebies!
Foodies are going to love having this subscription as one of their Amazon Prime perks! If you were to pay for Grubhub+ separately, it would cost you $9.99 or $119.88 per year!
19. Prime members score more cash back when using the Amazon Visa.
Shop with an Amazon Visa credit card to receive 3% cash back on Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, Chase Travel, & Whole Foods market. Members also earn 2% back at restaurants, gas stations, and on local transit and commuting! Cardholders also get 1% back on all other purchases everywhere Visa is accepted.
There are a host of other benefits that come with this card including lost luggage reimbursement, roadside dispatch, travel accident insurance, and more! When you apply for the Amazon Visa, you’ll get an Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval. At the time of this article, it’s for $50, but we’ve seen offers for up to a whopping $300 around Prime Day in the last couple of years!
Hip Tip: If you’re concerned your credit may not make you eligible for an Amazon Visa credit card, consider an Amazon Store Card. You can’t use it at restaurants or retail stores but you can use it on Amazon.com and at places like Audible.com. You’ll get 5% back on eligible purchases and get 0% APR financing. If approved, you may be eligible to receive an instant $10 gift card.
There is also something called an Amazon Prime Secured Card which you can use to help build credit. This card gives you 2% back on eligible items.
20. Save hundreds a year by sharing Prime benefits with your family via Amazon Household.
Why pay for more than one Prime account per family? Create an Amazon Household to share your Prime account with your spouse or children. They’ll get several of your Prime benefits like Prime Music, Prime Gaming, Prime Video, and more!
Plus, Amazon Household members can score up to 20% off of diapers, baby food, and more when you use Subscribe & Save for five or more products. You’ll also receive a 15% off Baby Registry completion discount, get prime-exclusive pricing on popular products, and get 10% off sale items in Whole Foods Market stores.
Read our detailed post to see how Amazon Household works and how this Amazon Prime perk can help you potentially save hundreds per year!
21. One helpful Amazon Prime benefit is that you can save up to 80% on prescription medication.
Amazon PrimeRx offers savings and discounts on prescriptions at over 60,000 pharmacies. You can save up to 80% on prescriptions when paying without insurance, when your medication is not covered by insurance, or when your deductible or co-pay is higher than your Prime member price. That makes it one of the top Amazon Prime membership benefits in our book!
The best part? You don’t even have to leave your home to get your medication. If you don’t want to drive to pick it up, Prime members get free two-day delivery when ordering from the Amazon Pharmacy.
Hip Tip: Have a common and need quick treatment? Book an appointment with the online Amazon Clinic. You can pay a flat fee to speak to a doctor and get a prescription from the comfort of your own home. Visit prices are as low as $29 (may vary by location).
22. Amazon Prime members can use RxPass to get their prescription for $5 a month.
Amazon Prime recently launched RxPass. This program is exclusively for Prime members and it’s a pretty great perk! If you’re a member, you can get over 50 common prescriptions for the low price of just $5 a month. The average user saves around 47% on medications using this service. Plus, your medications will be delivered monthly right to your door. To see if your medication qualifies, visit the RxPass webpage.
Hip Tip: Do you take multiple medications each day or week? Have them pre-sorted for you and delivered to your home using Amazon Pharmacy’s new service called PillPack.
23. Are you expecting? Create a baby registry and score a free welcome box (valued at $35).
Create a FREE Baby Registry with Amazon, and you’ll get a FREE Welcome Box filled with diapers, wipes, coupons, and more! Plus, Prime members get an additional 15% off eligible items whenever you complete your registry (up to $300)! You’ll also score FREE returns for 1 year on eligible items!
24. Create a wedding registry for a 20% discount.
Getting hitched? Prime members get FREE shipping on select Amazon Wedding Registry purchases any member purchases made with an Amazon Visa qualify for 3% back. Plus, if at least $500 worth of items are purchased from your registry, you’ll receive a one-time 20% discount to buy any remaining items (maximum savings of $300). If you decide you no longer need an item, you’ll have 180 days to return it!
25. Save up to $36 a year when you use your subscription to watch NFL football.
Thursday night football games will only be shown on Amazon Prime Video or through the NFL+ app. Access to the game is included with your Prime subscription plus you’ll get access to watch the Black Friday football games!
Non-members who don’t want to miss the weekly game will either have to pay $8.99 a month for Prime Video or pay $6.99 a month for the NFL+ app. The regular Thursday night schedule for 2024 runs from September to December. That means non-members will have to fork over at least $27.96 for the NFL+ app or $35.96 for Prime Video access.
26. Get Amazon Prime benefits at outside stores when you use Buy With Prime.
Many e-commerce sites are allowing customers to check out using Prime! That means you’ll get free delivery, easy returns, and have your order shipped as fast as one day. If an e-commerce brand uses this service, there will be a Buy With Prime button at checkout. To see featured brands and learn more information, visit Amazon’s Buy With Prime webpage.
27. Members get Amazon Prime benefits at Zappos.
Here’s a little-known Amazon Prime perk! Amazon Prime members can enjoy their Prime benefits at the popular store Zappos. You’ll get access to special Prime deals at Zappos and score upgraded shipping on all orders – no minimum purchase requirement! Prime members who also join the Zappos VIP rewards program will get even faster shipping for free and double the VIP points on every purchase! Oh, and if you decide you no longer need the item you bought, Zappos has a 365-day return policy!
28. Amazon Prime members get FREE shipping and returns at Shopbop.com.
Prime members get fast and free 2-day shipping at Shopbop.com. They also get FREE returns, discounted next-day delivery ($3.99 per item), and access to exclusive offers just for Prime members!
29. Speaking of easy returns, they are one of the top Amazon Prime perks.
Easy returns are one of the best Amazon Prime perks. It’s so simple to return items you no longer want. If you have a box, you can simply drop off packages at UPS. Either print your label or show the return QR code.
If you don’t have a box, that’s not a problem! Take your return to Whole Foods, Kohl’s, or any Amazon Hub and they will process your return without one.
Depending which return method you choose, there may be a fee, but there are always plenty of FREE options.
Other notable Amazon return perks include FREE returns on select fashion items and extended return windows during the holiday season!
How to sign up for Amazon Prime:
Newcomers to Prime can get a FREE 30-day trial to check out all the incredible benefits before committing to a paid plan. After the trial, membership plans are $14.99 a month or $139 for a year.
College students can score a FREE 6-month Amazon Prime Student membership when signing up with a valid college email address. Even sweeter, they can continue to save with 50% off the regular price memberships after their free trial ends. That’s just $69 a year!
EBT cardholders can score Amazon Prime for just $6.99/month! Qualifying customers in select U.S. government assistance programs like SNAP or Medicaid can enjoy the benefits of Amazon Prime at over 50% off the regular monthly price!
How to cancel Amazon Prime:
It’s easy! Click the End Your Membership button. If you haven’t used any of your benefits yet, you’ll get a full refund!
Just want to add, at Whole Foods, the main benefit for me is the Amazon Prime special price. In the past, during special price, beef stews are $3.99 /lb vs $7.99/lb with no prime. This is cheaper than Costco regular price of $5.49/lb. This is the reason I sign up for Amazon prime.
You can have a family member on medicaid and get the discounted monthly rate too. My son is disabled and on a medicaid waiver for severe autism and we just had to submit proof of that and were granted a discount :)!
How do you ask for that? Is there a name for that program?
Thank you so much! Our son is on medicaid as well. We’ve avoided prime due to cost but this is do-able.
Here is the information Link for the discounted Amazon Prime option. It is very easy to take a photo of your document such as Medicaid or SNAP card and upload it. They usually have you renew each year. You can pay monthly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G54BETR9USUZFZW5
Thanks for the helpful response! 🤗💕
The Amazon Visa is so awesome. Best card I have had so far.
I agree about the Visa, I earn about $200 every year using the amazon visa on my amazon purchases. I use it to splurge on something for myself. I’ve bought my silhouette and recliners in the past.
I’m using it for pet supplies and other household items. I also bought the $100 GC with my rewards and got a bonus $10 on top of it. Such a sweet deal.
I agree with the perks of having the Amazon Visa. My husband and I use it for all our purchases and make money every month BUT it has extremely high interest. If you don’t pay off your card every month it is a HIGH risk card. It’s over 20% interest. On the other hand if you’re careful it’s a sweet deal. I love getting paid to use a credit card. The rewards automatically show up in your Amazon account and you can use them for purchases or you can put it back on your card.
I will say that my experience in using Amazon to transfer photos from my phone to an external drive was SO much easier than trying to use Google Drive. I hope they don’t change it!
Also, if you have have Metro PCS, you receive Prime for FREE… I switched from Sprint to Metro last year and haven’t looked back.
Metro PCS doesn’t work at my house or at my job (in the state capitol of Arkansas LOL) and service is in and out anywhere in between otherwise I would have stayed with them. I am with Sprint now and have never had a problem yet……….. LOL
Can I ship Prime groceries for free to my mother’s house? Its a different address than mine. I have Prime, but she doesn’t. She’s having cancer surgery and will not be able to drive herself for a while. If I can deliver groceries to her, that would be great!
Thank you!!
Yes, you can send to any US address (with some exceptions). I help my parents shop for things this way. I use my Amazon Prime account to send to their address. I can even use THEIR credit card to pay for the orders, too.
I use the free Photo storage and the app is so great and easy to use!!! I pay extra to store my videos (bc I have like 700 on my phone). I am so happy to have all my photos in one place.
Using Prime Video has been amazing! They have great children’s shows (Tumble Leaf, Wishenpoof, etc) and lots of favorites are also available. Plus, if it’s something not on Prime, you can buy movies and shows to watch on your account. I do wish they’d stop having things that aren’t available on Prime show up in searches, though. Hard to explain to a three year old, “OK, yes, you see the show you want there but I can’t play it because it’s not on Prime (and I’m not spending $20 on the season to buy it!)”
I love Prime Video too! You can filter your search to only view those that are “free to me”. Hoping that might help!
The Amazon Chase credit card is amazing! We are a big time amazon family. They make my life easier, they employ my students, they fund my researchers, they sponsor my events, etc… I literally buy almost everything from amazon and I get better prices than I would at any brick and mortar store. We buy everything from kids uniforms to pantry items to electronics and even got our turkeys delivered by Whole Foods for Thanksgiving. We’ve reached the point that the only non amazon shopping we do is the local grocery for the weekly fruits, veggies and dairy. We put everything we buy on the amazon credit card…literally everything from a $1 bagel to a 10K down payment on our last car and our monthly utility bills. We never pay a fee to use the credit card and always pay it in full each month so we’ve never paid interest. We average around 2 – 3k a year in cash back awards and every other year it buys us a free 8-10 cruise including airfare for our family of four.
Another tip…keep an eye on https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=17934980011&chasewebview=false. You can get really nice cash back from the items they list here.
Finally…and I think this is a lesser known tip or may only be something they do on a case by case basis. A few months ago I saw a friend from high school make a post on facebook that his family was in need of food and their cabinets were empty until they got a paycheck the next week. I have not been touch with this guy personally in like 20yrs but I felt so bad for him. Amazon customer service was able to find his account, confirm his address, and then they contacted him to let him know an anonymous person wanted to help feed his family. I gave amazon $100 for this man to spend on food items…I saw his post about what was delivered…it was WAY MORE than $100 worth of food…there is no doubt in my mind amazon easily sent $200 worth of food…and I was able to do this without giving out my personal info.
Oh wow! That’s awesome. Thanks a TON for taking the time to share your experience and tips with us, Jennifer! We truly appreciate it!
I think one of the best perks not listed here is being able to use points from other credit cards to stack with Amazon promotions:
Amazon: Use One Discover Point/Cashback & Get $10/$20 Off $50 (Works On Giftcards)
Amazon: Get 20% Off on Amazon when Using 1 Membership Rewards Point (Max $50 Discount)
Awesome! Thanks, Thia! Good to know!
Regarding this part of your post:
“Amazon: Get 20% Off on Amazon when Using 1 Membership Rewards Point (Max $50 Discount)”
What is a Membership Rewards Point? Is it from a credit card company, and if so, which one?
I save up my Discover Cashback to be able to get the occasional discount, but would like to know more about all such opportunities. Thanks!
In the Kindle App, just scroll down on the main page to the First Reads section. That’s how I got to mine.
We ditched Prime in February and have not missed it one bit. Once they ruined the music we were done with it. We can stream pretty mush any movie we want elsewhere for free. And no more impulse buys to grab the latest deal. In America we have a big problem with thinking we are missing out if we don’t do what everyone else does but it is freeing to go your own way and think for yourself!
I will say that the $5 prime rx is worth looking into. I save $25 a month by paying the $5 that I would have had to pay in prescription copays. The copay prices for ordering a three months supply are often super cheap and worth doing three months at a time as well. This has saved me a lot of money!
WOW! Thanks for letting us know you’re enjoying the PrimeRx program, Sarah Ann! 🥰 So great to hear how much you’re saving – that’s $300 a year! 🙌
We cancelled Amazon sixteen months ago and have not missed it. It has saved me a ton of money by not thinking I had to jump on every deal that came along because we did not need many of those deals and it was just money wasted. We thought we would miss the movies but not at all. We have found other free avenues for movies and there is more variety.
Can you share your other free avenues for movies, please? That would be so helpful….
Thanks in advance!