Financial
Is Amazon Prime Worth It? What You Get for Your Money
If you do a fair amount of online shopping, there’s a strong chance you’ve heard about Amazon Prime. Perhaps you’ve even been offered a free 30-day trial of the service. But, if you still think of it purely as the “free shipping subscription,” think again.
These days, a Prime membership includes everything from video streaming to special sales and more. Yet, with an ever-rising cost, the question is: is it worth it? Let’s take a closer look at Amazon Prime and some of what it offers.
Amazon Prime Review: The Top Features You Need to Know About
The Cost of Prime
Before we get into the benefits of Prime, let’s talk about how much it costs. Currently, you can purchase a year of Amazon Prime for $139. Alternatively, if you prefer a monthly plan, it will cost $14.99. Note that discounts are available for young adults ($7.49 per month) or those on certain government assistance programs ($6.99 a month) for those who qualify.
Of course, before you purchase, you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial. If you decide not to keep your Prime membership, though, be sure to cancel before your trial ends to avoid being charged.
Free Shipping
This is obviously the biggest draw Prime has for the majority of shoppers, as it allows them to order nearly whatever they want without worrying about meeting certain spending limits to obtain free shipping. For those in select metro areas, your Prime membership means you’ll get your stuff at lightning speed with one-day or even same-day shipping available on certain items (subject to spending requirements).
If you have more patience/time to wait, you can get rewarded for it. For example, you can set up an Amazon Day so that all of your packages are delivered at the same time. When you select this option, you may be offered digital credits to use on the site or given an immediate discount. That said, you’ll be able to see the offered benefit and elect to either have an order delivered on Amazon Day or get it as soon as possible.
While the selection of Prime-eligible items is absolutely massive (over 50 million strong according to the site), it must be noted that not everything on the site will qualify. For example, a number of third parties sell on Amazon but, unless the item is fulfilled by Amazon themselves, it may not allow for Prime shipping. Another thing to look out for are items that say they’re Prime eligible but won’t ship for three to five days or more. These rare instances can be frustrating but, for the most members, the free two-day shipping will work just fine.
Prime Video
Since streaming video is all the rage these days, Amazon built-out their Prime Video offering with several original films and TV shows. Some of these have been acclaimed (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and many others) while others haven’t been as warmly received (War of the Worlds). Neverthless, Amazon has proven to be a serious force in the streaming wars. Plus, beyond the originals, you’ll also be able to access other popular shows and films and stream them ad-free.
All this is to say that, in 2025, Prime Video is a huge part of a Prime subscription.
Amazon Music
Okay, I’ll admit that this one confuses me a bit. That’s probably because, the first time I clicked an email link from Amazon telling me I had access to the platform, I was then prompted to subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited.
So here’s the deal: as a Prime member, you get ad-free access to music and podcast on the Amazon Music platform. However, you’ll largely be restricted to shuffle play with a limit on skips. Meanwhile, to select songs on-demand, that’s where the Amazon Music Unlimited subscription comes in — which is an additional $10.99 a month.
With all of that in mind, while this may be nice to have, it probably not going to be the Spotify or Apple Music replacement fans may be hoping for.
Prime Reading
Continuing our tour of included media, Amazon Prime includes access to a selection of free eBook and audiobook content. To be clear, this doesn’t mean you can just download any Kindle or Audible book for free. Instead, there are separate subscriptions for such things. But, if you’re just looking for something to read and aren’t too picky, you may be able to find something to check out without having to pay anything extra.
Unlimited Photo Storage
Did I mention that Amazon has its hands in a lot of different fields? One lesser-known (at least on the consumer side) aspect of Amazon is its cloud backup solution, which has an emphasis on saving photos. Currently, anyone can score themselves 5 GB of free photo storage on Amazon Photos, but members actually get unlimited storage for photos and 5 GB of video. If you want to store even more video, larger plans start at $1.99 a month.
Twitch Subscriptions
One Prime benefit I’ve really come to appreciate is the a monthly Twith subscription. If you don’t know how Twitch works, a subscription means that you can gain access to exclusive chat functions, emojis, and more when watching a creator you’re subbed too. Oh yeah, you can also watch that streamer with no ads.
To use your Prime Sub, just connect your Amazon Prime account to Twitch, then visit the page for the streamer you want to subscribe to. From there, you should see the option to redeem your Prime subscription. Keep in mind that your subscription will end after the month and you’ll need to manually use your Prime sub again the following month.
On the one hand, needing to manually redeem your subscription each month can be a bit annoying. However, on the positive side, this does allow you to spread the love and support a different streamer each month if you want. Either way, this is actually a pretty cool perk.
Grubhub+
Amazon Prime members now get a complimentary subscription to Grubhub’s Grubhub+ feature. With Grubhub+, you’ll enjoy lower fees on eligible Grubhub orders. This includes $0 delivery fees, lower service fees, 5% back on pickup orders (issued as a credit), and more.
Typically, this service costs $9.99 per month — so, on paper, it’s a pretty lucrative benefit. In reality, though, it’s really only impactful for those who already regularly order a lot of Grubhub. If you don’t, while I’d still claim the membership just because, I wouldn’t recommend picking up the habit.
Amazon Credit Card
Finally, I do want to mention that Prime customers can take advantage of special benefits on Amazon’s credit card. With the Prime Visa from Chase, those with Prime can earn 5% back on purchases at Amazon and Whole Foods. Plus, you’ll earn 5% back on Chase Travel purchases, 2% at gas stations, 2% at restaurants, 2% on transit and commuting, and 1% on everything else.
If you really do love your Prime subscription and end up ordering a lot on Amazon, then earning 5% back on it all may be a good move. So, keep this card option in mind if that turns out to be you.
For those who do a lot of shopping online and enjoy perks like having access to Prime Video content, a monthly Twitch sub, and even a Grubhub+ membership, Amazon Prime can be well worth the $139 investment. That said, prospective members should be aware that the beloved free (and speedy) shipping does not apply to every item on the site and that Prime’s entertainment offerings might not be enough to satisfy everyone’s TV craving. However, with a free 30-day trial and a monthly payment option after that, there’s really no harm in taking Amazon Prime on a test run to see how it works for you.
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