Is Amazon Prime Worth It in 2026? Price, Perks and the Math

Amazon Prime costs $14.99/mo or $139/yr in the US ($11.58/mo on the yearly plan; US prices checked in October 2026). It's worth it if you place at least a couple of Amazon orders a month or would otherwise pay for the extras it bundles, like Grubhub+ delivery or Prime Video. As a streaming service alone, it's mid-priced. Below: what's included, the numbers, and when to skip it.

#How much is Amazon Prime in 2026?

Standard plans: US prices checked in October 2026. Discounted plans as listed by Amazon.

US Prime prices haven't changed since February 2022, when the yearly plan went to $139. The yearly plan saves $40.88 versus 12 monthly payments.

#Can you get Prime for less?

Amazon has two discounted memberships:

• Prime for Young Adults is for people aged 18 to 24 and college students. It starts with a 6-month $0 trial, then costs $7.49/mo or $69/yr, about half the regular price.
• Prime Access costs $6.99/mo and includes all of Prime's benefits. It's for people in one of 13 qualifying government assistance programs, such as SNAP EBT, Medicaid, WIC or SSI, or who verify their income, and eligibility is rechecked every 12 months, per Amazon's Prime Access page.

If you qualify for either one, the math in the rest of this article gets much easier.

#What's included with Amazon Prime in the US?

According to Amazon's own list of Prime benefits, a membership includes:

• Shipping: free Prime shipping on more than 300 million items and free Same-Day or One-Day Delivery on tens of millions of them. Free same-day grocery delivery on orders over $25 in most eligible areas, plus discounts on faster Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh delivery.
• Prime Video: with limited ads, up to 4 streams at once and 50 downloads, in HD with HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
• Amazon Music: more than 100 million songs in shuffle mode, All-Access Playlists and ad-free podcasts. (Amazon Music Unlimited is a separate upgrade.)
• Games: more than 50 cloud games through Luna and a monthly Twitch channel subscription.
• Amazon Photos: unlimited full-resolution photo storage plus 5 GB for video.
• Reading: a selection of Kindle books, comics and audiobooks at no extra cost, plus a free book each month through First Reads.
• Grubhub+: included free, which Amazon values at $120 a year.
• Fuel: 10 cents off per gallon at 7,500+ participating bp, Amoco, ampm and Thorntons stations.
• Health: One Medical membership for $9/mo or $99/yr, and RxPass for $5/mo covering 60+ generic medications.
• Deals: early access to Lightning Deals and members-only events like Prime Day.

Amazon also lets you share Prime benefits with one other adult and up to four children in your household, which halves the cost per adult.

#Prime Video ads and Prime Video Ultra

Prime Video comes with limited ads. To remove them, Amazon now sells Prime Video Ultra for $4.99/mo, or $45.99/yr if you're on an annual Prime plan. Ultra replaced the old ad-free add-on and also brings 4K/UHD, Dolby Atmos, up to 5 streams and 100 downloads, per Amazon's announcement. Live TV and events such as sports can still show ads.

Yearly Prime plus yearly Ultra comes to $184.99, or $15.42 a month.

#When is Amazon Prime worth it?

#If you order online often

This is the core of the math, and it depends on your own habits. As a hypothetical: if a typical order would cost you $7 in shipping without Prime, two orders a month ($14) already cover the yearly plan's $11.58. Go through your last three months of orders and add up what shipping would have cost. Amazon says US members saved an average of over $550 on delivery last year, but your number is the one that counts.

#If you'd pay for the extras anyway

Prime gets better the more of it you use. If you'd otherwise pay for Grubhub+, cloud photo storage or a basic streaming plan, each one you actually use chips away at the $139.

#If you only want streaming

Here Prime is less impressive. Compared with the entry plans of other big services (US prices, October 2026):

If you'd never use the shipping, an $8.99 plan elsewhere is cheaper. See our full cheapest streaming services ranking.

#When Amazon Prime isn't worth it

• You rarely order from Amazon and already have a main streaming service. Prime becomes a second library you don't open.
• You hate ads. Adding Ultra brings monthly Prime to $19.98, about what Netflix Standard costs ($19.99), so Prime loses its price edge as a video service.
• You mostly shop elsewhere. If most of your orders go to another retailer, compare its own membership before defaulting to Prime.
• You rotate streaming services. A yearly plan can't be rotated out once it's paid.

#Amazon Prime monthly or yearly?

The yearly plan costs the same as 9.3 monthly payments. So the rule is simple: if you'll keep Prime for 10 months or more, go yearly. If you only join for Prime Day, the holidays or one series, monthly lets you leave right after. For the same decision across other services, see annual vs monthly subscriptions, and plug your own numbers into the Subfaro calculator.

#How to try and cancel Amazon Prime

Amazon offers a 30-day free trial to eligible new members, and billing starts automatically when it ends, so set a reminder. Our guide on how to avoid charges after a free trial covers the details.

To cancel, go to the Prime membership page at amazon.com/mc. The full walkthrough is in how to cancel Amazon Prime. See plans on Amazon Prime in Subfaro.

#How Subfaro helps

Subfaro keeps all your subscriptions in one place. Add Prime, pick monthly or yearly, and the price fills in; prices for more than 100 services are checked every week, with an automatic alert when one changes.

It also alerts you before every charge and before free trials end, so a $139 yearly renewal never lands by surprise. The free plan has no time limit and covers up to 10 subscriptions: create a free account.