What Amazon Prime Costs (and Everything It Gets You)

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If you’re one of the last remaining holdouts without an Amazon Prime account, there’s something commendable about your efforts to withstand the pressure. If you are finally and, perhaps, begrudgingly reconsidering what a Prime membership costs and can offer you, it's as good a time as any: Amazon's major shopping holiday, Prime Day, is going to be twice as long in 2025, taking place from July 8 through 11.

Prime Day's deals and price cuts are only available to Prime members, and depending on what's on your shopping list, Prime Day savings alone might be enough to justify your annual membership fee—especially once you factor in all the additional perks. Here’s what Prime costs, and what it’ll get you in 2025. 

What does Amazon Prime cost in 2025?

First, the simple answer you're looking for: For most people, Amazon Prime costs $15 per month, or $139 if you pay ahead for a full year (which average out to about $11.58 per month).

There are ways to get Prime for less. It used to be that if you were a student, you were eligible for Prime Student, which was $69 per year after a six-month trial period and required a .edu email address to access. Recently, the online shopping and entertainment giant has broadened its offerings for "young adults," so you no longer technically need to be a student to reap the benefits: Now, anyone from the ages of 18 to 24 can access a Prime membership for 50% off. That's $7.49 per month or $69 per year.

If you're a student older than 24, yes, once you turn 25, you will no longer be eligible for the discounted "young adult" membership, but Amazon will still consider you a student for a max of four years if you pass its student verification process after hitting the age threshold.

You can also get half-off a membership through Prime Access if you qualify for certain government assistance programs like Medicaid or EBT. You do have to verify your qualifications every year, though. 

What does Amazon Prime get you?

Regardless of what you’re paying, here’s what you can expect from Amazon Prime: 

• Fast, free shipping. Some items come in one day, some in two, and some even come on the same day, depending on where you live—and it’s free.

• Pre-ordered items can be delivered on their release date for free.

• The option to have items delivered inside your garage with a smart garage device (depending on where you live).

• Earn rewards for future purchases when you select free no-rush shipping.

• The option to have all your weekly orders delivered on a specific day, to reduce waste from boxes.

• The ability to try before you buy when you order clothes or shoes, meaning you have seven days before you get charged for the items you decide to keep.

• Access to Amazon Pharmacy, which gives you free two-day delivery and other savings on medications.

• Subscribe & Save deals that allow you to place recurring orders and save money when you do so.

• Access to Prime Video, a streaming service with movies and TV shows. (Without Prime, you can subscribe for $9 per month.)

• Access to Prime Music, the commerce giant’s music streaming service.

• Access to Prime Gaming, which includes free games, content, and a free channel subscription on Twitch each month. 

• Access to Prime Reading, which provides over 1,000 books and magazines for Kindle or Fire tablets and Kindle apps.

• Access to Amazon Photos, a storage solution on Amazon Drive (which extends to members of your Family Vault). 

• The option to open an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa and get certain incentives on purchases with it. 

• A free year of Grubhub+, so you don’t pay delivery fees on food orders. 

There are all kinds of perks associated with Prime, but the latest one is Amazon Health, which gives Prime users One Medical access for an additional $9 per month. Through your devices, you’ll have 24/7 access to to on-demand virtual care, plus real-life access to primary care offices in a number of U.S. cities. It accepts most major health insurance plans, too.

What is Prime Day?

In addition to all that, your membership means you can also participate in Prime Day. For the uninitiated, Prime Day is Amazon's biggest sales event of the year. It's usually two days but has expanded to four for 2025. During Prime Day, Amazon offers deals in virtually every product category on the site, from beauty, to tech, to clothing, to housewares, and everything in between. During Prime Day, you can expect to see many products drop to record-low prices, though you should still double-check with price-tracking tools to make sure you're getting the best possible deal before you buy anything.

When it comes to Prime Day, being a member gets you better deals, free shipping, and access to "invite-only" deals. There are also limited-time perks, like 5% cash back on categories like beauty, apparel, electronics, and personal care—which doubles to 10% on Prime Day. Being a Prime member might be worth it just to access all the savings during Prime Day alone.

Get a free trial of Prime during Prime Day

You can get a 30-day free trial of Prime before paying for it, so if you time it right, you can join before and cancel right after the shopping holiday—though you might find the convenience and added benefits are worth the expense.