Amazon Prime Pricing: Every Plan, Add-On, and Discount Explained (2026)

Amazon Prime costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year in the United States as of October 2026, and eligible new members get a 30-day free trial. There are cheaper routes: $7.49 a month or $69 a year for 18 to 24 year olds and college students, and $6.99 a month through Prime Access for people on qualifying government assistance. Everything else, from ad-free video to prescriptions, is an optional add-on with its own price.

I’m Trevor Fenner, and I run Ecommerce Paradise, where we teach high-ticket dropshipping to operators and digital nomads. Prime questions land in my inbox all the time, so I rebuilt this guide using only Amazon’s own pages. Anything I could not confirm there is marked “not shown,” and you can double check the live numbers on the Amazon Prime sign-up page before you pay.

Amazon Prime Plans and Prices at a Glance (October 2026)

The $14.99 and $139 figures come from Amazon’s September 2026 press release, which also confirms the 30-day trial and the six-month young adult trial. One warning: I came across an older Amazon help page that still lists $12.99 a month and $119 a year. Amazon’s help pages are not always updated at the same time, so I treat the newsroom pages dated 2026 as the current source and I suggest you confirm the price at checkout.

Amazon Prime Membership Cost: Monthly vs Annual

The monthly plan at $14.99 adds up to $179.88 over twelve months. The annual plan at $139 works out to about $11.58 a month, so paying annually saves roughly $40.88 a year. That is simple arithmetic on Amazon’s published prices, and it is the first number I look at when someone asks which plan to pick.

Both options give you the same Prime benefits. There is no premium tier of standard Prime where paying more unlocks extra shipping or streaming. The difference is only how often you are billed and how much cash you commit up front.

My rule is simple. If you will order from Amazon in most months of the year, pay annually. If you only need fast shipping for a few months, say while furnishing a new place or sourcing samples for a store launch, monthly billing with a calendar reminder to cancel is cheaper than a full year you will not use.

What Amazon Says You Get With Prime

According to Amazon’s Prime benefits page (last modified June 2, 2026), the core membership includes:

• Free fast delivery on more than 300 million U.S. items, with free Same-Day or One-Day delivery on tens of millions of items.
• Prime Video, Amazon Music (shuffle mode and ad-free podcasts), and Amazon Luna cloud gaming.
• Amazon Photos with unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5 GB of video storage.
• Kindle books, comics and manga, plus a monthly First Reads pick and two Audible Premium Plus credits.
• Early access to Lightning Deals 30 minutes before the general public, plus member-only deal events.
• Free Grubhub+, which Amazon describes as a $120 value per year, and $0.10 per gallon fuel savings at participating stations.

Amazon also claims U.S. members saved more than $550 on average through delivery, nearly four times the annual fee. That is Amazon’s marketing figure, not mine, so treat it as an upper bound and run your own numbers in the break-even section below.

The same page lists the Prime Visa and Prime Store Card at unlimited 5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods Market with no annual fee. A card is a separate credit decision, so I would not sign up for one just to justify the membership.

The Free Trial and How to Cancel Prime

Eligible new members can start a 30-day free trial. Young adults get six months at $0, and Prime Access members get 30 days free before the $6.99 monthly charge begins. In my experience the trial is where people get caught, because they sign up during a busy week and forget the end date. I set a reminder three days before the trial ends, every time.

Cancellation is easier than it used to be. In September 2025 the FTC announced a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over how it enrolled people in Prime and handled cancellations: a $1 billion civil penalty plus $1.5 billion in refunds. Under the settlement Amazon must show a clear and conspicuous button to decline Prime and must provide an easy way to cancel using the same method customers used to sign up.

For Prime Access, Amazon says you can cancel at any time from your account’s membership settings. I could not find an Amazon page that confirms an automatic refund if you forget to cancel a trial, so I do not promise one here. If you get charged by mistake, contact Amazon customer service quickly and ask.

Prime for Young Adults and Students

Amazon now calls this plan Prime for Young Adults. As of October 2026 it costs $7.49 a month or $69 a year after a six-month trial at $0. Paying yearly saves about $20.88 compared with twelve monthly payments of $7.49. Amazon’s announcement page says you do not need to be a student: ages 18 to 24 can verify with a driver’s license, passport or identity card, and college students can sign up with a .edu email address instead.

This replaces the “Prime Student” framing in my older version of this post, which said a .edu email was required. That is not the whole picture anymore. Amazon’s page also mentions a limited-time 5% cash back offer on certain categories, but the duration is unclear on the page, so check the terms when you sign up.

Prime Access for EBT and Medicaid Recipients

Prime Access costs $6.99 a month after a 30-day free trial. Per Amazon’s Prime Access page (updated August 6, 2026), you qualify by receiving benefits from one of 13 programs or by verifying your income. The listed programs include SNAP EBT, Medicaid, WIC, SSI, SSDI, TANF, the National School Lunch Program, LIHEAP, Federal Public Housing Assistance, and Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit.

A few details people miss:

• You must still add a payment method, because the assistance program cannot pay for the membership.
• You upload an eligibility document or verify income during signup.
• You have to reverify every 12 months, and Amazon sends a reminder email before it is due.
• Prime Access includes the same benefits as standard Prime.

My older post said the discounted rate lasts for the life of the membership as long as you stay eligible. Amazon’s current page describes a 12 month reverification, so that wording was too loose and I removed it.

Is There a Prime Discount for Medicare?

I could not find a Medicare-based Prime membership discount on any Amazon page I read. Medicaid is on the Prime Access program list, but Medicare alone is not listed there. If you are on Medicare and also receive one of the listed programs, or you can verify low income, Prime Access may still apply to you.

What Medicare does touch is RxPass. Amazon’s RxPass announcement (June 2024) says more than 50 million Medicare beneficiaries became eligible, that RxPass does not use insurance, and that you still need a Prime membership to use it.

Prime Video Ads and Prime Video Ultra

Prime Video Ultra is $4.99 a month or $45.99 a year in the U.S. Amazon’s Prime Video Ultra announcement (published March 13, 2026, last modified April 10, 2026) says Ultra replaces the Ad Free subscription and adds five concurrent streams (up from three), 100 downloads (up from 25) and 4K/UHD streaming. Amazon’s comparison table lists ad-free viewing as an Ultra feature and leaves it blank for the Prime Video benefit included with Prime.

The page does not state the old ad-free price, so I am not quoting one. It also says live TV, sports and some other content may still show ads even with Ultra. If you want Prime and ad-free video, the combined annual cost is $139 plus $45.99, which is $184.99, before tax.

The Prime Video standalone price is not shown on the Amazon pages I could read, so check Amazon’s Prime Video page rather than trusting a number from me or anyone else.

RxPass and Other Paid Add-Ons

These are the optional extras Amazon lists for Prime members on its benefits page, with prices as of October 2026:

• RxPass: $5 a month for more than 60 generic medications, delivered free.
• Amazon Music Unlimited: $10.99 a month or $109 a year for Prime members, versus $11.99 a month for non-members.
• Amazon Kids+: $4.99 a month for Prime members.
• One Medical membership: $9 a month or $99 a year for Prime members.
• Prime Video Ultra: $4.99 a month, covered above.

None of these is required. The thing I tell people is to add them one at a time and only after you have used the base membership for a month, because the add-ons are where a $139 plan quietly becomes a $300 plan.

Sharing Prime With Amazon Family

My older post claimed that Amazon Household cuts the cost to about $69.50 per person. I could not support that with any Amazon page, so I removed it. What Amazon’s Family explainer (last modified January 8, 2026) actually says is that Amazon Family is free to set up and use, and one adult must be a Prime member to share benefits.

Per that page, one additional adult in the same household can share most Prime benefits, including fast free delivery and deal events. Prime Video is shared with one adult and four children, and Amazon Music streaming is shared with one adult. Up to five additional adults can share Amazon Photos storage. Each adult needs their own Amazon account, and children cannot shop on Prime through Amazon Family.

So the feature does not halve the price. If you and a partner agree to split the $139 between yourselves, that is a private arrangement, and it only works if you actually live in the same household.

Amazon Business Prime Plans

If you buy for a company, Amazon has a separate Business Prime ladder. The prices below come from Amazon Business’s Prime Business page. The user counts are cross-checked against an Amazon news explainer last modified March 20, 2026.

Amazon says all plans include fast, free shipping on eligible items for users with business-only pricing and quantity discounts. Essentials lists a 30-day free trial if you qualify, Small and Medium mention an extended trial with the length not shown, and Duo’s trial is not shown. For a solo operator, Duo is the obvious starting point because it costs nothing on top of Prime.

Is Prime Worth It? A Break-Even Check

Do not guess. Take the $139 annual price and divide it by what you would otherwise pay in shipping per order. As an illustration only, if you would pay $6 shipping on an average order, you need about 23 orders a year, or roughly one every two weeks, before shipping alone pays for the membership. If you would pay $9, you need about 15. Swap in your own number from your last few Amazon orders, because shipping fees vary by seller and item.

The shipping math is only part of it. If you use Grubhub+ (which Amazon values at $120 a year), Prime Video, or Photos storage, the effective cost drops, but only for services you would truly pay for otherwise. In my experience, people who only want fast delivery and nothing else are paying for a lot of unused perks, and for them a handful of paid shipping orders a year can be cheaper than a membership.

Prime for Ecommerce Operators and Dropshippers

For anyone running a store, a personal Prime account is cheap research equipment. I use it to order competitor products, check packaging and delivery speed, and read real reviews in a category before committing money. That work fits naturally into vetting suppliers for high-ticket products, where ordering a sample quickly saves days.

It also helps to be clear about what Prime is not. Your personal membership has nothing to do with seller-side costs such as referral fees or fulfillment. If you are weighing Amazon as a sales channel, read our breakdown of Amazon FBA fees separately. If you are comparing channels, high-ticket dropshipping sells fewer, higher-value items from your own store, so Amazon’s fast shipping is a benchmark for customer expectations rather than something you can borrow. Your own store needs a clear shipping promise, which is a design decision you control.

If you are still choosing what to sell, our list of high-ticket niches shows where margins justify slower, white glove delivery. Prime is a useful way to spot which of those categories Amazon already serves fast and cheap.

Can You Deduct Prime as a Business Expense?

If you use Prime partly for business, such as ordering packaging, supplies and test products, some of the fee may be deductible depending on your situation. I am not a tax professional, so ask your accountant. The IRS’s Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business points readers to its chapter on business expenses for the rules on what you can deduct.

The cleaner your structure, the easier this gets. Our guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping explains why separating business and personal spending from day one saves headaches at tax time. Business Prime Duo is also built to help keep business purchases apart from personal ones.

Prime for Digital Nomads

This guide covers U.S. pricing on amazon.com. Other countries have their own Amazon sites and prices, and I did not verify those, so check the local Amazon page if you live elsewhere. In my experience, location-independent operators who keep a U.S. address are better off holding one U.S. membership than juggling several.

A U.S. address often means a virtual mailbox so packages have somewhere to land. For currency conversion when you pay U.S. subscriptions from abroad, I use Wise because the rate is usually fairer than a standard bank card markup.

Prices and Details I Could Not Verify

To keep this guide accurate, here is what I could not confirm from Amazon’s own pages and therefore did not state as fact:

• The standalone Prime Video price: not shown on the pages I could read.
• The previous ad-free Prime Video price, and the trial length for Prime Video Ultra: not shown.
• Prime’s price history before today: I removed the old timeline from my earlier version because I could not verify it from Amazon.
• Prime gift memberships, mid-cycle plan switching rules, and refund rules for forgotten trials: I could not find Amazon pages confirming them, so check Amazon directly.
• Any Medicare-based Prime discount: none found.

Amazon changes prices and plans, so I update this page when they do. Always compare what you read here with the checkout screen on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Amazon Prime cost?
As of October 2026, Prime is $14.99 a month or $139 a year in the U.S., with a 30-day free trial for eligible new members. Discounted plans are $7.49 a month or $69 a year for young adults and $6.99 a month for Prime Access.

Is the annual Amazon Prime plan cheaper than monthly?
Yes. Twelve months at $14.99 is $179.88, while the annual plan is $139, so you save about $40.88 a year, or about $11.58 a month effectively.

Does Amazon Prime have a discount for EBT or Medicaid?
Yes. Prime Access is $6.99 a month after a 30-day free trial for SNAP EBT, Medicaid and other qualifying programs, or with verified income. You reverify eligibility every 12 months.

Do I have to pay extra to watch Prime Video without ads?
Yes. Ad-free viewing is part of Prime Video Ultra, which is $4.99 a month or $45.99 a year. Amazon notes live TV, sports and some other content can still show ads.

Can I share my Prime membership with someone?
Partly. Through Amazon Family, one additional adult in your household can share most Prime benefits, and it is free to set up. It does not reduce the membership price, and the other adult needs their own Amazon account.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only. Amazon Prime pricing and included features change periodically, and prices here are as of October 2026. Always verify current pricing directly on Amazon’s website before subscribing. Ecommerce Paradise uses affiliate links for some providers mentioned in this article, which does not affect the recommendations made here.

Related Articles

If you want to go deeper on Prime, Amazon, and the ecommerce side, these guides are a good next read.

• Amazon Prime Review: Features and Whether It Is Worth It
• Amazon Prime Alternatives
• Amazon Prime vs Walmart+
• Amazon FBA vs Dropshipping in 2026
• Best Dropshipping Suppliers for Amazon

Trevor Fenner

Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.

He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.

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