Amazon Prime Benefits: What You Get With a Membership and Whether It’s Worth the Cost
Amazon Prime benefits you to know about. Much more than 2-day shipping! Streaming, audible, channels, and how it replaces Netflix. Try it for free!
When I first signed up for Amazon Prime, it was mostly for one reason: free shipping, especially during the busy holiday shopping season. But after having a membership for several years, I’ve discovered that Amazon Prime offers so much more than getting packages delivered to our doorstep. From exclusive shopping deals and convenient delivery options to streaming entertainment and other everyday perks, our family has found plenty of ways to use it.
Amazon has become a regular part of how many households shop, and that’s where an Amazon Prime membership can make a difference. It’s designed to offer more convenience, savings, and digital benefits all under one subscription.
But what exactly do you get with a membership, and is it worth the cost? A standard Amazon Prime membership currently costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits, lesser-known perks, and ways you can get more value from your membership.
Why Amazon Prime is Worth Every Penny
Fast, Free Shipping: Two-Day, One-Day, and Same-Day Delivery
Let’s start with the benefit that probably brought many of us to Amazon Prime in the first place: free shipping. Prime members get free Two-Day Delivery on millions of eligible items, and many products also qualify for free One-Day Delivery. Depending on where you live and what you’re ordering, you may even be able to get certain items delivered the same day.
Same-Day Delivery is especially handy when you realize you’re missing something for dinner, need a last-minute birthday gift, or forgot to order an everyday household essential. Availability depends on your ZIP code, the item, and the order minimum, so not every product will qualify.
Amazon also offers Amazon Day Delivery, which lets you choose a preferred delivery day for eligible orders. This can be helpful if you’d rather have several packages arrive together instead of receiving deliveries throughout the week.
You can check Amazon’s delivery options here.
Amazon Family: Share Your Prime Benefits
If you have a family, one of the more useful Prime benefits is the ability to share select membership perks through Amazon Family, formerly known as Amazon Household. This allows you to share eligible Prime benefits with another adult in your household while keeping separate Amazon accounts. You can also add child profiles and manage certain family settings.
Some of the benefits that can be shared include:
- Eligible Prime shipping benefits
- Prime Video with ads
- Prime Reading
- Select digital content, including Kindle books, audiobooks, and games
- Access to exclusive Prime deals and events
An Amazon Family can include up to two adults and up to four children. Certain existing teen accounts and profiles are also supported, although Amazon changed how new teen accounts can be added in 2025.
There is one important detail: sharing Prime benefits requires household verification, including a shared payment method between the adults. Amazon Family members must also live at the same primary residential address.
This can be a great way for couples and families to get more value from one membership instead of paying for separate accounts.
Learn more about Amazon Family
Amazon Music: Listen to Millions of Songs and Podcasts
If you enjoy listening to music while cleaning, cooking dinner, working out, or driving, Amazon Music is another benefit worth checking out. Prime members get access to more than 100 million songs, ad-free podcasts, and a selection of playlists at no additional cost.
There is one catch worth knowing about. Most music listening through the included Prime benefit is in shuffle mode, so you won’t have unlimited on-demand playback of every song. However, members can listen to select All-Access Playlists on demand and download those playlists for offline listening.
If you want to choose and play any specific song whenever you like, Amazon Music Unlimited is available as a separate paid upgrade.
You can also listen through the Amazon Music app or compatible Alexa-enabled devices. It’s a convenient option if you already have an Echo speaker at home and enjoy asking Alexa to play music while you’re busy doing other things.
Amazon Photos: Unlimited Photo Storage
If your phone is constantly running out of storage because of family pictures, vacation photos, and videos, this is a benefit worth knowing about. Amazon Photos gives Prime members unlimited full-resolution photo storage at no additional cost.
You can back up pictures from your phone, tablet, and computer, organize your photo library, and search for specific pictures without having to scroll through thousands of images. Amazon’s photo search features can help you find pictures by describing what’s in them, making it easier to locate that one vacation photo or birthday picture you’re looking for.
You can also share photos and albums with family members and display your pictures on compatible Amazon devices, including Fire TV and Echo Show.
One thing to remember: unlimited storage applies to photos, not videos. Prime membership includes 5 GB of video storage, with additional storage plans available if you need more room.
For anyone who takes hundreds of pictures a year, having a place to back them up can be a very useful perk.
Learn more about Amazon Photos
Prime Video: Movies, TV Shows, and Original Series
Prime Video is another benefit our family has enjoyed over the years. A Prime membership includes access to a selection of movies, television shows, Amazon Originals, and live sports. You can watch on your television, computer, tablet, or phone using the Prime Video app.
It’s a nice way to have another streaming option without adding an entirely separate subscription to your monthly budget. The selection changes, so there is always something new to browse, although not every movie or show on the platform is included with Prime.
A quick note about streaming costs: Prime Video now includes advertisements during standard streaming. If you prefer to watch without ads, Amazon offers Prime Video Ultra as a separate monthly upgrade. You can also subscribe to additional channels through Prime Video, but those come with their own fees.
I recommend browsing the included titles before paying for any extra channels. You may find plenty to watch without adding another subscription to your household expenses.
Prime Reading: Books, Magazines, and More
Book lovers, this is a fun benefit to explore! Prime Reading gives members access to a rotating selection of eBooks, digital magazines, comics, and other reading material at no additional cost.
You don’t need to own a Kindle to use this benefit. With the free Kindle app, you can read on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. If you do have a Kindle device, you can access eligible titles there, too.
The selection changes, so you won’t find every book you want to read included. However, it’s a nice way to discover new authors, try a book before purchasing it, or catch up on reading without buying another title.
Keep in mind that Prime Reading is different from a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Kindle Unlimited is a separate paid service with its own larger selection of titles.
Amazon Family and Baby Registry Savings
Amazon also has a few helpful perks for families with young children. Through its baby registry program, eligible Prime members can receive a 15% completion discount on qualifying registry items during the designated window around their baby’s arrival.
This can be especially helpful when you’re preparing for a new baby and still have a long list of things to purchase. Instead of buying everything at once, you can build a registry, let friends and family contribute, and use the completion discount on eligible items you still need.
Amazon also offers registry features such as group gifting, gift tracking, and a diaper fund. The exact offers and eligibility requirements can vary, so check the current terms before counting on a particular discount.
Learn more about Amazon Baby Registry
Amazon Luna: Cloud Gaming Included With Prime
Here’s a benefit you might not know about if your family enjoys video games. Amazon Luna gives Prime members access to a rotating selection of cloud-based games at no additional membership cost.
You don’t need to purchase a gaming console or download every game to get started. You can play supported games on compatible devices, including Fire TV and computers, with a compatible controller or other supported controls.
Amazon Luna also includes GameNight, a collection of family-friendly games designed for people to play together. It’s a fun option for family game nights when you want something different from the usual board games or movie night.
The available games rotate, and device compatibility varies, so check the current selection before deciding whether it’s a good fit for your household.
Free Grubhub+ Membership for Prime Members
This is one of the newer benefits that may be especially useful if your family occasionally orders takeout. Eligible Amazon Prime members can activate a complimentary Grubhub+ membership, which normally has a separate monthly cost.
Grubhub+ includes $0 delivery fees on eligible orders over $12, lower service fees, 5% credit back on pickup orders, and access to special offers. You’ll still need to pay for your food, applicable taxes, tips, and any other charges that aren’t covered by the membership.
This perk can be helpful on those busy evenings when nobody feels like cooking, or when you’re picking up dinner between work, school, and activities. Just remember to activate the offer through Amazon. It isn’t something you should assume is automatically applied to every order.
Activate your free Grubhub+ membership
Save Money on Gas With Amazon Prime
Here’s another benefit that can add up over time, especially if you spend a lot of time driving to work, school, sports, and other family activities.
Prime members can save 10 cents per gallon at more than 7,500 participating bp, Amoco, and select ampm and Thorntons gas stations across the United States. You’ll need to follow Amazon’s instructions to link your membership and activate the fuel savings at participating locations.
It may not sound like a huge discount, but if you fill up regularly, those savings can add up throughout the year. Just make sure you have a participating gas station nearby before counting this as a reason to sign up.
Learn more about Prime fuel savings
Alexa+: A Smarter Way to Use Your Amazon Devices
If you already have an Alexa-enabled device in your home, there’s another benefit worth exploring. Alexa+ is Amazon’s upgraded, more conversational assistant, and it is included with Prime membership in the United States.
Beyond answering questions and playing music, Alexa+ can help with everyday tasks, shopping, entertainment searches, and managing certain smart-home features. It is designed to understand more natural requests, so you don’t have to phrase everything like a specific voice command.
For example, you might ask Alexa to help find a movie, manage a shopping list, or look up information while you’re cooking dinner. Features depend on your device and the services you use, but it’s another way Amazon is adding value to its membership.
Try Amazon Prime With a Free 30-Day Trial
If you aren’t already a Prime member, you may be able to try it for free before committing to a paid membership. Eligible new members can receive a 30-day free trial and explore the included shipping, shopping, streaming, and other benefits.
After the trial, a standard membership currently costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month. The membership renews automatically at the end of the trial unless you cancel, so make a note of the renewal date if you don’t want to continue paying.
I always recommend trying the benefits you think you’ll actually use during the trial. If you’re mostly interested in shipping, pay attention to how often you place eligible orders. If you enjoy streaming or use Amazon Music, give those services a try, too.
Start your free 30-day Amazon Prime trial
Amazon Prime for College Students and Young Adults
Heading off to college or have a young adult in your family? Amazon offers a discounted membership option called Prime for Young Adults.
Eligible students and young adults ages 18–24 can sign up for a six-month trial for $0. After the trial, the membership is available for $7.49 per month or $69 per year. Students can verify their eligibility using a qualifying college enrollment method, including a .edu email address, while other young adults may verify their age.
This can be especially helpful for college students who are ordering dorm supplies, textbooks, school essentials, and everyday items while away from home. They can also enjoy eligible shipping, Prime Video, Amazon Music, and other membership perks.
One important detail: Prime for Young Adults benefits cannot be shared through Amazon Family, so this is a separate membership option.
Sign up for Prime for Young Adults
Amazon Prime Access: A Lower-Cost Membership Option
Amazon also offers a discounted membership for qualifying customers through Prime Access. People who receive certain government assistance benefits or meet Amazon’s income-verification requirements may qualify for a 30-day free trial, followed by a membership costing $6.99 per month.
Prime Access includes many of the same shopping, delivery, and entertainment benefits as a standard Prime membership. Eligible members may also have access to additional savings, including grocery-related offers.
If the regular membership price doesn’t fit your household budget, this is worth looking into. Amazon provides the eligibility details and verification requirements on its website.
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