What Is Amazon Prime? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

You’ve probably seen enough Amazon ads to know that Amazon thinks its Prime subscription is a must-have service for customers worldwide. This guide explains what Amazon Prime is, and what makes it so special.

Tip: save money by using one of these tools that track Amazon price drops.

What Is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service for users across the world. For a monthly or yearly fee, Amazon customers can access numerous premium benefits, including fast shipping, exclusive access to sales, and more.

Amazon Prime Benefits

Below are the top features of a Prime membership, regardless of which tier you choose.

1. Free Two-Day Shipping (And Sooner)

The free two-day shipping only applies to items that specifically say they’re Prime eligible, which also includes Amazon Pharmacy subscriptions. These items are sold by Amazon or a third party but shipped by Amazon. Some products are also eligible for same-day or one-day free delivery. At the same time, same-day is only in specific zip codes and may not be offered in your area.

If you’re not in a hurry to get your items, you can choose No-Rush Shipping, which usually takes two to three extra days. If you go this route, you’ll usually get $1 to $3 in digital credits to use on digital items, such as ebooks, music downloads, and videos. In our experience, we usually receive items around one to two days later.

Tip: compare Netflix with Amazon Prime to see which one is for you.

2. Unlimited Streaming with Prime Video

Amazon Prime members get full access to Amazon Prime Video. This benefit alone is why many people choose to subscribe. You’ll find thousands of movies and TV shows included at no extra cost, including original series and movies, such as The Big Sick, Jack Ryan, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Look for some new favorites in the full list. You can also add on other premium streaming services (for an additional fee) to access them from one place, such as STARZ and Showtime.

3. Over 100 Million Songs with Prime Music

If you love music, Amazon Prime rewards your passion by offering access to a catalog of 100 million songs ad-free. You can also access top podcasts, as well as thousands of playlists and stations. Moreover, you can listen offline on a range of devices. Prime members can also get discounts on Amazon Music Unlimited with annual plan options. It brings HD sound and Spatial Audio, as well as some additional perks, like unlimited skips. However, we should note that this is available solely for members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

FYI: if you’re a fan of manga, check out these websites that allow you to read manga online.

4. Free Ebook Access with Prime Reading

Prime Reading is a stripped-down version of Kindle Unlimited. Members get a rotating selection of over 1000 books, comics, audiobooks, magazines, Kindle Singles, and more every month. They’re available for you to read for free, similar to a library. Each month, Amazon offers Prime members a couple of free Kindle edition books from a small selection: Amazon First Reads. At the time of writing, there are nine Early Access books in varying genres, and the selection changes each month. While you get to keep these books for free, you can get exclusive discounts on others.

5. Prime Day and Prime Early Access Deals

Amazon Prime Day is a sale event exclusively for Prime Members. This year, it’s being held on July 16 and 17 and will include massive discounts on popular product categories. On top of that, Prime members also get access to Prime Early Access deals, along with 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals on Amazon. These are renewed daily, as opposed to the Amazon Prime Day event, which is a yearly affair.

6. Free PC Games with Prime Gaming

With Prime Gaming, you get a free Twitch.tv channel every month. Plus, it unlocks access to free video games and exclusive in-game loot. The games are yours to keep – not just while you’re a member. You’ll have to link your game account to Amazon. There is one drawback, though: if you’re sharing your membership, only one person per household can claim an offer. Of course, you can always choose to just play a game together.

7. Unlimited Photo Storage

An often overlooked benefit of Amazon Prime is unlimited photo storage. After Google Photos eliminated unlimited storage, many users started looking for alternative photo services. As long as you’re a Prime member, you get full-resolution photo storage and up to 5GB of video storage. If you need more storage space for videos, you can bump this up at any time. Plans start at $19.99/year for 100GB, with options for up to 30TB for a whopping $1,799/year also available.

Tip: there are also great options if you’re looking for Photos alternatives for Linux.

8. Free Membership to Grubhub+

Prime members also get a free membership to Grubhub+, a popular food ordering and delivery platform based in Chicago. With this membership, you won’t have to pay a dime for grocery delivery services and will also have access to exclusive savings. For instance, currently, there’s an active promotion that awards you a $10 Amazon gift card on Prime Day with a $25+ Grubhub order.

9. Savings at Whole Foods

If you shop at Whole Foods Market and are in one of the eligible areas, you can get a two-hour delivery. What’s more, If you have an Amazon Prime Rewards credit card, which you can get even without a Prime membership, you will jump from 3% to 5% cash back on all Amazon purchases. You’ll also get 5% cash back at Whole Foods.

10. Try Before You Buy

If you hate the thought of ordering clothing and shoes online, since you can’t try them on, and struggle with varying sizes from brand to brand, Amazon Prime lets you try before you buy. Amazon ships eligible clothing, shoes and accessories to your home for free. You will have seven days to try up to six items and send back (for free) what you don’t want. You’re only charged for the items you decide to keep. You can send everything back if you don’t like any of it or none of it fits. Limited time deals are included as part of the offer.

These are the top benefits of an Amazon Prime subscription, but be sure to check out the full list.

Tip: learn how to set up a new Amazon Echo device.

What Is the Cost of an Amazon Prime Membership?

With all the benefits, Amazon Prime pricing is more than reasonable. There are several tiers to choose from:

• Prime Monthly – $14.44/month
• Prime Annual – $139/year
• Prime Access – $6.99/month (for those on EBT or other eligible government assistance programs)

• Prime Student – $7.49/month (with Amazon Music Unlimited for just $0.99/month)

No matter which plan you choose, you’re eligible for at least a 30-day free trial. Often, you can score one or two free trials per year. However, a full month is a generous trial.

Note: there is one final potential discount. You can share your Prime membership with one other adult living in your household. You can also add up to four teens with their own accounts. Some benefits aren’t eligible, but you can view the full details at Amazon Household

Is Amazon Prime Worth It?

If you look at the standard price for Amazon Prime versus Netflix’s standard tier, priced at $15.49, which only covers video streaming, Amazon Prime is clearly the better deal with its additional benefits. But if are an infrequent shopper on Amazon that rarely places orders, getting Prime is probably not for you. On the other hand, if you frequently rely on the online retailer to find the products you need, then Prime will unlock serious additional benefits.

Basically, it all boils down on how much you use Amazon versus other services. For instance, if you tend to purchase only Kindle books, as opposed to getting your reading material from Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or other competing retailers, then getting Prime would be the logical step.

If you’re still not sure whether Amazon Prime is for you, you can sign up for a generous 30-day trial (credit card required). You can cancel at any time, but if you don’t take the step until the end of the trial period, your card will be charged for a full subscription for the next month.

Good to know: learn how to change the country and language on Amazon.

If you want to remain in the world of Amazon and find out more about the services included with Amazon Prime, learn how to turn off the audio description on Amazon Prime Video. If you’re looking to buy a new Amazon Fire TV Stick, find the best option for you.

Image credit: Pexels. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.

Alexandra Arici - Staff Writer

Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company. She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone.