Is a Prime Membership Worth It?

With Amazon Prime annual membership now priced at a cool $119, we have to ask - is it worth it? We decided to break down the costs of Amazon Prime benefits to help you see if the perks are right for you.

Free shipping

Annual cost to replace: $119
You save money if you would have spent more than $9.92 a month in shipping fees somewhere else.

Fast shipping

Annual cost to replace: $0

Prime Video

Annual cost to replace: $156
Shows and movies streaming from your TV, PC, or phone.
Compared to Netflix.

Prime exclusive brands

Annual cost to replace: $0
Brands such as Lark & Co., Good Threads, Mea, Presto! and more are exclusive to Prime members only.

Special deals

Annual cost to replace: $410
20% off diapers and baby food for parents.
Based on an average cost of $70 per month on diapers for a year, $20 per month on wipes for a year, $105 per month on formula for 6 months, and $57 per month on solid foods for 6 months.

Free reading

Annual cost to replace: $0
A large library of free eBooks you can read via the Kindle app.
Compared to the public library and free online options.

Unlimited photo storage

Annual cost to replace: $12
Store your photos on Amazon’s cloud service.
Compared to paying for extra storage on an iPhone, the lowest option costs $0.99 per month.

Twitch Prime

Annual cost to replace: $108
Ad-free pc gamer streaming and access to stream your own pc games to a live audience.
Based on the Twitch’s price (before becoming a prime exclusive) of $8.99 per month.

Prime Music

Annual cost to replace: $120
Ad-free music streaming, save music to your library.
Compared to Spotify.

Audible

Annual cost to replace: $179
Audiobooks that can be played back via an app.
The paid version of Audible is $14.95 per month

If you use all of the services above, meaning you’re a parent, who also has time to stream music, stream games, watch movies, read and listen to books, and you take a lot of pictures - you can save $1,104 or more a year by using Amazon Prime.

For the rest of us, as long as you use a benefit of Amazon Prime that would cost more to buy somewhere else, you’re probably saving money by having an annual membership. Amazon does offer a monthly prime membership option for $12.99. This will end up costing you $155.88 a year, so by switching to an annual membership you can save $36.88. However it’s still a luxury to have, and if there’s no room in the budget, there’s just not room.

Data and prices as of September 2018