Don’t want to pay $139 a year for an Amazon Prime membership? Here are some easy ways you can get it for free or cheaper
Amazon Prime membership comes with many perks – free two-day delivery, exclusive deals like Prime Day, free Grubhub+ membership, Prime Video, Amazon Music, and savings on groceries, prescriptions, gas, and more. Unfortunately, the membership cost has ticked up over the years, like everything else.
You might be eyeing all the perks that you get as a member and wondering if there are ways to get Amazon Prime for free or at a lower cost.
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Ways To Get Amazon Prime for Free
It turns out there are actually ways to get Amazon Prime for free. Yes, you can really score a Prime membership and all the benefits that come with it for $0. That is a far cry from the $139 per year or $14.99 a month Amazon is charging. These ways range from free trial deals, Amazon-approved Prime benefit-sharing programs, to free Prime memberships. Here is how you can get Amazon Prime without paying a cent.
1) Sign up for a 30-Day Trial to Amazon Prime
Get all the benefits of Prime by signing up for a free 30-day trial Of Amazon Prime. You get access to everything a paid member receives without paying a cent. The only stipulation is that you must be a new member or have not had a membership in the past 12 months.
With the trial, you can cancel your Prime membership at any time without penalty. You will not be charged as long as you cancel before the 30 days are up. I suggest you set a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget to cancel.
If you are lucky, Amazon sometimes extends the free trial period for 30 or 60 additional days.
Find out whether you are eligible for the Amazon Prime trial and see if you are offered the promotion. You can also add something to your cart, and you may be offered a free trial on the checkout page before you submit the order.
2) Take Advantage of Prime for Young Adults
Anyone aged 18-24 can enjoy a 6-month trial of Amazon Prime for Young Adults for free. You have to verify your eligibility by confirming you are a current student at a university by signing up with a .edu email address or providing Amazon with your name, the name of your college, year of graduation, and date of birth.
If you are not a current student, you can still enroll for Prime for Young Adults by submitting your driver’s license, passport, or ID card.
During the 6-month free trial, you will get all the same perks as regular Amazon Prime members.
If you choose to keep the Prime membership after the 6-month trial, your subscription will renew at 50% off or $7.49 a month, until either 4 years is up or you turn 25 years old.
3) Get Amazon Prime as a Customer Bonus
Some services include a free Prime membership for their customers. These include Metro by T-Mobile and Spectrum Internet.
Metro by T-Mobile
You can get free access to Prime if you signed up for the $60/month Unlimited Premium 5G Data with AutoPay plan with Metro by T-Mobile before 9/17/2026.
Besides unlimited talk and text, 25 GB of hotspot data, T-Mobile Tuesdays, and taxes and fees included, it also included a Prime subscription. Once you verify your Metro phone number and activate your Amazon Prime membership, you can create a free Prime account or link it to your existing Prime account to save $14.99.
Spectrum Internet
Eligible Spectrum customers with Spectrum Internet Assist, an affordable internet plan available to low-income households, can receive a free Prime membership with their internet service on any internet tier.
Customers can activate their Amazon Prime benefit by going to this Spectrum page and following the instructions.
4) Share Prime Benefits with Amazon Family
Amazon Family allows sharing your Prime membership with another adult in your household and up to four children at no additional cost. Formerly called Amazon Household, Amazon Family allows each person to keep their separate login and order history, but share two-day Prime delivery with free shipping, Prime Video, discounts, fuel savings, and digital content.
To set up Amazon Family, both adults must live at the same primary residential address. You also need to agree to share payment methods.
5) Get Discounted Amazon Prime with Prime Access
People receiving government assistance can reduce their monthly cost and sign up for Prime at a huge discount through Prime Access. Although it is not free except for the one-month trial, you get all the standard Prime benefits while paying less than 50% of the regular price.
To qualify for Prime Access, you need to meet the income requirements or be enrolled in a government assistance program.
To be eligible for a discounted Prime membership based on income, your household income must be at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guideline.
For 2026, the 100% Federal Poverty Guidelines are below for the 48 contiguous states:
- 1 person: $15,960
- 2 people: $21,640
- 3 people: $27,320
- 4 people: $33,000
- 5 people: $38,680
- 6 people: $44,360
- 7 people: $50,040
- 8 people: $55,720
Eligible government assistance programs include:
- Direct Express Debit Card (DE)
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
- Medicaid
- National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
- Puerto Rico Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP)
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Tribal Assistance Eligibility Letter (TTANF)
- Veterans & Survivors Pension Benefits (VSPB)
- Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC)
Is Amazon Prime Still Worth It?
With the price increases over the years, Amazon Prime has gone from $79 per year when it launched in 2005 to $139 after the last price increase in 2022.
The most popular parts of Prime are the free 2-day shipping, video streaming with Prime Video, and exclusive sales available only to Prime members.
Assuming you don’t need Prime Video because you don’t watch much television or have another streaming service, is Prime still a good deal? Here is how you can get the most for your money.
First, don’t sign up for the annual plan. This might seem counterintuitive since the annual membership comes out to $11.58 a month compared to $14.99 for the monthly membership. As long as you join Prime at the monthly rate for 9 months or less, you will come out ahead.
To save money, add items to your shopping cart and hold off checking out until you hit the $35 order threshold for free shipping. Delivery might take longer than the two-day delivery that comes with Prime. But with Amazon warehouses all over the country, you might still get your items faster than what Amazon lists. I’ve gotten my items in two days when the posted delivery time was four days. Another benefit of waiting until you have enough to hit the free delivery threshold is you might decide you didn’t really need the item after all.
Take advantage of exclusive sales available only to Prime members by timing your sign-up for the free trial or monthly membership when Amazon has its biggest shopping deals. Join in July when Prime Day is taking place, in October when Amazon holds its Prime Big Deal Days sale, or at the end of November for Black Friday and the start of the holiday shopping season.
Closing $ense
These are several ways I and others have used to get Amazon Prime benefits for free or at a discount.
If you are unsure whether Prime is worth the money, consider trying a free trial, checking whether you qualify for a complimentary membership through another service you already use, or looking for a discount on the monthly fee. These options provide a low-cost way to explore the benefits that you might be missing.
Is Amazon Prime worth it? Do you know of other ways or tips to get Prime for free or at a discount?