The Best Amazon Prime Benefits You Probably Don't Know About

Daniel Oropeza Daniel Oropeza Shopping Editor ExperienceDaniel is Lifehacker's Shopping Editor covering tech deals and reviewing TVs, headphones, speakers, and projectors. He earned his master’s in journalism from Columbia University and has reported for the Miami Herald. He lives in Atlanta. Read Full Bio September 24, 2026 Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google We may earn a commission from links on this page. Credit: bluestork/Shutterstock Table of Contents If you’re going to commit to an Amazon Prime membership, you might as well squeeze as much as you can out of the deal. And there's a good amount of juice to squeeze there. The price you pay for Amazon depends on many factors, but regardless of how much you're paying, it's worth it for most people (we've done the math).If you're on the fence about signing up, consider that Amazon's October Prime Day sale is just around the corner, and the company is already hosting some early Prime Day deals. It's a great time to sell your soul—or take advantage of the 30-day free trial—and there's a lot more to your membership than just deals and free shipping.How much does Amazon Prime cost?The standard Prime membership costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year, but there are other tiers that some people might qualify for. For example, the Amazon Prime Student program allows young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 to get all of the Prime perks for half the cost—$7.49 per month or $69 annually. What do you think so far? I'll be the first to admit I didn't know all of the benefits that Amazon Prime offers to its members. There are a lot more perks than people think. Here are the most impressive ones (and check out the full list):Fast, free shippingFast free shipping on millions of items: Depending on where you live, shipping can take one or two days, and some even come on the same day for orders of $25 or more in most areas—and it’s always free (if being shipped by the Amazon store).Select pre-ordered items can be delivered on their release date for free (for most areas).The option to have items delivered inside your garage with a smart garage device (depending on where you live) for $1.99 per order, or for free if you combine it with Amazon Day delivery.Earn rewards for future purchases when you select free no-rush shipping.The option to have all your weekly orders delivered on a specific day, to reduce waste from boxes.Deals, savings, and salesAmazon Prime Visa card: Cardholders get 5% back on Amazon, Whole Foods, Chase Travel, and other purchases. Prime members who use this card extensively can earn rewards that offset the cost of membership.A Grubhub+ membership, normally $9.99 per month, which gets you free delivery on eligible orders, lower service fees, exclusive deals, and other perks as long as you remain a Prime Member (it used to be only for a year). Sharing with family or friends: Amazon Family is the existing program for sharing Prime benefits, and it allows you to add separate profiles for one other adult who lives in the same household as the primary account holder, and up to four kids. This grants access to all the standard benefits, such as free delivery, Prime Video with ads, Prime Reading, third-party benefits like Grubhub, and access to audiobooks, e-books, certain games, and Amazon Music.Medical careAmazon Health: Prime users get One Medical access for an additional $9 per month. Through your devices, you’ll have 24/7 access to on-demand virtual care, plus real-life access to primary care offices in a number of U.S. cities. It accepts most major health insurance plans, too.Amazon Pharmacy: Access to free two-day delivery and other savings on medications.Streaming and digital perksPrime Video: Prime includes unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows, and Amazon Originals with ads, which normally costs $9 per month. Amazon Music Prime: Access to Amazon's Spotify-esque music streaming service (not to be confused with Amazon's other music streaming subscriptions).Prime Gaming: A perk that offers free downloadable PC games, content, and a free channel subscription on Twitch each month.Amazon Luna: A cloud gaming platform that offers new free games every month for Prime Members.Amazon Photos: Unlimited photo storage plus 5 GBs for videos and other files (which extends to members of your Family Vault). E-books and audiobooksPrime Reading: Free access to over 1,000 books and magazines for Kindle or Fire tablets and Kindle apps.Amazon's First Reads: You get up to two free e-books every month from a curated list of books handpicked by editors. Our Best Editor-Vetted Early Prime Day Deals Right Now Deals are selected by our commerce team Lifehacker has been a go-to source of tech help and life advice since 2005. Our mission is to offer reliable tech help and credible, practical, science-based life advice to help you live better. Our Mission Our Team Newsletter © 2001-2026 Ziff Davis, LLC., A ZIFF DAVIS COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Lifehacker is a federally registered trademark of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of Lifehacker. 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