21-03-2025
I've paid for Amazon Prime for a decade and this is what I've learned
If you shop online at all, there's a good chance you've used Amazon. In 2022, Wunderman Thompson Commerce found that the e-tailer had 35 per cent of the UK's lockdown-fueled online shopping market, and while the pandemic has subsided, Amazon's popularity has not.
For those who shop on Amazon regularly, there's Amazon Prime: a membership service that not only provides discounts and free postage, but other perks like games, music and video streaming.
The service launched in the UK back in 2007 and I've used it for more than half that time, giving me a good idea of its pros and cons. Here's what Amazon Prime offers and why I think it's ultimately worth the annual cost.
What is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is Amazon's membership service. It provides free postage within the UK, as well as offering various other perks that I'll go into in a minute.
It's been in the UK since 2007, which is two years after it debuted in the United States. Amazon doesn't detail subscriber numbers but did reveal there were over 200 million by the end of 2021.
Statista estimates that around 13 million Prime Video subscribers reside in the UK, many of whom will have the streaming service included via the full-price Prime subscription.
How much is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime currently costs £95 a year, or £8.99 if you choose to pay monthly. That price has increased twice in my time using it: in 2022, it was £79 a year and £49 before 2014.
It's worth noting that two adults in the same household can share certain Prime benefits, and it also offers a significant discount for students and those aged between 18 and 22. They pay just £4.49 a month, or £47.49 a year.
You can also trial the Prime service for 30 days free of charge. Just be aware that you will be charged if you don't cancel before the trial ends.
If the only perk you want from the Prime membership is Prime Video, Amazon offers this on its own for £5.99 a month.
What do you get for the money?
The main benefit of Amazon Prime is shipping. Prime members get unlimited premium delivery, with next-day or sometimes even same-day options, available seven days a week. This is free if the order is over £20, or £1.99 if it's under, but shipping would cost £5.99 without Prime.
On the shopping front, you also get early access to Amazon's Lightning Deals with the Prime membership, a year of Deliveroo Plus Silver, Prime exclusive discounts and grocery deliveries in certain postcodes, which are provided by Amazon Fresh, Morrisons, Co-Op or Iceland.
For frequent shoppers, the Prime membership cost may have already paid for itself, but there are entertainment perks to consider, too. Prime Video, with thousands of popular movies and TV shows, usually costs £5.99 on its own but is included with Prime.
So is Amazon Music, which offers over 100 million songs ad-free, Prime Reading which provides thousands of books and magazines, and Prime Gaming which offers free PC games each month. There's also Prime Gaming Luna that allows you to stream a selection of games from the cloud.
Speaking of the cloud, also included is Amazon Photos, which lets you store unlimited full-resolution photos and 5GB of video.
The above are the main advantages currently, but another one is coming soon for those who own an Echo speaker or display, such as the Echo Dot or Echo Show. Amazon has announced that its generative AI-based Alexa upgrade will be free to Prime users, but a paid extra for everyone else. However, this is currently only available in the US, with no word on when (or if) it will arrive in the UK.
Are there any downsides?
Other than the money Prime membership costs leaving your bank account every year, the main issue with Amazon Prime is that you're subconsciously limiting your shopping options.
No, you don't sign away your right to shop elsewhere when you sign up to Amazon Prime but Amazon invariably becomes the default to the detriment of other retailers. It often has the best prices, but that isn't always the case, and the sunk-cost fallacy means you end up on Amazon anyway in a bid to get your money's worth.
You may also find that Prime Video doesn't have the content you're looking for compared to other streaming services, like Netflix or Disney+. If you have a limited streaming budget, you want to make sure you get the best streaming service for you.
Both Prime Reading and Prime Music are weaker than their paid-for 'Unlimited' counterparts. For the former, you're dealing with a substantially smaller library than with Kindle Unlimited. Meanwhile, the music offered on Prime Music is the same as Music Unlimited but the playback quality is weaker and it's delivered via shuffle play, so you don't have direct control over what you're listening to. That said, Prime subscribers do save £1 a month on Music Unlimited if they want to upgrade.
Are there alternatives to Amazon Prime?
Not directly, but you can get services that replicate individual parts of the Prime membership package. Amazon Music can be replicated by Apple Music or Spotify; Prime Video can be replaced by Netflix or Now TV; and Prime Gaming is rivalled by Xbox Game Pass or Humble Bundle Choice.
The problem here is that getting each of those would see you spending £30 a month in comparison to Prime's £7.99 and you still wouldn't get the same breadth of content or free postage on Amazon goods.
The Telegraph verdict: Is Amazon Prime worth it?
Overall, it's hard to argue with the value of Amazon Prime but whether it's worth it is more of a personal decision.
If you only occasionally shop with Amazon, are a Spotify aficionado, don't play games, and don't see much worth watching on Prime Video, then it's likely Amazon Prime is not for you.
If you're somewhere in between, however, then there's no harm in taking out a free trial and seeing for yourself if you get enough out of Prime and its benefits to warrant the cost.
Amazon Prime FAQs
What does Amazon Prime include?
The full list of things included with Amazon Prime is as follows:
Unlimited One-Day Delivery
Same-Day Delivery
Unlimited Priority Delivery to the Republic of Ireland
Amazon Day Delivery
Early Access to Deals
Prime Exclusive Discounts
Buy More & Save
Grocery delivery
Deliveroo Plus Silver (one year)
Prime Video
Special offers on Prime Video Rent or Buy
2-for-1 tickets to Odeon cinemas (Monday to Thursday)
Amazon Music
£1 discount on Amazon Music Unlimited
Prime Reading
Amazon First Reads
2 Audible credits on free trial instead of 1
Prime Gaming
Prime Gaming Luna
Amazon Photos
Is it easy to cancel?
Cancelling Amazon Prime is relatively easy. You'll need to go to your Prime Membership page, select 'Manage', then 'Update, Cancel and More' and follow the steps.
Is Amazon Music free with Prime?
Amazon Music is indeed free with Prime, but it's a different product to Amazon Music Unlimited. The library is the same and both are ad-free but the quality is capped at 320kbps, it has more limited Alexa voice commands and music can only be listened to on 'shuffle' mode, which means it's not great for selecting specific tracks.
Prime subscribers can upgrade to Music Unlimited for less, however, with a £1 per month discount. That means it costs £10.99, rather than the usual £11.99.
When is Amazon Prime Day?
The exact date of Amazon Prime Day varies each year, but it's usually in the middle of July. In 2024, Amazon also offered an additional Prime Day in October, and there are other sales events for Prime members throughout the year.
Why does Amazon Prime have ads?
Last year, Amazon added adverts to Prime Video. The company says this is so it can 'continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time and so maintain the quality and quantity of content in Prime Video.'
You can opt out of Prime adverts, but it will cost you an extra £2.99 a month. The option is in your account settings on Prime Video.
Do you need a TV licence to watch Amazon Prime?
It depends on what you're watching. According to the TV Licencing FAQ, you need a TV license to watch live broadcasts, but you don't if you're only consuming on-demand content.
How to cancel subscriptions on Amazon Prime Video?
These can be cancelled via the ' Manage Your Subscriptions ' section of your Amazon account. Find the add-on you want to cancel, select 'Unsubscribe' and confirm.
