What is Amazon Prime, UK cost and is it worth it?
We've rounded up everything you need to know about an Amazon Prime membership, from its benefits, how much it will cost and how straightforward it is to cancel.
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Being an Amazon Prime member has a number of benefits, from quick and free delivery to exclusive offers during sales events like Prime Day and Amazon Spring Deal Days.
But to access these exclusive benefits, it means you’ll have to subscribe to a membership and either pay a monthly or annual fee or start a free 30 day trial (if it’s your first time signing up). But what is involved in a subscription?
We’re here to help answer that. We’ve filtered through the most commonly asked questions when people are considering buying a membership to Amazon Prime.
Below you can find the answers as we explain how much an Amazon Prime membership costs, what are the membership options, what are the benefits of buying Amazon Prime and if the memberships are easy to cancel.
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What is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime launched in 2005 and is a membership that offers exclusive deals and access to hundreds of items and services you can't find anywhere else. It is probably best known for its next-day or same-day delivery options, meaning people can get goods from Amazon in record time.
In recent years, it has also become well known for its Prime Day event, where Prime members can snap up some serious discounts. In 2023, Amazon hosted Prime Day and Amazon Prime Big Deal Days; Big Deal Days followed the same format as previous Prime Days with two days of discount deals for Amazon Prime members.
Amazon are also known for the excellent Amazon Black Friday sale, when the retailer offers huge discounts on all products from tech to homeware in the month of November.
It's not just deals days that attract buyers to an Amazon Prime membership but also the Amazon Prime Video access you receive as well. On Prime Video, you have the option of watching hundreds of movies and TV shows exclusive to Amazon. The platform also streams live television and sports with certain Premier League matches now only being shown on Prime.
Check out our top picks of the best movies to watch on Amazon Prime Video and the best TV shows to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
How much does Amazon Prime cost in the UK?
An Amazon Prime membership will cost you £8.99 a month, £95 for the year, or £5.99 a month if you only want access to Prime Video.
If you're lucky enough to be a student, the price is £4.49 per month or £47.49 per year. If you want to try Amazon Prime before you commit to subscribing, you can get a free trial for 30 days before having to pay.
Speaking of students, Amazon are running a limited-time offer for students, allowing you to get six months Prime Student Membership for free. And when the six month period ends, you can can continue watching Prime for the reduced price of £4.49 per month.
What are the Amazon Prime membership options in the UK?
There are three different memberships for Amazon Prime, a regular membership, Prime Video membership or student membership.
Regular membership gives you access to all that Amazon Prime has to offer including unlimited premium delivery, unlimited music streaming, unlimited photo storage, unlimited reading, access to Prime days and membership to Amazon Prime Video.
A student membership gives you the same benefits as a regular Amazon Prime membership just at a discounted price.
A Prime Video membership gives you access solely to Amazon Prime Video, which includes hundreds of TV shows and films.
What are the benefits of Amazon Prime?
If you're new to Amazon Prime, it's important to know the benefits before buying a subscription. Here are the incentives for subscribing to Amazon Prime (all of these are included in the £8.99 regular cost):
Access to Prime Day and Deal Days
Prime Day and Deal Days are Amazon's huge sales, where you can snag discounts on everything from electronics to services like Audible and Amazon Music Unlimited.
Delivery times
Amazon Prime gives you access to millions of products which have either same-day or next-day delivery options. For items which aren't available next or same-day, you get premium delivery.
Amazon Music
Get access to over 100 million songs and podcasts completely ad-free. Download the Amazon Music app to take these with you when on the move.
Get three months free Amazon Music Unlimited
Prime Video
Prime Video gives you access to hundreds of TV shows and movies. Amazon has exclusive content and a bigger content library than Netflix.
Prime Video also gives you access to streamed sports, with several Premier League football matches which aren't shown anywhere else. You can also pay a reduced £5.99 membership to get access to Prime Video (but nothing else on this list).
Plus, for a limited time only (until Wednesday 17th July), you can secure an extended 30-day free Amazon Prime Video trial on channels such as MUBI, BFI Player, Crunchyroll, and Curzon.
Get Amazon Prime Video channels extended 30-day trial
For more information on this Amazon Prime Video deal, be sure to read our guide.
Deliveroo Plus
Get Deliveroo Plus free for a year with free delivery on all orders over £25. You also get access to offers on food and discounts only available to Plus members.
Amazon Groceries
With Prime, you also have access to Amazon Groceries with same-day delivery on orders placed before lunchtime.
They are partnered with Morrisons and Amazon Fresh to bring your food shop to you. Amazon Groceries is currently only available in select locations, so check before if you're eligible.
Audible free books and trial
With Prime, you get access to a 30 day free trial with Audible and get two books from a selected list to keep. Audible has thousands of titles with podcasts and audiobooks also available.
However, for a limited time only, you can secure a three month free Audible trial.
Get three months of Audible for 99p a month, plus a £10 Audible voucher
We've explained everything you need to know about how Audible works, as well as rounded up all the best Audible deals this month to help you save.
Amazon Photos
Prime members get unlimited full-resolution photo storage and 5 GB of video from Amazon Photos.
Is it easy to cancel an Amazon Prime subscription?
Yes, it is. You can end your Amazon Prime membership, or cancel your free trial to ensure that it doesn't convert to a full Amazon Prime membership, at any time.
Go to Your Amazon Prime Membership (found in the top right-hand corner of the Amazon webpage). Select Manage, select Update, Cancel and More, and then follow the on-screen instructions to cancel your membership.
For more Amazon content, check out our guide to Amazon Prime Video, or take a look at the best Amazon Echo deals and Amazon Fire TV Stick deals for this month.
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