Amazon Prime is one of the most popular subscriptions in tech, bundling together deliver, streaming, and discounts into one monthly or annual fee.
But if you can’t afford to pay that fee – or just want to try the service out before committing – the good news is that it’s almost always possible to get Prime without paying a penny – at least for a little while.
Here we’ll go through how you can get Amazon Prime for free.
What is Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime began as a next-day delivery service. Customers could pay a fixed fee for a year of unlimited next-day deliveries on qualifying purchases from the store – but now it offers much more.
These days you also get access to both the Prime Video and Music Prime streaming services, free ebooks via Prime Reading, early access to loads of Lightning Deals even outside the Prime Day sales, and linked perks on platforms like Twitch and Deliveroo.
At present, it costs $14.99/£8.99 per month or $139/£95 per year for a Prime subscription. In the US, there’s also a cheaper $8.99 monthly option that only gives you Prime Video access, without the other perks.
Try Prime with a free trial
Prime’s perks are valuable year-round, but if you’re not a member you may want to test it out – or need one of the features as a one-off. Maybe there’s a Lightning Deal you need early access to, a particular movie or show you want to watch that’s only on Prime Video (see the best shows on Prime right now), or an item you need delivered as quickly as possible.
Whatever it is, you can get Amazon Prime for free for a limited time through the official 30-day free trial. The best part is, this isn’t only for new users – so long as you haven’t been a Prime member over the last 12 months, you can take advantage, meaning you can try the free trial out every single year.
Read on for a more detailed guide on how to sign up to the free trial on mobile or desktop.
Get Amazon Prime Student free for 6 months & student discount
Students get an even better deal: they can sign up for a six month free trial. After the trial ends, the student rate is a reduced $7.49/£4.49 per month, or $69/£47.49 per year.
Foundry
To sign up, you’ll need to be a current student with an eligible university email address.
Bear in mind that the Prime student plan is a very slightly different service. You get most of the same perks, plus extra like some discounts on textbooks and clothes, but unlike a regular Prime subscription you can’t share your benefits with another family member.
Sign up for 6-month free trial of Prime Student.
Share an account with a family member
Notice that line about sharing benefits within your family? Well, if you don’t have a Prime subscription but a relative does, this could be an easy way to reap the benefits.
Family sharing is one of the lesser-known perks of a Prime plan: every Prime member (except student plans) can share their account with one other adult, giving both accounts the full benefits of the service, from Prime Video to Prime Day deals.
The person with the account has to head to their account settings and find ‘Share your Prime benefits’, then select ‘Invite someone new’. They’ll need your name, email address, and date of birth to add you to the subscription, and bear in mind that this really is for family: you’ll also have to share access to your payment details, so it takes a lot of trust.
Get Amazon Prime free from Vodafone in the UK
The official free trial isn’t the only option.
If you’re in the UK then Vodafone Entertainment plans include Amazon Prime for free and are available for both new phones on contract and SIM-only plans, so you don’t need to be buying a new phone to take advantage – though of course you will have to switch your service to Vodafone.
See our full guide on getting Prime for free via Vodafone for more details.
Cancel your trial before it ends
One final note: if you’re absolutely certain that you won’t want to continue with Prime beyond 30 days, remember to cancel your membership. Otherwise, it’ll cost you $139/£95 for a year or $14.99/£8.99 per month.
You can actually do this at any point in the subscription – even right after you sign up – and you’ll still keep the benefits for the full duration of the trial. That means there’s no need to wait 30 days to hit cancel unless you really are trying the service out and want to see if you like it or not.
