How to Get Amazon Prime for Free

John John (304)
5 minutes

Everybody loves free stuff, and most people love the Amazon Prime membership for the free shipping and free video/music streaming. However, all of that free stuff costs $119/year. So we've written this guide to show you how to get all of that free stuff for free or, in some cases, cheaper.

Oh, and here's a quick note to help set expectations. Sadly there's no cheat code that you type in your browser that magically gives you Prime for free. If that's what you're looking for, sorry to disappoint. However, there are quite a few ways to get free trials (even extended trials) and discounts that you might not be aware of. Keep reading for details!

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is an Amazon membership that comes with many great benefits like fast and free shipping, TV/Movie/Music streaming, exclusive shopping deals, and more.

Check out this page for a full list of benefits.

How much is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime membership normally costs $119/year. However, as this guide will show, there are numerous ways to get Amazon Prime for free or at a discounted rate.

Amazon Prime MembershipAmazon Prime Membership ×1

Howchoo is reader-supported. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you when you buy through our links.

We'll start with the most obvious. Right now Amazon is offering a 30-day free trial for Amazon Prime. You'll have to enter your payment information and cancel Amazon Prime at the end of the trial if you don't wish to continue.

Now, at this point, if you enjoyed your Prime account, I'm going to encourage you to pay for the annual membership. For my family, it's more than worth it. However, some people might notice that every new account gets a 30-day free trial. So I'll let you make the connection there...💡

Start your 30-day free trial

Are you a student? Amazon Prime Student is a fantastic program offered by Amazon that comes with 6 months of Amazon Prime for free. Plus, at the end of the 6-month trial, you are eligible to receive a 50% discount moving forward.

If you're interested, you'll need the following:

  • A valid school email address
  • A copy of your acceptance letter OR transcripts
  • Student ID with expiration date

Start a 6-month free trial

My wife and I each had our own Amazon Prime account before we got married. And sadly, we continued to pay for two accounts even after we tied the knot. That is, until I found out about Amazon Household.

How Amazon Household works

With Amazon Household, a family (term used loosely) only pays for a single Amazon Prime membership and connect up to two adults, four teens, and four children. The important part is that each person still gets their own account. So you can't go snooping on each other's order history.

Now, I believe this program is intentionally vague. There is no requirement that the two adults are married or that the teens/kids are your children. So if you're living with friends or family that you trust, you may be able to create a Household and ditch any extra memberships being paid for.

Learn more about Amazon Household

Right now, if you sign up for Sprint's Unlimited Premium plan, you get Amazon Prime for free. If you're already using Sprint or looking to make a change, you might as well take advantage of the free Prime membership!

Sign up for Sprint Unlimited

Do you have an American Express card? Or do you want one? You get three months of Amazon Prime for free just by entering in your Amex card number. This is effectively a 3-month trial as it only works for new Amazon Prime memberships. Check out the offer details.

Get 3 months free

Amazon is now offering a discounted Prime membership to folks on government assistance. I believe the only requirement is a valid EBT number.

This may seem like a stretch, but hear me out. There's math involved.

If you need a Prime membership and a credit card, consider using the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card. This offers a whopping 5% cash back (which is pretty good) when you shop on Amazon.com or Whole Foods.

If you spend over $2k a year on Amazon, the card will pay for your Amazon Prime Membership.

Here's the math
{cost of membership} / {cash back rate} = {amount you have to spend annually for the cash back to cover the cost}
119 / 0.05 = 2380.0

In other words, if you spend more than $1980 each year on Amazon, you'll get more than $119 cash back, covering the cost of the membership. Plus there's no annual fee for the card! Spread out of 12 months is $165 each month. This seems like a lot, but if you do a majority of your shopping on Amazon and/or Whole Foods, this totally makes sense.

Obviously, you'll have to account for the tradeoffs of using this card verses other credit cards, but this might make sense for a lot of people.

See Amazon Prime Rewards Card details

New Frontier Internet customers get a free year of Amazon Prime.

You'll receive a special code via email within 90 days of activating your Frontier service. Enter the code on this page.

If you're already a paying Amazon Prime customer, the code will add a year to your membership.

Sign up for Frontier Internet

I've said this before and I'll say it again, the Amazon Prime membership is worth it. But if you can get it free or cheap, why not take advantage?

Have I missed any opportunities in this guide? Let me know in the comments below!

When your membership is past its prime.
Ash Ash (362)
3 minutes

Amazon Prime gives you access to free 3-day shipping, video streaming on demand, and more.