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Walmart+ costs $98 a year. Amazon Prime costs $139. That $41 gap is the entire pitch, and it’s a decent one — but the cheaper membership is only a better deal if it does the things you actually need. For a lot of people it doesn’t, and for a specific kind of household, it comprehensively does.
Here’s the honest accounting.
What Walmart+ Costs and Includes
$98/year, or $12.95/month. Paying monthly works out to $155.40 annually, so the yearly plan saves you about $57 — take the annual plan if you’re keeping it.
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What you get:
- Free delivery from Walmart stores, typically same-day, on qualifying orders
- Free shipping from Walmart with no order minimum
- A Paramount+ subscription (with ads) — genuinely worth something if you want CBS shows, Yellowstone, or Star Trek
- Fuel discounts at Walmart, Murphy USA, and participating stations
- Mobile scan & go in stores
The Head-to-Head with Amazon Prime
| Walmart+ | Amazon Prime | |
| Annual cost | $98 | $139 |
| Product selection | Limited to Walmart’s catalog | Vast marketplace |
| Grocery delivery | Core strength, same-day | Amazon Fresh, minimum order |
| Streaming included | Paramount+ (with ads) | Prime Video (with ads unless +$2.99/mo) |
| Fuel discounts | Yes | No |
| Free shipping minimum | None | None (Prime items) |
Amazon wins on breadth, decisively. Prime covers a marketplace with tens of millions of products from countless sellers. If you buy a wide variety of things online — electronics, books, obscure parts, niche brands — Walmart’s catalog will frustrate you, and no amount of savings fixes that.
Walmart wins on groceries and fuel. Same-day grocery delivery from a physical store you already shop at is a different product from Amazon Fresh, and for households doing a weekly grocery run it’s the stronger offering. Add fuel discounts if you drive, and the value stacks up fast.
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The Break-even Math
At $98, Walmart+ needs to save you $98 a year to justify itself.
Grocery delivery alone can do it. Grocery delivery services typically charge $7–10 per order. If you use Walmart+ delivery just once a month, that’s roughly $84–120 in avoided fees—the membership pays for itself on that line item alone.
Fuel discounts help if you drive. The savings are modest per fill-up but compound across a year of commuting.
Paramount+ has real value if you’d otherwise pay for it—that’s roughly $60–80/year of streaming bundled in.
Stack grocery delivery and Paramount+, and the membership clears its own cost without you buying a single other thing.
Who should get Walmart+?
- Households that already shop at Walmart for groceries and household goods. This is the whole ballgame.
- Anyone who wants grocery delivery and lives near a Walmart store.
- Drivers who can use the fuel discount regularly.
- People who want Paramount+ anyway — the bundle makes the membership close to free.
- Anyone trying to cut costs who doesn’t need Amazon’s catalog breadth.
Who should skip it
- People who buy a wide range of products online. Walmart’s selection is the hard ceiling here, and it’s a real one.
- Anyone who doesn’t live near a Walmart. The store-delivery benefit—the best part—evaporates.
- Light shoppers. If you’re not placing regular orders, you won’t reach break-even on either membership.
- People who already have and use Prime heavily. Running both is rarely justified.
Should You Have Both?
Usually not, and the honest test is simple: what do you actually buy?
If your online spending is mostly groceries and household staples, Walmart+ covers it for $41 less. If it’s varied—gadgets, gifts, books, niche products—Prime’s marketplace is worth the premium, and Walmart+ adds little.
The one case for both: a large household that does heavy grocery delivery and buys widely online. That’s $237/year in memberships, so run the numbers on your actual order history before committing.
The Bottom line
Walmart+ is the better deal for a specific, common household: one that shops at Walmart, wants groceries delivered, drives a car, and doesn’t need a limitless online catalog. For that person, it’s cheaper than Prime and arguably more useful.
For everyone whose online life runs through Amazon’s marketplace, the $41 saving doesn’t survive contact with the selection gap. Cheaper isn’t better if it doesn’t stock what you buy.
Sources and References
Note: Prices and benefits change; confirm current terms directly with each service before subscribing. This is consumer analysis, not financial advice.
- Reviewed by editorial staff before publication.
- Fact-checking and source verification applied.
- Updated regularly for accuracy and clarity.
- Aligned with newsroom ethics and publishing standards.