Amazon Prime is an amazing service that we highly recommend.
But, it’s not free.
It costs $14.99 per month or $139 annually.
While that might not be a huge amount, if you’re really trying to cut back, or you’d like to try the service before you have to part with any of your hard-earned cash, getting Prime for free is even better.
But before we get onto that, let’s find out what benefits a Prime membership offers.
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What are the benefits of Amazon Prime?
Prime is a service from Amazon that gives you access to a huge range of benefits.
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These benefits include:
- Free, fast shipping.
- Access to a library of movies and TV shows that you can stream for free.
- Free music.
- Access to exclusive discounts.
And much, much more!
Now, if you were just going for free shipping, there are ways to get free shipping without Amazon Prime, but as you can see, the subscription plan offers more than just free shipping.
Make sure to check out our Amazon Prime review for a full breakdown of all of the benefits on offer through AP.
Is Prime Even Worth It?
If you’re a frequent shopper of Amazon, yes, Prime will save you way more money than you’d spend on the membership itself.
In our Amazon Prime Review, we stated how Prime can save you $174.96 on shipping fees over a six month period.
Even if you only order three items per month through Amazon, the cost of Prime is still definitely worth it.
With free 2-day shipping, hundreds Amazon freebies like music, movies, and books, as well as exclusive Amazon coupons and discounts, Prime is definitely worth it.
So How Do I Get Prime for Free?
As we mentioned above, being a member of AP nets you tons of benefits, which far outweigh the cost.
But, there are a few things that you can do to get the service for free.
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There are many ways to get AP for free, but the ones we’ve outlined below are pretty much a sure thing.
So if you’re looking to get the service at no cost, then try out one of these methods.
1. Sign up for the free trial
Amazon offers a free trial of Prime, but before you brush it off, thinking that maybe it’s only for a week, like the Netflix or Hulu free trial, give this one a go.
The company’s free trial lasts a super generous 30 days!
You get access to all of the benefits, like free shipping and Prime Video – the company’s streaming service.
You can test out AP for a whole month, without having to pay anything!
But, you do have to enter credit/debit card information to start your free trial.
And, if you don’t cancel it before the trial period ends, then you will be charged.
This means that you need to make sure that you make note of the date the trial started. You can cancel it before the free period is up and avoid getting charged.
2. Get 6 months free with Prime Student
If you have a valid student email address, then you could get Prime for free for a whole six months!
That’s a pretty generous deal.
So if you are a student, then make sure that you sign up for a Prime Student account, rather than a regular one – otherwise, you won’t get the discount.
If you’re a college student, this one is a real no-brainer!
Plus, once the free trial ends, you get a 50% discount on your membership.
What if you’re not a student?
One of the best Amazon hacks a few years back was the one where you could sign up for Amazon Student and enjoy the benefits without even being a student.
Basically, to sign up, all you needed was a university email address, one that ends with .edu. For example, you@exampleuniversity.edu.
So, a lot of people were able to get a .edu email address by asking friends and family to share theirs or by using sites online that made it easy to get a .edu email.
That method no longer works.
Why?
Amazon caught on.
They now require more than an email address to prove you are a student.
Now you need to provide:
- Transcript
- Acceptance letter with matriculation date
- Student ID with expiration date
So, unfortunately, you can’t use that hack anymore.
The good news is that even if you’re not a student, you can still use the other options mentioned in this post to get free Prime.
3. Borrow a family member’s Amazon Prime account
Another way to access Amazon Prime for “free” is by leveraging Amazon Household. Amazon Household allows family members (spouse, siblings, and parents) to share the same Prime membership plan without each person needing to pay for a separate membership.
You could even use a friend’s membership if you want to go a step further.
Technically, you have to be living under one roof, but Amazon isn’t going to send a detective to your house to ensure you are all residing together in the same household.
4. Apply for the Prime Visa Signature Card
Amazon typically offers promotions for the Prime Visa card where the sign-up bonus could actually cover your Prime membership for a whole year.
For example, at the time of this writing, when you apply and get approved for a Prime Visa Signature Card, you receive a $100 Amazon gift card instantly as a sign-up bonus. Considering that Prime membership currently costs $139 per year, that bonus covers most of it.
5. Get free Prime with T-Mobile
If you’re already with Metro by T-Mobile, or you’re considering switching to one of the company’s plans, then you’ll be glad to know that you could get Prime for free.
Metro customers can get free Amazon Prime forever!
You get access to everything Prime membership offers including Amazon Originals, movies and TV shows, and of course free shipping on hundreds of thousands of products.
What’s the catch?
Well, to be eligible you have to subscribe to the new $60 unlimited rate plan with Metro™ by T-Mobile. And as long as you are on that plan, your Prime membership is covered by T-Mobile.
That’s a really great deal.
It’s really easy to sign up for this offer.
You can learn more and sign up for the plan by going to Metrobyt-mobile.com/benefits/amazon-prime.
6. Hope for your package to arrive late!
I’ve been a Prime member for a few years now, mainly because I do a lot of my shopping online and about 90% of it through Amazon. So It’s worth it for me.
Now, one of the perks of AP is that you get free 2-day shipping on millions of times.
Unfortunately, there are times when that doesn’t hold up.
In those cases, you can contact support and ask why the item is late.
In many cases, the representative will give you something to make it up to you.
A few things I have gotten over the years include:
- $25 Amazon gift certificate.
- $150 credited back to my credit card (for a smart TV that never arrived. Yes, they also sent me another one.)
- $10 Amazon gift card.
- One month of free Prime. (3 times over the last year.)
Yes, I did get a free 1-month Prime because my package didn’t arrive in 2 days even though it had the “2-day shipping guarantee.”
Now, this usually works if you are already a Prime member. You just get a free month added to your membership.
And technically you could do this over and over to get free Prime for a long time (although it’s highly unlikely that they roll with it.)
So here’s what you do next time you have a late package:
- Step 1: Contact Amazon support
- Step 2: Explain the problem (maybe even add why it’s a big deal since this was a time-sensitive item.)
- Step 3: Politely ask for a free Prime extension.
- Step 4: Enjoy it!
The best part is that even if you don’t get that, they’ll give you something (usually a free Amazon gift certificate for $5-$10.)
What if you’re not a member already?
No worries!
This also applies to late packages for shoppers who paid for a 1-day delivery shipping upgrade.
So, if you’ve paid for upgraded shipping and your package is late, contact them and ask for a free Prime trial.
Pro tip: I noticed what you get has a lot to do with the particular employee you’re dealing with. If you find them not helpful, simply close the chat box or hang up the phone and contact them later. Hopefully, you’ll get somebody else.
Methods that Sometimes Work!
Above, we mentioned some of the best foolproof ways that you can get AP for free.
But, those aren’t the only ways that you can avoid the cost of membership.
There are a few other methods you can try.
However, these methods aren’t a sure thing, like the ones above.
Sometimes, they work and sometimes they don’t. But they’re definitely worth a try.
7. After your free trial ends see if Amazon offers another
This is something that often works with many other companies too.
For example, I tried this for my SiriusXM radio subscription and while I wasn’t able to get a free trial, I got a 50% discount for the next 6 months.
The idea is simple…
Right before your trial is over, cancel the membership.
In order to keep you around longer, Amazon will often ask you if you want another trial. All you have to do is say “Yes” and you’ve got yourself another free 30 days.
This one requires a bit of patience, and don’t be certain that the company will even send you one.
I have seen a lot of people, especially on Reddit who claim this has worked for them, some even multiple times.
Either way, it’s worth a try.
8. Sign up with a new account each time
According to reports and stories shared on social media, especially Reddit, you can get multiple free trials if you sign up for Prime with a new account each time.
Apparently, Amazon looks at the account – the email address you sign up with and login with – rather than the credit card used.
This means that you can sign up for a free trial with one Amazon account.
Then, when that trial ends, you could sign up for another trial using a different account. You could use your spouse’s account, for example.
Or you could just create multiple accounts yourself.
It’s easy to sign up for a few different email accounts – Microsoft and Gmail offer them for free.
Give this one a try.
The company might catch on, but it’s worth trying.
If it works you could get Amazon Prime for free forever!
How to Get Amazon Prime for Cheaper
As you can see, there are a couple of ways to get Prime for free. But most of these are for a limited time.
There are also ways, however, that you can get AP cheaper.
9. Get $84 credit for Prime Membership
There is a Prime promo from American Express where AMEX cardholders receive Amazon Prime subscription credit.
The only catch is that you have to pay for your Prime membership with the AMEX card. Then the company will credit you up to $84 per year.
It doesn’t cover the whole thing, but it covers more than half of it. And if you already have an AMEX card, you’d be crazy not to use it.
Instead of paying for your Prime membership with another card or bank account, just use your AMEX card so you can get the $84 credit. It’s basically free money at this point.
Keep in mind that this promotional offer ends on 31 December 2025. As is often the case, promotional offers are usually time limited. But they usually are replaced with another promotional offer that is more up-to-date with what the consumers want. If you are reading this after that date, don’t be discouraged. Look on AMEX’s site to find the new promo.
10. Look for offers on coupon websites
Another easy way to get a discount on Prime is to check out coupon websites.
On these platforms, you can find discount codes that can save you money on Prime.
There are codes for free trials and money off of Prime purchases.
A couple of websites that provide Amazon coupons include:
- Coupons.com: https://www.coupons.com/coupon-codes/amazon
- RetailMeNot: https://www.retailmenot.com/view/amazon.com
- DealCatcher: https://www.dealcatcher.com/amazon-coupons
- Groupon: https://www.groupon.com/coupons/stores/amazon.com
- Slickdeals: https://slickdeals.net/coupons/amazon
How to Get Amazon Prime Free for Life?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get free Prime forever?
It would be!
Unfortunately, there is no way to do that.
Sure, there are tons of blog posts and clickbait YouTube videos claiming they know how to get Prime for free forever, but none of them actually work.
So, don’t waste your time on that. Instead, use the options we outlined above. Even though they give you free membership for a limited time, you still get it for free!
The closest thing to getting free Prime for life is through other subscription programs that cover the cost of it, like the T-Mobile one we mentioned earlier. As long as you are on that plan, T-Mobile will cover the cost of your Prime membership even if it is for the rest of your life!
How Do I Get 50% off My Prime Membership?
Recently, Amazon gave people who are part of government assistance programs the chance to get a Prime membership for just $6.99 per month, rather than $14.99 per month. That’s over 50% off!
You will need an EBT card of course.
You can sign up for this discount membership on this page.
Avoid Paying $139 for Amazon Prime!
As you can see, there are plenty of ways that you can get access to all of the benefits of AP, without having to pay a penny for the service!
We do recommend that if you shop on Amazon – even if you just order a few items per month, that you join Prime.
Even after the free trial ends, it’s still worth being a member – you can save yourself so much cash on shipping.
And the amount of movies and TV shows that you get access to more than pays for the membership.
So if you’ve been wondering how to get Amazon Prime for free, give one of the above methods a try.
Pamela Brown
Wanting you to pay $2.99 a month so you don’t have to watch commercials is ridiculous. It’s bad enough they don’t have a senior discount..
Saeed
Tell me about it, Pamela.
Remember the whole ‘cut the cord’ thing, where everybody started moving over to streaming platforms because you would pay a monthly fee but didn’t have to watch ads? That was the whole reason people started ditching cable. Now, you pay a monthly fee and you still have to watch tons of ads.
I watch sports PPV events and even on PPVs (you are literally paying for that viewing), they shove ads down your throat every few minutes, lol. It’s crazy!