The regular Amazon Prime free trial
Thirty days, open to anyone who has not had one. This is the page for you if the student rate is not.
The short answer
30 days free, then $14.99 a month or $139 a year. Open to anyone new to Prime. If you are 18–24 or enrolled in higher education, stop — the student trial is six times longer and half the price afterwards.
30 days is the only free trial length Amazon publishes for regular Prime. If you have read about a one-week Prime trial, or your account is being offered no trial at all, both of those have published explanations — what Amazon actually says about trial lengths.
Most of this site is about the discounted membership. This page exists because not everyone qualifies for it, and sending those readers away with nothing would be useless. If you are 25 or older and not enrolled in higher education, this is the version of Prime available to you.
Before you go further, though, one genuine check — because the eligibility rules changed recently and a lot of people who now qualify do not realize it.
First: are you sure you do not qualify for the cheaper one?
Amazon renamed Prime Student to Prime for Young Adults and widened who can join. It is no longer students-only:
“Prime for Young Adults is a membership program created for 18-24-year-olds and higher-education students”
Which means two groups often assume they are excluded when they are not:
- 18–24 and not a student. You qualify on age alone. No enrollment, no
.eduaddress. - A student over 24. The student route has no age cap. Grad students qualify at any age.
If either is you, check the eligibility page before taking the trial below. Taking the wrong trial is not reversible: trials are one per customer, so using the 30-day one may cost you the 6-month one.
Figures on this page checked against Amazon’s own pages on — Amazon's signup page. How we check.
The two trials, side by side
| Regular Prime | Prime for Young Adults | |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | 30-day | 6-month |
| Then, monthly | $14.99 | $7.49 |
| Then, annual | $139 | $69 |
| Who can take it | Anyone new to Prime | 18–24-year-olds, or higher-education students |
| 5% cash back and Grubhub+ | Not part of this membership | Included |
| Can be shared | Amazon's shared membership terms apply | No |
The gap is not marginal. If you qualify for the right-hand column there is no argument for the left-hand one. The full comparison.
What the regular trial gets you
The core Prime membership: fast free delivery on eligible items, Prime Video, Amazon Music Prime, Amazon Photos, Prime Gaming, and grocery delivery from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods in select cities.
What it does not include is the two benefits Amazon attaches specifically to the young-adult membership: the 5% cash back and Grubhub+. Those are listed by Amazon as Prime for Young Adults benefits, and we do not claim they carry across to regular Prime.
What happens after 30 days
You start paying $14.99 a month, or $139 a year on the annual plan. This is not a surprise charge, but it is the default: Amazon takes a payment method at signup precisely because trials convert rather than stop.
The same discipline applies here as on the student trial — set a reminder for day 25, not day 30, so you have a few days to decide rather than a few hours. Over a year, the annual plan at $139 works out cheaper than twelve months at $14.99, so if you are keeping it, choose deliberately.
Cheaper alternatives, if you want one
$14.99 a month is the full rate, and there are two documented ways below it:
- Prime for Young Adults at $7.49 — if you are 18–24 or enrolled. Eligibility in full.
- Prime Access at $6.99 — for qualifying government assistance recipients or income-verified customers. Amazon: “Prime is just $6.99/month for eligible government assistance recipients or income verified customers.” How it compares.
If neither applies, regular Prime is what is left, and the 30-day trial is a reasonable way to find out whether it is worth $14.99 to you before committing.
Amazon Prime
Start the 30-day Prime trial
30 days at no cost, then $14.99 a month. Cancel any time before it renews.
#ad — this is a tagged Amazon link. If you sign up through it we may earn a flat referral fee, at no cost to you. How this site is funded.
Common questions
How long is the regular Amazon Prime free trial?
30 days. After that it costs $14.99 a month or $139 a year.
Does the Prime free trial auto-renew?
Amazon’s trials convert into paid memberships rather than stopping — that is why a payment method is required to start one. Treat $14.99 a month as the default outcome and cancel before day 30 if you do not want it.
Can I get the free trial more than once?
Trials are one per customer. Amazon states this directly for the student membership — canceling and reinstating does not restore trial eligibility — and the same principle applies to Prime trials generally.
Should I take this or the student trial?
The student one, without question, if you qualify: 6-month free instead of 30-day, and $7.49 a month afterwards instead of $14.99. Check whether you qualify first — the rules widened recently.
Is there a cheaper option than $14.99 a month?
Two. The Prime for Young Adults rate at $7.49 if you are 18–24 or enrolled, and Prime Access at $6.99 if you receive qualifying government assistance or can income-verify. All the rates compared.