The paid Walmart Plus membership program is packed with perks to sway Amazon fanatics away from Prime. When you sign up for Walmart’s subscription plan, you get benefits like free shipping, free grocery delivery, 25% off online Burger King orders (plus four free Whoppers a year!), and even extra savings at the gas pump.
Basically, a Walmart Plus subscription combines Walmart’s everyday low prices with convenient online shopping and delivery benefits. You also get exclusive rewards and special (early) access to the biggest sales, like Walmart Black Friday, Walmart Deals events, and Walmart Plus Week.
As you might expect, all those perks aren’t free — a Walmart Plus membership costs $98 for the yearly option, or $12.95 if you pay month-to-month. But Walmart is still the cheaper option when you compare the total cost of Walmart Plus vs. Amazon Prime. And there are some discounts (like the Walmart Plus student discount) that can save you 50% on the annual cost.
Let’s dive into the numbers so you can decide if Walmart Plus is worth it for your household and budget.
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How much does Walmart Plus cost?
When you sign up for a Walmart Plus membership, you can choose to pay $98 for an annual membership or $12.95 for a monthly membership. When you sign up for the annual Walmart Plus membership instead of the monthly plan, you’ll save 37% right off the bat (it's like paying $8.17 a month instead of $12.95).
For what it’s worth, both prices are lower than what Amazon Prime charges ($139 per year or $14.99 per month). And Walmart Plus membership deals are a little easier to come by compared to Amazon Prime.
KCL TIP: Keep in mind that Walmart Plus membership doesn't give you access to Sam's Club — there's a separate Sam's Club membership cost. But you do get access to member prices at Sam's Club gas pumps if you use Walmart Pay in your Walmart app.
If you sign up during a promotion (like right now!), you can save 50% on your first year.
Walmart runs a promotion for 50% off Walmart Plus memberships every now and then. And one of those times is happening Oct. 27 - Dec. 2, 2024!
During these discount periods, you can sign up for a full year of benefits and pay $49 instead of $98. Your membership auto-renews at the regular rate after your first year.
We usually only see this membership discount pop up a few times a year — including during the biggest Walmart sales like Walmart Black Friday and Walmart Deals in July. Grad students and college students can also claim a 50% off Walmart Plus student discount during the back-to-school season each year.
KCL TIP: One of the biggest Walmart Plus discounts was offered to Disney Plus subscribers in December 2023 and January 2024. During that promotion, Disney+ subscribers got $40 off (60%) an annual Walmart+ membership.
Or join with a free 30-day trial when there's not a promotion.
Without a special offer or membership promo happening, you’ll get a 30-day free trial to Walmart Plus when you join for the first time. That free trial comes with all the regular perks, including free shipping and unlimited grocery delivery.
Note: If you start your free trial during a special promotion, the discount you’re getting usually replaces your free trial, so you’ll jump right into a paid Walmart+ membership from the get-go.
Benefits That Make Walmart Plus Worth It
Once you sign up for a Walmart Plus membership, anyone with access to your Walmart account (and payment method) will be able to use the following benefits.
Get free shipping without the $35 minimum — all the time.
One of the biggest perks of a Walmart Plus membership is free one-day and two-day shipping from Walmart.com, no matter how much is in your cart. Without Plus, you’d need to hit at least $35 total to earn free two-day shipping. And for orders under $35 without Plus, you’d pay a $6.99 shipping fee per order.
But as a Plus member, every order qualifies for free shipping. The only exceptions are for heavy or oversized items that require freight delivery.
So if you place at least 14 shipping orders a year where your order total is less than $35, paying for Plus is worth it.
KCL TIP: Keep in mind that pharmacy orders, photos, wireless devices, and tires won't ship for free — and they won’t count toward the $35 free shipping minimum.
Get unlimited free same-day delivery on grocery orders of $35 or more.
Without Walmart Plus, you’d pay a standard delivery fee of $7.95 - $9.95 per order. But with Walmart Plus membership, you get free delivery with a minimum order of $35.
So if you place at least one Walmart grocery delivery order a month of any size, you'll break even on the cost of a Walmart Plus membership each month. And if you place more than two delivery orders a month, it's definitely worth joining Plus instead of paying the per-order delivery fee.
Just keep in mind that you’re still expected to tip your Walmart delivery driver.
KCL TIP: Express or rush delivery (3 hours or less) will have an extra charge of $5 - $10 per order, regardless of whether you have a Plus membership or not.
Stream Paramount Plus for free (a savings of $5.99 per month).
Likely in a move to compete with Amazon, Walmart offers Paramount+ Essential Plan (regularly $5.99/month) free to all Walmart Plus subscribers.
The Paramount+ Essential Plan includes over 40,000 episodes of shows and movies from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, Paramount, and more, and it automatically comes with your Walmart Plus membership.
Claim exclusive offers and discounts from their partner brands.
At any given time, there are a handful of limited-time offers exclusive to Walmart Plus members. These offers are usually for free trials or discounts on various products and services.
Here are a few of the current offers we’re finding, as of 2024:
Retailer | Walmart Plus Offer | Potential Savings |
|---|---|---|
Apple Arcade | 5 free months of Apple Arcade | $34.95 |
Apple News+ | 3 free months of Apple News+ | $38.97 |
Burger King | Free Whopper every three months w/ purchase; 25% off any order placed in the BK app | $6.09+ |
Busbud | $10 Walmart Cash when you book a bus or train trip | $10 |
Hallmark+ | 25% off 4 months of Hallmark+, and get $5 Walmart Cash | $12.99 |
SiriusXM | 6 free months of SiriusXM | $59.96 |
Tickets For Less | $20 off live events, and get $5 Walmart Cash | $25+ |
Pay an extra $7 a month to have your groceries delivered to your fridge.
If you add the InHome delivery service to your Walmart Plus account, your grocery delivery orders will be handled by full-time Walmart associates (instead of third-party Spark drivers that you get with regular Walmart delivery). The InHome associates will deliver your groceries right into your home, garage, or wherever else you’d like them to be. They’ll also pick up your Walmart.com returns too.
Currently, you’ll find Walmart InHome services available in many big cities including Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Jersey City, Indianapolis, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco, and San Jose.
Book travel through the website and earn up to 5% in Walmart Cash.
If you have a Walmart Plus membership, you can get rewarded in Walmart Cash when you book travel through your Plus account. You can use this Walmart Cash on future purchases from Walmart, or redeem it for cash back.
Hotel stays, rental cars, and activities will earn you 5% in Walmart Cash, while flights will get you 2%. So if you were to book at least $1,960 worth of hotel stays and rental cars through the Walmart Plus Travel site, you’d earn $98 in Walmart Cash — enough to cover the cost of a yearly Plus membership.
The Walmart Plus Travel benefit isn’t a bad deal if you’re planning to book travel anyway. Just make sure you’re logged into your Plus account and book your travel from there.
Save up to $0.10 per gallon at Exxon, Mobil, Walmart, and Murphy gas stations.
A Walmart Plus membership gives you access to gas savings at more than just Walmart gas pumps. You’ll also get $0.10 off per gallon of gas at quite a few stations when you link your purchase with your Walmart app. Those savings sometimes go higher (up to $0.20 off per gallon) during special sales like the Walmart Plus Week in June.
Walmart Plus membership also gets you access to member prices at the Sam's Club gas pumps (but there's no additional discount at Sam's).
Here’s how to claim the savings at each gas station using your Walmart app:
Exxon & Mobil: Wait for a pop-up message in the app, then enter your pump number, select your grade, and begin fueling.
Walmart or Sam's Club: Select the Services tab in the Walmart app then “Member prices for fuel.” Scan the QR code at the pump and pay through Walmart Pay.
Murphy: Select the Services tab in the Walmart app, then “Member prices for fuel.” Look for a six-digit ID number in the app and type that into the fuel pump’s keypad.
KCL TIP: With a 12-gallon gas tank, you could be saving $1.20 on each fill-up with the Walmart Plus discount. If you fill up your tank at least 82 times a year (about once every four or five days), you’d cover the cost of an annual Walmart Plus membership.
Save 50% on a Walmart Plus membership if you're on government assistance.
If you qualify for the Walmart Plus Assist discount (see the list of eligible government programs below), you’ll pay just $6.47 a month, or $49 annually, for a Walmart Plus membership. That’s 50% off the usual monthly price.
Some of the eligible programs include the following:
Medicaid
SNAP
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
WIC
You can get this discount if you’re an existing member of Walmart Plus, as long as you’re verified through the online form. Existing members will get a prorated refund and the new membership price will start immediately.
So … is Walmart Plus worth it?
If you rely on Walmart grocery delivery often enough (more than once a month), the extra cost of a Walmart Plus membership pays for itself — and then some.
And that's in addition to the other perks like free shipping with no minimums (up to $6.99 savings per order), free Paramount Plus ($5.99 savings per month), and access to Walmart Plus member discounts on services like Angi and Noom.
You can also factor in the intangible benefits like early access to Walmart sales and the Scan & Go feature in the Walmart app for a faster checkout experience.
Here are a few examples of what it would take to make a Walmart Plus membership worth it:
Place at least 14 shipping orders a year under $35
Place at least 12 grocery delivery orders a year
Book $1,960 worth of hotel stays or rental cars through the Walmart Travel portal
Fill up your gas tank at least 82 times a year (once every four or five days)
But if you’re just a once-in-a-while Walmart shopper, you probably won’t save enough to cover the cost of a Walmart Plus membership.
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