Prime Student is the best deal Amazon offers (and it's not close)
Regular Prime costs $14.99/month or $139/year. Prime Student gives you a 6-month free trial and then charges half price ($7.49/month or $69/year) for up to four years. That's the same Prime benefits, half the cost, and a free half-year to start. If you're a student and you're not on this, you're overpaying.
The 6-month free trial
Sign up at Amazon Prime Student with a valid .edu email address. That's pretty much it. You get six months of full Prime access: free two-day shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and everything else.
After six months, it converts to the paid plan at $7.49/month. You can cancel anytime during the trial if you don't want to continue. No tricks here, just set a reminder if you're unsure.
Who qualifies
You need to be enrolled at a Title IV eligible college or university in the US. Amazon verifies through one of these methods:
- A valid .edu email address (most common and fastest)
- Proof of enrollment documentation if you don't have a .edu email
Graduate students, community college students, and part-time students all qualify. You don't need to be full-time or pursuing a specific degree. The benefit lasts up to four years, and Amazon may ask you to re-verify annually.
One thing to know: if you already have a regular Prime membership, you can switch to Prime Student and get the discounted rate going forward. You won't get the 6-month free trial (that's for new members), but the 50% discount applies immediately.
Every perk worth knowing about
Beyond the obvious shipping and video benefits, Prime Student includes some extras that regular Prime doesn't:
- Grubhub+ Student: Free Grubhub+ membership ($0 delivery fees on eligible orders). This alone is worth $9.99/month if you order delivery regularly. Honestly this might be the single most valuable student perk depending on your eating habits
- LinkedIn Premium (limited): Complimentary access to LinkedIn Premium Career features, including InMail credits and seeing who viewed your profile. Useful if you're job hunting
- Course Hero: Free monthly unlock credits. Helpful for study guides and course materials
- CALM app: Discounted or promotional access to the meditation app
- Prime Video: Full access including Amazon originals and sports. Same as regular Prime
- Amazon Music Prime: Ad-free shuffle play and curated playlists. Not the same as Music Unlimited, but decent for casual listening
- Prime Reading: Free access to a rotating selection of ebooks, magazines, and comics on Kindle or the Kindle app
- Amazon Photos: Unlimited full-resolution photo storage. Actually really good as a backup solution
The math on whether it's worth it
Let's break it down. After the free trial, you're paying $7.49/month. What you get:
- Free shipping that'd otherwise cost you $5-8 per order (2-3 orders per month and it pays for itself)
- Grubhub+ worth $9.99/month
- Prime Video worth $8.99/month as a standalone service
- LinkedIn Premium worth $29.99/month
Even if you only use two of these benefits, you're getting more value than the $7.49 you're paying. The Grubhub+ perk alone covers the cost if you order delivery even once a month.
Prime Day and student-exclusive deals
Prime Student members get full access to Prime Day deals. Amazon also occasionally runs student-exclusive promotions, like extra discounts on laptops and school supplies during back-to-school season (July through September). These pop up on the Prime Student dashboard and in email notifications.
During Prime Day 2025, there were student-specific Lightning Deals on textbooks, study gear, and dorm essentials. Not massive savings individually, but combined with the already-discounted Prime membership, the total package is hard to beat.
What happens after graduation
After your four-year student window expires (or when you graduate, whichever comes first), your membership converts to a regular Prime membership at $14.99/month or $139/year. Amazon sends you a heads-up before the switch happens.
If you're approaching the end of your student eligibility, stock up on any big purchases you've been planning while you still have the half-price membership. And take full advantage of the Grubhub+ and LinkedIn Premium perks before they switch to their regular pricing too.
One more thing: if you have a partner or roommate who's also a student, you can share some Prime benefits through Amazon Household. Worth setting up if you want to split the value even further.