Walmart+ is Walmart’s paid membership program, built around a simple idea: make the retailer more convenient to use every week, whether you are ordering groceries from the couch, filling up the car, or trying to get through a store checkout faster. It is Walmart’s answer to the broader subscription-shopping model popularized by Amazon Prime, but its strongest pitch is rooted in Walmart’s enormous physical store network and everyday essentials business.

The membership currently costs $98 per year or $12.95 per month, before applicable taxes. Walmart also offers discounted pricing for eligible government-assistance recipients and college students, at $49 per year or $6.47 per month.

At its core, Walmart+ is not a discount club in the Costco sense, where access to warehouse prices is the main reason to pay. It is more of a convenience bundle: members pay a recurring fee to avoid delivery and shipping charges, receive fuel savings, and get a collection of digital and in-store extras that can add up for frequent Walmart shoppers.

The benefits that matter

For many households, the centerpiece is free delivery on qualifying orders of $35 or more. That includes groceries and a broad range of household goods, with same-day availability in eligible areas. Walmart says members can also save on Express Delivery fees, although availability, delivery windows, product selection, and local restrictions still apply.

The other major practical perk is free next-day and two-day shipping from Walmart.com, with no minimum order size. That can be useful for the less dramatic purchases that pile up over a month: a phone charger, pet supplies, a replacement kitchen item, school essentials, or a last-minute gift. There are caveats, particularly around many Marketplace items, freight charges, and location surcharges, but it is a meaningful benefit for people who already treat Walmart.com as a regular online store.

Fuel savings make the package more distinctive. Walmart+ currently advertises 10 cents off per gallon at participating Walmart, Exxon, Mobil, and Murphy stations, plus member fuel pricing at Sam’s Club stations. For drivers who fill up regularly at participating locations, that benefit can be more tangible than it sounds, especially when combined with delivery savings.

Then there is the entertainment hook. Members choose one ad-supported streaming service at a time: Paramount+ Essential or Peacock Premium. The selection can be changed every 90 days, which makes it less like receiving two permanent subscriptions and more like a rotating entertainment benefit. Still, it helps Walmart+ feel less narrowly tied to shopping – and it gives members something they can use even in months when they place few orders.

More than delivery

Walmart has steadily added smaller perks to make Walmart+ feel like a broader lifestyle subscription rather than a delivery plan with a new name. These include Scan & Go checkout through the Walmart app, early access to select major online deals, prescription delivery where eligible, and home pickup for eligible returns.

Some benefits are highly situational but potentially valuable for the right customer. The membership page also lists 25 free photo prints per month, select savings on money services, free flat-tire repair and road-hazard warranty benefits, online pet-care access through Pawp, Burger King discounts, and Walmart Cash offers for travel bookings. Each comes with eligibility, location, or program terms, so they should be considered bonuses rather than the primary reason to subscribe.

That mix is intentional. Walmart+ is designed around the idea that savings do not have to come from one large discount. Instead, the value is spread across grocery delivery, shipping, gas, entertainment, and occasional in-store conveniences. A shopper might save on a rush grocery order one week, a shipping fee the next, and a tank of gas later in the month.

Who gets the most value?

Walmart+ makes the most sense for people who already use Walmart repeatedly and live in an area where its delivery and fuel benefits are available. Families buying groceries, household staples, baby products, pet food, and pharmacy items can reach the $35 delivery minimum without much effort, which makes the membership easier to justify.

It is also compelling for people who dislike the friction of small online orders. Free shipping without a minimum can remove the familiar mental calculation of whether a $12 item is worth buying once delivery fees are added. For busy households, that convenience can matter as much as the dollar savings.

On the other hand, a person who shops at Walmart only occasionally, prefers to choose groceries in person, or lacks convenient participating fuel stations may not recover the fee. The same is true for people who already pay for a streaming service they are satisfied with, since the included Peacock or Paramount+ option is ad-supported and only one service can be active at a time.

How it compares with Prime

Walmart+ is often described as Walmart’s Amazon Prime competitor, and that is broadly fair. Walmart launched the service nationwide in September 2020 at $98 annually, positioning it around delivery, fuel discounts, and faster in-store shopping.

But the services have different centers of gravity. Prime is deeply tied to Amazon’s online marketplace, its video catalog, and its wider digital ecosystem. Walmart+ is most persuasive when it makes recurring necessities easier to buy locally and quickly – especially groceries – while adding shipping, gas, and streaming benefits around that core.

The practical calculation

The annual plan works out to about $8.17 per month, compared with $12.95 per month for the monthly option; paying annually saves $57.40 over 12 months. Walmart says its annual members who have belonged for at least a year save an average of $382 annually through benefits, though that is the company’s estimate and will vary considerably by location and shopping habits.

The clearest way to assess it is not to count every advertised perk. Start with the two or three benefits you would genuinely use: perhaps four grocery deliveries that would otherwise carry fees, regular shipping on small purchases, and fuel savings near home. If those expected savings exceed $98 over a year, the membership is doing its job. If not, the trial period is the sensible way to test whether Walmart becomes part of your actual routine rather than just another subscription sitting quietly on a credit-card statement.

Disclaimer: Prices and promotions mentioned in this article are accurate at the time of writing and are subject to change based on the retailers’ discretion. Please verify the current offer before making a purchase.