What Prime costs in the US (and which Prime are you cancelling?)
Amazon US runs several Prime-branded subscriptions and they cancel separately:
| Plan | 2026 price | What it includes | |---|---|---| | Amazon Prime (full) | $139/year or $14.99/month | Shipping, Prime Video, Music, Reading, Whole Foods discount, Try Before You Buy | | Prime Video (standalone) | $8.99/month | Streaming only | | Prime Student | $69/year | Discounted full Prime for verified students | | Prime Video Channels | Variable per channel | Paramount+, Max, MGM+, Discovery+ — each billed separately | | Amazon Music Unlimited | $10.99/month (Prime members) | Music streaming — separate from Prime Music |
Before you cancel, open Account & Lists → Memberships & Subscriptions to see every active Amazon subscription. The number-one cancellation failure mode in the US is cancelling full Prime while a Prime Video Channel keeps billing — they live in different places.
Step-by-step on amazon.com
The desktop flow:
- Sign in at amazon.com.
- Hover over Account & Lists in the top-right corner.
- Click Prime Membership (or go straight to amazon.com/mc).
- Click the Manage Membership drop-down on the right.
- Select Update, Cancel and More.
- Click End Membership (sometimes labelled Continue to Cancel).
- Walk through Amazon's retention screens. Each one pitches what you'll lose, offers to switch you to monthly billing, and suggests pausing instead. Keep clicking the cancel option — it's the small text link or button at the bottom-left, never the big centred "Keep my membership" CTA.
- On the final screen pick End Now (immediate end, triggers any eligible refund) or End on [renewal date] (keep benefits to the period end, no refund).
- Confirm. Amazon shows a confirmation screen and emails you within minutes with the exact end date.
The Amazon Shopping app path: Profile icon → Your Account → Manage Prime Membership → End Membership — same flow, fewer screens.
The refund matrix — when Amazon US actually gives money back
| Scenario | Refund | |---|---| | Renewed today, used no Prime benefits yet | Full refund | | Paid annually, only used Prime for a few months | Pro-rated refund for the unused months | | Monthly plan, current month's benefits used | No refund — you keep access to month end | | Annual plan, used Prime in the current annual period | Often no refund, but pro-rata possible on chat support |
Refunds arrive on the original payment method within 3 to 5 business days. Pro-rated refunds — for annual subscribers — are not always offered in the on-screen End Now flow; if you think you're owed one and it doesn't appear, contact support via Help → Contact Us and ask for a pro-rata refund, citing the months you used vs. didn't.
Why people get charged anyway
Three common failure modes:
- Stopped one screen short. Amazon's retention flow has 3–5 screens. The cancellation only processes after the final confirmation. If you close the tab on the "are you sure?" screen, nothing happens.
- Cancelled the wrong subscription. Cancelling Prime Video standalone does not cancel full Prime, and vice versa. Cancelling full Prime does not cancel Prime Video Channels (Paramount+, Max, etc.) — they're billed independently.
- Trial converted while signed out. Free trials convert automatically on the renewal day. The fastest way to avoid this is the 24-hour rule — cancel at least a day before the trial end. See how to cancel a free trial.
Cancelling Prime Video Channels (Paramount+, Max, MGM+)
Each Prime Video Channel is its own subscription:
- Account & Lists → Memberships & Subscriptions.
- Scroll to Prime Video Channels.
- Click Cancel Channel next to the one you want to end.
- Confirm.
The channel's access continues to the end of the period you've already paid for. Cancelling full Prime does not stop these channels — Amazon will keep billing for them from your saved payment method even after Prime itself ends.
After cancelling
A successful US Prime cancellation gives you:
- A confirmation screen with the membership end date (or "ending now").
- A confirmation email within a few minutes.
- A status on the Prime page that reads "Your membership ends on…" instead of "Your membership renews on…".
- A refund, if eligible, on the original payment method in 3 to 5 business days.
If Amazon charges you Prime again after a confirmed cancellation, dispute it as an unauthorised recurring charge under your card issuer's dispute process — see how to dispute a charge in the US.
Related US cancellation guides
If you're tidying up multiple recurring charges, see the main Amazon Prime cancellation guide, Amazon Prime UK, the broad US subscription cancellation guide, how to dispute a charge (US), and how to get a refund from Amazon for order-level (not membership) refunds.