Walmart on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, began selling Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus together as a single annual membership for $120, a price the company says is nearly $100 less than buying the two programs separately. The launch, announced from Bentonville, Arkansas, puts the combined offer $19 below the $139 annual price of Amazon Prime and folds warehouse club access, free delivery from both retailers, a streaming subscription and fuel discounts into one fee.
The move arrives as US shoppers face a fresh bout of price pressure. Consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by Fox Business and CBS News, with gasoline up more than 34% over the same period. Walmart chief executive John Furner, in what ABC News described as his first broadcast interview since taking the top job, framed the bundle as a way to put “more money in their pockets.”
In short
- $120 a year now buys both Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus; separately the two cost $98 and $120, or $218 combined.
- Upgrade paths are tiered: annual Walmart+ members pay $22 more, Sam’s Club Club members pay $60 more, and Sam’s Club Plus members get Walmart+ at no extra cost.
- Benefits include Sam’s Club member pricing, free delivery from both chains (with $35 and $50 order minimums), Peacock or Paramount+, 10 cents off per gallon of fuel and 2% Sam’s Cash capped at $750 a year.
- Annual billing only: there is no monthly option and no free trial, per Walmart and multiple reports.
- Financial impact: Walmart says the change is not expected to materially affect its fiscal third quarter or full-year guidance issued on August 20, 2026.
What did Walmart announce on October 20?
Walmart said it is combining its two paid membership programs, Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, into a single annual membership priced at $120 plus applicable taxes. The company describes the price as the equivalent of $10 a month. Coverage from CBS News, Fox Business, ABC News and Retail Dive all date availability to Tuesday, October 20.
Shoppers can join, upgrade or link existing accounts through the Walmart app, the Sam’s Club app or a dedicated page on Walmart’s website, according to the company’s announcement. Fox Business and ABC News both report that the bundle is sold on an annual basis only, with no monthly installment and no free trial period.
Walmart’s own announcement, published on its corporate newsroom under the headline “Meet Your $120 Life Hack,” frames the offer against three reference prices: $139 for a retail membership with delivery, $130 for a warehouse club membership and $129.99 for a single streaming service. The company does not name the competitors behind those numbers, but $139 matches the current annual price of Amazon Prime, which Retail Dive and Fox Business both cite as the comparison point.
Who said what
Furner used several outlets to make the case for the bundle. In a statement quoted by CBS News, he said: “For $120 a year, we’re raising expectations for what a membership can deliver.” In the company release, he said the bundle means “more money in their pockets and more time to call their own.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Furner positioned the launch as an offensive move rather than a defensive one. “We’re deciding to do this from a position of strength and momentum,” he said, adding that “it does help at a time when we do see some customers showing some signs of pressure,” a reference to higher energy costs. Fox Business reports he said the bundle is designed to appeal across income levels and to encourage existing Walmart+ members to start shopping at Sam’s Club.
How much does the bundle cost, and who pays what?
The headline price is $120 a year for new members. Existing members pay different amounts depending on which program they already hold, according to Walmart’s release and reporting from CBS News, Fox Business and ABC News. The structure is designed so that nobody pays more than the bundle price for both programs, and some members pay nothing extra at all.
Walmart+ annual members can switch to the bundle by paying $22 more a year, taking them from $98 to $120. Sam’s Club members on the base Club tier can upgrade to Sam’s Club Plus for $60 more a year and receive Walmart+ as part of that upgrade. Members who already pay for Sam’s Club Plus can activate Walmart+ at no additional cost.
| Current status | What changes | Extra cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| New to both programs | Join the combined Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus bundle | $120 total |
| Walmart+ annual member | Switch to the bundle, adding Sam’s Club Plus | $22 more |
| Sam’s Club (Club tier) member | Upgrade to Sam’s Club Plus, Walmart+ included | $60 more |
| Sam’s Club Plus member | Activate Walmart+ | $0 |
| Paying for both separately | Link accounts; most eligible for a prorated Walmart+ refund | Refund, per Walmart |
| US field associates (Walmart and Sam’s Club) | Both memberships included as an employee benefit | $0 |
The table above reflects the upgrade paths published by Walmart on October 20. Shoppers who currently pay monthly for Walmart+ should note that the reported switch price applies to annual members; the bundle itself has no monthly billing option.
Walmart says customers who currently pay for both Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus can link their accounts, and that most will be eligible for a prorated refund of their Walmart+ fee. In practice, that converts a $218 annual outlay into the $120 bundle price for those households, though the exact refund depends on where each member sits in their billing cycle.
The company also says US field associates at Walmart and Sam’s Club will receive both memberships as an employee benefit. Walmart operates 4,615 stores and more than 600 Sam’s Clubs in the United States, according to Retail Dive, so the associate benefit alone places both memberships in front of a large workforce before the holiday peak.
What exactly is included in the $120 membership?
The bundle stacks benefits that previously sat in two separate programs. According to Walmart’s release, members get Sam’s Club access and member pricing, free delivery from both retailers, a choice of streaming service, fuel savings and Sam’s Cash rewards. Each benefit carries its own conditions, and several of them are worth reading closely before signing up.
Bundle members get warehouse access to Sam’s Club and its member-only prices on brand-name products and the Member’s Mark private label. Walmart’s fine print notes that member-only club pricing applies except where required by law, and that non-members pay more online. For households that have never held a Sam’s Club card, this is the most significant new benefit in the package.
Free delivery applies to orders from both Walmart and Sam’s Club, but minimums apply. Walmart says scheduled Walmart deliveries require a $35 order minimum and Sam’s Club deliveries require $50. The company also notes that availability and other restrictions apply, which typically means delivery coverage varies by address and store.
Members can choose either Peacock or Paramount+, and can switch between the two once every 90 days, according to Walmart’s release. The streaming benefit uses ad-supported tiers and requires separate registration with the streaming service. CBS News, which is owned by Skydance, the parent of Paramount+, disclosed that relationship in its coverage.
The bundle includes 10 cents off per gallon at more than 17,000 participating fuel stations, or 5 to 10 cents in Alabama, per the company. Walmart says the fuel savings are subject to change and carry provider, transaction and program restrictions. Members also earn 2% back in Sam’s Cash on eligible purchases, capped at $750 a year.
| Benefit | What Walmart says you get | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| Sam’s Club access | Member-only prices on brand names and Member’s Mark | Non-members pay more online |
| Walmart delivery | Free delivery on scheduled orders | $35 order minimum |
| Sam’s Club delivery | Free delivery | $50 order minimum |
| Streaming | Peacock or Paramount+ | Ad-supported tier; switch once every 90 days |
| Fuel | 10 cents off per gallon at 17,000+ stations | 5 to 10 cents in Alabama; program restrictions |
| Sam’s Cash | 2% back on eligible purchases | Capped at $750 a year |
How does the bundle compare with Amazon Prime and Costco?
On sticker price alone, the bundle undercuts both of the obvious rivals. Amazon Prime costs $139 a year, a figure cited by Retail Dive and Fox Business. Walmart’s own release uses $130 as the reference price for a warehouse club, which matches the top tier of Costco’s membership schedule since its September 2024 fee increase; Costco’s basic Gold Star membership costs $65.
The comparison is not like for like, because each program bundles different things. Prime is built around fast shipping and Amazon’s own video service. Costco’s top tier is built around warehouse access and a cash reward. Walmart’s bundle tries to cover both lanes at once: warehouse club access plus everyday delivery plus streaming plus fuel.
| Program | Annual fee | Warehouse club access | Free delivery | Streaming | Fuel discount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus bundle | $120 | Yes (Sam’s Club) | Yes, Walmart ($35 min.) and Sam’s Club ($50 min.) | Peacock or Paramount+ | 10 cents per gallon |
| Walmart+ alone | $98 | No | Yes, Walmart | Peacock or Paramount+ | Yes |
| Sam’s Club Plus alone | $120 | Yes | Sam’s Club | No Walmart+ streaming | Club fuel pricing |
| Amazon Prime | $139 | No | Yes, Amazon | Prime Video | Promotional only, per Retail Dive |
| Costco Executive | $130 | Yes (Costco) | Not included as standard | No | Member gas pricing |
Fee figures for the Walmart programs and Prime come from Walmart, Fox Business and Retail Dive. Costco fees reflect its published schedule. Delivery and fuel details for rival programs are simplified, and terms vary by market and over time.
Value math versus shopping habits
Brett Rose, founder and chief executive of wholesale distributor United National Consumer Suppliers, told Retail Dive by email that the bundle is “a direct shot at Prime” and that Walmart “wins the value math easily” on paper. He added, however, that a cheaper bundle “doesn’t create an imminent threat for Q4 holiday shopping,” arguing that Walmart and Amazon serve different needs: Walmart for low prices and immediate goods, Amazon for convenience and habit.
That distinction matters. A membership fee is only one input into where a household shops. Delivery speed, assortment depth, return policies and simple routine all shape the choice, and many households already pay for more than one program.
Why is Walmart launching the bundle now?
The timing reflects three pressures converging at once: inflation that has turned higher again, fuel prices well above $4 a gallon in most of the country according to Retail Dive, and a holiday season in which retailers expect shoppers to be cautious. Fox Business reports that grocery prices rose 1.8% in the year to September, while energy costs drove most of the headline increase.
Furner acknowledged that strain directly. In his ABC News interview, he said Walmart had seen “a pretty resilient customer environment” before its first quarter, but that “we saw some stress on some customers and we definitely saw some of their spending change.” He also said the company aims to “keep prices as low as we can in any environment as long as we can.”
A price strategy, not a one-off promotion
The bundle sits on top of a broader price investment. ABC News reports that Walmart had more than 7,000 price rollbacks at the end of its first quarter, rising to about 11,000 by the end of the second quarter. That expansion was partly funded by the company’s IEEPA tariff refund, as we covered when Walmart’s $2.9 billion tariff refund funded 11,000 price rollbacks.
Chief financial officer John Rainey made the logic explicit in August. “We’re investing heavily in price because customers need us to,” he said, according to CBS News, adding that Walmart believes price investment drives market share gains over time. A cheaper membership is a natural extension of that strategy: it lowers the entry cost to Walmart’s most valuable customer relationship.
Membership as a profit engine
Membership income has become one of Walmart’s fastest-growing lines. On its fiscal 2027 second-quarter earnings call on August 20, Walmart reported that membership fee revenue rose 17% to an all-time high, that Walmart+ membership grew by double digits, and that Sam’s Club membership grew in the US, China and Mexico, according to Fox Business. Furner told analysts on that call that “marketplace, fulfillment services, membership, advertising and other commerce solutions are strengthening our business.”
That mix shift is the context for the bundle. Higher-margin income streams such as advertising and membership are now central to Walmart’s earnings story, a dynamic we examined in why ads and membership lead Walmart’s profit growth in fiscal 2027. A bundle that converts more shoppers into paying members, even at a lower fee per head, can still grow the pool of recurring revenue and the audience that Walmart Connect, the company’s retail media business, sells to advertisers.
What does the bundle mean for Amazon Prime?
Walmart has spent years positioning Walmart+ as a lower-cost alternative to Prime, and the bundle widens the gap. At $120, the combined membership costs $19 less than Prime’s $139 annual fee, while adding warehouse club access that Prime does not offer. Retail Dive characterized the launch as Walmart’s latest challenge to Amazon Prime.
Amazon is navigating its own membership questions this autumn. The company is paying out refunds to eligible Prime customers under its $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over Prime enrollment and cancellation practices, details of which we set out in our explainer on who qualifies for the Amazon Prime refund of up to $200. That settlement has put the design of subscription sign-up flows under scrutiny across the industry.
Fuel is the new battleground
Fuel discounts have long been a point of differentiation for Walmart+, and Retail Dive notes that the benefit has long been seen as a challenge to Costco, whose warehouse gas stations are a major traffic driver. Amazon has tested the same lever: Retail Dive reports that Amazon offered a fuel discount program to Prime members around the Fourth of July this year.
With gasoline prices up more than a third year on year, a recurring 10 cents a gallon is a more tangible benefit than it was when fuel was cheaper. For a household buying 15 gallons a week, that discount works out to roughly $78 a year before program restrictions, an illustrative calculation that assumes full use at participating stations.
Analysts quoted so far are cautious about near-term defections. Rose’s view that the bundle is not an “imminent threat” for the fourth quarter reflects a widely held assumption that Prime’s value lies in habit and delivery speed rather than price alone. Many households are also likely to keep both programs, treating Walmart’s bundle as a grocery and bulk-buy membership and Prime as a general merchandise one.
The more plausible near-term effect is on the margin: households that were weighing whether to renew Prime, or that had let a Walmart+ or Sam’s Club membership lapse, now have a cheaper combined option. Amazon has not publicly responded to the bundle in the coverage reviewed for this article.
What does it mean for Costco and other warehouse clubs?
For Costco, the bundle is arguably a more direct challenge than it is for Amazon. Walmart’s release benchmarks the bundle against a $130 warehouse club membership, and the core of the new offer is Sam’s Club access. A household weighing Costco’s top tier against Walmart’s bundle now compares $130 for one warehouse club with $120 for a warehouse club plus Walmart delivery, streaming and fuel savings.
Costco has its own growth constraints. Its warehouse expansion pace matters because membership value depends on proximity, and we have tracked how Costco’s fiscal 2027 warehouse openings are likely to fall short of plan. Sam’s Club, with more than 600 US locations according to Retail Dive, has a smaller footprint than Walmart’s 4,615 stores, which is part of why tying it to Walmart+ extends its reach.
Rewards are where the warehouse club comparison gets more detailed. The bundle pays 2% Sam’s Cash on eligible purchases, capped at $750 a year. Reaching that cap would require $37,500 of eligible annual spending, a level few households hit, so for most members the cap is unlikely to bind. Costco’s Executive tier also pays a 2% reward under its own cap and terms.
For mid-sized regional clubs such as BJ’s Wholesale Club, the bundle raises the bar on what a membership fee is expected to include. Whether rivals respond with their own bundles or with targeted fee promotions is one of the clearer things to watch over the holiday quarter.
Is the $120 bundle a good deal for shoppers?
The answer depends on what a household already pays for and how it actually shops. For someone who already holds both Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus, the bundle is a straightforward saving of about $98 a year, plus a prorated refund in most cases, according to Walmart. For an existing Sam’s Club Plus member, Walmart+ effectively becomes free.
For a household that only uses Walmart+, the $22 upgrade adds Sam’s Club access and Sam’s Cash. That pays for itself quickly if the household makes even occasional bulk purchases, though it adds little for shoppers who never visit a club. For a Prime-only household, the calculation is more about whether Walmart and Sam’s Club can replace enough of their Amazon spending to justify a second membership or a switch.
Questions to ask before signing up
- Is there a Sam’s Club within a practical driving distance? Warehouse access is the core of the bundle’s added value.
- Do your typical orders clear the $35 Walmart and $50 Sam’s Club delivery minimums?
- Do you already pay for Peacock or Paramount+, and are you comfortable with the ad-supported tier?
- Are participating fuel stations on your regular routes?
- Can you pay $120 up front? There is no monthly option and no free trial, per Walmart and multiple reports.
The absence of monthly billing is the main friction. It means the bundle is aimed at households that can commit a lump sum, and it removes the option to test the program for a month before deciding. For budget-constrained shoppers, which are the very customers Furner described as showing signs of pressure, that up-front payment may be a barrier.
What should retailers and investors watch next?
Walmart says the bundle is not expected to have a material impact on its fiscal third-quarter or full-year guidance, which it issued on August 20, 2026. That suggests the company views any near-term revenue dilution from lower fees per member as small relative to its overall membership income. The next checkpoint is Walmart’s third-quarter report, which the company typically releases in mid-November.
Investors will look for three signals in that report: whether membership fee income keeps growing at a double-digit pace, whether Walmart+ member growth accelerates after the bundle launch, and whether Sam’s Club reports a lift in new member sign-ups. We previewed the metrics that mattered last quarter in our Walmart second-quarter earnings preview, and membership has only grown in importance since.
Beyond Walmart’s own numbers, the competitive response will be telling. Any change to Prime’s pricing, benefits or promotional fuel offers would indicate Amazon sees a threat. Similarly, any new Costco or BJ’s member promotion during the holiday quarter would suggest the warehouse clubs are responding to the Sam’s Club angle.
For brands and sellers, the bundle could also change where demand concentrates. A larger base of paying Walmart and Sam’s Club members means more shoppers inside Walmart’s ecosystem, which strengthens its pitch to suppliers and marketplace sellers and supports the growth of its advertising business. That dynamic is the long-term prize behind a price that looks, on its face, like a discount.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus bundle?
The combined membership costs $120 a year plus applicable taxes, according to Walmart. Bought separately, Walmart+ costs $98 a year and Sam’s Club Plus costs $120, for a total of $218.
When did the Walmart and Sam’s Club bundle launch?
Walmart announced and launched the bundle on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Shoppers can join through the Walmart app, the Sam’s Club app or Walmart’s website.
Can I pay for the bundle monthly?
No. Fox Business and ABC News report that the bundle is available on an annual basis only, with no monthly payment option and no free trial.
I already have Walmart+. How much does it cost to add Sam’s Club Plus?
Walmart+ annual members can switch to the bundle for $22 more per year, according to Walmart, bringing their total to $120.
I have a Sam’s Club membership. What do I pay?
Members on the base Club tier can upgrade to Sam’s Club Plus for $60 more per year and receive Walmart+ included. Existing Sam’s Club Plus members can activate Walmart+ at no additional cost.
What if I already pay for both memberships?
Walmart says members paying for both can link their accounts, and most will be eligible for a prorated refund of their Walmart+ fee.
Is the bundle cheaper than Amazon Prime?
Yes, on price. The bundle costs $120 a year versus $139 for Amazon Prime. The programs include different benefits, so the better value depends on where a household shops and how it uses delivery and streaming.
Which streaming service does the bundle include?
Members can choose either Peacock or Paramount+ on an ad-supported tier and can switch once every 90 days. Separate registration with the streaming service is required.
How much can I earn in Sam’s Cash?
The bundle pays 2% Sam’s Cash on eligible purchases, capped at $750 per year, according to Walmart’s terms.