How much does Amazon Prime Video cost in the UK?

Prime membership costs £7.99 per month if you go for a monthly subscription. However, you can also opt for an annual subscription costing £79 per year, which works out at £6.58 per month.

If you are sure you only want to use Amazon’s video service, there is a separate membership just for Amazon Prime Video that costs £5.99 per month. However, that subscription does not include any of the other services. If you want to see what the service is like before paying for it, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.

What do you get with Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime, of course, comes with all the films and TV shows included in Prime Video – but so much more. The big draw for shoppers will be free next-day delivery on millions of eligible items, with no need for a minimum purchase amount.

This culminates with Prime Day, a two-day sales extravaganza exclusively for Prime members – with deals so good the event often outsells Black Friday for the shopping site. Previous deals have included 20 per cent off Amazon devices, 30 per cent off Amazon Everyday Essentials, several months of Amazon’s services for as little as 99p, and huge savings on tech.

That’s not all, however – subscribers get access to Prime Music, which includes over 2 million ad-free songs, as well as access to a rotating selection of eBooks and magazines with Prime Reading. Oh, and Prime Members also get unlimited photo storage and try before you buy with Prime Wardrobe.

You don’t buy individual series or films on Amazon Prime Video. Instead, you pay a monthly subscription which gives you access to a whole library of programmes to watch. Any programme that is included in the membership will have a Prime symbol over the image in search results.

Confusingly, there’s also a service called Amazon Video (not Prime), which is essentially an online video rental/buying service like iTunes. With this service, you pay for individual TV episodes, whole series or movies, and can either download and keep them or rent them for a limited period.

It can be annoying arriving at a series you like the look of only to discover it isn’t included in your Prime subscription – but you quickly get a feel for what’s included and what comes extra.

What can I watch on Amazon Prime Video?

Netflix’s original series may have made the most noise early on, but Amazon has scored some surprising successes too with original TV series not available anywhere else.

The biggest shows on Amazon Prime Video include…

• Starring David Tennant, Michael Sheen, and many many more big names, Good Omens is an adaptation of the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett fantasy novel of the same name.
• Winner of three golden globes awards, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is a 1950s-set show following a New York housewife who discovers she has a knack for stand-up comedy.
• Sharp US comedy drama Transparent, the first ever online series to win a Golden Globe in 2014.
• Critically-acclaimed time-travelling drama Outlander.
• The Grand Tour. Clarkson, Hammond and May are the unlikely poster boys for Amazon Prime Video.
• The Boys. Starring Karl Urban, the show follows a band of vigilantes goes up against a group of corrupt superheroes.
• John Krasinski plays a CIA analyst in spy thriller Jack Ryan.
• Utopia. An American remake of the acclaimed British show starring John Cusack and Rainn Wilson.
• Patrick Stewart returns to his most iconic role in Star Trek: Picard.
• Hunters. A stylish thriller following Nazi hunters in the 1970s with Al Pacino.
• Anthony Horowitz’s teenage spy books get a second adaptation in Alex Rider.

What else can I watch on Amazon Prime Video?

As well as the TV shows listed above, there is an extensive film library with a host of award winners and blockbusters available to stream.

The streaming service has also signed a deal with film studio Lionsgate for exclusive first window streaming rights. This means movies such as Angel Has Fallen, Rambo: Last Blood, Knives Out, Midway, Bombshell, and The Personal History of David Copperfield will be available to watch on Amazon before their competitors, such as Netflix (who were previously partnered with Lionsgate).

What are Amazon Prime Video Channels?

In May 2019, Amazon launched its new TV service Amazon Channels in the UK. The new service gives Amazon Prime subscribers the chance to pick and choose from over 40 different premium channels, from Discovery and Eurosport to classic movie channel MGM and Scandidrama channel Nordic Noir and Beyond.

Instead of paying for large TV bundles full of channels you’re not interested in, Amazon Channels aims to give you the chance to pick the channels you actually want to watch.

How to sign up to Amazon Prime Video

If you are already an Amazon Prime member, then you already have access to Prime Video. All you have to do is start searching for shows to watch.

To sign up as a new member, go to the Amazon Prime page, pick a membership plan that suits you and enter your details. Remember, you can start a free trial to check out what’s available first.

Like Netflix, it is possible to share your subscription with other people. By linking up different Amazon accounts into an Amazon ‘Household’, you can share benefits such as free delivery and free streaming.

You keep your own personal account (so you can watch shows at your own pace), but can share all the benefits (and therefore costs) between members of the same ‘household’.

How to watch Amazon Prime Video

After signing up, you can start watching from thousands of movies and TV shows on your computer, phone, tablet, games console or supported TV.

If you’re watching on the go, the Prime Video app is worth downloading. If you want to watch on your TV, find out more about which devices are supported and how to set up here.

Prime Video is designed for streaming, but many shows are available to download and watch offline. This is useful when you’re travelling or when you know you’re not going to have internet access.

Amazon Channels is not included in your standard Prime Video membership. Instead, each channel comes with its own small monthly cost. Sports channels such as Eurosport are particularly highly valued as they feature live events that aren’t available elsewhere. If you think that Sky or BT contracts are too expensive, this service could well be worth exploring.