Instacart’s Whole Foods home deliveries now cost less than Amazon Prime’s

If your only reason to subscribe to Amazon Prime is for low-cost Whole Foods Market grocery home deliveries, Instacart is now a better deal. Instacart’s recent fee structure changes give it an edge over Prime membership for grocery deliveries, Business Insider reports.

Before Instacart’s fee reductions, an Amazon Prime membership cost less than joining Instacart for a year. The two programs are significantly different in other aspects, but viewed only from the standpoint of Whole Foods home delivery cost, Amazon Prime had been a bargain compared to Instacart.

Instacart has delivery arrangements with about 300 chain stores and had been the only third-party delivery service for Whole Foods orders. Amazon disrupted Instacart’s business when the online retailer bought Whole Foods Markets and began offering free delivery for orders over $35 as yet another perk to its tens of millions of U.S. Prime members.

Losing its former single-source arrangement with the high-profile Whole Foods stores was the first blow, but Amazon’s Prime membership fee — which includes a raft of services in addition to Whole Foods grocery deliveries — added to the business threat.

But now the pricing advantage between the two companies has shifted. Instacart dropped its Express membership fee from $149 to $99 per year.  Instacart also removed an unpopular five-percent service fee it formerly added to all Express delivery orders.

Express members get free delivery on all orders over $35. Non-Express members pay a delivery fee for each order, but they also get a break from the new pricing structure. Instacart reduced the Non-Express delivery fee from $6 to $4.

Amazon Prime members pay $119 annually or $13 a month for a multitude of services including no-cost two-day shipping for online purchases for many items, Amazon Prime Video, Music, Audio Books, and more.

When Amazon announced its Whole Foods Market acquisition in 2017 speculation was rampant about how the deal would play out for Whole Foods customers and competitors. Adding grocery home delivery for Prime members was the resulting add-on for Amazon customers. Orders under $35 have delivery fees, but deliveries are free when customers order $35, the same as with Instacart.

Instacart and Amazon Prime home delivery services aren’t your only choices to help you avoid trips to the grocery store. Digital Trends surveyed several of the top apps ready to do your shopping.