Walmart+ vs. Amazon and Costco: Is It Worth It for Angelenos?

Walmart is challenging retail giants Amazon and Costco with the launch of its new membership program, Walmart+. For Los Angeles residents looking to avoid notorious freeway traffic and long checkout lines, this subscription promises cheaper gas, fast grocery delivery, and a streamlined in-store experience. Before you add another recurring charge to your monthly budget, here is a breakdown of how the service works and whether it makes financial sense for your household.

Understanding the Retail Subscription War

For years, Amazon Prime has dominated the online delivery space, while Costco and Sam’s Club have ruled bulk suburban shopping across Southern California. Walmart is now stepping directly into the ring to capture a larger share of consumer spending. Previously, the retail giant offered a service called Delivery Unlimited, which focused exclusively on getting groceries to your door for an annual fee. Now, that program has been rebranded and expanded into Walmart+, a comprehensive membership designed to rival the best perks of both digital and brick-and-mortar competitors.

This move comes at a critical time. Shopping habits across Los Angeles County have shifted dramatically toward convenience and contactless delivery. Whether you live in a busy Koreatown apartment or a single-family home in the San Fernando Valley, the appeal of having everyday essentials dropped at your doorstep without paying per-order fees is stronger than ever. Walmart is leveraging its massive physical footprint—something Amazon lacks at the same scale—to turn local supercenters into rapid fulfillment hubs.

Key Perks of a Walmart+ Membership

To figure out if this subscription fits your lifestyle, you need to look closely at the core benefits included in the base price. Unlike Amazon Prime, which bundles entertainment, music, and cloud storage, Walmart+ is strictly focused on practical, everyday savings and convenience.

Membership Pricing and Structure

Walmart+ costs $98 per year, or $12.95 if you prefer to pay month-to-month. The company also offers a 15-day free trial so shoppers can test the service before committing their hard-earned cash. If you already subscribed to the older Delivery Unlimited program, your account automatically transitions into a Walmart+ membership at no extra cost, and you may even receive a partial refund if you paid the higher historical rate.

Unlimited Free Grocery and Store Delivery

The centerpiece of the program is unlimited free delivery from local stores on orders of $35 or more. This includes fresh produce, meats, pantry staples, and general merchandise like toys, electronics, and household supplies. Depending on store availability, delivery can happen as fast as the same day. Because the items come directly from the shelves of your nearest Walmart, the prices you pay online are the exact same low prices you would find in the store, with no hidden markups.

Fuel Discounts for LA Commuters

Driving is an unavoidable reality of life in Southern California, and gas prices in the region consistently rank among the highest in the nation. Walmart+ addresses this pain point by offering members a discount of up to 5 cents per gallon at Walmart, Murphy USA, and Murphy Express gas stations. Additionally, Walmart plans to add Sam’s Club fuel stations to this network soon, which is a major plus for locals since Sam’s Club gas stations are much more common across the greater LA basin than Murphy stations.

Scan & Go In-Store Technology

If you prefer to pick out your own avocados and steaks at the store in Burbank, Downey, or Panorama City, the Scan & Go feature is built to save you time. Using the Walmart mobile app, members can scan the barcodes of items as they place them into their shopping carts. When you are done shopping, you pay directly through your phone and simply show your digital receipt to an associate as you walk out the door, completely bypassing the traditional checkout lanes.

How It Stacks Up in Los Angeles

Evaluating the worth of Walmart+ requires looking through a local lens. At $98 a year, the service is $21 cheaper than an annual Amazon Prime membership, though it is $38 more expensive than a base Costco Gold Star membership. The math is fairly simple: since a standard Walmart delivery fee typically runs between $7.95 and $9.95 per order, the annual membership pays for itself if you have groceries delivered just once a month.

However, geography plays a massive role for Angelenos. Unlike other parts of the country where a Walmart Supercenter sits on every other corner, the store footprint inside the urban core of Los Angeles is relatively sparse. Residents on the Westside, in Hollywood, or in Downtown LA might find themselves outside the immediate delivery zones for fresh groceries, or they may prefer the organic selection offered by Amazon’s Whole Foods delivery. Conversely, for families living in the suburbs of the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, Long Beach, or the Inland Empire, Walmart stores are plentiful, making same-day delivery and Scan & Go privileges highly accessible and practical.

When comparing it to Costco, the conversation shifts from convenience to volume. Costco remains the undisputed king of bulk savings and consistently offers the cheapest gas in town, often beating street prices by 20 to 30 cents per gallon—far outpacing Walmart’s 5-cent discount. Yet, Costco requires you to fight for parking, navigate crowded aisles, or pay steep markups for same-day Instacart delivery. Walmart+ bridges the gap for shoppers who want low everyday prices brought straight to their front porch without having to buy 30 rolls of paper towels at once.

What to Watch Next

Retail analysts view the current iteration of Walmart+ as a starting line rather than a finished product. When Amazon launched Prime in 2005, it was solely a two-day shipping program before evolving into the massive media and retail ecosystem we know today. Walmart is expected to follow a similar playbook by gradually layering new benefits onto the membership to increase its value proposition and keep subscribers locked in.

In the coming months, consumers should watch for potential partnerships in the entertainment space, as rumors have long swirled about Walmart teaming up with major media companies to offer streaming video perks. Furthermore, as Walmart integrates Sam’s Club fuel stations into the program and potentially adds prescription drug discounts or early access to Black Friday holiday deals, the membership could become much harder for budget-conscious Californians to ignore.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How quickly does a Walmart+ membership pay for itself?
  Because standard single-order delivery fees range from $7.95 to $9.95, an annual $98 membership pays for itself if you place at least 10 to 13 delivery orders per year—roughly one order per month.
• Is there a minimum order requirement for free delivery?
  Yes, your cart must total at least $35 before taxes to qualify for free store delivery. This matches the minimum threshold Amazon uses for its grocery delivery services.
• Does Walmart+ include streaming movies or music like Amazon Prime?
  No, Walmart+ does not currently offer any digital entertainment, video streaming, or music perks. The membership is strictly focused on retail savings, fuel discounts, and shopping convenience.
• Can I use the Walmart+ fuel discount at any gas station in Los Angeles?
  No, the 5-cent-per-gallon discount is only valid at Walmart, Murphy USA, and Murphy Express stations, with Sam’s Club locations joining the network soon. Because Murphy stations are rare in LA, local drivers will mostly rely on Sam’s Club and Walmart locations for gas savings.

Before handing over your credit card for a full year, check your local zip code on Walmart’s website to confirm that same-day store delivery and participating fuel stations are actually available in your specific Los Angeles neighborhood, and use the 15-day free trial to test the delivery reliability firsthand.

Walmart Plus vs Amazon and Costco for Los Angeles Shoppers