With more than 600 locations each, Costco and Sam's Club are the most popular warehouse clubs in the country. Becoming a member of either store can help you save big on groceries and other household essentials, thanks to each store's deals and discounts on essential items. However, with so many variables to compare, it can be tricky to decide which is better for you.
For that reason, we've looked at how Costco and Sam's Club stack up in several different categories to help you choose between the two.
- Our pick: Sam's Club
While both Sam's Club and Costco have similar membership tiers and carry similar products, Sam's Club is the cheaper option overall.
For starters, becoming a Sam's Club member is cheaper than signing up for a membership with Costco. The basic Sam's Club membership costs $50 a year, while Costco's basic membership usually costs $60 a year. A premium membership at Sam's Club is $110 a year, while at Costco it's typically $120 a year. However, you can save up to $40 on a Costco Membership with this deal.
Starting September1, 2024, Costco is raising it's membership fees and a basic membership will go up $5 to $65, and a executive membership will increase by $10 to $130. Also, the maximum annual 2% reward associated with the executive membership will increase by $250 to $1,250 from $1,000.
And when you compare prices on various food and household items, you'll likely save more money buying essentials from Sam's Club. The Kansas City Star looked at each brand’s products and their online prices as of June 2024. While you'll still get bang for your buck while shopping at Costco, Sam's Club has a slight edge. This is what they found:
In 2023, AARP also pitted Sam's Club and Costco to determine which was cheaper by compiling a list of 30 grocery items. The total cost for each store? $68.94 for Sam's Club and $81.60 for Costco.
- Our pick: Costco
Overall, Costco's Kirkland Signature brand has earned more kudos for quality than Sam's Club's products. For example, Kirkland olive oil was one of only a few imported oils that met international and U.S. standards for extra virgin olive oil in a chemical and sensory study by the University of California, Davis. And Kirkland Signature Tequila Añejo received an "exceptional" score from the Beverage Tasting Institute's Tastings.com. Consumer Reports has named Kirkland's Colombian Supremo whole bean coffee, Greek yogurt and super premium vanilla ice cream as best buys.
- Our pick: It's a tie.
Both the Costco Anywhere Visa Card and Sam’s Club Mastercard have great perks for frequent Costco or Sam's Club shoppers.
The Costco Visa Card offers 4% on eligible gas and EV charging for the first $7,000 per year and then 1%, 3% on restaurants and eligible travel, 2% on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com and 1% on everything else. Plus, there's no annual fee to offset any rewards you earn. Many other store cards offer a higher rewards rate on purchases made in-store — like the Amazon Prime Visa which earns an unlimited 5% back on Amazon.com purchases — but this card will earn more when you spend outside of Costco.
The Sam's Club MasterCard also has no annual fee and an impressive rewards rate on fuel purchases. The card earns 5% cashback up to $6,000 spent per year (then 1%) on EV charging and at eligible gas stations, 3% on dining and 1% on all other purchases. Sam's Club Plus members can also earn up to 5% back on eligible Sam’s Club purchases (3% back with the card, plus up to 2% back from the membership tier.) One downside: Those with a basic membership will only earn 1% cash back from shopping at Sam's.
- Our pick: Costco
Both big-box stores offer an array of membership benefits free or at discounted prices, including home improvement and maintenance services, car-buying services, identity protection and pharmacy savings.
But Costco offers more. For example: life insurance, pet insurance, auto and home insurance (members who saved reported an average of $595.86 in auto insurance savings the first year they switched), business health insurance and impressive travel packages.
- Our pick: Costco
Both Costco and Sam's Club have solid return policies. They both offer a risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee, with just a few exceptions.
At Costco you can return virtually any item anytime, no questions asked, without a receipt or the original packaging — unless you're returning a PC (or other electronic device) or a major appliance, in which case you have 90 days. And of course, Costco does not accept returns on cigarettes or alcohol where prohibited by law.
That's similar to Sam's Club, except Sam's highly recommends that you have the original receipt. On their site, it says: "We prefer your original receipt or printed order, but if that’s not available, we’ll do our best to process your return without it." To obtain a full refund in some instances, you'll also be required to return the product with its full original packaging.
