Whether you shop at Walmart or Sam’s Club, your dollars are going to Walmart Inc., which owns both chains. But just because these stores have the same owner doesn’t mean they offer the same value to consumers.
Much like a child has similarities to a parent, Sam’s Club is similar to Walmart in that it aims to keep prices low. In that aspect, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Indeed, sometimes you can buy products for less at Sam’s Club—but not always, as Walmart sometimes can offer better deals.
And if you do find yourself wondering which of the two is a better value, there’s a lot more to it than price. Quality of the items matters. So do the other perks your dollars are buying.
Which chain—Walmart or Sam’s Club—deserves your dollars more? Today, I’ll dig in, including price comparisons on several grocery-store staples, as well as a look at a number of other factors that determine value, regardless of whether they directly or indirectly impact your costs.
Considerations Besides Price Comparisons
Before we dive into product cost comparisons, I want to start with a number of other considerations that should impact your decision.
Some are directly related to money (one requires a membership, one doesn’t), while others are indirectly related to money (number of locations could impact how far you have to drive to get to one, which ultimately requires more fuel which equals an additional cost).
1. Number of Locations
Advantage: Walmart
Why should you care about which store has more locations? As I just mentioned, if you need to drive significantly further for one store instead of the other, you’re wasting more money on gas, which ultimately eats into your savings.
As a for-instance, the closest Walmart to me is just 2.7 miles away, but the closest Sam’s Club is 32 miles away. The latter would effectively tack the cost of two gallons of gas onto the price of the grocery bill.
Unfortunately, it’s likely many people reading this have the same issue. That’s because while Walmart has more than 3,500 Supercenters and more than 350 discount stores in the U.S., the country has only 600 Sam’s Club locations.
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2. Membership Costs
Advantage: Walmart
Anyone can walk into a Walmart and purchase items, no membership required.
That said, Walmart does have a subscription tier (Walmart+) that is entirely optional and provides a boatload of benefits. Among them:
- Auto care (free flat repair, free road hazard warranty when you buy new tires with installation)
- Burger King savings
- Early access deals
- Free delivery from your store
- Free shipping with no order minimum
- Free online pet care with Pawp
- Member savings on fuel
- Mobile Scan & Go
- Returns from home
- InHome returns pickup
- Streaming services with Paramount+
- Walmart+ travel
- Free pharmacy delivery with no order minimum
As of the time of writing, Walmart+ costs $98/year or $12.95/month (plus applicable taxes).
Walmart also offers an Walmart+ InHome add-on—which allows for orders to be delivered anywhere in your home, whether that’s at your doorstep, in your garage, even in your kitchen—for an additional $40/year or $7/monthly (plus applicable tax). The service has a $35 order minimum.
Sam’s Club, however, requires shoppers to have a membership just to do your shopping. That said, memberships do come with their share of perks.
The Club tier, currently priced at $50/year, includes the following:
- Instant savings
- Member-only fuel prices
- Scan & Go
- Two membership cards
- Free curbside pickup on orders over $50
- Sam’s Club Mastercard
- 100% satisfaction guarantee
The Plus tier costs $110/year and includes everything in the Club tier as well as the following:
- 2% Sam’s Cash Back
- Free Shipping on Orders Over $50
- Free Delivery from Club on Orders Over $50
- Pharmacy Savings
- Optical Savings
- Tire & Battery Center Savings
- Early Shopping Hours
While I have Walmart listed as a winner, that’s largely based on the fact that Sam’s Club requires a membership, while Sam’s Club does not. The comparison is closer to a tie when you consider each membership’s benefits—while Sam’s Club offers cash back and numerous store savings, Walmart also provides serious value with freebies like flat-tire repairs and streaming TV.
3. Pharmacy Perks
Advantage: Sam’s Club
Walmart and Sam’s Club typically have in-house pharmacies. Walmart, you can schedule several types of vaccines, refill or transfer prescriptions, and more. You can also get your prescriptions delivered (free with a Walmart+ membership, $9.95 per delivery without).
Sam’s Club members receive some fantastic pharmacy perks. Members gain access to select generics starting as low as $4 and enjoy discounts and savings at more than 62,000 pharmacies across the United States.
Plus-tier members can get more than 600 generic drugs for $10 or less, additional discounts on select brand drugs, and they can receive up to 10 free prescriptions annually for the following generics:
- Amlodipine
- Donepezil
- Escitalopram oxalate
- Finasteride
- Lisinopril
- Metformin
- Montelukast
- Pioglitazone
- Sertraline
- Vitamin D
The J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Pharmacy Study ranked Sam’s Club the highest among brick-and-mortar mass merchandiser pharmacies … for the 10th year in a row.
When it comes to pharmacy needs, Sam’s Club wins.
Related: 10 Costco Tips & Tricks All Shoppers Should Know
4. Coupons
Advantage: Walmart
Who doesn’t love coupons? Well … Sam’s Club, apparently. Sam’s Club doesn’t accept manufacturer coupons, though it does accept vendor checks from products such as Purina, Enfamil or Similac.
Walmart, on the other hand, accepts both traditional paper and internet (print-at-home) manufacturer coupons, though there are some limitations. For instance, Walmart accepts coupons that allow for a set number of cents or dollars off, as well as buy one get one free (BOGO) coupons, but it won’t accept BOGO coupons with a set percentage.
If you love couponing, Walmart is easily the winner here.
5. Product Variety
Advantage: Walmart
A stock keeping unit (SKU) is a code that a company uses to identify and track a specific product it sells. And the number of SKUs a store carries can indicate both the breadth of the product types it offers, as well as whether you can expect a lot of variety within each product type.
Consider this: Each individual Walmart store carries about 140,000 SKUs on any given day. Online, Walmart carries hundreds of millions of SKUs. A typical Sam’s Club, however, carries only 6,000 to 7,000 items.
A walk through both stores easily demonstrates that you can buy many kinds of products that you can’t in Sam’s Club. And even when Sam’s Club does carry a type of product, it’s likely to only carry one or two brands/varieties, versus many more for Walmart. This is by design—limiting product and brand selection helps Sam’s Club and other warehouse-model retailers put leverage on suppliers, emphasize in-house brands, and keep operations simple and more efficient.
Still, if you want variety, Walmart is the winner by a landslide.
Related: 10 Unique Trader Joe’s Products That Keep People Talking
Walmart + Sam’s Club Price Comparisons
Now that we have established some of the other important considerations when it comes to choosing between Walmart and Sam’s Club, let’s get down to comparing prices. Today, I’m going to evaluate a few of the most basic supermarket staples. These items include:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Bread
- Fruits
- Vegetables
Note that pricing can change at any time. These are the prices as of the time of writing.
1. Milk
Advantage: Walmart
Walmart’s Great Value Whole Vitamin D Milk currently costs $2.56 per gallon. Sam’s Club Member’s Mark Whole Vitamin D Milk is priced at $3.18 per gallon. In terms of price, Walmart is the clear winner.
But it’s at least worth noting that Sam’s Club milk has a higher customer satisfaction rating. Walmart’s milk receives a star rating of 4.2 out of 5, while Sam’s Club’s milk enjoys a rating of 4.7 stars.
Related: 10 Aldi Shopping Tricks You Should Know
2. Eggs
Advantage: Walmart
You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs, but you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) break some eggs without buying them first.
Walmart’s Great Value Cage Free Large White Eggs are sold in packs of a dozen each. The current price is $2.72, which comes to 22.7¢ per egg. Sam’s Club Member’s Mark Cage Free Large White Eggs are sold in packs of two dozen. One pack costs $6.42, which is about 26.8¢ per egg. Again, on price, Walmart wins.
But also again, Sam’s Club’s eggs enjoy a higher rating. Walmart’s eggs are rated at 4.1 stars, while Sam’s Club’s eggs are rated at 4.7.
3. Bread
Advantage: Sam’s Club
Both stores sell a variety of breads, so I’m comparing the exact type of bread to provide the most direct comparison.
Walmart and Sam’s Club sell 20-ounce loaves of Bimbo Soft White Bread. At Walmart, you buy one loaf at a time at $1.98 each. Sam’s Club requires you to buy two loaves at a time, but at $3.37 total, or $1.69 per loaf. Sam’s Club wins on price comparison.
Interestingly, Sam’s Club members rate the bread at 4.6 stars, while Walmart members rate it at 4.2 stars … despite the fact that it’s the exact same bread. (For what it’s worth, some of the negative reviews you see on Walmart’s site complain about freshness, while others complain about the bread being squished.)
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4. Fruit
Advantage: Sam’s Club
I chose bananas for our fruit comparison. At Walmart, you can buy bananas individually, or you can buy them in bunches priced by weight. A bunch of Marketside Fresh Organic Bananas at Walmart costs 78¢ per pound. At Sam’s Club, Organic Bananas are sold in 3-pound bunches for $1.97, which comes out to about 66¢ per pound.
Sam’s Club doesn’t just win on price—they also have a drastic rating advantage. Walmart’s organic bananas receive a paltry 2.8 star rating, while Sam’s Club’s bananas boast 4.6 stars.
5. Potatoes
Advantage: Sam’s Club
Our vegetable comparison centers on potatoes. Walmart sells 5-pound bags of fresh whole russet potatoes for $3.64, or 73¢ per pound. At Sam’s Club, russet potatoes are sold in 10-pound bags for $5.96, which comes out to around 60¢ per pound—significantly cheaper than Walmart.
Sam’s Club’s potatoes also win on ratings; Walmart’s potatoes currently garner 3.6 stars versus 4.6 for the warehouse chain’s potatoes.
Which Retailer Deserves Your Dollars?
As with all things, the answer isn’t black-and-white—it’s fair to say both chains are deserving of your dollars, but which one is more so depends on your preferences and needs.
Walmart likely wins out for the majority of shoppers. It doesn’t require a cent in membership costs, and you can use coupons to bring down their already low prices. Its massive footprint means you likely have a Walmart within a reasonable distance. And with its extremely wide variety of products, Walmart is as close to a one-stop shop as you can get.
But if you have a Sam’s Club anywhere near you, it might be the better option. Many of its goods are cheaper, and its pharmacy benefits are terrific.
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