Costco Vs Sam's Club: 5 Key Differences You Need To Know

Shopping in bulk is a fantastic way for families, especially large ones, to save money on groceries and other household items. However, it might not be easy to tell the differences between the two big membership-based wholesale clubs — Costco and Sam's Club.

Both of these companies have been offering big-box deals since 1983, but the first Costco was actually a distinctive location called Price Club, which opened in 1976 in a converted airplane hangar. These chains originally served small businesses, but ever since opening their stores to more customers, the companies sell popular name-brand and private-brand products in bulk to those who purchase their memberships.

These days, there are a few notable differences between the two chains: Costco offers more rewards through its Executive Membership tier, as well as larger stores, whereas Sam's Club has lower individual membership fees, a lower minimum for free delivery, and free cafe access for non-members. Let's weigh these differences between Costco and Sam's Club to help you decide which warehouse membership chain is for you.

A standard Sam's Club membership is $50 per year, and a Plus membership is $110 per year, whereas a standard Costco Gold Star membership costs $65 annually, and an Executive membership costs $130 annually (as of March 2025). The $15 and $20 differences, respectively, might not seem like much, but you can obtain more savings at Sam's Club.

The warehouse store offers additional membership discounts to new members who are healthcare professionals, government employees, military personnel, students, teachers, and more. Costco doesn't offer discounted memberships but sometimes offers special deals, such as a Digital Costco Shop Card when members sign up for auto renewal. Like with Sam's Club, these are only available to certain groups, although the list isn't as extensive. Costco, however, allows primary members to assign a free household card to one additional person in their home. Sam's Club allows members to obtain as many as eight add-on memberships for an extra $45 each.

The fee isn't the only difference between Sam's Club and Costco memberships. While both offer 2% cash-back rewards, you can earn up to $1,250 a year on qualifying Costco and Costco Travel purchases with the Executive membership but only up to $500 per year on eligible Sam's Club purchases with the Plus membership (excluded products and services apply at both stores). Costco sends the reward certificate in the mail once a year to primary members alongside the Executive renewal notice, while Sam's Club adds earned cash rewards onto its members' cards each month.

Despite this big difference in rewards potential, it is possible to earn more Sam's Cash for purchases with third-party partners through the store's Bonus Offers Program. It's free for all members and doesn't limit the amount customers can earn. Members only have to link a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express card to the program so that the store can track their purchases with participating companies. How much Sam's Cash you earn, though, depends on how often you shop with its partner merchants.

If you like to shop from home, shipping costs increase your total bill, and they can really add up over the course of the year. Fortunately, you can benefit from one outstanding Sam's Club Plus perk — free shipping on orders of at least $50 online. Standard Club members, add-on members, and guest members can also qualify for free shipping on eligible, specifically marked items.

By contrast, you would have to spend at least $75 to get free shipping on non-perishable and household products from Costco. The benefit, though, is that the company offers two-day delivery instead of the standard ground shipping from Sam's Club, which could take up to 12 business days, including processing and transport, depending on the size of your package.

Additionally, curbside pickup is available for Sam's Club Plus members for free and for Club members with orders of at least $50. This is a membership perk that isn't available at Costco. The only way to get curbside pickup at the store is through Instacart, but the availability of this service depends on specific store locations. While you don't have to be a member to place orders through this service, you'll be paying higher item prices than in-store on top of a pickup fee.

Costco started requiring food court guests to show their membership cards when buying items in 2020 and has been putting stricter enforcement in place since early 2024 — but Sam's Club offers the general public something that Costco doesn't, and that's access to its cafes without a membership. The food counter is a great spot for grabbing a snack while you're out and about, or for taking ready-to-eat lunch and dinner entrées back home or on picnics. Hot and cold options are available — from whole pizza pies and pretzels to yogurts and sundaes.

There are still a few other things you can get without either a Costco or Sam's Club membership, though. You can buy prescription medications and get an eye exam by a doctor of optometry, but you do need to be a member to purchase eyeglasses or contacts. Also, you can enter either store to purchase alcoholic beverages. This applies to all Sam's Club stores, but Costco only allows it in the 14 states that have laws prohibiting a seller from requiring a membership to purchase alcohol.

As of November 2024, Costco has 890 stores around the world, and 617 of them are located in the U.S. Since most Costco warehouse are about 147,000 square feet in size, that's a total of 90.7 million square feet of shopping space. By contrast, there are 600 Sam's Club warehouses across the country, totaling 80.3 million square feet of retail space as of October 2024.

Costco also serves more states than its competitor. Only three states in the country don't have a Costco (Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming), whereas six states are without a Sam's Club (Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont).

On top of that, most of Costco's warehouses are bigger than the average 134,000-square-foot Sam's Club location. Perhaps the additional space is why Costco has more brand variety, particularly private-label goods like its own Kirkland label, while Sam's Club has been actively consolidating its own brand offerings into just one Member's Mark label.