For years, "where should I sell?" had one default answer: Amazon. But in 2026, Walmart Marketplace has become a serious alternative — and for a lot of sellers, a better one. Less competition, no monthly fee, and a fast-growing third-party marketplace have made it the obvious second channel (or even first).
This guide compares selling on Amazon vs Walmart across the four things that actually decide your profit: fees, competition, fulfillment, and audience. No platform worship — just the trade-offs.
The short answer
- Amazon has far more traffic and a more mature ecosystem, but brutal competition and a layered, rising fee stack.
- Walmart has less traffic but dramatically less seller competition, no monthly subscription, and a less saturated data landscape — which rewards sellers who research well.
Most serious sellers don't choose one. They run both. But if you're starting or expanding with limited time, the differences below tell you where your effort pays off fastest.
Fees: Amazon vs Walmart
Monthly cost to play
- Amazon: a Professional selling plan costs $39.99/month (or $0.99 per item on the Individual plan). You pay this before you sell a single unit.
- Walmart: no monthly subscription, no listing fees, no setup fees. You pay only when you sell.
For a new or small seller, that's a real difference — Walmart lets you list and test without a fixed monthly burn.
Referral fees (commission per sale)
Both platforms charge a category-based referral fee, and they're broadly similar:
- Amazon: roughly 8%–45% by category, with most categories at 15% and a $0.30 minimum per item.
- Walmart: roughly 6%–20% by category, with most categories at 15%.
The headline 15% is the same on common categories. The difference is at the extremes: Amazon's referral fees can climb much higher in some niches, while Walmart caps out around 20% (Jewelry). (Full Walmart breakdown in our 2026 Walmart seller fees guide.)
Fulfillment fees
- Amazon FBA: fulfillment starts around $3.30 for small standard items and rises with size/weight, plus a 3.5% fuel surcharge on fulfillment fees (introduced April 2026), plus storage at $0.75/cu ft (Jan–Sep) and $2.40/cu ft in Q4. FBA also layers on inbound placement fees and low-inventory fees that many sellers overlook.
- Walmart WFS: fulfillment starts around $3.45 per unit by weight tier, with storage near $0.75/cu ft (Jan–Sep, higher in Q4). Walmart's 2026 new-seller incentives also include meaningful WFS fee discounts.
The base fulfillment fees are close. The practical difference is that Amazon's fee stack has more layers (surcharges, placement, low-inventory fees), so your all-in cost per unit is often harder to predict on Amazon. We break the fulfillment choice down in FBA vs WFS.
Competition: the biggest real difference
This is where the platforms genuinely diverge. Amazon's third-party marketplace is saturated — popular listings often have many sellers fighting for the Buy Box, and margins erode fast. Walmart has far fewer third-party sellers relative to its traffic, so listings that would be a bloodbath on Amazon often have two or three sellers on Walmart.
Less competition means:
- Easier Buy Box wins
- Slower price erosion
- More room for newer sellers to get traction
The flip side: fewer sellers also reflects Walmart's smaller overall marketplace volume. You're competing less for a somewhat smaller pie.
Traffic and audience
Amazon is the larger marketplace by total volume and has the Prime ecosystem driving high conversion. Walmart's online traffic is substantial and growing fast, with a customer base that skews toward value shoppers and in-store-plus-online behavior. For most product categories, Amazon will move more units today — but Walmart's lower competition can mean a larger share of those units goes to you.
Data and tooling: an underrated edge
Amazon's data ecosystem is mature and universal — every seller uses the same tools (Keepa, Jungle Scout, SellerAmp) and sees the same numbers, so the informational edge is gone.
Walmart is different. It doesn't publish a Best Sellers Rank, sales data is harder to read, and the tooling is younger. That sounds like a disadvantage, but it's the opposite for sellers who research well: accurate Walmart product research is still a genuine edge, because most sellers are guessing. (This is exactly the gap WallScout was built for — see how to estimate Walmart sales.)
Which should you choose?
| If you... | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| Want maximum total sales volume today | Amazon |
| Want lower competition and easier Buy Box | Walmart |
| Want no fixed monthly cost to start | Walmart |
| Already sell on Amazon and want to expand | Walmart (as a second channel) |
| Source products and research well | Walmart (research is still an edge) |
The honest conclusion: Amazon for reach, Walmart for margin and headroom. If you have to pick one to start in 2026, Walmart's lower barrier and lighter competition make it the faster place to gain traction — especially if you're good at product research. And if you already sell on Amazon, expanding to Walmart is close to a no-brainer (we cover how to expand from Amazon to Walmart).
WallScout gives you accurate Walmart sales estimates, price history, and real-fee profit math on the product page — the research edge that makes Walmart's lower competition pay off. Free during beta →
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth selling on Walmart in 2026? For many sellers, yes — Walmart charges no monthly subscription, has far fewer third-party sellers than Amazon relative to its traffic, and its less saturated data landscape rewards good product research. It's especially worth it as a second channel for existing Amazon sellers.
Are Walmart fees cheaper than Amazon? Often, yes. Walmart has no $39.99/month subscription, referral fees cap around 20% (vs Amazon's much higher ceiling in some categories), and its fulfillment fee stack has fewer surcharge layers. But the headline 15% referral fee is the same on most common categories — the real savings are in the monthly fee and fewer add-on charges.
Can you sell on both Amazon and Walmart? Yes, and many sellers do. Listing the same catalog on both diversifies your revenue and lets you reach Walmart's lower-competition marketplace without giving up Amazon's volume.
Which has less competition, Amazon or Walmart? Walmart. It has significantly fewer third-party sellers relative to its traffic, meaning fewer sellers per listing and easier Buy Box wins — though its overall marketplace volume is smaller than Amazon's.
Make Walmart's lower competition pay off with accurate research. WallScout is free during beta.