Aldi vs Amazon: when each one actually wins on Australian household staples

Every time I post about Amazon Subscribe & Save savings, the same comment rolls in: "Yeah but you can just go to Aldi." Fair point, and I take it seriously: Aldi is cheap. After 20 years of hammering away at Coles and Woolies, they've forced the duopoly to drop prices on a lot of categories and they're still the cheapest option for plenty of household staples.

But "Aldi is cheap" and "Aldi is cheapest for everything" are two different claims, and the second one isn't true. There are categories where Amazon S&S bulk beats Aldi by a meaningful margin, and there are categories where Aldi beats both Amazon and the big supermarkets outright. The trick is knowing which is which.

I sat down and worked through where each one actually wins. Here's the honest split.

Where Aldi wins (and you should just go)

These are categories where Aldi's everyday price beats Amazon S&S even at bulk pack size. Don't bother with the optimisation: just go to Aldi.

Fresh produce, fresh bread, deli meats, dairy

Amazon AU doesn't really compete here. Their fresh range is limited and the delivery economics don't work for produce. Aldi's fresh produce, while controversial in quality (some swear by it, some won't touch it), costs 20-30% less than equivalent Coles or Woolies on staples like bananas, milk, eggs, butter, and basic cheeses.

Snack foods, biscuits, chocolate, drinks

This is Aldi's home turf. Their house-brand replicas of mainstream snacks are often half the price of the brand-name versions and quality is comparable. Amazon's snack pricing isn't competitive even before you factor in delivery wait times. If you're stocking up on a kid's lunchbox or birthday party supplies, Aldi every time.

Specialty pantry items (gluten-free, low-sugar, organic)

Aldi's specialty range is hard to beat on price. Their gluten-free pasta, organic tomato passata, low-sugar muesli: all routinely 30-50% cheaper than the equivalent at Coles or Woolies and not really matched on Amazon.

Wine and beer

Where licensing allows. Aldi's wine has won awards, costs roughly half what the equivalent supermarket bottle does, and Amazon AU doesn't ship alcohol the way the big supermarkets do anyway.

Generic paracetamol and ibuprofen: newly tracked

Aldi's own Hedanol (paracetamol) and Hedafen (ibuprofen) generics are now in the tracker. Both come in cheaper than the supermarket brand, and cheaper than the Amazon pharmacy-seller generics too, at current prices:

• Paracetamol: Aldi Hedanol ~11.8¢/pill vs Woolies-shelf Panadol at ~35.6¢/pill vs the Amazon bulk Panadol option at ~27.4¢/pill.
• Ibuprofen: Aldi Hedafen ~5.8¢/pill vs Woolies-shelf Nurofen at ~39.2¢/pill vs the Amazon generic (Pharmacy Action) at ~6.2¢/pill.

Same active ingredient at the same dose either way: see the generic vs brand pain relief pillar for the regulatory detail. Prices move, so check back periodically: this is what the tracker shows today for these two, not a permanent ranking.

Toilet paper: newly tracked, brand-dependent

Aldi's Confidence 3-ply 24-pack now measures at ~19.7¢ per 100 sheets, versus the Woolies-shelf Quilton 24-pack (~31.5¢) and the Amazon Quilton 48-pack Subscribe & Save deal (~26.6¢). If you're not attached to a specific brand, Aldi's the cheaper option at today's prices.

The catch: this is Aldi's own brand, not Quilton. If you specifically want Quilton, the Amazon 48-pack on Subscribe & Save remains the cheapest way to get it: full per-sheet breakdown in the Quilton bulk maths article. Whether Aldi or Amazon comes out ahead here just depends on whether you care which brand is on the packet.

Where Amazon S&S wins (and you should set a subscription)

These are the categories where bulk + Subscribe & Save beats Aldi's pricing, usually because Aldi doesn't sell at the same pack size, or the brand differential matters.

Nappies and baby wipes (15% S&S Prime boost)

Amazon's 15% S&S Prime boost on nappies and wipes closes what would otherwise be a clear Aldi win. Per nappy:

• Aldi Mamia Newborn: roughly 45¢/nappy
• Huggies Newborn 108-pack on Amazon S&S Prime: ~44¢/nappy

Near-identical per-unit price, but on Amazon you're getting the dominant brand (Huggies has 60%+ market share) for roughly what Aldi charges for its budget house brand. For parents who specifically want Huggies, that makes Amazon S&S the easy call. The full maths is in Huggies bulk nappies on Amazon vs Woolies.

Bulk pet food (large bags)

Aldi sells dog food at competitive prices in small bags, but they don't stock the 15-20kg bulk bags that Amazon S&S has. For households with medium or large dogs, the bulk bag economics on Amazon beat buying small bags repeatedly at any supermarket, Aldi included.

Razor cartridges

Aldi's house-brand razors are popular and cheap, but they're not Gillette. If you specifically want Gillette Fusion5 or similar, the bulk pack on Amazon S&S beats buying 4-packs at any supermarket by a wide margin. If you don't care about brand, Aldi house-brand wins on absolute price.

Antihistamines (still an Amazon/Chemist Warehouse category, for now)

Paracetamol and ibuprofen moved to Aldi's column above once the real numbers came in; antihistamines haven't, because Aldi isn't live-tracked for that category yet. Chemist Warehouse currently beats both Aldi and Amazon for big-pack generic antihistamines (loratadine, cetirizine, fexofenadine), and the Amazon AU pharmacy-seller route is the next best option. See the Telfast vs Claratyne vs Zyrtec breakdown for the full maths. This section will get revisited once Aldi's antihistamine range is added to the tracker.

Where neither wins (and the supermarket beats both)

I want to be honest about this category because the "Amazon vs Aldi" framing sometimes obscures it: Coles and Woolies on half-price specials still beat everything for a few things.

Most people aren't disciplined enough to do this consistently, which is why Aldi (consistent low prices) and Amazon S&S (set-and-forget bulk) end up being better for actual household budgeting. But if you've got the patience and the storage, half-price stockpiling at the supermarket is the absolute cheapest route for plenty of categories.

How to actually shop, in practice

Here's the workflow that's worked for me and people I've recommended it to. It's three lists, not one:

1. Aldi list (every 1-2 weeks): fresh produce, dairy, bread, eggs, snack foods, specialty/health pantry items, wine and beer if applicable. One-stop shop on the way home from somewhere.
2. Amazon S&S subscriptions (set once, review yearly): bulk toilet paper, dishwasher tablets, laundry powder, nappies, baby wipes, razors, pet food, generic medicines you use regularly. Boring categories that you burn through predictably.
3. Coles or Woolies trip (when needed): anything on this week's half-price catalogue that you'd actually use. Stock up at the bottom of the price cycle, ignore the rest.

The summary table

The honest bottom line

Aldi and Amazon S&S are complements, not substitutes. The optimal Australian household shop in 2026 uses both: Aldi for the categories where their consistent low pricing wins, Amazon S&S for the bulk-pack and brand-specific categories where their pricing wins. Trying to do everything at one shop is the mistake, not which shop you pick.

This is early days for Aldi tracking: a handful of categories, with the list growing over time. I'll keep this article updated as new ones go live. Some will land in Aldi's favour, some won't, and I'll post the numbers either way rather than only the flattering ones.

For the seven categories where Amazon S&S beats the supermarket baseline, the full breakdown with maths is in my Subscribe & Save guide.