18 Surprising Deals with Alabama EBT Cards

If you’ve got an Alabama EBT card, then you may be surprised to know that your card can do so much more than just buy groceries! We’ve found discounts on everything from Amazon Prime to zoo admission, exclusively for people on food stamps!

Getting Started with Alabama EBT

At Low Income Relief, we write extensively about food stamps and we’ve been researching the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for more than 10 years! Our goal is to help low income people save money and get free stuff and we have a lot of content that can help you if you have Alabama EBT!

You can apply for Alabama EBT online! Using the official website for the Alabama Department of Human Resources is the fastest and easiest way to apply for food benefits. You don’t even have to leave home!

Know what you can buy. It’s actually amazing what you can buy with EBT in Alabama. The federal Food Stamps Act allows you to buy seeds, produce-bearing plants, and even some gift baskets with EBT. You can buy edible pumpkins and even bakery birthday cakes in some cases. This is just the start – we’ve found some really surprising things you can buy with EBT.

Make sure you’re getting the right amount. Some people get less food benefits than they should because they aren’t claiming all their deductions or they make mistakes in their paperwork. If you correct those mistakes, you could get more food stamps.

Don’t forget to get cash back! Although you can’t translate food benefits straight into cash benefits, you can use smart shopping techniques to put more cash into your pocket. Use a rewarded shopping app like Ibotta to get cash back on eligible food purchases.

Visit a You-Pick field! Alabama also has You-Pick Strawberry Fields, where you can use EBT or WIC to pay for a bushel of strawberries at participating locations! This is a fun way to build memories with your friends or family members. It’s also a great way to support local farms, buy local produce and save money on your fruit.

Statewide Alabama EBT Discounts

We’ve found loads of discounts that you can get with an Alabama EBT card! Some of these include nationwide offers and others are more local. Let’s start with the nationwide ones, since they’re easiest and apply to everyone in the state.

Amazon Prime (50% discount!)

Low income customers can get 50% off Amazon Prime when they receive SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, TANF, or even free school lunch benefits! This incredible program has changed lives for so many of our readers. I highly recommend it! Claim your Amazon discount now.

Free Cell Phones & Service

If you qualify for food benefits, then you also qualify for Lifeline! You can receive a free cell phone and free cell phone service through this program, which is absolutely incredible. Pick your provider today.

Free Internet

Many of these discounted internet programs use the same eligibility guidelines as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, so you could qualify automatically! Choose one of these free internet providers and then apply the Affordable Connectivity Program subsidy for even greater savings.

Double Your Money

Many farmer’s markets offer a Double Up Food Bucks program, which can give you twice the produce you pay for. For example, if you spend $1 then you can receive $2 in produce. If you spend $10, you could get $20! The program matches what you pay, so the more you spend the more you’ll save. Find a participating market today.

Local Alabama EBT Discounts

Your Alabama food stamps card can help you get discounted admission to fun venues around the state! Some museums only offer discounts to Alabama EBT cardholders, but the museums in green offer discounts to anyone with an EBT card from any state.

We try to update this list as often as possible, so be sure to check back often to see what discounts you can get just for having food stamps in Alabama!

Birmingham

Birmingham Zoo – $10 per adult, $7 per child

The Birmingham Zoo has a generous EBT discount exclusively for Alabama residents. In order to access this discount, you will need to show a current, valid, unexpired and signed EBT card. The zoo may also require photo ID, to ensure that the EBT card was issued in your name. Your EBT card can be used to purchase four discounted admission tickets per day during regular daytime general admission hours.

McWane Science Center- $3 per person

McWane Science Center is an epic state-of-the-art science center in Birmingham. A visit will usually cost a family of five up to $80 but if you have an EBT card, your family of five can visit for just $15! The EBT discount lowers your ticket price to just $3 per person, limit of five people per EBT card.

Vulcan Park & Museum- FREE

Vulcan Park and Museum welcomes people with food stamps in Alabama for FREE! There’s a limit of four free admissions per card.

Gadsden

Imagination Place Children’s Museum – $2 per person

The Imagination Place Children’s Museum has a child-size grocery store, medical clinic, construction pit and house. They also have a train station, a farm and a pirate ship! It’s ideal for kids between the ages of 2 and 10.

As a Museums for All partner, Imagination Place charges $2 per person for families with EBT cards.

Huntsville

Alabama Constitution Park – $3 or less per person

Embark on a fascinating journey at Alabama Constitution Hall Park! Join our guided tours and travel back in time to explore Alabama’s early days and how it became a state. You’ll have a guide dressed in old-fashioned clothes showing you around buildings that are exact copies of the ones from the 1820s. Plus, you’ll get to see demos of trades and skills that made Huntsville awesome back then! It’s like stepping into a history book!

Burritt on the Mountain – FREE

Enjoy a great EBT discount at Burritt on the Mountain! Although admission is usually $12 for adults and $8 for children, Burritt on the Mountain has joined Museums for All and now offers an incredible EBT discount!

Burritt on the Mountain’s participation in Museum for All program includes general admission free for same family household (max 8) by showing proof with SNAP EBT card.

Gina Hurst, Chief Development Officer at Burritt on the Mountain

EarlyWorks Children’s Museum – $3 or less per person

EarlyWorks Children’s Museum is a hands-on interactive history museum designed for children between the ages of 2 and 9 years old. Older children may still enjoy the experience, especially if they are tagging along with younger siblings. Up to four people can visit for just $3 each with an EBT card.

Huntsville Botanical Garden – $3 per person

The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a 112-acre botanical garden includes the nation’s largest open-air butterfly house. It also includes an aquatic garden, wooded nature trails, specialty gardens and more. You can also get a free pass from your local library. 

US Space & Rocket Center – $3 per person

Show your EBT card and an ID at the US Space & Rocket Center to receive admission of just $3 per person for up to four people. This covers general admission only, so you will have to pay extra for a planetarium show or a show in the digital theater.

Mobile

Gulf Coast Exploreum – UNCERTAIN

The Gulf Coast Exploreum in Mobile is currently deciding on their EBT discount policy. They used to offer $2 admission per person when you showed an EBT card but I was unable to confirm this information in 2023.

According to an email I received from an Exploreum representative indicated that they are current deciding on a new EBT policy but it is unclear what that policy will be.

We are in the process of changing that. The information out there is incorrect and we are deciding on that policy moving forward here soon.

Josh Holland, Representative from The Gulf Coast Exploreum

History Museum of Mobile – FREE

The History Museum of Mobile features over 117,000 items that explore the rich history of Mobile, Alabama. The collection includes an actual Civil War cannon as well as a signed baseball from Henry “Hank” Aaron. As a Museums for All member, the History Museum of Mobile offers a generous EBT discount that welcomes up to four guests for free with each EBT card.

Mobile Botanical Gardens – $3 per person

The Mobile Botanical Gardens welcome anyone with WIC or food stamps in Alabama to visit for just $3 per person. There’s a limit of four people per EBT card, however. You will also need a valid ID.

University of South Alabama Archaeological Museum – FREE

The Archaeology Museum showcases artifacts that cover 12,000 years of history and prehistory. The museum is free whether or not you have an EBT card… but Museums for All has it listed as a museum with an EBT discount so we’ve listed it here as well.

Wills & Estate Planning

Low income residents of Mobile and other areas may be able to get assistance creating a will, or end-of-life document. In 2017, Lagniappe of Mobile reported that the city was working with Legal Services Alabama’s Mobile office to create free wills for low income residents. The hope was that this program would protect communities by ensuring that properties wouldn’t be abandoned or fall into disrepair if something happened to the owner.

Tuscaloosa

Alabama Museum of Natural History – FREE

The Alabama Museum of Natural History is located within Smith Hall on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. Guests with food stamps benefits are invited to visit free through their EBT discount program!

Get More Help in Alabama

At Low Income Relief, our goal is to help everyone with Alabama EBT save money and get free stuff. We know you’re struggling financially and that’s okay. You may want to check out these other resources that may be able to help:

• Legal Aid
• Free Food
• Tax Assistance
• Utility Discounts
• Veterinary Care Grants

Get more free stuff in Alabama! 

Nicole Thelin

Nicole is the owner and lead researcher for Low Income Relief. She has over 20 years of professional research and writing experience, and she has been solely dedicated to investigating low income topics for the last 10 years. Nicole started Low Income Relief after a personal experience with poverty. When her husband was medically discharged from the US Army, their family experienced tremendous financial hardship. Nicole was able to gather help from multiple community agencies and move into a nearby low income housing unit in just two weeks! Since then, Nicole has been dedicated to helping low income families in crisis. She regularly spends hundreds of hours combing through countless resources to make sure that Low Income Relief has the most comprehensive and complete resource directories on the internet today. Prior to starting Low Income Relief, Nicole worked as a novelist, journalist, ghostwriter and content creator. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications, including USA Today, The Daily Herald, The Chronicle and more. Her work has also been featured by Google for Publishers and other leading industry publications.