All the brands claim to be the best on the market and offer distinct features, so choosing the right one can be overwhelming. While comparing Amazon Basics and Kirkland toilet paper, Kirkland Signature is usually the cheaper roll per sheet, but only if you grab it at Costco at a lower price, after paying an annual membership fee. Amazon Basics costs a little more per sheet, but it lands on your porch in a pack size you choose, not in bulk. I went through current listings, a 2023 price comparison, and reader comments from several toilet paper roundups, and the gap between the two is smaller than the social media arguments suggest. Costco does not make its own paper, which I covered in who makes Costco toilet paper, so you are really comparing two store-brand rolls built to hit a price.
Price Per Sheet: Kirkland Wins Only on a Good Day
Both are 2-ply, 30-roll packs. Kirkland gives you 380 sheets per roll and Amazon Basics gives you 350, so Kirkland packs about 900 more sheets in the box. A 2023 price comparison put Kirkland at $19.99 and Amazon Basics at $21.43. A Slickdeals thread from June 2025 showed the Amazon pack at a $25.21 list price, or $20.17 after a coupon and Subscribe & Save.
|
Kirkland Signature |
Amazon Basics 2-ply |
|
|
Pack |
30 rolls x 380 sheets |
30 rolls x 350 sheets |
|
Total sheets |
11,400 |
10,500 |
|
Prices I found |
$19.99 to $30.99 |
$20.17 to $25.21 |
|
Cost per 100 sheets |
17.5 to 27.2 cents |
19.2 to 24.0 cents |
That $30.99 is the figure we used in our Costco article, and it flips the result. At that price, Amazon's coupon deal beats Kirkland. Costco prices change by location and week, so check your receipt before you assume the warehouse is cheaper. A Deseret News comparison of household basics reached a similar conclusion: the savings between the two brands aren't dramatic.
Softness and Strength: No One Has Tested Them Head to Head
This is where most comparisons get vague, so here is what I could and could not find. Consumer Reports tested 15 toilet papers for strength, lint, and softness, and Kirkland was in the lineup, but they tested Amazon Aware, not Amazon Basics. The full ratings sit behind a paywall, so I will not pretend to quote scores. I found no lab test that puts these two rolls side by side.
What exists is the owner's opinion, and it splits. One blogger who ranked five brands put Kirkland third and mainly disliked the embossed pattern. Commenters on a Slickdeals thread went both ways, with one saying Kirkland is the slightly better roll and another saying his wife banned the Amazon brand from the house. Reviewers who dislike Kirkland tend to describe it as thin and prone to shredding or lint. My read is that neither roll is plush. If softness is your top priority, choose a premium brand and treat both as budget rolls.
Septic and Plumbing Safety
Both brands are sold as septic safe, and the EPA's septic care guidance says the only things that belong in the toilet are human waste and toilet paper. Wipes and paper towels cause far more septic trouble than any 2-ply roll. Even so, rolls differ in how fast they break down, and a label will not tell you that. Drop a few sheets of each into a jar of water, shake it for about ten seconds, and see which one falls apart faster. The experiment takes two minutes and costs nothing.
Which One I Would Buy?
If you already have a Costco membership and the storage space, buy Kirkland when the 30-pack is for $20 because you get more sheets, and it is the cheaper roll per sheet on those days. The catch is the bulky 30-roll box, and Costco has changed pack sizes before, so confirm the count on the label.
If you do not shop at Costco, buy Amazon Basics with Subscribe & Save and clip the coupon when one shows up. Amazon also lets you pick a smaller pack, which helps if you live in a small apartment with limited storage. If either roll disappoints you, the problem is likely softness, not value, and the fix is a different tier, not a different store brand.
