Aldi vs Walmart – Which Store is Less Expensive?

Aldi vs Walmart – Which Store is Less Expensive? I love both stores honestly. My kids are at the point of their life where they prefer name-brand food for chips and snacks, so I usually go both places.  In this blog post, I attempt to break down some of the most popular weekly grocery items at both stores. I wasn’t able to find direct comparisons to all but got pretty close. 

I talk a lot about Aldi on this website – if you’ve been here a while you know I have ALDI meal plans based on Aldi ingredients. In fact, if you want a free meal plan, you can grab that below.

I have so many tips on how to save money shopping at Aldi, in fact, here are 13 secrets you don’t know about Aldi? Some of my readers have asked about Walmart, especially if they don’t have an Aldi in their area.  This gave me the idea to write this post about which store is cheaper, Aldi or Walmart?

Aldi vs. Walmart – Which Store is Less Expensive

I took a few hours to walk around both stores and based my results on a few different criteria. I compared brand-name items, store-brand items, and items used with coupons. 

Here are the in-store pictures that show the deals in detail:

Bananas:

Honestly, the bananas at Walmart looked fresher and had fewer bumps and bruises than the Aldi ones. At a $0.03 difference, I would probably go with the ones at Walmart. In my experience with ALDI bananas, they are either super green or perfectly ripe. I never find the in between.

Aldi – $0.44 per lb.

Walmart – $0.47 per lb. √

Yogurt:

Yogurt was a tricky one to compare because there are so many different varieties  For this article, I focused on large containers (32 oz.) and ones targeted more towards children.  The larger containers were a $0.50 difference, so Aldi won on that one, but there are coupons out for Yoplait Yogurt often, so the Yoplait could be cheaper than Aldi brand if you use coupons.

Aldi – $1.99 32 oz. Light & Fit √

Walmart – 32 oz. Dannon Yogurt – $2.49

I was surprised to see that Walmart beat Aldi on the price comparison for kids yogurt.  The base price on kids yogurt was cheaper, but when paired with a coupon you will save almost $1.00!  Moo Tubes does have 8 included and the Yoplait only has 4, but there were also GoGurts for the same price ($1.88) which probably would be more comparable to the Moo Tubes.

Aldi – Moo Tubes $1.99

Walmart – Yoplait kids$1.88 + coupons! √

Diaper Wipes:

The Aldi diapers wipes were only $0.99 for a 72 ct. The Pampers brand and Huggies brand Wipes, also 72 ct.,  were $1.97 at Walmart.  There are always coupons out for $0.50 off Huggies or Pampers Wipes making them only $1.47 after a coupon.  I’ve used the Aldi brand with some of my kids, so I can attest the quality is AMAZING and so cost-effective.

Aldi – $0.99 √

Walmart – name brand wipes $1.97 (or $1.47 after coupon)

Diapers:

I’m a brand-name diaper snob, but I also love saving money. So I have tried the Aldi diapers which are $4.99 for a 36 ct. package.  Walmart diapers were cheaper at $3.97.  Name brand diapers like Huggies and Pampers were $8.97.  If you shop for diapers often, you know there are often Diaper coupons for both Pampers and Huggies so you could get them for as low as $6.97. Want free diapers, check out my post on ways to earn free diapers.

Aldi – $4.99

Walmart – $3.97 for store brand √ – as low as $6.97 for name brand diapers.

Trash Bags:

I wanted to look at trash bags at the price per bag when determining which store was cheaper for trash bags.  There were Ruffie brand trash bags (30 ct) for only $1.62. Plus there are frequent coupons for these which brings the cost down to around $1.12.  This makes it only $0.03 per bag!

Aldi – $4.99 for 80 Kitchen Trash Bags = $0.06 per bag

Walmart – $6.97 for 50 Kitchen Trash Bags = $0.14 per bag – OR Ruffles bags which = $0.05 per bag without a coupon. √

Green Peppers:

I honestly believed Aldi would have the better price with green peppers, but when I actually did my comparison on which store is cheaper. . . I was WRONG!

Aldi –  3 pack $1.99 ($0.66 each)

Walmart – $0.53 each √

Toothpaste:

I’m a firm believer that you should never pay more than $1.00 for toothpaste. These are essentially all the same, but with the name brands, you are paying for the advertisement and marketing.  A lot of people assume a name brand product at Aldi is a great deal, but that is not the case.  Almost 100% of the time the item is the same price or more expensive, like this Crest toothpaste I found.

Aldi – Crest 6.4 oz. toothpaste $2.89

Walmart – Crest 6.4 oz. toothpaste $2.98 + you can use a coupon with it so it would be cheaper.  There is also a Colgate 6.4 oz. bottle for only $1.25 so this is cheaper without a coupon!  We always see coupons for Colgate toothpaste, so this should not cost you more than $0.50 if you have one. √

Peanut Butter:

The peanut butter at Aldi was cheaper than at Walmart, but when paired with a coupon it is very possible to get it for less money at Walmart.  I also found it interesting that the Skippy name brand peanut butter was cheaper than the Walmart brand.

Aldi – $2.29 √

Walmart – Store brand $2.56 and Name Brand Skippy $2.50

Razors:

The 4-packs of razors were only slightly different at Walmart and Aldi, BUT you could get one of the ‘expensive’ Gillette Fusion Razors for only a little bit more.  I would probably go for the Gillette Razor because it will give you a better shave AND will last longer.

Aldi – 4 pack of razors $2.99

Walmart – 4 Pack of Wilkinson razors $3.49

Paper Towels:

I thought Aldi brand paper towels would be cheaper, but it turns out I was wrong about this too.  My stock-up price on paper towels is $0.50.  Only one of the deals I found fell within my stock up price.  This means that getting paper towels at Aldi and Walmart is NOT the cheapest way!  You can get much less expensive paper towels at the drug stores or your grocery stores on sale. 

The one price that I would buy in a pinch was the 6 pack of Decorator towels from Walmart, a 6 pack for $3.26 = $0.54 per roll.

Aldi – 6 pack for $5.99

Walmart –  6 pack for $3.26 or larger 8 pack of Walmart brand for $6.94.

I did not choose any of these items because I do not think any are a great deal.

Ground Beef:

I tried to pick comparable packages of ground beef, and Walmart was much cheaper.  Just make sure that you know what stores use Pink Slime and see if your store uses it in their meat packaging. If you aren’t familiar with ‘pink slime’ is you can find out more about it in this article. 

Aldi – 2-3 lb. packages $3.69 per lb.

Walmart – $7.98 for a 3 lb package = $2.66 per lb.

Chicken:

Looking at which store is cheaper I have to say I was SHOCKED at how much chicken was at Walmart!  I could NOT believe how much they were charging!  The picture below shows that they are charging $5.18 per lb – that is CRAZY!!!!    My grocery store puts the chicken on sale for $1.99 per lb., so even the Aldi price was more expensive.

Aldi – $2.29 per lb (still expensive because many stores around me put it on sale for $1.99)

Walmart – $5.18 per lb (this is the only package of chicken I could find, and it is the kind below their organic kind, so it will obviously be more expensive – thanks Paul!)

Eggs:

No explanation needed – same product – less at Aldi.

Aldi $1.55 √

Walmart $1.78

White Bread:

I compared just the basic store brand bread at both stores.  Aldi won out by a few cents!

Aldi – $0.85 √

Walmart – $1.18

Butter:

This one is simple: same butter and less money at Aldi!

Aldi – $2.09 √

Walmart – $2.18

Dishwashing Detergent:

This was a case of couponer vs. non-couponer.  If you use coupons, you can get the same price on name brand Cascade with a coupon as you can the Walmart store brand.  Aldi brand detergent is not my favorite, but it is cheaper than the comparable Walmart brand.  This category comes down to a case of quality vs. price.  Personally, I would go with Cascade with a coupon than get it ad Aldi.

Aldi – $2.49

Walmart – $2.98 for store brand, $3.97 for Cascade Brand (cheaper with coupon) √

Plastic Cups:

This one is also easy peasy  – same cups but cheaper at Aldi.

Aldi – 50 ct. of Plastic cups $2.49 √

Walmart – 50 ct. Plastic Cups $3.00

Paper Plates:

This is another simple one: more plates for less money at Aldi!

Aldi – 80 papers plates $2.79 √

Walmart – 70 papers plates $2.97

Sandwich Meat: 

You can get sandwich meat with a coupon at Walmart cheaper than you can buy it at Aldi.  The Aldi lunch meat was less money than its base price, but when paired with coupons, you can get a better deal on brand-name lunch meat at Walmart.  We always see coupons for Hillshire Farm and Sara Lee Deli Meats, so I know that you can get these for less money than the Aldi brand.

Aldi – $2.49

Walmart – Sara Lee $3.98, Great Value Walmart brand $2.68, Hillshire Farm $2.98.

Cereal:

OUCH! Do people actually think that cereal is cheaper at Walmart?  Aldi brand cereal ranged from $1.69 – $2.39 per box.  The Walmart brand cereal rang in at $1.98.  These prices were pretty comparable, but looking at name-brand cereal at Walmart was SCARY!  You will pay $3.68 per box at Walmart for Cheerios.  On sale with a coupon, you can get it for under $1.50 per box at my local grocery store….Aldi’s won this one by a landslide!

Aldi – $1.69 – $2.39 √

Walmart – Walmart brand $1.98, Name brand $3.68

Cheese:

I found the name brand Cabot cheese at Walmart for less money than the Walmart brand, I thought this was strange!  Aldi cheese is cheaper, but I would rather pay an extra $0.21 per bar to get a nicer brand of cheese.  Cabot cheese is much better in my opinion than the Aldi brand…

Aldi – $1.79

Walmart – $2.38 store brand, $2.00 Cabot name-brand cheese

Milk:

I pretty much expected this, BUT that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t surprised that Walmart has cheaper milk than Aldi.  With whole milk, we are talking a savings of $0.84 per gallon. If your household goes through a lot of milk you could save a few dollars per week by getting it at Walmart.

Aldi – $2.59-$2.89

Walmart – $2.03

Toilet Paper:

This one was pretty surprising to me, but this is one of those times I’ll choose quality over money spent.  Toilet Paper is one item in my house I MUST buy name brand or else I get complaints from my ‘little people!’

Walmart has a brand called White Cloud that is often for $1.00 off making it $4.98 for 12 rolls.

Aldi – Panda 12 Rolls TP – $5.49 ($0.45 per roll)

Walmart – White Cloud $4.97 for 12 Rolls ($0.41 per roll).  You can also get Cottonelle TP for $6.47 with a coupon.

Which Store is Cheaper: The Verdict

There you have it! My side-by-side comparison of which store is cheaper Aldi or Walmart!  I’ve included lots of details and ways to save even more, like couponing.  I hope that you learned something like I did!

My best advice is to not assume something is cheaper just because it is at Walmart or Aldi. Actually do your research and know your prices.  

One bonus I will mention about Walmart: They will price match competitor ads.  This means as long as you take your Aldi ad into Walmart with you, you should be able to price match that ad at Walmart.

If you are new to Aldi and need a walk-through of how to shop at Aldi, I have a video on my site.  Regardless of where you shop, I do recommend scanning your receipts when you get home to save even more on your grocery bill. 

Do you want to learn how to save even more money at Aldi?  Check out my ALDI MEAL PLANS here.

I also compared Walmart vs Target. You can check out the post on Walmart vs Target which one is cheaper