[1] The song impacted American rhythmic crossover radio on March 2, 2015, as the third and final single from the group's first studio album, Reflection (2015).

Directed by Cameron Duddy, the music video has themes of female empowerment with Fifth Harmony dominating men as business executives.

The group promoted "Worth It" with several televised performances, including the season twenty-one finale of Dancing with the Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live!

"Worth It" was produced and co-written by Norwegian production company, Stargate, consisting of duo Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen and Ori Kaplan, with additional writing from Priscilla Renea.

The song was released on January 15, 2015, on streaming and downloading services but officially impacted American rhythmic crossover radio as a single on March 2, 2015.

[5] Originally intended for recording by rapper Kid Ink, who ended up collaborating on the song, the lyrics and melody were changed to fit a female perspective.

Kid Ink noted during an interview with Forbes that while he was "writing on their album", he was able to collaborate with "producers Stargate and Cashmere Cat" and this led to the development of the song.

[8] In an interview with Billboard, music director David Armbrecht explained that the song is a "message of self-empowerment, which is made clear in its triumphant 'Give it to me, I'm worth it!'

It can be noted mainly in its instrumentation, which incorporates a Balkan-inflected saxophone,[12][18] trance synths and a trap-inspired Roland TR-808 drum machine.

[19] However, it can be considered as a feminist anthem, according to Jeff Benjamin from Fuse, it can inspire "young girls to truly believe they're 'Worth It' and can own Wall Street or any other place on which they set their sights".

Rick Florino from Artistdirect praised "Worth It", giving it a five out of five star rating, claiming the song has "an empowering refrain that's impossible to shake, especially when coupled with a slippery beat".

[23] FDRMX also reviewed it positively, mentioning that "the production is solid and the lyrics are catchy" and also stating that the single is Fifth Harmony's most mature record yet.

[25][26][27] Rebecca Mattina, from Andpop gave the song a mixed review, noting too-close a similarity to "Talk Dirty" but also stating that the track is "filled with lots of attitude" and rhythmic bounce.

[29] In a review for their debut album, Reflection (2015), Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork commented that the song is an "exhaustive exquisite corpse of practically every radio hit of the last year and a half" and criticizes the "wholly unremarkable rap verse" performed by Kid Ink.

"[31] In a mixed-positive review, Amy Davidson, from Digital Spy, noted that "trumpets and saxophones have experienced a resurgence [and Fifth Harmony] have laid it on thick for some serious sax-sampling.

[42] The following week, the song rose two spots at a new peak of 39, earning the group their second top 40 hit and their highest-charting single at the time of the publication.

[48][49] The next week, the song rose two more spots at a new peak of 19, earning the group their first top 20 single, gaining radio airplay by 18 percent at a 31 million audience.

[57] It achieved a triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, for combined sales and track-equivalent streams units of three million;[58] additionally, as of 2016, it was one of only twenty-two songs released in 2015 to be certified multi-platinum.

For the week dated July 16, 2015, the song rose 48 spots to a peak at number 3, earning the group their first top five entry on the chart.

[73] Critics were positively receptive of the video, some calling the visuals "sexy" and commending the message of female empowerment that is the group executes.

She notes the video's ambiguous message, but knows there is a "clear difference between women dressing for the male gaze and doing so for their own personal satisfaction.

At the time, a static screen appeared that read, "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on repetitive, misleading or inappropriate metadata."

Individual shots of every girl are shown, giggling and smiling at the camera, before switching back to the stock market background.

The verse changes to Kid Ink, who is dressed in almost all-black clothing, he doesn't move his body and is stationary, which is to show he is being forced into humiliation.

The women are dressed in business attire and are shown to have green eyes, in this case it is to show their possessiveness over him, tricking him into signing a fake cheque into fraud.

Just like the women sitting next to Kid Ink, he also appears to have green eyes, but in this case it is to show his jealousy of them, as shown in shakespeare.

The words "feminism is sexy" appear in the stock market background, before switching to Kid Ink, where the women move in-sync to the rhythm as he raps.

[85] The group performed the song with Kid Ink for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 18, 2015, and this was also their first ever late night appearance.

[87] At the 2015 Premios Juventud and the season finale of the Latin American singing competition La Banda, the group sang a mix of "Worth It" and "Dame Esta Noche", the Spanish version of the aforementioned single.

The song is featured in the films Little, Hotel Transylvania 2[96] and How to Be Single[97] as well as the television shows The Mindy Project,[98] Telenovela,[99] Lethal Weapon[100] and Mary + Jane.