Disney Plus sets a price tag on account sharing: Is it worth it?

Password sharing is a thing of the past as far as major streaming services are concerned. Gone are the days when you could buy a streaming subscription and share it with your family and friends. It’s the classic bait-and-switch if you think about it. Streaming giants lured us in with good content and made us believe in the value of subscribing thanks to the shareable nature of accounts, but now that we’re on the hook, they’re bringing on the restrictions.

Disney Plus is the latest streaming service to join the paid-sharing bandwagon. The service warned users about this change a while ago, but now we finally know how much it will cost.

Starting this week, Disney Plus subscribers in the US, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region will see an option to add extra members to their accounts.

Primary users in the US will have to pay an additional fee of $6.99 per month for Disney Plus Basic subscriptions and $9.99 per month for Disney Plus Premium subscriptions. Only one Extra Member slot will be available per account.

Alternatively, users outside a household can start paying for their own subscriptions. Disney Plus is giving people an option to transfer their existing profile to a new subscription so they can keep their watch history and settings. The company warns that certain profiles — including primary profiles, minor profiles, and those set to Junior Mode — cannot be transferred.

If a member of an account is away from their household, they’ll still be able to watch Disney Plus on their supported devices. When on the move, they’ll see a message saying, “This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account.” Users can mark themselves as “I’m Away From Home” or select the “Update Household” option if they’ve recently moved and need to reset the household location for their Disney Plus subscription. These selections will require a one-time passcode that will be sent to the email address associated with the account.

As streaming competition intensifies, Disney’s decision reflects a broader industry push where platforms are seeking to maximize revenue by tightening restrictions on account sharing. While subscribers can still enjoy content within their household without additional charges, this new fee for external sharing is expected to spark a debate among users about the value of shared access versus the cost of individual subscriptions.