Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Amazon will shut down the Prime Invitee program on October 1.
- Free Prime shipping perks can only be shared with people at the same address via Amazon Family.
- Invitees outside your household will need their own Prime membership going forward.
Sharing online subscriptions used to be the norm, but in the last few years, we’ve seen various companies clamp down on it. Netflix was an early culprit, and Disney Plus followed, while others have been less generous with perks that were once shared freely. Now Amazon is making a similar move with Prime, shutting down the program that previously let you give free shipping benefits to someone who doesn’t live with you.
As spotted by The Verge, Amazon just updated its support page to confirm that the Prime Invitee program will end on October 1. Once the change takes effect, anyone outside your household who’s been enjoying your Prime delivery perks will lose access.
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Instead, Amazon wants you to switch to Amazon Family. That means you can still share Prime, but only with people at the same home address. The setup allows one other adult, plus up to four teens (if they were added before April 7), and four child profiles. Everyone has to be under the same roof, since Amazon defines a “Family” as sharing your main residential address.
Beyond free shipping, Amazon Family covers extras like Prime Video (with ads), Prime Reading, third-party perks such as Grubhub, and even Amazon Music Prime, which can be shared between two adults for ad-free shuffle listening.
If you’re currently a Prime invitee, your options are limited: either join an Amazon Family with people at your address or start your own subscription.
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