Disney+ to charge up to £60 a year more if you share your account – here's what you need to know
If you share your Disney+ account with friends or family who don't live with you, you'll now need to pay up to £4.99 a month extra to do so, as the streaming service has clamped down on password sharing.
If you're currently using someone else's subscription and now plan to get your own, see our Disney+ deals round-up for ways to cut the cost.
Got Disney+? You'll now have to pay up to £4.99 a month to share it with someone outside your household
Here's what you need to know:
Disney+ will now check where you're accessing it from. The service will automatically set up a 'Household' for your account based on the devices you use and your 'primary residence'. If you log in while you're away from home, you'll need to verify your account using a one-time passcode sent to your email.
You'll need to buy a separate 'Extra Member' profile to share your account with someone outside of your household. On top of your base price, this will cost £3.99 a month if you have a 'Standard with Ads' plan and £4.99 a month if you've got a 'Standard' or 'Premium' plan.
You WON'T be charged automatically if you're currently sharing your account. You'll need to proactively buy the extra profile. It's not yet clear if or how Disney+ will enforce the new policy – for example, whether it will start locking you out if you're not the account holder. We've asked and will update this story when we know more.
You can only buy ONE Extra Member add-on per account. The Extra Member CAN'T have had a Disney+ subscription before, including a free trial. They will only be able to stream on one device at a time, but will otherwise be able to access the same content and features as the account holder – see our table below for how the plans compare.
Plan | Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
Base price | - £4.99 a month | - £7.99 a month | - £10.99 a month |
Extra Member price | + £3.99 a month (so an extra £47.88 a year) | + £4.99 a month (so an extra £59.88 a year) | + £4.99 a month (so an extra £59.88 a year) |
Ad-free viewing? | No | Yes | Yes |
Devices you can stream on at the same time (i) | Two | Two | Four |
Picture quality | Full high-definition (1080p) | Full high-definition (1080p) | Ultra-high definition (4K HDR) |
Can you watch content offline? (i) | No | Yes – on up to 10 devices | Yes – on up to 10 devices |
(i) This only applies to devices within your household. Extra Members can only stream and download on one device at a time.
Here's how to buy the new add-on if you want to share your account
To share your Disney+ account with someone outside of your household, you need to:
Log in to your Disney+ account.
Select 'Manage Account' or select the profile picture in the top right and then the 'Account' option.
Find the 'Your Plans and Billing' section and select 'Invite an Extra Member'.
From there, follow the steps to invite the person you want to share your account with and complete the process.
Within your Disney+ account you can also review which devices are currently signed in and remove any devices that shouldn't have access – see the Disney+ website for how to do this.
If you're unhappy with the changes, you can cancel penalty-free
All Disney+ plans can be cancelled or downgraded anytime penalty-free. Here's how:
Log in to your Disney+ account.
Select 'Manage Account' or select the profile picture in the top right and then the 'Account' option.
From the 'Your Plans and Billing' section, select your subscription.
Then, select 'Cancel Subscription' and follow the remaining steps to confirm.
If you cancel midway through your billing cycle, you'll still be able to carry on using your account until your next payment date (this includes annual subscribers).
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1 October 2024
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