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Though Amazon’s Prime program offers a number of benefits, not everyone can — or wants to — pay for it.
The mega-retailer used to have very relaxed rules about Prime sharing, but Amazon revamped the program in 2015 to focus more on families.
Still, if you’d rather not gift an entire Prime subscription, you can definitely share Prime membership perks. Just know that doing so comes with a few caveats.
Check out our guide to sharing Amazon Prime below.
Can you share Amazon Prime?
Yes, you can share Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime members have the ability to set up an Amazon Household, which makes it easy to share Amazon Prime with family.
You can set up a Household with friends or roommates, too. However, this might not be the easiest thing to manage.
3 drawbacks of an Amazon Household
Setting up an Amazon Household with friends or roommates can quickly get complicated, especially if more than two people are involved. Technically, 10 people can be part of a Household, but only six of them will have access to Prime benefits.
The complications don’t end there. Below, we’ve listed three more Prime-sharing drawbacks.
1. Amazon Households can only have 2 ‘adults’
A Household is made up of two “adult” accounts, up to four “teen” accounts, and up to four “children.” Unfortunately, those classifications all carry different privileges. The two adults can make purchases whenever they want, but those with child profiles can't use Prime benefits.
Further, any teen accounts must get purchases approved by one of the adults. Granted, Amazon says teen orders can be approved with a simple text, but that’s still an awkward step to take for a friend or roommate in that position.
2. You have to share payment methods
Even if everyone in your Household adds a separate card or checking account for their own orders, you still have to trust them to only use their own payment methods. That feels like a bigger deal than simply sharing your Netflix or Hulu password.
There’s one consolation: Amazon will notify you if another adult in your Household moves your card to their wallet.
3. There’s a long waiting period if you leave
If an adult leaves your Amazon Household for any reason, they have to wait 180 days before they can join another Household. And you can’t add another adult for the same amount of time. (The adult who left can rejoin the same Household at any time.)
What can you share in an Amazon Household?
Ready to share Prime? As we indicated above, only the two “adults” in an Amazon Household have access to most Prime benefits.
Prime benefits you can share
- Prime shipping
- Prime Now (if available in your area)
- Amazon Fresh
- Prime Video
- Amazon Prime Reading and Amazon First Reads
- Amazon Photos
- Early access to Amazon Lightning Deals
- Prime-exclusive pricing on Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Kids+ subscriptions
- Amazon Family discounts, including up to 20% off subscriptions for baby food and diapers
- 2% rewards when you reload your Amazon.com gift card
- Prime-exclusive pricing at Whole Foods
Note that Prime members can share free photo storage with up to five people via the Family Vault feature.
Prime members can also share the on-Twitch benefits of Prime Gaming. These include access to free games and in-game loot.
Prime benefits for teens
Are you going to have to classify some friends as “teens” in your Household? In that case, the “adults” in a Household can share the following benefits with “teen” logins:
- Prime shipping
- Prime-exclusive brands
- Early access to deals
- Prime Video
- Prime Gaming
- Unlimited photo storage with Amazon Photos
What can’t you share via Amazon Prime?
For all the Prime benefits you can share, there are a few that aren’t included.
Households can’t share Prime Music or purchased video subscriptions. The same holds true for teen logins. Plus, teen logins don’t work for either Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh delivery.
Who can’t share Prime at all?
Select types of Prime members can't share their benefits at all. These groups include:
- Prime Student members
- Customers who receive shipping benefits from another member
- Prime Video members
- Members with certain discounted Prime offers
Prime benefits also can’t be shared with “child” accounts in your Household, regardless of whether the account holders are actually children.
If you’re ready to start sharing Amazon Prime, check out our step-by-step instructions for setting up an Amazon Household.
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