Disney+ begins its password-sharing crackdown in the United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific

Disney is taking a page from Netflix’s playbook, cracking down on password sharing across its streaming services.

After testing the waters earlier last year in select regions, Disney+ began notifying US subscribers in February 2024 about upcoming changes, with new rules set to take effect on June 1, 2024, in some areas and officially launching in the US in September 2024.

Now, Disney+ has begun to expand its password-sharing restrictions to a wider audience including the US.

This move marks a significant shift for users who have been freely sharing their accounts with friends and family. Now, those users will have to pay extra if they wish to continue extending their Disney+ subscription beyond their household.

To accommodate this shift, Disney+ has introduced an "Extra Member" add-on. For $7 a month on the Basic plan or $10 on the Premium plan, subscribers can share their plan with one additional user outside their household. However, the add-on comes with limitations—Extra Members can only stream on one device at a time, and it’s unavailable to users on Disney’s bundle plans (which includes Hulu and ESPN+).

Adding to the shake-up, Disney+ is set to raise prices across its subscription tiers next month. The ad-supported Basic plan will increase from $8 to $10, while the ad-free Premium plan will jump from $14 to $16 per month. These hikes make the Extra Member option a cheaper alternative than a full subscription, but overall, Disney’s streaming services are becoming more expensive.

For users affected by the crackdown, Disney is offering an easy transition. Shared account holders can transfer their profile to a new subscription or Extra Member account. This transfer will preserve their watch history, recommendations, and personalized settings—though it doesn’t apply to primary profiles, minors, or profiles in Junior Mode.

For subscribers who want to access Disney+ while travelling, there’s some flexibility. Users can mark themselves as “away from home” if they receive a message saying their device isn’t part of the account’s household. Alternatively, if you’ve moved recently, you can reset your household location. In both cases, logging in will require a one-time passcode sent to the account holder’s email.

Currently, this password-sharing enforcement is rolling out in regions including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Costa Rica, and the Asia-Pacific area. More regions are expected to follow soon.

The ultimate goal of this initiative is clear: Disney, like Netflix before it, wants to convert those benefiting from shared accounts into paying subscribers, boosting both its revenue and subscriber base.

The strategy isn’t limited to Disney+—similar changes are expected to come to Hulu and ESPN+. In recent updates to their subscriber agreements, both services now prohibit sharing login credentials with individuals outside of the household, echoing Disney’s broader push to tighten control over its streaming platforms.

As Disney follows in Netflix’s footsteps, the streaming landscape is rapidly changing, and the days of freely shared accounts are becoming a thing of the past.