Amazon’s Cutting Off Prime Sharing: Here’s What’s Actually Changing

If you’ve been enjoying free Amazon shipping thanks to a friend or family member’s Prime account, I’ve got some news you probably won’t like. Amazon is ending its Prime Invitee program on October 1, 2025, which allowed Prime members to share their shipping benefits with people outside their household.

This isn’t just a small tweak. The change represents a significant shift in how the e-commerce giant approaches membership perks and could push more consumers toward individual subscriptions. Starting October 1, Amazon will discontinue its Prime Invitee program, which has been operating since 2009.

Amazon is basically saying “no more free rides.” Instead of letting your cousin in another state piggyback on your Prime benefits, they want everyone to have their own subscription. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the company is phasing out the program in favor of Amazon Family, which lets Prime members share free shipping and other benefits with one other adult, four children and up to four teens added before April 7, 2025. All users must share the same primary residential address.

The timing isn’t coincidental either. Amazon has been looking for ways to boost its Prime subscriber numbers, and this move effectively forces millions of people who were sharing benefits to either sign up for their own accounts or lose access entirely.

Amazon is encouraging users who don’t live with the account holder to pay for their own Prime subscription, offering them a one-year subscription for $14.99. Invitees who were not living with the account holder can subscribe on their own for $14.99 for the first year, with the offer extending through December 31, 2025.

This change affects way more people than you might expect. The Prime Invitee program has been around since 2009, and countless families and friend groups have been using it to share costs. Now Amazon is essentially collecting on all those shared accounts.

An Amazon spokesperson told Newsweek: “The Invitee program, which enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only, is being phased out, and Prime members can instead share a broad range of Prime benefits with Amazon Family, including fast, free delivery; access to exclusive deals and shopping” benefits.

The bottom line? Amazon is tightening the screws on one of Prime’s most generous features, and millions of people are about to feel the pinch. At least they’re giving you a year to ease into paying full price.