Amazon is ending its Prime Invitee Program which let Prime members share free shipping benefits with people outside of their homes. The program officially ends on October 1.
A CNBC report claims that Amazon has begun notifying customers about its plans to end the program. Previously invited "guests" should receive notifications by September 5.
“We are writing to inform you that the Prime Invitee Program, which allowed sharing Prime’s fast, free delivery with others, will end on October 1, 2025,” the notice reportedly states.
Up until now, the program let Prime members share free, two-day shipping with another adult in their household, even if they had a different address. Amazon will now prompt the guest users to start their own Amazon Prime accounts at a discounted $14.99 for the first year, and a standard $14.99 a month afterwards.
The Invitee program, which enabled sharing of the Prime shipping benefit only, is being phased out.
Amazon statement
We were informed that Amazon stopped accepting new invitees in 2015 — only six years after the program launched in 2009.
With that the company is encouraging customers to sign up for Amazon Family at no extra cost instead which allows Prime benefits to be shared across multiple people in the same house. However, it's currently limited to two adults and up to four children.
Teenagers can be included if they were added before April 7, 2025. Benefits include free shipping, Prime Video, Music and more.
"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," an Amazon spokesperson told Tom's Guide in a statement.
Sharing crackdown
It's not clear how Amazon will limit account sharing under the new policy as the company has not provided any specifics. But it's not alone in cracking down on account sharing.
This year alone, both HBO Max and YouTube Premium introduced measures to eliminate password sharing. It follows similar moves from Disney Plus late last year as streaming services attempted to follow Netflix's model for reducing account sharing.
As subscription services sign-ups plateaued in recent years, streamers and others are trying to claw back some revenue by forcing people to sign up for accounts as opposed to just sharing them with others.
Slower Prime subscriptions to blame?
This crackdown on account sharing comes as Reuters reports that Amazon fell short of its goals for Prime sign-ups in the United States. This occurred despite the extended four-day Prime Day event this summer. Signups apparently failed to meet last year's total and the company's own internal targets.
According to Reuters, the company registered 5.4 million sign-ups in the month leading up to this year's Prime Day. This is about 116,000 less than last year and 106,000 below the company's goals.
"Prime membership continues to show strong growth and customer engagement in the U.S. and internationally," a spokesperson told Reuters. The company added that it had earned "record-breaking" sign-ups without providing specifics.
A spokesperson told Tom's Guide that there is no relationship between the ending of the program and the company's recent Prime Day numbers.
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