How to Share Amazon Prime With Family

If you have Amazon Prime, you've probably had friends and family members ask if they can use your Amazon Prime account to buy stuff with free two-day shipping. Whether you think password sharing is ethical or not, you can't deny that it's risky---and maybe you're reluctant to share access so freely.

But there's good news!

As an Amazon Prime member, there's one benefit you may have overlooked: with Amazon Household, you can share certain benefits of Amazon Prime with other family members who have Amazon accounts. Keep reading to learn how you can share Amazon Prime with your family, using an official method that's legal and easy to set up.

What Is Amazon Household?

Amazon Household is a special feature provided by Amazon that lets you link different Amazon accounts under one master account. As the name implies, this feature is designed specifically for families, which is reflected in the limitations of which accounts can be linked in a household:

Up to two adults who have their own Amazon accounts.
Up to four teen profiles, which are special logins that teenagers can use to independently browse and shop on Amazon.
Up to four child profiles, which are restricted logins that aren't allowed to browse or shop on Amazon. These profiles are meant for kids to use in conjunction with services like Amazon FreeTime.

In other words, an adult Amazon account can have several teen and child profiles, but a Household brings two adult Amazon accounts together and allows all the linked adults, teens, and children to share the benefits of Amazon Prime between them.

Or you can set up a Household for a single adult account, with both parents sharing the same account and setting up separate profiles for teens and children.

Which Amazon Prime Benefits Can Be Shared?

Without Amazon Household

A single adult Amazon Prime account, without using the Household feature, can create up to four teen profiles. These teen profiles can take advantage of the following Amazon Prime benefits:

Prime Shipping: Free two-day shipping to any address in the continental US.
Prime Video: Free streaming of TV shows and movies.
Twitch Prime: Free games and a free channel subscription on Twitch every 30 days.

With Amazon Household

Two adult Amazon Prime accounts that have been linked together in a Household can share the following Amazon Prime benefits:

Prime Shipping: Free two-day shipping to any address in the continental US.
Prime Now: Free same-day shipping to select zip codes in the continental US.
Prime Early Access: Access to Lightning Deals before regular Amazon shoppers.
Prime Video: Free streaming of TV shows and movies.
Prime Reading: Free access to ebooks and digital magazines.
Prime Photos: Free unlimited storage for photos.
Audible Channels: Free access to a rotating library of full-length audiobooks.
Twitch Prime: Free games and a free channel subscription on Twitch every 30 days.
AmazonFresh: Grocery delivery and pickup service. Only available if one of the two adults in a Household are paying for an AmazonFresh add-on membership.

Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited cannot be shared through a Household.

Amazon Prime benefits cannot be shared with child profiles. Prime Student accounts and free-trial Amazon Prime accounts cannot be adults in a Household, meaning they cannot share their Amazon Prime benefits.

When two adults link their Amazon accounts together in a Household, payment methods on each account become visible and accessible to both accounts. Whoever you link accounts with will be able to see your credit cards and other payment details.

As such, we recommend sharing Amazon Prime with family members only---and even then, only family members whom you trust completely. That said, it's a much better option than giving someone complete access to your account by sharing your password (in which case they'd have access to your payment methods anyway).

How to Add a Family Member to Amazon Household

Head over to the Amazon Household page and you'll see three buttons:

Add Adult: On the next page, enter their name and the email address associated with their Amazon account. They'll need to confirm and verify that they want to create a Household with you. Once they do, both accounts will be linked together under the same Household.
Add a Teen: On the next page, click Sign up now to begin adding a teen. Fill out the teen's name and birthday, select which payment method they're authorized to use, select which shipping addresses they're allowed to use, and select which contact method to use for notifications when they buy something.
Add a Child: On the next page, fill out the child's name, gender, birthday, and select an icon for the profile.

How to Remove a Family Member From Amazon Household

Head over to the Manage Your Household page and you'll see three sections: Adults, Teens, and Children. Find the family member you want to remove, click Edit under their name and icon, and then click Remove. It's as easy as that!

Start Taking Full Advantage of Amazon Prime

Don't underestimate the value of being able to share these Amazon Prime benefits. There are so many great movies on Prime Video and awesome Prime TV shows, plus other conveniences like sharing unlimited photos with family members and even being able to participate in Prime Day every year.

If you don't have Amazon Prime and don't know anyone who can share it with you, you could always go ahead and sign up for a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime.

Image Credits: rvlsoft/Shutterstock