Disney has a simple message to those sharing a password to its streaming service with friends: Pay up. The password-sharing crackdown the House of Mouse has been threatening officially began Wednesday in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.
If you watch Disney+ on your iPad, Mac or Apple TV using someone else’s password, the company plans to find you and make you stop.
Disney+ forbids password sharing
Series like Agatha All Along and The Mandalorian aren’t cheap to produce, and Disney+ exists to make a profit. Combined with its companion service Hulu, the two streamers brought in a profit in the second quarter of this year, and Disney says it expects them “to be a meaningful future growth driver for the company, with further improvements in profitability in fiscal 2025.”
Getting more people to pay for Disney+, not watch it for free, is part of that expectation. And that’s where the password-sharing crackdown comes in.
“Your Disney+ subscription is meant to be used within your Household, which is a collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence,” a company blog post said Wednesday. “But what about people outside of your Household? They will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an Extra Member to your account for an additional monthly fee to continue enjoying Disney+.”
The U.S. cost for an Extra Member profile is $6.99 per month for a subscription with ads, or $9.99 per month for an ad-free subscription. And families can only add a single Extra Member.
Disney won’t operate on the honor system during its push to crush password sharing, either. It’s looking for subscribers who stream from separate locations. If that’s you, expect to start receiving notifications asking you to subscribe.
This move is part of a trend. Rival streaming service Netflix began its own password-sharing crackdown in 2023. That resulted in millions of new subscribers. Apple TV+ has yet to do anything similar, however.
Prices going up, too
As of October 17, 2024, the cost of streaming Disney+ goes up for everyone. That’s also part of keeping the streaming service profitable.
Starting next month, Disney+ without ads goes up to $15.99 a month (previously $13.99). An annual no-ads subscription will run $159.99 per year (previously $139.99). With ads, Disney+ will cost $9.99 per month, up from $7.99. There’s no annual subscription option for the ad-supported tier.
Price hikes for Hulu and ESPN+ are imminent as well.