Amazon has been quietly chipping away at one of the most valuable perks of its Prime membership: the ability to share benefits with others in your family. Beginning October 1, 2025, the Prime Invitee program will officially shut down, cutting off access for people who relied on it to extend fast, free delivery and other perks to family or friends living elsewhere.
For anyone affected, Amazon is offering a steep discount on Amazon Prime. They can sign up for their own Prime membership and pay just $14.99 for 12 months (versus the regular $139.00 for a year) if they act between September 5 and December 31.
According to a message we received from an Amazon spokesperson following the initial publication of this article, fewer than 1% of Prime members (what Amazon says were hundreds of thousands, not millions, of members) were currently taking advantage of the Prime Invitee perk. However, it’s not just this small group of Prime Invitee members who are impacted by Amazon's latest policy restrictions; the benefits for other Prime members have been gradually eroded over time, too.
For instance, up until April 7, 2025, you could establish an Amazon Teen account with a separate login that lets them shop and stream with your Prime benefits. Now, family members under 18 only have the option to be a profile under your Amazon Family account, without their own login or ability to shop. Interestingly, when adding Amazon Family members, there is the option to add either another adult or a child 12 and under, but no option at all for teens. The system asks for your child's birthdate, and doesn't prevent you from adding a "child 12 and under" who is actually a teenager, but it makes us question whether Amazon will be cracking down on this category in the future to force teens to have their own Amazon Prime memberships.
The other big change is that anyone 18 or older who doesn’t claim your home as their primary residence can’t be the other adult in your Amazon Family. Until July, 2025, when Amazon Household transitioned to Amazon Family, the program didn't have an explicit restriction on where household members resided. However, now Amazon is explicitly limiting Amazon Family benefits to adults and children who "share the same primary residential address".
I was able to take advantage of the original Amazon perks for my daughter. When she graduated from college, I added her as the other adult on my Prime account so she could enjoy free shipping and other benefits. She has since gotten her own Prime account, but I won’t be able to offer the same benefit to my son, who is in college now. When asked, the Amazon spokesperson did not provide clarification on whether Amazon will be monitoring usage outside your primary address or what actions Amazon will take if they discover it.
I may be cynical, but the timing feels strategic. Amazon chose October 1st as the cutoff date for the Invitee program, just before the next Prime Day sale usually kicks off. It’s hard not to see this as a way to boost subscription numbers right before one of Amazon’s biggest shopping events of the year.
Updated September 16, 2025 based on new information from an Amazon spokesperson that clarified usage of the Amazon Invitee program and additional details about changes to language in the Amazon Household and Family plans.
[Image credit: screenshot via Techlicious, laptop mockup via Canva]
From ebdb on September 16, 2025 :: 4:03 pm
My sister added me as the other adult in her Amazon Family. Will my access to Prime benefits end on Oct 1 or when her current subscription ends in 2026?
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From Suzanne Kantra on September 23, 2025 :: 10:34 am
If you didn’t receive an email from Amazon stating that your benefits were ending, you should be fine.
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