Amazon Ends Prime Invitee Free Shipping Program, Introduces Amazon Family

NEW YORK - Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will discontinue its Prime Invitee program, which allowed Prime members to share free two-day shipping with individuals outside their household. The program will officially end on October 1, 2025, requiring affected invitees to sign up for their own Prime memberships if they wish to continue enjoying free shipping.

According to Amazon’s update on its customer service page, the Prime Invitee program-launched in 2008-has been phased out in favor of the Amazon Family plan. Under Amazon Family, Prime members can share free shipping and a suite of additional benefits only with individuals living at the same primary residential address. This new arrangement permits one additional adult, up to four teenagers (if added before April 7, 2025), and up to four child profiles to participate.

Amazon is offering a promotional rate of $14.99 per month for new subscribers during their first year, after which the standard monthly fee of $14.99 will apply. The discounted offer is available from September 5 through December 31, 2025, to ease the transition for current invitees who must establish their own subscriptions.

This shift aligns with broader industry trends among subscription services tightening sharing policies to drive individual signups. Reuters recently reported that Amazon fell slightly short of its Prime membership targets leading up to this year’s extended Prime Day event, despite record sales, prompting the company to refocus on growing its standalone subscriber base.

Beginning October 1, current Prime invitees will receive direct notifications advising them to create separate Prime accounts to maintain free shipping privileges. Prime members wishing to share benefits under the new Amazon Family plan can manage household members through the “Share Your Prime Benefits” section of their account settings.