YouTube is pulling a Netflix with stricter Premium family plan rules

What you need to know

• YouTube will pause Premium Family accounts shared outside the same household.
• Affected users get 14 days to confirm eligibility before losing Premium benefits.
• The crackdown follows Netflix's 2023 policy and aims to boost new plan sign-ups.

YouTube has long allowed users to share the Premium subscription with up to five members through the Premium Family plan. The plan, which costs about $23 per month, has been an easy way to split the subscription with others. However, it now looks like YouTube will soon crack down on users sharing accounts outside their household.

It seems YouTube has started notifying users who are part of a Family plan but not physically located in the same household as the family manager. The company has reportedly started sending emails saying their "YouTube Premium family membership will be paused" (via Android Police).

In the email, YouTube says Family plan members must be "in the same household as the family manager." If not, the membership will be "paused in 14 days." The email adds that affected users will "remain in your family group" and still watch YouTube with ads, but will "no longer have YouTube Premium benefits."

Notably, YouTube will allow users who receive this email to "confirm eligibility and maintain access" using a support form.

Not many users are affected just yet

If this sounds familiar, it's exactly what Netflix implemented in 2023, requiring all account users to be physically associated with the same household, and now YouTube seems to be following suit.

For what it's worth, YouTube has required family members to be in the same household since 2023, but until now, there were no consequences for ignoring it. Now, it looks like the company is cracking down on YouTube Premium sharing between users in different locations more seriously.

If you're doing the same thing, the good news is the crackdown doesn't seem widespread yet, with only a few people on X/Twitter and Reddit reporting such emails.

It's also worth noting these reports are surfacing only months after YouTube introduced YouTube Premium Lite and started testing a two-person Premium plan, so this could be a way for the company to push more sign-ups for different tiers.