Amazon Household lets up to six people share one Prime membership, but each person needs their own Amazon account and the primary account holder controls what gets shared

Amazon Prime Family Sharing works through a feature called Amazon Household. The person who pays for Prime (the primary account holder) invites up to five other people to join their household. Those five people get access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and free shipping — but not to the primary account holder's payment methods, order history, or Alexa device settings unless they choose to share those too.

The catch: everyone in the household needs their own Amazon account with a real email address. You cannot add a child under 18 without either creating a full account for them or setting up a Amazon Kids+ profile, which is a separate, restricted account type. And the primary account holder can remove anyone from the household at any time.

Key Takeaways

  • The person paying for Prime invites up to five others through Amazon Household, and those people get Prime Video, Music, Reading, and free shipping on their own accounts.
  • Each person in the household needs their own Amazon account with a real email address — you cannot share a single login.
  • The primary account holder can choose whether to share payment methods and order history, and can remove people from the household without warning.
  • Children under 18 can use Amazon Kids+ profiles instead of full accounts, which gives parents control over what they watch and read.
  • If someone leaves the household or you remove them, they lose Prime benefits when ready but keep their Amazon account and any purchases they made.

How to invite people to your Amazon Household

Start on a computer or the Amazon app. Go to Account & Lists (top right of the website), then select Account. Scroll down to Login & security and look for Amazon Household. Click Manage your Household.

You will see a section called Invite adults. Enter the email address of the person you want to add. Amazon sends them an invitation email. They have 30 days to accept it. Once they accept, they appear in your household list, and Prime benefits show up on their account when ready.

If you want to add a child, you have two options. You can create a full adult account for them (if they are 18 or older), or you can set up an Amazon Kids+ profile for anyone under 18. A Kids+ profile is not a separate Amazon account — it is a restricted view of your household account that you control. The child can watch, read, and listen to content you approve, but cannot make purchases or change settings.

What each person can and cannot access

Everyone in your household gets Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and free two-day (or faster) shipping. They see these benefits on their own Amazon account and can use them independently.

What they do not automatically get: your payment methods, your order history, your saved addresses, or your Alexa device settings. You control whether to share payment methods. If you do, anyone in the household can use your credit card or bank account to make purchases — so think carefully before turning this on. If you do not share payment methods, each person needs their own way to pay for anything beyond Prime benefits.

Alexa devices are separate. If you have an Echo speaker or display, you can let household members use it, but they will not see your personal Alexa routines or shopping lists unless you explicitly share those. Each person can set up their own Alexa profile on the device.

Removing someone from your household

Go back to Account & Lists > Account > Login & security > Manage your Household. Find the person you want to remove and click the three-dot menu next to their name. Select Remove from household. They lose Prime benefits when ready, but they keep their Amazon account and any purchases they made while in the household.

The person you remove will not receive a warning notification — they will straightforward notice that Prime is no longer active on their account. If you are removing someone who shares your payment method, make sure to remove that access first, or change your payment method entirely.

Switching who pays for Prime

If you want someone else in the household to become the primary account holder (the one who pays), you have to remove the current household and start over. Go to Manage your Household, click the three-dot menu next to the person who will take over, and select Make this person the account holder. The new account holder's payment method becomes the one charged for Prime, and the old account holder becomes a regular household member.

This change takes effect when ready. The new account holder can then invite new people or remove existing ones as they see fit.

Using Amazon Kids+ instead of a full account

If you have children under 18, you do not have to create a full Amazon account for them. Instead, you can set up an Amazon Kids+ profile on your household account. This is a restricted, child-friendly version of Amazon that you control.

With Kids+, you choose what content they can access — books, shows, movies, and music. You set screen time limits, see what they are watching, and approve purchases before they go through. The child cannot change these settings or access adult content. Kids+ costs extra (around $3 to $5 per month depending on whether you bundle it with Prime), but it gives you much more control than a full account would.

If your child is 18 or older, they need a full adult account to join the household, and you have no control over what they watch or buy.

Troubleshooting common problems

The invitation email never arrived. Check the spam folder first. If it is not there, go back to Manage your Household and try inviting again. Make sure you typed the email address correctly. If the person already has an Amazon account under a different email, you have to invite that email address, not create a new one.

Someone accepted the invitation but Prime is not showing up. Have them sign out of their Amazon account completely and sign back in. Sometimes the benefits take a few minutes to appear. If it still does not show up after 15 minutes, go to Manage your Household and remove them, then invite them again.

You want to leave someone else's household. You cannot remove yourself from Manage your Household on your own account. Instead, ask the primary account holder to remove you. Once they do, you lose Prime benefits but keep your Amazon account. If the primary account holder refuses to remove you, you can contact Amazon Customer Service and request to be removed.

Prime Video is showing different content for different people in the household. This is normal. Prime Video uses your watch history and recommendations to personalize what you see. Each person in the household has their own profile on Prime Video, so they see different suggestions. You can also set up separate profiles within Prime Video itself if you want to keep your watch history completely separate from others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have Amazon Household if I do not have Prime?

No. Amazon Household only works if the primary account holder has an active Prime membership. If your Prime membership ends, everyone in the household loses Prime benefits, but they stay in the household. If you renew Prime later, benefits come back for everyone.

What happens to my household if I cancel Prime?

Everyone in your household loses Prime benefits when ready, but the household itself stays active. If you sign up for Prime again, benefits come back for everyone without having to re-invite them.

Can two people in the same household have their own Prime memberships?

No. Only one Prime membership can be active per household. If someone in your household has their own Prime membership on a different account, you have to remove them from your household before they can keep their separate membership.

Does everyone in the household see my order history?

Not unless you share payment methods. If you share a payment method, they can see orders made with that card. Your personal order history on your account stays private. If you do not share payment methods, your orders are completely hidden from them.

Can I set up parental controls without using Amazon Kids+?

Not really. If you create a full account for a child, they have the same access and control as any adult. Amazon Kids+ is the only way to restrict content and purchases. If you want to monitor what a teenager watches without restricting it, you can ask them to share their Prime Video profile with you, but that is not a parental control — it is just shared viewing.