Will Disney+ restrict account sharing?

Netflix introduced restrictions on account sharing last year, and Disney+ users are probably wondering if it will do the same.

The touchstone for restrictions will be Hulu, owned by Disney. Subscribers to the platform recently received a message that the platform would be cracking down on cases of people sharing their Hulu account outside of their household. Now it's the big brother's turn?

But let's take a short excursion into history. In November 2022, Netflix was first among the biggest streaming platforms to introduce a plan with advertising. One month later, an ad-supported offer became available on Disney++, and from November 2023, the new standard with ads, in addition to standard and premium subscription plans, was introduced in the U.K., France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.. This plan allows subscribers to use the streaming platform at a lower price: $7.99 per month (and if you want to watch movies without ads, then yu will need to pay $14 per month for an ad-free plan).

And in September 2023, Netflix put an end to free account sharing. There was a lot of talk in the media on this topic, and many users expressed their dissatisfaction and started talking about canceling their subscription, but it turned out that the outflow of the audience was not that great. This must have inspired Disney+.

The first hint of an impending overhaul of the platform's policies was Disney CEO Bob Iger's announcement a few months ago that he was tired of seeing Disney+ subscribers share their accounts with their loved ones. And on January 25, 2024, American subscribers of Disney+, as well as its Hulu and ESPN+ affiliates, received updated subscription packages, including an ad-supported offer. However, the subscription exchange was still in effect, but we need to prepare for changes.

And then Disney decided to do something original. Just last year, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said that Disney+ accounts "suspected of inappropriate sharing will be given new options," hinting that a new plan would be coming to enable account sharing. He recently returned to the topic, saying that subscribers who want to share their accounts with someone outside their household will be able to do so for an additional fee. The arrival of such a new plan "is one of the factors that gives us confidence in our subscriber numbers," he shared his expectations. Everything indicates that such a plan may appear as early as this summer.