YouTube is tightening the rules for its Premium Family Plan, and many users aren’t happy about it. Following the lead of Netflix and Disney+, YouTube has begun actively enforcing a rule that’s always been in its fine print: all members of a Premium Family plan must live in the same household as the family manager.
Users who are part of a Family Plan but live at a different location are now seeing warning messages. The alert says their membership will be paused in 14 days unless they’re at the same address as the family manager.
Why YouTube Is Doing This
This enforcement move isn’t actually a change in policy; it’s simply YouTube finally applying a rule that’s always been there. The timing, however, has many convinced the company is looking to push more people toward individual subscriptions and increase revenue.
Services to be paused in 14 days for different household/country
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Unlike Netflix, which introduced a lower-cost “extra member” option for people outside the household, YouTube doesn’t yet have a middle ground.
If you’re removed from a Family Plan, your only options are to pay for a full Premium subscription yourself or lose access entirely.
What It Means for Users
For many, the YouTube Premium Family plan was an affordable way to split the cost of ad-free videos, background playback, and YouTube Music. Now, families who don’t live under one roof, such as college students or relatives in different cities, will no longer be able to share.
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Whether YouTube will eventually introduce a paid add-on like Netflix remains unclear. For now, it seems the platform wants users to “pony up” for their own Premium subscription or walk away.
And judging by the frustration online, plenty of people are considering the latter.
