HBO Max is tightening password sharing restrictions imminently. Prepare yourself accordingly.
Starting next year, HBO Max will enforce a mandatory fee of $7.99 per month for users who want to share their password with viewers outside their own household. This change, announced by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), marks a shift from the previous voluntary system, where non-paying external users could continue using the service without paying [1].
The new rules mean that anyone using an HBO Max account outside the primary subscriber’s household will no longer have free access. Instead, these non-paying users must be added as extra paying users under this new password sharing fee [1].
Warner Bros. Discovery has been preparing for this enforcement with months of testing to identify legitimate account holders and non-paying users. The company plans to "put the net in the right place" to stop unauthorized sharing [1].
This measure follows similar crackdowns by other streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, all targeting the large number of households sharing accounts without paying. The industry faces an estimated loss as high as $25 billion annually due to password sharing, and these crackdowns have historically resulted in new subscriber growth as freeloaders convert to paying customers [1].
From September 2025: - Password sharing outside the household will no longer be free. - Users sharing passwords beyond their household must pay an additional $7.99 monthly fee. - The enforcement will begin aggressively, pushing non-paying password sharers either to pay or to get their own accounts [1][2].
In addition, HBO Max is limiting the number of devices per account and restricting accounts to users living under the same roof, similar to other streamers [2]. This shift in policy comes as the final season of the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That..., is coming to an end on HBO Max [3].
[1] The Verge
[2] CNET
[3] Variety
- In a bid to combat password sharing, similar to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, HBO Max will introduce a mandatory password sharing fee of $7.99 per month for users sharing their account outside their household, starting from September 2025.
- Amidst the crackdown, freeloaders who continue to share passwords beyond their household without paying may find themselves forced to either pay the additional fee or establish their own separate accounts for access to HBO Max content.
- As technology advances and AI becomes more integrated into the entertainment industry, streaming services such as HBO Max implement stricter measures to preserve the integrity of their digital offerings, shifting policies to limit device usage per account and require households to reside under one roof.
