Family organizer pays for YouTube Premium. 5 members of the family connected. Somehow my account does not have premium features eg ad-free, carplay youtube music, etc. was working for years before but now something changed and YouTube Premium subscription ended 19 Sept 2025. Thoughts?

As many people have noted here, YouTube recently cracked down on Family Plan Premium Memberships where the five family members did not live in the same building, with Premium benefits being "paused" permanently. For some cancelled subscribers, the family members were their actual biological families but who live in other locations; for others (such as myself) the "family" merely consisted of five random people who mutually agreed to form a "household" and share the cost of Family Premium Plan.

However, no one seems to know how restrictive the new geolocation requirements are. Some people claim the cancellations only hit "Families" where the members were spread out across multiple nations -- but if all "Family members" were in the same nation, then it was OK. Others speculate that it is more on a regional basis -- such that (for example) is you were all in the same US state, then the memberships weren't cancelled, but if people are spread out to different states (but still within the same nation), then they would get cancelled. And some people claim that you literally all have to be in the same building, or your Family Premium benefits will be cancelled.

Which is true? I don't know. But maybe we could try an experiment:

If people were willing to start open "Family" accounts that were regionally restricted, maybe they would fly under YouTube's radar and be allowed. So for example, I live in California, and if someone else who also lived in California were to create a Family account with a Premium membership, and then invite in (sharing the cost) four other (random) people, with the only restriction being that they all live in California. Then the "family" would all apear to be in the same general area, and YouTube would allow it. And if that didn't work, we could get more geographically restrictive, and limit potential members to (in my case, for example) the San Francisco Bay Area, or wherever your city/region is.

I don't have the tech know-how to be the one wh starts a group, but I would be willing to join a newly created California-only Family group with Premium membership.

And if other people wanted to try similar experiments in other locations (e.g. an Ireland-only family, New York-only family, etc.), I'd love to hear the results if it worked or not.

Any thoughts?

In a significant policy shift that began quietly at the end of 2024, YouTube has restricted access to its Family Plan subscription, making it available only to accounts that meet specific eligibility criteria. As of last week, the change has been rolled out globally including major markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada with many users now finding the Family Plan option missing entirely, depending on their account’s eligibility.

According to a source at Google familiar with the matter, the new limitations are part of an effort to curb widespread abuse of the Family Plan. The subscription, originally intended for households, had been increasingly exploited by users sharing it with friends or strangers in other countries. A practice that violates YouTube’s terms of service. To address this, YouTube has begun implementing stricter account checks that determine whether the Family Plan option is displayed. Google has not publicly disclosed the exact criteria for eligibility, and the policy was initially tested in select regions before expanding globally.

Start with a PC/Mac and an Android device.

Do NOT connect to any VPN.

You will be creating a new account with a YouTube Premium Family membership and sharing it with your original account(s). This will not work if you already changed family groups too many times (i.e. you'd be stuck using this new account for YouTube Premium).

1. Create a new Google account in your home country.

2. While logged into the new account on your PC, go to https://payments.google.com/

3. Add a payment method to create an initial payment profile

4. Sign in to this new Google account on your Android device.

5. Make sure you can view this new account in the Google Play Store and YouTube apps

6. Go to the Google Play Store, and Account Settings - Make sure the Country shown reflects your home country. If not, you need to re-create the account (again, re-emphasis: do NOT connect to a VPN).

7. Back to the "Payments" site on PC, click the "Settings" tab

8. Next to "Country/Region", click on the Edit pencil icon

9. Click "Create new profile"

10. Click "Continue"

11. For the Country, select "Ukraine"

12. Go on Google Maps and find a random building to use the address of, and fill out the details.

13. Go through and create the profile.

14. Go to "Payment Methods" and add a Visa or Mastercard credit card that does not have foreign transaction fees.

15. Now you should see a dropdown with your name at the top right corner. Click on it and select your Home Country's profile.

16. Go to "Settings"

17. Scroll all the way down and "Close payments profile" - click yes and delete the profile - go through steps to confirm.

18. Now go back to the Android device.

19. Force stop and clear cache on the Google Play Store

20. Open the Google Play Store, go back to the Account Settings, verify the Country now shows "Ukraine".

21. Open the YouTube app and subscribe to the Family plan for 149 UAH (~$3.55 USD) using the saved credit card.

22. Go back to your PC and go back to https://payments.google.com/

23. Go to "Settings"

24. Next to "Country/Region", click on the Edit pencil icon

25. Click "Create new profile"

26. This time for country, select your Home Country

27. Create the profile.

28. Now go back to the Android device.

29. Force stop and clear cache on the Google Play Store

30. Verify in Google Play Store that it now shows your Home Country (if not, try force stop, clear cache again)

31. Now on your PC, go to https://myaccount.google.com/family/create

32. Create a Family Group and invite your original account + any other members you'd like to add

Might as well call it Household Plan instead of Family Plan. My family of 5 lives in 2 different households. I also travel frequently from one place to another. I honestly don’t understand this L corporate greed. You guys will just piss people of and lose customers over a few dollars instead of keeping them happy with longevity 💀

So I want to get a family plan, but it says the price is 16.99, is that with 2 people and the price goes up? How does it all work?

So I’ve been using YouTube Premium Family for a while, and recently I hit a wall that feels really unfair. One of my immediate family members had their access removed simply because they’re living in another city for work and study.

According to YouTube’s Family Plan rules, all members have to live under the same roof as the family manager. While I get that they want to prevent misuse, this rule doesn’t reflect real-life situations. Families today are often spread out — for education, jobs, or other commitments — but they’re still families.

The problem is, instead of giving genuine families some flexibility, YouTube seems to be enforcing this policy in a way that feels forceful and punishing. Honestly, it makes me question whether keeping Premium Family is even worth it anymore.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Did you find a workaround, or did you just cancel your subscription?

Me and all my friends pay for premium individually and we're thinking of joining a family plan to save on money. We're all in the same state within 25 miles of each other. Are we able to do this with no problems, or do we have to be in the same household? And if so is there any workarounds, like having the one who bought the plan sign in every so often?

The way we were thinking of doing it was we were all gonna take turns paying it every month by sending money to the person who buys it.

Anyone with any knowledge about this. Considering purchasing YT Premium Family, My wife resides at the same address but travels to other Countries will she still be able to use her premium acct? No commercials etc appreciate your advice or suggestions.

I'm a Family Premium user. I and some friends are sharing a Premium subscription, and it works well, and it's been like that for a long time.

I know we're exactly the type of people you're trying to take down with this new measure, but I can't help but thinking that this decision is just plain stupid. If you're expecting us to pay a solo Premium subscription then let me tell you you're absolutely wrong. If that email ever reaches my inbox, not only am I not going to renew the subscription, but I'm going the full piracy route with Adblock and ReVanced on mobile.

We're Premium users. Regardless of who's paying, we're still paying each month, and it shouldn't be a problem for you Google. It worked for Netflix, but it won't work for you Google, your business model is too different from them. So take your sweet time to think about what you're doing.

For those unaware, I'm talking about this post (can't post hypertext links sorry) : https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/17v4796/finally_yt_has_jumped_on_the_address_bandwagon/

I've been using YouTube Premium for a while now, and it's great. I've decided it's time to share the love and upgrade to a family plan so my relatives can also enjoy ad-free YouTube and other perks.
The Issue:
Here's where it gets complicated. When I tried to upgrade, it said I need approval from whoever manages our YouTube TV account. It's kind of confusing, and I'm not sure what to do next.
Upgrading to a Family Plan: I have an individual YouTube Premium account and want to convert it to a family plan.
Manager Approval: Apparently, I can't proceed without the green light from our YouTube TV account manager.
Question: Do I have to cancel my current individual membership first, or are there other steps to get this approval?
The Pricing Puzzle:
Another thing that caught my eye is the pricing. The YouTube Premium family subscription our family manager has as an offer is $29 per month, while my individual YouTube Premium account family plan upgrade offer is $23 per month.
Manager's YouTube Premium Family offer: Costs $29/month.
My Individual YouTube Premium's Youtube Premium Family offer: Costs $23/month.
P.S. I know prices and policies can change, so if anyone has the latest info, please chime in.

Longtime Amazon Music Unlimited user here (on family plan), considering changing over to YouTube Premium (family plan). It will cost a bit more, but seems worth it since we'll also get YouTube w/o ads. It is somewhat irritating that there is no option to pay annually for a YTP family plan, like there is for Amazon, but I guess I can live with it.

I'm seeking a point of clarification. On Amazon, you get to share the benefit among a total of 6 users. It works great for my household because that's exactly how many I need. The YouTube Premium info I see is a tad vague. It says you can "add up to 5 users." Does that mean I get a total of 6, because there's ME (primary user/manager) to which I can ADD 5? Or does it mean the family plan gets 5 users total, including myself?

Hi all, I recently found a friend whose relative in India can provide access to an Indian bank card. We’re planning to set up new Gmail accounts to use with a YouTube Premium family plan. I'll be the family manager and I use iPhone.

I have a few questions:

1. Do all the Gmail accounts in the family plan need to be created using an Indian VPN?

2. Should I configure all new gmail accounts before making the YouTube Premium purchase? If yes, how do I setup these family Gmail accounts?

3. What’s the best/working method to purchase the family plan while staying in Australia but using an Indian bank card?

I’ve read that setting up the accounts carefully can avoid issues later. Any advice or step-by-step guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I'm family manager of our YouTube premium family plan. If I delete the family group, will my members face the 12-month restriction before joining another family group?

Or if I remove my members from the group, will they face the 12-month rule?

We are not able to continue the family group anymore due to the "same household" rule. Is there a way for my members to join a new plan without waiting for 12 months?

Any comments are appreciated!

Parent here. So, you can only add your young one to Google Family Link if your young one is under 13. However, you can prevent ads in YouTube Kids if you have a YouTube Premium account but you can't add a young one to a YouTube Premium family subscription unless your young one is 13 years or older!!!!! So it's either Family Link or YouTube Premium but not both!!!??? Remember, Family Link, YouTube Kids and YouTube Premium are all owned by Google, so this should be really easy, right!!!??? Is there a workaround here?

Also posting in r/youtubepremium

From Tech Support:

Per terms and conditions of the family plan, family manager and members must always be living at the same household. Once they're away from the family manager, they will lose access to the family plan benefits. Even if you have the same address, their current location will still be detected by our system. If our system detected that members have been away for a certain period of time they will receive an email to validate their address. Next, they will receive an email regarding cancellation or suspension of their access. They will be able to access the benefits once they came back. If you travel and you're away from your members, they will also lose access to the premium benefits. We actually don't have the exact number of days but once it has been detected, they will automatically received an email.

Student away during the internship? not a family member.

Student living in a college dorm? not a family.

Business trip for 2-3 weeks? Congrats, you just lost your family.

Kids staying at grandparents' house for the summer? no longer a family.

None of these was a problem last year.

Thank you, Google.