You’ve figured out that Disney Plus is pretty great, but you need to know more. As is the case with many streaming services, it’s useful to know how many people can watch Disney Plus at once. If you know that everyone in the household wants to watch completely different things, knowing how many people can use the subscription at once is vital. To keep your house from erupting into arguments, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know about how many people can watch Disney Plus at once.
How many people can watch Disney Plus at once?
Thankfully, Disney Plus is more straightforward than some other streaming services when it comes to how many people can watch it at once. While some streaming services change the number depending on what plan you sign up for (hi, Netflix!), Disney Plus is the same across the board. That’s because it offers just one simple plan with a choice of paying monthly or yearly (no, there isn’t a Disney Plus free trial). What that means is that you won’t need to upgrade or downgrade your plan according to how many people intend on using your account.
Up to four different devices can watch Disney Plus at once. Each Disney Plus account can have seven active profiles so that the whole family can have their own profiles. That’s particularly useful when setting up content restrictions so that younger children can’t watch content that may not be suitable for them. It also means that each profile has its own algorithm so you should receive recommendations that suit your interests rather than being recommended shows based on what someone else was watching.
Up to 10 devices can be registered and logged in to Disney Plus at once. Disney Plus works on pretty much every device imaginable. This includes your web browser, most smart TVs, gaming consoles, as well as streaming devices like Rokus, Amazon Fire TV Sticks, Apple TVs, and even the Nintendo Switch. If someone tries to connect with a fifth device at the same time as the other four are watching a show or movie, they will see the message “It looks like you’ve reached your device limit for streaming Disney Plus. You can stream Disney Plus on up to four devices simultaneously. To continue watching, please stop streaming on another device (Error Code 75).” In a single household, it shouldn’t be too hard to keep track of who is doing what with the Disney Plus subscription. It may be a good idea in a large household to encourage arranging shifts or to watch the same shows at the same time whenever possible.
Fortunately, for most households, four devices should be more than enough, and it’s also higher than some rivals. Interestingly, there is no limit on the location of the four devices either. All four devices could be accessing Disney Plus from different parts of the world so in theory, you could share your account details with friends and family. That goes against Disney Plus’s terms and conditions but Disney currently doesn’t have anyway to enforce that policy. Disney has reported in the past that it will monitor abnormal logins, however, so you should be as careful as possible. Having said that, sharing your login once in a while is unlikely to be a problem.
Is there a Disney Plus family subscription?
No. Disney Plus only has a standard Disney Plus plan. Unlike a service like Apple TV+, which can be shared across multiple users and accounts, there is no way of signing up for a family subscription to extend how many devices can be connected. Rather than having a dedicated family subscription plan, Disney Plus offers up to seven user profiles. These profiles allow each individual to maintain their viewing history, produce a lineup of recommended titles based on the streaming service’s algorithm, and create their own unique watchlist. Basically, it’s just like having your own separate account within a single account that is paid by one person — presumably the main bill-payer in the household. Setting up individual user profiles also helps with content restrictions. Adults are able to set up accounts for children with limits on the age rating of what they are allowed to watch, before adding a PIN to their own profile so a child can’t view adult content.
Disney Plus account sharing is not allowed by Disney, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to set up separate profiles inside of your household. Your home can use the same account and share it across separate user profiles. Being able to stream across four devices at once substantially helps. It’s also possible to download content for offline viewing on up to 10 devices, which only adds to the flexibility available on the service. To continue using the download feature, all you need to do is sign in to your Disney Plus account every 30 days to confirm that you are eligible to download content and watch it offline.
One other possible option for a family that needs to get around the four-device limit is to use Disney Plus’s GroupWatch feature. It allows a group of up to six people to watch anything on Disney Plus simultaneously. The idea is that you can all enjoy the experience remotely but simultaneously. It’s not the same as watching entirely different content, but it’s perfect for a large family that’s temporarily scattered around and wants to watch something together while they are away from each other. By connecting to a friend or family member’s GroupWatch, you’re not adding to the four devices that can be live at the same time because the broadcast is managed from your friend’s account.
For the most part, there is little need to have a family subscription plan. Instead, Disney Plus has come up with various measures to ensure that the whole family can still feel like they have their own separate identities within the service without needing to create a separate plan. Additions like GroupWatch and offline viewing further helps with ensuring sufficient independence within a household.
The Disney bundle adds Hulu and ESPN Plus to the equation
Disney Plus is just one of the streaming service that Disney has under its control. The entertainment giant also offers Hulu and ESPN Plus subscriptions, and you can get all three services under a single bundle. The rules around how many people can watch Disney Plus at one time are exactly the same regardless of whether you subscribe to just Disney Plus or to the entire bundle.
If you subscribe through the bundle, though, you get all three services at a discounted rate. Disney’s offering was designed to compete with Netflix, and it seems like the service has done exactly that. Netflix remains the largest streamer, to be sure, but Disney has gained a sizable subscriber base of its own, thanks in large part to its marquee shows from the Star Wars and Marvel universes. Of course, Disney Plus also has plenty of content for children, as well as plenty of great movies that may make adults nostalgic for their childhoods. It’s a winning combo, and it’s also part of the reason that so many people are concerned about whether you can watch different things on Disney Plus at the same time.
How does the Disney Plus price compare to other streamers?
Given the inflation that has occurred in the price of streaming services lately, a Disney Plus subscription is actually on the cheaper end of the spectrum. That’s especially true if you combine it with the rest of the Disney bundle. You can get the bundle with ads for $12.99, or without them for $19.99. Netflix’s plans, by contrast, range from $6.99 for a plan with ads to a $19.99 option that allows you to share the account with family. Warner Bros. Discovery’s offering starts at $15.99. In general, then the Disney bundle is a pretty good value. Depending on how much you like sports, ESPN Plus may not really be your thing, but even so, you’ll still get Hulu and Disney Plus for a remarkably low price.
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