Your Guide to the End of Shared Streaming: How HBO Max’s Crackdown on Password Sharing Could Raise Your Bill and Change the 'Best Shows on HBO Max' You Can Even Watch
If you’ve been mooching off your cousin’s HBO Max login to catch up on *The Last of Us* or *Succession*, you might want to start saving up. HBO Max is following Netflix’s lead and cracking down on account sharing, which means the era of splitting the bill among four friends is basically over. For your wallet, here’s the brutal math: standalone plans start at $9.99 with ads, or $15.99 without. If you’ve been paying for a "family plan" that actually covers five households, expect a price hike of $5 to $8 per month for an extra member slot. In practice, that extra fee could turn a $16 bill into a $24 bill—right when you’re already paying more for groceries and gas. And here’s the kicker: the best shows on HBO Max, like *House of the Dragon* and *The White Lotus*, will still be locked behind that inflated paywall. The real loser? Your wallet, which just got a little thinner.