Summary
- Adding friends and family to your existing subscriptions is an easy and cost-effective gift.
- Tailor the gift to the recipient’s interests. For example, iCloud storage for photographers or Netflix for movie lovers.
- If you don’t want to share your subscription, gift cards are a nice alternative.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective, last-minute gift, I have the perfect solution: add people to your existing subscriptions, like movie streaming or cloud storage services.
Give the Gift of a Family Plan Membership
We live in a world of subscriptions and it’s likely you’re already signed up to plenty: Spotify, Netflix, Google One, Microsoft 365, and so on. Rather than buying someone a separate membership to these services, you can instead add them to your existing plan—and in some cases, you can do this for no cost.
Take Google One as an example, which expands your storage space across all of Google’s services. You can easily share your Google One storage with up to five family members for free. The storage is shared between everyone on the plan (rather than being equally split), so it’s ideal if you’ve got ample space to spare (otherwise you may have to upgrade to a higher tier).
Or, as another example, consider a music streaming service’s family plan. If you’re already paying for Spotify Premium, that’s $11.99/month. You can upgrade this to the Duo plan, which is two Premium accounts, for $16.99/month. Even better is the Family plan, which is six Premium accounts, for $19.99/month. If you exclude the $11.99 you’re already paying, that means each additional account costs you $5 (Duo) or $1.60 (Family).
Don’t overlook your phone carrier and internet providers, either, as they may offer discounts if you add people to your existing account. This requires more coordination to set up and isn’t something you can surprise someone with, but it could still be a welcome gift.
It’s a Great Gift, But It’s Not Flawless
Like any gift, you should tailor it to the recipient. If you know someone who loves photography and is always battling with their iPhone’s storage capacity, sharing your iCloud storage would be well received. Or if it’s a movie lover, add them to your Netflix account as an extra member.
There are plenty of benefits to this gift idea. It’s typically affordable, easy to set up, and you don’t need to ship anything.
But there are some important considerations. You should make it clear to the recipient how long the gift membership is for and set a reminder to yourself to remove them from your plan at that time. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself indefinitely paying for it, or having an awkward conversation when it’s time to give them the boot.
Also, only consider memberships to services that you’re in for the long haul; signing up to Microsoft 365 annual Family plan, gifting a membership slot, and then realizing you personally don’t need the subscription isn’t a good use of money.
Finally, be aware of any service limitations, like whether additional members must live in the same country or how many devices can be used simultaneously.
Gift Cards Are a Worthy Alternative
If you’re not sold on this idea and are still scrambling to pick up a last-minute gift, consider a gift card instead—often available digitally, but sometimes physically too. That way, the recipient can handle their own subscription and can activate it whenever suits them, and then extend or cancel it as needed.
