Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership: Everything you need to know

The online services for Nintendo Switch let you share the fun of some of the best Nintendo Switch games, like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Splatoon 2, or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for a fee. You can pay for your individual account or enable the function for up to eight users with a Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership. There’s also an additional tier with some bonuses, though you’ll have to pay even more for that. Here’s everything you need to know about getting on a family plan.

The Nintendo Switch Online family plan is a group plan for online services, granting multiple users access to online multiplayer features in games, a library of NES and SNES games, cloud storage for game data, voice chat via a smartphone app, and special offers on games and hardware.

There is also a family membership available for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. At this tier, you get everything previously outlined as well as an Animal Crossing: New Horizons DLC and access to a library of Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership How many people can I get on one plan?

For one price you can have yourself and seven other people signed up under one payment. If you have a few people in your household that are Switch users it’s definitely something to consider.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership How do I set up a family plan?

To create a family plan you must be 18 or older and save a credit card or PayPal account to the Nintendo eShop. This will make you the admin of the family group. You can then click family group in your account menu to create an account for your child or another adult member. All members of the family group will have access to the online family plan.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership How much does it cost?

While the individual membership costs $20 for a full year, a family membership costs just $35 for the same duration. That means the family plan is worth it if you have more than one person using it — and it becomes more of a bargain with every additional person added.

If you’re considering the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, the prices go up. That expanded tier runs for $50 for an individual membership or $80 for a family plan. Like the regular Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership, it can be split eight different ways, which is far more affordable if you’ve got enough people to share with.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership I’m still not sure. Can I try it out?

Anyone with a Nintendo Account can get a free seven-day trial of Nintendo Switch Online. Unless you turn off automatic renewal before that week is up, the trial will automatically convert to a one-month individual membership, which costs $4/month. If you decide you like the service and want to take advantage of the group discount you can then purchase a family membership. This will turn off auto renewal on your individual membership, which will then expire at the end of the duration.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership The bottom line

A family membership plan is your best bet if you have multiple Switch users in the house who want to use online features. You’ll get all the benefits but for a much lower price than having more than one individual account. Of course, if you’re playing solo you can still get the best price by heading over to your favorite retailer and snatching up a one-year membership for $20 right now.