Step 1: Create the Family Group

Step 2: Add Family Members

You have two options:

For kids under 13:

For older kids/adults:

Step 3: Purchase the Family Membership

The membership activates immediately for all accounts in your family group.

Here's where it gets interesting—and confusing. Nintendo Switch Online membership and game sharing are two different things, but they can work together.

If you've bought digital games and have multiple Switch consoles in your house (like one for the living room and one the kids share), you can share those games. But the system is weird.

How it works:

Your Nintendo Account can be linked to multiple Switch consoles, but only one can be your "Primary Console."

Primary Console rules:

Secondary Console rules:

The typical family setup:

To change your Primary Console:

Physical games work on any console, any account, no restrictions. Whoever has the cartridge can play. Simple as that.

This is why many families still prefer physical games—you can share them freely, trade them with friends, and resell them when you're done.

Not every game requires Nintendo Switch Online. Here's the breakdown:

Games that need it:

Games that don't:

The weird exception: Fortnite is free-to-play and doesn't require Nintendo Switch Online for online play. But most other online games do.

Adding kids to your Family Group doesn't automatically give you parental controls. You need the separate (free) Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app for your phone.

What you can control:

Pro tip: Set up supervised accounts for kids under 13. You get more control over spending and can require approval for any eShop purchases.

This is the part where many parents get surprised by the credit card bill.

By default:

What to do:

Some families give each kid a set eShop allowance on their birthday or holidays. They get a $20 or $35 gift card and that's their budget for the year. Teaches money management and prevents surprise charges.

Everyone in the Family Group gets cloud save backup. If a Switch breaks, gets lost, or you upgrade to a new console, game progress transfers over.

The frustrating exceptions:

For these games, you're relying on the console's internal save data. If the console dies, that save data is gone.

Easy. Set up a Family Group, add all three kids' accounts, buy the Family Membership for $34.99/year. Everyone can play online games on the same console using their own account.

Still straightforward. Family Group with both kids' accounts, one Family Membership. Both can play online on their own consoles.

If you want to share your digital game library between the two consoles, make one the Primary Console (probably the younger kid's, since they're less likely to understand the limitations) and keep the other as Secondary.

You might be tempted to just get an Individual membership for the kid who plays more. That works, but if the younger kid ever wants to play online—even just Mario Kart with friends—you're paying $19.99 for the second membership anyway. At that point, you're spending more than the Family plan.

Technically yes. Nintendo doesn't verify relationships. Some families do this to split the cost—four families, eight kids, everyone pays $8.75/year instead of $19.99.

The downside: The admin account controls everything. If there's a dispute or someone leaves the group, it gets messy. Stick with actual family members unless you really trust the other parents.

The Nintendo Switch Family Membership is a good deal if you have multiple kids playing online games. At $34.99/year for up to 8 accounts, it's cheaper than two individual memberships and way cheaper than three or four.

Set it up if:

Skip it if:

Game sharing between consoles is a bonus feature, but it's clunky. If you're buying digital games expecting seamless sharing like you get with Steam Family Sharing or Xbox Game Pass, you'll be disappointed. Physical cartridges are still the easiest way to share games in a multi-kid household.

And if you're wondering whether your kid's favorite Switch game is actually worth the hype, check out our guides on best Switch games for kids, alternatives to Fortnite, or cozy games like Animal Crossing.