Do You Need Xbox Live Gold for Xbox Parties?

No. As of 2021, Xbox Live Gold is not required to join or create parties on Xbox consoles or the Xbox app.

What Gold Is Still Required For

• Online multiplayer in most paid games (free-to-play titles excluded)
• Party voice chat (text chat works without Gold)
• Games with Gold monthly titles
• Cloud saves & console streaming features

What's Free Without Gold

• Creating/joining parties (voice + text)
• Looking for Group (LFG) posts
• Messaging, friends list, activity feed
• Free-to-play online games (Fortnite, Apex, Warzone, etc.)

Microsoft removed the Gold requirement for parties and free-to-play games in April 2021.