Netflix will no longer allow free password sharing
Netflix is changing its password-sharing policy and will begin charging people to share accounts. A Netflix account holder can currently add up to five profiles to their account.
Starting in early 2023, those profiles will be converted into paid sub-accounts.
Netflix will no longer allow more than one “home” per account, and additional homes will have to pay an additional fee to use the same account, the company announced this week.
You can still use your Netflix account while away from home – on your tablet, laptop, or phone – but it will only be one account to which you can add sub-accounts.
This model has already been implemented by the streaming platform in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
Customers in those countries must pay an additional $2.99 per month to add more homes to their accounts. Netflix did not say whether the price would be the same in the United States.
In early 2023, Netflix will begin to expand the availability of these features. Basic plan members can add one extra home, standard plan members can add up to two extra homes, and premium plan members can add up to three extra homes.
People who borrow another person’s Netflix password can move their Netflix profile to a new account. That means their viewing history and recommendations will be visible on their new account.
The profile transfer has several applications, according to COO and Chief Product Officer Gregory Peters during a Netflix earnings call on Tuesday. “I mean, obviously, there are situations where you can imagine, like, you have a kid at home who is going to go off and become an adult and get their own account, and it supports those,” he explained.
With the new model, people who have shared their passwords with others can easily create and manage sub-accounts.
“Another component of this, however, is allowing account owners to pay for Netflix for a friend or family member with whom they want to share the service,” Peters explained. “As a result, they can create a sub-account, which we’re calling extra member, to enable that model as well.”
Charging for sub-accounts isn’t Netflix’s only new revenue stream set to launch in 2023. Customers will be able to pay for a basic version of the streaming platform that is less expensive but contains advertisements.
The “Basic with Ads” plan option, according to Peters, “will bring in a lot more members” and “lead to a significant incremental revenue and profit stream.”
The Basic with Ads plan will be available in November and will cost $7 per month in the United States, which is 55% less than Netflix’s most popular ad-free plan, which costs $15.50 per month.
