We’ve got bad news for those of you who use a Netflix account that belongs to someone else. The streaming giant is about to crack down on account sharing, charging folks who do. Deets inside…
Free-ishNetflix was fun while it lasted.
Now, the streaming giant - who generated nearly 7.7 billion in total revenue in 2021 - is cracking down on illicit password-sharing after years of turning a blind-eye. The company’s Twitter account used to joke about password sharing:
Love is sharing a password.
— Netflix (@netflix) March 10, 2017
This is absolutely fake. If you want free Netflix please use someone else's account like the rest of us. https://t.co/PHhwdA3sEI
— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) January 4, 2020
Now, it’s not a joke to them anymore. They want their money.
According to Netflix, the company will soon launch a test which will allow primary account holders to pay an additional fee for users outside of their households.
Netflix will let members who share their accounts with people outside their household do so “easily and securely, while also paying a bit more,” according to ChengyiLong, director of product innovation at Netflix. The new options will roll out in the next few weeks in three countries, Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, which may or may not expand beyond those markets.
“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans,” Chengyi Long wrote in a blog post about the test.
“While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”
$7.7 billion a year isn’t enough?
Users with standard and premium plans will be able to add an “extra member” subaccount for up to two additional people they don’t live with. Each subaccount will have its own profile and password. All subscribers will be able to share their friend’s profiles either to a new account or a subaccount.
It’s unclear when or if the new feature will debut in the US.
"We recognize that people have many entertainment choices, so we want to ensure any new features are flexible and useful for members, whose subscriptions fund all our great TV and films. We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world," Netflix said in statement.
Since the pandemic, the streaming giant has seen a boom in monthly subscriptions since everyone was forced inside their homes. In 2021, Netflix raked in 221.8 million subscribers - up 10% from 2020. It added 8.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter alone, just shy of its goal of 8.5 million.
First the increase in their subscription prices (twice in one year) and now this. Thoughts?
Photo: Daniel Avram/Shutterstock
