Netflix will let you share password with friends only if you pay extra, here is how much it costs

By Abhik Sengupta

Netflix is now coming after users in the US who share their account (or password) with friends and others outside the primary account holder’s household. The streaming company began the crackdown on password-sharing in select Latin American countries and later expanded the experiment in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain in February. It is not available in India since the company is heavily focused on increasing its user base in the country with its ad-supported plans.

Whereas, users in the US will now need to pay extra, in case the primary account holder wants to share the account with friends and family. In a blog post, the company notes, “A Netflix account is for use by one household. Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.”

How much extra do Netflix users need to pay to share an account?

Netflix notes that users can share their Netflix account with someone who is living in the same house. Users will need to pay $7.99 (roughly Rs 661) per month for that. Readers must note that this pricing is only specific to the US market and Netflix will adopt different strategies based on the markets.

The Verge explains that users with Netflix’s two cheapest plans — Basic or Standard with Ads, which cost $9.99 (Rs 830) and $6.99 (Rs 589) per month, respectively, do not have the option to bring another member on board. Users with the Netflix Standard plan ($15.49 or Rs 1,290 per month) can add one extra member for $7.99 extra each month. Users with Netflix premium subscriptions promising 4K playback can add two extra members for the same $7.99 per month.

Netflix is also rolling out this update in the UK and users will have to pay GNB 4.99 (roughly Rs 510).

Netflix advises users to keep checking on freeloaders by heading to “manage access and devices” in the Settings menu. Here, a user can check all the devices using a Netflix account.

In its last quarter results, Netflix suggested that the company anticipates setbacks as it continues to come after users share accounts with others. However, the company anticipates growth in the long run.

Countries like India may require a different strategy for the company since the company sees huge growth, given the size of the population and a high smartphone adoption rate. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos also met with IB minister Anurag Thakur in February. Sarandos had told the union minister that Indian regional content was the most viewed content globally.