Netflix has announced that it will end free account sharing for those not in the same household. The move should be effective by April, 2023.
It’s the end of an era, no more Netflix account sharing outside of your household. Starting in April, you will no longer be able to use your friend’s or family’s Netflix subscription without paying a fee.
First reported by The Verge, the news comes from a bit of helpful digging by its team who carefully studied a results report published recently by the streaming giant.
According to the news, Netflix execs hope to enforce its password-sharing rules across more accounts.
Netflix is reportedly working on a way to detect account usage by someone living outside the home. The platform would then offer customers who are followers of the practice to pay a supplement in order to host sub-accounts.
“While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognize (sic) this is a change for members who share their account more broadly,” Netflix writes.
“As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with.”
Netflix appears to be facing challenges in attracting new users to its platform, due to intense competition in the video streaming market.
This, alongside the loss of key programming due to licensing rights, seems to have made it more focussed on maximising profits from the current user base.
Is Netflix account sharing over?
This will obviously cause a lot of people to rethink their subscription to the streamer, but Netflix expects this “cancel reaction” across markets.
After all, it is yet another revenue stream for the company, as people will probably pay eventually.
The report doesn’t mention any specific date or pricing in mind, but it will come about sometime in Q1. Expect it before the end of March.
As well as not saying the price, the terms and conditions of use also remain to be seen. At this stage, it’s impossible to say whether it will be more worthwhile to opt for this “paid sharing” option or to subscribe directly to a basic subscription.
It seems inconceivable that Netflix would charge more to share a single subscription outside of your household, but only time will tell.
The hunt started months ago
Recently, Netflix has implemented measures to discourage account sharing, such as the introduction of a new feature called “profile transfer” that allows users to keep their personal preferences when switching to a new account.
Users in South America were given the option to share their home’s plan outside of their IP address, which looking at it now, seems like it was a test in a single market.
In November, Netflix introduced a cheaper subscription option that includes advertisements, signalling their desire to end account sharing. Prices start from £4.99 for the ad-supported service, and £6.99 for the basic plan.
If this news makes you want to cancel you subscription to Netflix, you can find more video streaming deals at hotukdeals. There is also this very handy streaming thread from Deal Editor, Dan_82, which gives you all the cheapest options out there at the moment.
