Account sharing on Netflix now costs - what you need to know
The time has come: Netflix is stopping the free sharing of accounts. An additional fee is now payable for devices outside of your own household. This is expensive and harbours pitfalls.
The "additional members" can only be added to a standard or premium subscription. It is not possible with a basic subscription, although you can only stream with one device at a time anyway. With a Standard subscription, you can share the account with one additional household, with the Premium subscription with a maximum of two. This means the following costs per household:
- Basic (CHF 11.90) + 0 additional members = CHF 11.90 per household
- Standard (CHF 18.90) + 1 additional member (CHF 5.90) = CHF 12.40 per household
- Premium (CHF 24.90) + 2 additional members (CHF 11.80) = CHF 12.23 per household
This means that a shared account no longer offers any financial advantage. With the better subscriptions, at least the maximum resolution in which you can stream increases: With basic it is 720p, with standard 1080p and with premium 2160p.
In Germany, sharing an account is even more expensive in proportion to the basic price. A basic subscription costs 7.99 euros - a standard subscription (12.99 euros) plus an additional member is over twelve per cent more expensive at 8.99 euros per household. If you share a Premium subscription (17.99 euros) with two other households, the average price is even 9.32 euros.
Watch out!
Attention: Profiles only come with new accounts
In your Netflix account, there is now an option "Additional members" in the settings where you can invite someone.
After you have confirmed the price, you can enter the name and email address of the additional person. They will then receive an invitation and can set up an account with their own password. However, the new account will only have one profile available. In addition, you can only download titles to one smartphone or tablet at a time to watch them offline.
If you invite an email address that is not yet registered with Netflix, you can transfer a profile from the main account to that of the additional member. If you invite an existing account, this option is not available. The person will therefore continue watching with the recommendations and lists from the previous profile on this account.
Open questions
How exactly Netflix intends to prevent unofficial account sharing is only halfway clear. On this support page, the streaming giant writes: 'We use information such as IP addresses, device IDs and account activity to determine whether a device logged into your account belongs to your Netflix household.'
GPS data to determine the exact physical location of devices would not be collected.
According to the support page, you need a TV to define your household yourself. There you can access the menu and manage your household under "Help". You will then receive a verification link by e-mail or text message. If you do not define your household manually or do not have a TV, Netflix will assign your account automatically.
It also says: "You can update your Netflix household at any time via a TV by connecting to the Internet at your address and following the steps described above." There doesn't seem to be a restriction on how often and at what intervals you can do this. For example, it should be possible to temporarily set a holiday home as a household.
What will happen with mobile devices remains to be seen. In the past, an FAQ made the rounds, which stated that such devices must have logged into the home network in the last 31 days. Otherwise, access is possible for seven days with a temporary code. However, this is no longer mentioned on the current support page.
Is it worth it for Netflix?
Whether Netflix will actually make more money with this step remains to be seen. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in a statement: "The initiative will help us to gain a larger base of potential paying members and grow Netflix in the long term". However, another outcome also seems possible - namely that the end of account sharing leads to numerous cancellations.
What about you? Are you prepared to pay for shared accounts? Will you be cancelling your Netflix subscription? Let us know in the comments.
Cover image: Shutterstock
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