For months, the specter of Netflix ending password sharing has haunted US customers. It seems that change is finally on the horizon, according to Netflix’s latest letter to shareholders. “In the first quarter, we launched paid sharing in four countries and we are pleased with the results,” said Netflix. “We are planning a broad rollout, including in the US, in the second quarter.” Called “paid sharing,” this new initiative essentially requires users to pay an additional membership fee to add profiles for those who live outside the account owner’s household.
In February, Netflix shared details of what this paid account sharing system would look like. It’s a little confusing, but here’s the gist: account holders must declare a “primary location,” and people who physically live in that household — people who are on the home network — can use that account. Users will have to pay more to support profiles for people who live away from home.
How many accounts will be affected, you may ask? While the number of individual accounts is not specified, Netflix’s shareholder letter indicates that account sharing is used in more than 100 million households. Netflix didn’t specify whether that just meant the extra profiles of users were included in an account owner’s subscription level, or if it included hangers-on (like your younger brother mocking your goodwill) who happen to have a password that allows them to log into your account .
Netflix currently offers multiple subscription levels, with some account holders being able to add additional profiles. Currently, only the two most expensive plans – Standard (.
49/month) and Premium ($19.99/month) allow users to add additional members. Standard means you get one extra profile, while Premium lets you add two.
The new system would mean subscribing to one of those plans, but paying an additional membership fee if someone living outside the household wants the profile.
(Polygon’s explanation of the new pricing plan goes into more detail about what the actual pricing looks like.) In short, college students, long-distance enthusiasts, scattered groups of friends, adult siblings — may the odds ever be in your favor, for battling out this new pricing.
Netflix has already rolled out paid sharing in four countries: Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal, and says it is “satisfied with the results,” according to the letter to shareholders. Apparently there’s a “cancellation response” when Netflix launches paid sharing, but it seems that this initial loss is being reclaimed as “borrowers” – which seems to be Netflix’s word for people who previously enjoyed a profile on an account outside their household – activate new accounts, or existing users pay the additional fees for those “additional member” accounts.
Netflix first announced its intention to add account sharing measures by the end of December 2022. The company reported its first-ever months of subscriber loss in April 2022, and while the numbers normalized in subsequent months, the fear seems to have remained.
This is just one of the few changes coming to the platform. Netflix also said it would end its DVD rental service in September. It really is the end of an era.