Netflix Password-Sharing Is No Longer Free in the US: What to Know
A policy change now means an extra charge if you want to share a password on a standard or premium account.
The password fees have finally arrived.
Netflix said Tuesday that it's now rolling out product updates around account-sharing in the US as part of its expanded policy on borrowing passwords. The company began sending emails on May 23 to customers who are sharing passwords with anyone outside their household, Netflix said in a blog post.
If you're sharing your streaming account with friends and family who live at a different address, you may opt to pay a fee for the extra user or to remove them from your account. Subscribers with either a standard or premium plan can choose to pay an additional $8 per month for each extra member. At this time, the extra member option is only available for those who are billed directly by Netflix.
There are limits to how many extra users are allowed on accounts. Only those with a premium membership can add two extra people to their account; the standard price plan allows for only one extra member. Netflix defines a household as one where everyone lives under the same roof. Members of that household are still able to watch content while traveling, and the extra fee will not apply.
When you open the Netflix app and navigate to your account page, you'll see an Extra Members option. From there, subscribers can purchase a slot for the person outside their household. If they accept the invitation, the extra member will receive their own separate account, profile and password, and the fee is paid for by the main subscribing household.
The rules? Extra member accounts can only stream on one device at a time and are only permitted to have one profile. The extra member must also be located in the same country as the account holder.
A peek at where to find Extra Members on your account page.
Subscribers can also opt to remove users outside of their households from their account, and urge them to sign up for their own Netflix subscriptions. In this case, anyone who is removed from an account can transfer existing profiles to a new membership they pay for themselves.
Here's a look at the monthly cost for each subscription plan:
Netflix plans
| Basic with ads | Basic no ads | Standard | Premium | |
| Monthly price | $7 | $10 | $15.50 | $20 |
| Number of screens you can watch at the same time | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Number of phones or tablets you can have downloads on | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| HD available | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ultra HD available | No | No | No | Yes |
The streaming service rolled out its new policy in February for Canada, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand. Netflix first announced its intention to crack down on password-sharing last year. In April, Netflix said it would implement a fee for US customers by the end of the second quarter.