As many people have admitted, we tend to share our Netflix password with family and friends, so that everyone can enjoy their original TV shows and popular movies. But, as of 2023, a Netflix password crack down started, and it could change how we use Netflix altogether. Or will it be too much, and lead subscribers to cancel their membership because of this password situation?
It’s been over 6 months since the password crack down was rolled out, and it’s about time we update reports. The new year brings in new information, as well as some priceless reactions from streamers. Let’s dive into what has been happening, what more we know about this Netflix password crack down, and any other information we can scrounge up to inform you on how your 2024 streaming enjoyment will go?
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What Is the Netflix Password Crack Down?
For years Netflix had pretty much not cared about password sharing. They even tweeted back in 2017 that “love is sharing a password.” You would think that with that statement, they are more lenient about it all.
But, as of this year, Netflix figured out that they were losing money with the amount of password sharing happening. They tried to support a cheaper subscription plan so people could pay for a membership and not share as much, but it still didn’t change much.
The Netflix password crack down states that if there are other members on your account, it will cost $7.50 more a month in most countries. These rules vary depending on where you live and so far, it has been active in places like Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, where it was tested in 2022.
If you remember, they accidentally released the sharing password charge article last year, and everyone in the U.S. went berserk over it. This was when they were doing the testing, and they didn’t clarify that they were doing it in those three countries.
As of late May, the plan is officially launching in the United States, which is making many people angry. We can officially confirm that in America, extra profiles will cost $7.99 more per month.
2024 Membership Cost and Extra Members
They made it pretty complicated for those who want to add a member. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as having any old membership and just adding friends to your account. If you’re wanting to add someone to your account, you’ll need one of the Ad-Free Standard or Premium memberships, but even those have restrictions.
If you have an Ad-Free Standard account, you can only add one person outside of your family to the account. And if you have a Premium account, you can only add two.
Not only do you need to spend extra money just to add friends, but you have a limit on how many. It’s obvious that Netflix is doing this to force others into just creating a membership. Plus, adding members costs more than just a standard membership with ads.
For a specific look at their memberships and what they include, check out the table below for everything you need to know.
| Netflix Plans | Features | Price |
| Standard with Ads | – Watch with ads – Watch on 2 supported devices – Watch in Full HD – Download on 2 supported devices at a time | $6.99/month |
| Standard | – Unlimited ad-free movies, TV and games – Watch on 2 supported devices – Watch in Full HD – Download on 2 supported devices at a time – Option to add 1 member who doesn’t live with you | $15.49/month |
| Premium | – Unlimited ad-free movies, TV and games – Watch on 2 supported devices – Watch in Full HD – Download on 2 supported devices at a time – Option to add 2 extra members who don’t live with you | $22.99/month |
| Addition Members | Allows someone from another household to watch your account | $7.99 each/month |
What Are the Key Differences Between the Account Owner and Extra Member?
If you’re an extra member of someone’s account, you do have some benefits and restrictions. The benefits are you have your account and profile, but the main differences are that you can only watch on 1 device at a time, and can only download one title at a time.
You can also only create one profile, no more. A big restriction is that a member can not activate their account in a different country associated with the owner. So if the owner lives in the United States, they can’t have a member who lives in Canada, Costa Rica, or any other country. Which is a shame for our traveling buddies or families across the country.
What We Knew in 2023
In the second week of February, Netflix launched a fee for account sharing in the first wave of countries. The countries it is currently in are Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. It seems crazy for this to happen because, in one household, plenty of people use one account. Why should there be a fee for extra members? Between parents and siblings, passwords get shared within one family, and apparently, Netflix will not allow two different households to use the same account information.
This means that if you aren’t living under the same roof, you could have to pay more each month on top of your subscription unless the other people signed in get their membership.
Using a combination of IP addresses, device IDs, and “account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account”, Netflix will be able to determine if an account is being used in the primary account holder’s household. However, we do know that they will be looking at IP addresses, devices, and account activity, which is pretty much guaranteed to give away any password sharing on its own.
The United States isn’t the only new country affected by Netflix’s password crack down. More than 100 countries were added to this second roll out. Hoda Kotb joked on The Today Show recently that with the “pay to share” policy rolling out, she’s going to “Netflix jail.” While she’s making a joke, I think many Americans already feel this way. There are going to be tons of attempts to get around these new rules and people are not responding positively so far.
Now that we know it is hitting the U.S., I can’t help but wonder if it will be the downfall for Netflix. If other streaming platforms don’t do this, Netflix will probably lose tons of subscribers.
Is the Netflix Password Crack Down Working?
Going into 2024, many of us have been dealing with the password crack down for a while, and for many, it’s frustrating, to say the least. But is it working? Has Netflix managed to achieve its goal? Sadly yes. While I’m a big believer that
Back in October 2023, Netflix announced that it added 9 million new subscribers globally following the crack down on password sharing starting in the U.S. They also reported that revenue has gone up 8% compared to 2022 with $8.5 billion.
But this also saw a boost in members switching to the basic plan thanks to the jump of pricing from the additional membership, showing that many of us can only afford, or want, the basic plan, showing that 70% of its members moved to the cheaper plan.
Thankfully for Netflix, and unfortunately for those who are putting a stand against Netflix, the new memberships outnumber the cancellations, so those who are throwing away Netflix to prove a point, don’t seem to be worried.
But Netflix didn’t stop there. In October, they went on to raise the price of memberships that are ad-free, making the Standard $15.99 and the Premium $22.99. It looks like the 8% jump in revenue just wasn’t enough.
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What the People Think
What are your reactions to this? Many of us worked on canceling our membership right away when we heard the news. Some of us changed over to our other several streaming platforms when we got the notification we were kicked out.
Even The Jason Show was getting heated with the topic, talking about how streaming services were meant to be convenient, however, the Netflix password-sharing shutdown contradicts the whole premise of the platform.
@fox9mn Netflix’s new password sharing rule has @thejasonshowtv HEATED. People pay for convenience…think about long term work, study abroad, second homes, college students etc. when it comes to household password sharing to stream tv. #netflix #passwordshare @netflix ♬ original sound – FOX 9 | KMSP
But one of my favorite reactions is from UNO, who didn’t waste time putting an absolute gem in the comment section of the “Love is sharing a password” which was tweeted by Netflix in 2017.
— UNO (@realUNOgame) February 2, 2023
Leave it to our generation to deal with greedy companies by posting memes, like these classic vines. Is this why we all have trust issues?
— Jonathan Rizk ???? (@OfficialRizk) February 2, 2023
— b (@Brew_Stew) February 2, 2023
Are we being dramatic? Absolutely not.
Is This the Future of Streaming?
Now that Netflix has boasted about their winnings, many viewers are looking to other platforms in anticipation. And sadly, it seems like this has become the future, at least for Disney+ right now.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said that they can monitor password sharing on the streaming service, and is hoping to also implement a password crack down in 2024. Disney has remained very quiet about it, but they do hope to gradually roll it out before expanding to larger countries like the U.K. and the U.S.
But I believe that once Disney rolls this out, it’s only a matter of time for the rest to follow. While Netflix has quite the follower base, many streaming platforms are still new and are coming up. But I do believe streaming services like Max, Hulu, Paramount, Peacock, and more will work on keeping the accounts within a household to bring in more money.
Either way, it seems as though sharing is a thing of the past, and the convenience we receive from these platforms is long gone. Once again many companies we cherish are going back to their roots at doing everything they can to get more money.
Keep checking back here to see if there’s any new information on the upcoming changes to either Netflix or other streaming services.
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