Oliver Haslam on March 17, 2022, 1:03 am

Netflix Is Testing Changes That Will End Password Sharing Between Households

Netflix has long offered profiles that make it easier for people to share accounts within a household and still have their own watch history and recommendations.

But Netflix also knows that people are sharing their accounts and passwords with people who don’t live with them and now it’s testing changes that will put an end to that.

In a change announced today, Netflix says that it will be testing two new features in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. The gist is simple — Netflix will give people the chance to add an extra person to their account at a reduced price, essentially allowing them to share their password while still handing over a little more money.

Another option will make it easier for people to migrate their profile to a new account so that they don’t lose their watch history.

The two features are:

Add an Extra Member: Members on our Standard and Premium plans will be able to add sub accounts for up to two people they don’t live with – each with their own profile, personalized recommendations, login and password – at a lower price: 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru;

Transfer Profile to a New Account: Members on our Basic, Standard, and Premium plans can enable people who share their account to transfer profile information either to a new account or an Extra Member sub account – keeping the viewing history, My List, and personalized recommendations.

It’s surely only a matter of time before this rolls out beyond those three test countries and it will be interesting to see what Netflix does if people continue to share passwords regardless of the new options. Netflix says account sharing means that it loses money and can’t invest in new content, something it’s done heavily in recent years.