No more Netflix account sharing in the U.S, at least not for free

Around a couple of months ago, Netflix revealed how it plans to stop its users from sharing their accounts with others. The company had already made a few test runs in several countries during the first quarter of 2023, and based on a leaked letter to its shareholders, it seems the results were satisfying enough to continue with the process. (via TheStreamable)

One of the next countries to be hit by Netflix's crackdown on password sharing is none other than the U.S. The same letter confirms as much, saying this will happen by the end of Q2. The solution that the company is going for is to monetize sharing your account with others. Of course, why get rid of the issue and risk people finding a way around it when you can leave it be but slap a price on it and make some profit?

This could also explain why Netflix recently lowered its subscription prices in more than 30 countries. This way, it could market the additional cost for sharing your account as much more easy to swallow. Despite that, however, it is hard to look at this change as anything other than cumbersome and annoying as a subscriber. There is little to no benefit for the users.

Once this decision finally reaches your account, you will get a prompt to set a "primary location" for your account. If you happen to already be sharing your account with someone else, then you will have to set up an extra member for each one. The annoying part is that there would probably be regular confirmation emails, as Netflix tries to periodically verify you are not being sneaky.

Only users with a Standard ($15.49/month) and Premium ($19.99/month) subscriptions will be able to share their accounts. Those with the Standard subscription can share their password with only one person, while those with a Premium one with two. Each added person will increase the subscription's cost, although it is unknown what that amount would be in the U.S.