Netflix will soon start punishing you if you share a password

A big change will soon come for Netflix users with a crackdown on password sharing - by charging a fee for customers who do it.

In early 2023, the days of password sharing will be gone and replaced with a "thoughtful approach to monetize account-sharing" though the streaming service has not revealed what the extra cost will be yet.

Meanwhile, tests have been carried out in Latin America of a £4 per month increase, The Independentreported.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

There will also be a new profile transfer feature coming soon too where if your Netflix profile is on your family's membership, then you can move that over to create a separate and new paid account.

Alternatively, if you've been using someone else's membership there will soon be a "sub-account" option to keep paying to use the profile.

Fees for both of these features have also noted been revealed.

Out of the 222m households worldwide that pay for an account, Netflix estimatespasswords are getting shared with more than "100 million additional households."

Soon password sharing on Netflix won't be a thing iStockphoto by Getty Images

So are looking to increase their fortune by closing this gap, especially when the company had a net loss of 200,000 subscribers globally at the beginning of the year.

Though as of late, things have been looking more positive with 2.4 million new subscribers in the past three months and 4.5 million new subscribers projected to join in the next three months.

Meanwhile, Netflix launched a new cheaper streaming option in November that includes adverts - up to four or five minutes worth per hour.

The "Basic with Ads" plan is £4.99 per month and has been available since November 3.

"We’ve left a big customer segment off the table, which is people who say, ‘Hey, Netflix is too expensive for me and I don’t mind advertising,’” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the new package earlier this year.

"We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say, ‘Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads.'"

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.