Late last week, Netflix “slipped up” and accidentally published updates to its Help Center regarding the sharing of accounts by people in different households. While they said it was only applicable to a few countries and was posted in error, they have now detailed new account sharing details for Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.

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While the rumor before was that Netflix would be cracking down on account sharing for people using the same account but not living in the same household, the new article allows users with a Standard or Premium account to add up to two extra “member sub accounts” for people who don’t live in the same household — for a fee. In Canada, for example, each extra member sub account will cost an additional CAD$7.99 (again, maximum of two) on top of the CAD$16.49 for Standard and CAD$20.99 for Premium accounts. In addition, while the extra members will have their own account and password, the extra charges will be applied to the main account and not paid for directly by the sub account holders.

The details, as per Netflix, are as follows:

• Set primary location: We’ll help members set this up, ensuring that anyone who lives in their household can use their Netflix account.
• Manage account access and devices: Members can now easily manage who has access to their account from our new Manage Access and Devices page.
• Transfer profiles: People using an account can now easily transfer a profile to a new account, which they pay for — keeping their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and more.
• Watch while you travel: Members can still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV, like at a hotel or holiday rental.
• Buy an extra member: Members on our Standard or Premium plan in many countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain) can add an extra member sub account for up to two people they don’t live with — each with a profile, personalized recommendations, login and password — for an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain.

What the article doesn’t make mention of is if that means the number of simultaneous streams and profiles increases as well. While each plan allows up to 5 profiles, the Standard Plan allows for two simultaneous streams while the Premium plan allows for four. As this is how it was set up assuming all profile accounts were from the same household, adding two more to that list could have an impact on who can stream in where. Given that the sub accounts will have their own account and password, one would (hopefully correctly) assume that means a separate count of profiles and simultaneous streams between the main and the two sub accounts.

What do you think about Netflix allowing you to add up to two additional users to your account that aren’t in the same household? Will you be doing so or skipping Netflix altogether? Let us know on social media by using the buttons below.

Last Updated on February 8, 2023.