Netflix said Tuesday it’s now rolling out its account-sharing fee to customers in the US. It will begin sending emails today to customers who are sharing passwords with anyone outside of their household, Netflix said in a blog post.
Subscribers with either a standard or premium plan will pay an additional $8 per month for each extra member. At this time, the extra member option is only available for those who are billed directly by Netflix.
There are limits to how many extra users are allowed on accounts. Only those with a premium membership can add two extra people to their account; the standard price plan allows for only one extra member. Netflix defines a household as one where everyone lives under the same roof. Members of that household are still able to watch content while traveling, and the extra fee will not apply. If you’re sharing your streaming account with friends and family who live at a different address, you have two options: Pay more or remove them from your account.
When you open the Netflix app and navigate to your account page, you’ll see an Extra Members option. From there, subscribers can purchase a slot for the person outside their household. If they accept the invitation, the extra member will receive their own separate account, profile and password, and the fee is paid for by the main subscribing household.
The rules? Extra member accounts can only stream on one device at a time and are only permitted to have one profile. The extra member must also be located in the same country as the account holder.
The streaming service rolled out its new policy in February for Canada, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand. Netflix first announced its intention to crack down on password-sharing last year. In April, Netflix said it would implement a fee for US customers by the end of the second quarter.
