Netflix reveals account sharing struggle; to launch “add a home” as potential fix

Netflix is one of today’s most influential companies. It has changed how we consume content and made us question what we want from our entertainment experiences. With its library of TV shows, movies, and documentaries available on demand across all media platforms, from mobile devices to TVs to computers, Netflix has become a go-to option for anyone wanting to watch their favorite shows on-demand. 

With over 100 million subscribers, Netflix has become a household name in the entertainment world. However, Netflix has been experiencing some problems lately. The company has announced that its subscriber growth rate is slowing down and that they are losing subscribers more rapidly than it did in previous years. The culprit – Netflix account sharing. 

Chengyi Long, Netflix’s Director of Product Innovation, announced in a press release in July that they’ve worked hard to build a streaming service over the past 15 years. And though it’s great that members love Netflix movies and TV shows they want to share more broadly, the widespread account sharing between households goes against their long-term ability to invest in and improve their service.

Netflix account sharing occurs when one person shares access to their Netflix subscription with multiple people—usually family members or friends. In this way, the person who pays for the Netflix service uses fewer accounts than they would if they paid for each account individually. It’s still an expensive subscription, but it doesn’t cost as much as multiple subscriptions would. 

This is a major concern for Netflix because it allows people who do not pay for the service to watch movies and TV shows at no additional cost. If this Netflix account-sharing practice continues, the company is apprehensive about how it will affect the company’s growth rate because it means less money coming into their system. It also means fewer people are paying for subscriptions, which means less money is coming into general circulation.

The bottom line is that Netflix must ensure that its subscriptions are maintained, if not exceeded, to continue growing at their current rate. 

Netflix Account Sharing Feature: ‘Add a Home’

The company has been trying to crack down on this practice of Netflix account sharing for the past months. 

They already tested an “add extra member” feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru in March of this year, allowing account holders on their Standard and Premium plans to have two additional subaccounts outside their household for an additional fee.

This August, they will begin testing a new feature in Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala called “add a home”. This feature basically gives an option to add extra “home” accounts within your subscription, but for an additional fee. According to Netflix’s press release, they will ask subscribers to pay an extra – 219 Pesos per month per home in Argentina and $2.99 per month per home in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.”

All plans include a single “home” account through which you can access Netflix on any of your preferred devices. When you want to share your account with someone not from the same household or physical location, you must add extra “home” accounts.

You’re probably wondering how Netflix will detect physical address variations. According to Netflix’s published FAQs, the company uses “information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account”.

Aside from the “add extra member” and “add a home” features, which are only available in certain countries, the company has not stated whether or not they will implement a penalty for sharing Netflix account soon. Meanwhile, the type of member subscription defines the Netflix account sharing limit for most countries.