“We value our members, and recognise that they have many entertainment choices. So we’re working hard to make great TV shows and films, and to be as thoughtful as possible about how we charge for use across multiple homes,” added Long.
Netflix rolling out ‘add a home’ charge
July 19, 2022
By Nik Roseveare
In a significant move to crackdown on password-sharing, Netflix is testing a new strategy that charges subscribers extra for accounts used in multiple homes.
From August 22nd, Netflix subscribers in Argentina, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala will have to pay an additional fee by adding homes to their account if they regularly watch outside of their primary location.
In a blog post, Chengyi Long Director of Product Innovation at Netflix, explained: “Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked hard to build a streaming service that’s easy to use, including for people who travel or live together. It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service. So we’ve been carefully exploring different ways for people who want to share their account to pay a bit more. In March 2022, we launched an ‘add extra member’ feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. From next month, we will launch an alternative ‘add a home’ feature in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
The ‘add a home’ feature will work thusly:
- One home per account: Each Netflix account – whatever the plan – will include one home where the user can watch Netflix on any of their devices.
- Buy additional homes: To use a Netflix account in additional homes, Netflix will ask the user to pay an extra [219 Pesos per month per home in Argentina / $2.99 per month per home in the Dominican Republic / $2.99 per month per home in Honduras / $2.99 per month per home in El Salvador / $2.99 per month per home in Guatemala]. Members on the Basic plan can add one extra home, Standard up to two extra, and Premium up to three extra.
- Travel included: Users can watch while outside the home on their tablet, laptop or mobile.
- New manage homes feature: Users will soon be able to control where their account is being used – and remove homes at any time – from the account settings page.