Netflix Password-Sharing Crackdown Coming In Early 2023 -- Here's What To Expect

The days of sharing a Netflix account for free seem to be coming to an end. Netflix said during its latest earnings report that, starting in early 2023, sharing a Netflix account will incur an additional fee. Netflix management said it came up with a "thoughtful approach to monetize account-sharing," and this will roll out to more users next year following its pilot test phase in some regions.

The full details of this plan are unknown at this stage, so there is no word yet on what it will cost or other particulars. Netflix did confirm, however, that a profile transfer feature is coming as well. If you have a profile on, say, your parents membership, you'll be able to transfer that profile to your own new paid account. Or, if the Netflix subscriber in your life that has been allowing you onto their plan is generous enough, they'll be able to create a "sub-account" to keep paying for that profile to stay active. Again, however, the fee was not disclosed.

This profile transfer feature will also apply to the new, lower-priced ad tier for Netflix, and the company said it expects the feature to be "especially popular" among these members.

"People move. Families grow. Relationships end. But throughout these life changes, your Netflix experience should stay the same," Netflix said about the profile transfer feature.

All viewing history, tailored recommendations, saved games, and other settings are retained when a profile is transferred.

Netflix has already rolled out the password-sharing changes in some countries, including Argentina and Honduras. If the global rollout is similar to the test phase, Netflix will charge password-sharers an extra fee of a few dollars.

A reported 100 million Netflix accounts globally share passwords, so Netflix cracking down on this by charging members a few extra dollars could end up amounting to a very sizable chunk of change. Netflix's financial fortunes haven't been very strong of late, and this is one way the company is hoping to turn things around.

In a bit of positive news for Netflix, the company announced this week that it added 2.4 million new subscribers in the past three months with projections to add millions more in the months ahead. Netflix now has 223 million subscribers globally.

Netflix with ads rolls out in November, priced at $7/month. Anyone thinking about subscribing should know that Netflix's entire library will not be available on the ad tier, while streaming is capped at 720p and content downloads are not allowed.

In other Netflix news, the company has 55 more video games in development and may launch a game-streaming service.