After months of warnings, Netflix is now cracking down on password-sharing in the UK.
Netflix will only allow members of the same household to watch its programming under its new policy.
Customers who have subscribed to Netflix's Standard or Premium plans — which cost £11 and £16 per month respectively in the UK — can grant access to extra users by paying £5 per month.
After introducing the regulations progressively in other areas, such as Latin America, Spain, and Canada, in 2022, Netflix began enforcing them on May 23 in the UK.
Although Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, there are plenty of other services that let you share logins to save money.
The likes of Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Sky all permit subscribers to add additional devices or accounts to their subscriptions.
Best of all, none of these popular services is currently clamping down on account sharing. This isn’t to say they won’t change their minds in the future, especially if Netflix’s crusade against password sharing works. Disney, for instance, explicitly forbids password sharing on Disney+ in its terms and conditions, and has previously said that it monitors abnormal logins.
For now, you can take advantage of the lax rules on some services to access a mountain of entertainment at no extra cost — as long as you have a friend or loved one willing to share their subscription with you. Or, you could split the bill by chipping in with your mates or family members each month.
Of course, you should buddy up with only people you trust as you’ll also need to share a payment method, and ensure that everyone regularly pays their fair share.
If you can manage that, here’s how to start sharing your password with others on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Sky.
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime members can share the delivery service and several of its perks, including Prime Video, with another adult.
All you have to do is visit the “Manage Your Household” section on Amazon, and invite another person to join your household by entering the email assigned to their Amazon account. Once they accept, they’ll be able to get Prime deliveries, Prime Video streaming, and Prime Reading e-books — among other benefits.
The main restriction for new household members is that they must live in the same country or region as the Prime account holder and use the same marketplace. Bear in mind, both adults sharing Prime must agree to share payment methods associated with the account.
Amazon Prime currently costs £8.99 per month or £95 per year.
Apple TV+
Apple lets subscribers share several services with five additional family members, though there’s nothing stopping you from sharing with your pals.
Supported services include Apple TV+, Apple Fitness+, iCloud+ storage, Apple Arcade gaming, and Apple News+. Apple Music is also available, but only if you subscribe to the £17 family plan for six members, which defeats the purpose of saving by sharing an individual subscription.
The account holder can start sharing by heading into settings on their iPhone, selecting their Apple ID near the top of the page, tapping “family sharing”, and then inviting people by entering the email address associated with their Apple ID. On Macs, you can find the family sharing option in system settings.
Family sharing is a broad feature that also enables members to share purchased apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books. Fortunately, the main account holder can stop others from buying things using their payment method by turning off purchase sharing.
This is especially useful when you’re sharing with mates, but you will probably want to leave it on if you’re sharing with kids and other family members.
Sky
Sky customers can share the service with others by setting up the Sky Go live and on-demand service.
In a nutshell, Sky lets you register up to six devices to your account, including phones and games consoles. However, you can stream on only two at a time, or four if you’re subscribed to Sky Go Extra (£5 per month on top of your plan), Sky Q Multiscreen, and Sky Glass/Sky Stream Whole Home subscriber.
To spread the love, just share your Sky ID with your friend or loved one, which they can use to log in to the Sky Go app. As soon as they sign in on a new device, it will be automatically registered by Sky as one of your six streaming devices.
You can manage and remove devices via the settings on the Sky Go app on your mobile, computer, or on the web at sky.com.
Can you share passwords on Spotify?
Yes, you can share your Spotify password, but we wouldn’t recommend it.
The music-streaming app doesn’t work when multiple people are listening at the same time over the internet. You could take turns using the app, with one person streaming online while the other listens to downloaded music offline, but that would be impractical for many users.
However, you can still save money by signing up to a Spotify plan for multiple accounts. For people who live together, the company’s Duo subscription gives you access to the ad-free version of the music streaming service for £14 per month. By comparison, an individual membership costs £10. While students can pay £5 for an individual monthly plan, and up to six members can stream using the family plan for £17 per month.
