If you’ve watched anything on Netflix this year, chances are, you did so on an account that your share with friends or family …using someone else’s login. Password sharing has become a popular way to get the most from the £6.99 per month subscription.
Back in 2016, CEO Reed Hastings even said that people sharing their Netflix account information was “a positive thing” for the brand. But a lot has changed in the 7 years since that comment and the streamer is embarking on a full-scale crackdown on password-sharers across the UK.
Thinking about ditching Netflix? Prime Video is free for 30-days and you can share your password
Those who continue to login to another person’s Netflix account will be charged £4.99 extra each month. That extra fiver is per person too, so things can quickly start to add-up if you’ve got a few friends watching on your account.
In its latest crackdown, Netflix subscribers will only be able to sign-in from a single home address, leaving those used to piggybacking an account forced to pay extra or sign-up with their own account.
As Netflix forces users to set a home address (so it can determine who is sharing the subscription details) Prime Video is still offering a 30-day free trial to binge-watch everything on its service.
Watch everything on Prime Video for free
And when the trial ends, if you decide to stick with the Netflix rival, you’ll be able to watch across up to four households with the same single subscription (in up to 4K Ultra HD quality too, something that Netflix also charges extra to do).
Prime Video has a slew of Hollywood blockbusters, well-loved shows, and exclusives you won’t find anywhere else, including Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's The Grand Tour show, superhero staire The Boys, and the Emmy award-winning Marvellous Mrs. Maisel.
Prime Video costs the same £5.99 fee as Netflix. However, it’s also included as part of Amazon Prime, which costs £8.99, and also includes music streaming, next-day delivery on thousands of items from Amazon, unlimited cloud back-up for your photos and videos, a premium upgrade to Deliveroo, and much more.
All users can choose a free one month trial of the service before they commit to the monthly plan, a chance for users to binge watch their favourite series without having to pay to do so. And if your mum, nan, brother or mate wants to do so too, you want be charged extra for sharing your details.
This is thanks to its 'household sharing' feature, it allows users to add another person to their account to give them Prime benefits, including free next day delivery and of course, Video.
As the name states, users can do this in the 'manage your household' section of their Amazon account, and it'll work for free as long as all users live in the same country or region.
With the Netflix password-apocalypse starting in the UK, there’s never been a better time to sign up to Prime Video not only can you piggyback on a family members account to watch films (if you don't want to pay for your own) but signing up now will get you access to the upcoming Prime Day sales. Reserved for Prime members only, Amazon is set to slash prices on its website for a full 48-hour period running this July 11 and 12.
Streaming platforms where you can share passwords
Moving on from Netflix and Amazon, there are a host of UK streaming sites that let users share their log in details. We've done a quick round-up of the membership T&C's to see what users can do for free.
Starting with Sky, who lets owners register up to as much as six devices to their account and give out details to friends and family to watch content, as long as it's through the Sky Go app. Customers can share their Sky ID which can then be used to log in on any device and from anywhere in the UK.
Next up is Apple TV+ who lets users share with friends and family through its 'family sharing' feature. Account holders can activate it through their iPhone settings (and select Apple ID) and invite people by adding their email address. This only works if friends and family have an Apple ID registered under their email address.
