How to share (well) account on Netflix: is it safe? And legal?

• What does Netflix say about giving someone your password? We tell you everything you need to know about the old art of account sharing.

Although Netflix is one of the streaming platforms with the most competitive prices on the market (in Spain, you can access its entire catalog from 7.99 euros per month ), sharing an account is a common option to pay less at the end of the month.

And it is that who else who least shares or has ever shared a Netflix account (and other platforms) with friends or family, a perfect way to lower costs but about which we also have a few doubts. What is the maximum number of users that can connect to the same Netflix account? Is it entirely legal? What risks are there when sharing our account with strangers?

It is true that, as users of the platform, we can configure different profiles to access our Netflix account. However, they are limited to five per user; they all depend on the same Netflix account. So can we pass our account details to someone to create their own profile? The answer is huge. It depends. We will see, in detail, how to share an account on Netflix safely and legally.

Share Netflix account using profiles; what are the limitations? What does Netflix say about it?

Profiles are the most common way to share an account on Netflix: we sign up for the streaming platform and pass our account and password to someone we trust. From there, different devices and usage profiles are configured.  Regardless of the contracted plan, we can create up to five different profiles with a single Netflix account. Easy, fast, and for the whole family.

A function of the sea of ​​practice that has the objective, always according to Netflix, that members of the same family can “enjoy a personalized experience.” After all, profiles are used so that, within the same account, we have different content suggestions, lists, and ratings, among many other functions.

Remember that for many profiles that an account has, the simultaneous reproduction depends entirely on the contracted plan. In other words, having five profiles created does not enable us for five simultaneous reproductions; that will depend on our plan. No matter how many profiles we have, if we have the basic plan, we can only use one screen to reproduce content. This is the number of screens you can see at the same time within each plan :

• Basic plan (7.99 euros per month): one screen.
• Standard plan (11.99 euros per month): two screens.
• Play premium (15.99 euros per month): four screens.

As you can see, even if you pay for the premium plan, you will not be able to enjoy all five profiles simultaneously. This is partly the case because, as we said, the objective of the profiles is that you share your account with members of the same family .

And how does Netflix know if the same household is using an account? Here is the million-dollar question. After all, it is normal to share our accounts with co-workers, friends, relatives, or distant relatives. However, if we look at Netflix’s terms and conditions, we will see, in point 4.2, that the platform does not allow sharing a subscription with individuals outside your home. This is exactly what this controversial point says:

“Point 4.2. The Netflix service and all content viewed through the service are for your personal and non-marketable use and cannot be shared with individuals outside your home. During your Netflix subscription, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, and non-transferable right to access the Netflix service and view Netflix content.”

For older people, point 5 of these conditions of use makes express reference to passwords and access to the account, discharging all responsibility on the account holder. According to this point, this person must control all the devices that connect to the account in addition to not revealing the password to anyone.

“Point 5. Passwords and access to the account. Service and not reveal to anyone the password or the details of the Payment Method associated with said account. The subscriber who created the Netflix account and whose Payment Method the fees are charged (the “Account Holder”) is responsible for the activity carried out through said Netflix account. To maintain control over the account and prevent anyone from accessing it (which would include information about the account’s viewing history), the Account Holder must maintain control of all Netflix-compatible devices used to access the account. You are responsible for updating and maintaining the accuracy of the information you provide us about your account. We can cancel your account or block it to protect you.”

As you can read, in case you provide fraudulent information to Netflix or you allow flagrant access to your Netflix account, it can be canceled or blocked.

Ok, wait. Basically, Netflix does not have or does not want to have an effective way to check if an account is being shared lawfully (a family with several members and profiles) or rather “mischievous” (a dozen friends sharing keys). But if everyone shares their Netflix account, what is going on here? What is the difference between a family that lives together hiring Netflix and a group of students sharing a flat? What if a family member goes to live abroad? Controlling this doesn’t seem very easy.

So, with rather ambiguous terms of use, Netflix tiptoes over the matter. Although more than a third of users share an account and therefore do not pay for the service, the streaming giant prefers to turn a blind eye, hoping that those who share an account today will be loyal users tomorrow.

At the moment, it is an issue that Netflix does not seem to care too much about. Even if they lose money with the “problem” of shared accounts (it is estimated that Netflix stops making several million dollars a year for this practice ), dealing with brown could cost them from image problems to user leakage, so it is understandable that the platform does not want to open that melon.

In short, if you are wondering how many people you can pass your Netflix account and password to, there is sadly no clear answer. Netflix leaves it up to the user to decide whether or not to use their account lawfully, authorizing us only to share our account with people who live with us .

What are the real risks of sharing a Netflix account

Giving our username and password to a close friend or relative does not have to be a problem as long as we trust that person and are sure they will not share our data with a third party.

What can happen if there is a “data leak” by someone in your circle? If you only use that password for the Netflix account, calm down. If not, you may have a serious problem: if that new user gets to use your email and your password on other platforms where you are registered (for example, Gmail), things can get very ugly.

So, stay with the following: if you are going to share a Netflix account with other people, whoever they are, use a unique password for Netflix; if possible, also configure a unique email. In this way, if the password reaches the hands of a third party, you will have nothing to fear. Of course, you can always use a password manager in addition to changing the password from time to time to strengthen security further.

If a stranger only has access to your Netflix account (because someone has given them your username and password), that person will have the ability to change plans or restrict access to other accounts by changing the associated email address. Today, it is not necessary to have access to the email account to change the Netflix password, so if your Netflix account falls into the wrong hands, you could be left without access to it.

If that happens, your only option will be to contact Netflix support to help you get your account back.

How to control who connects with our Netflix users? Go to your account options and access the section called “Recent activity of device streaming.” In this section, you can see all the devices connected to your Netflix account. If, for whatever reason, you do not recognize any, we recommend that, again, from the account options, click on “Close session on all devices.”

After the session is closed, if your account colleagues do not know how to give you a reasonable explanation, change the password.

How to share Netflix account safely, both with friends and strangers

Of course, the easiest and safest way to share a Netflix account with someone is through trust. Don’t give your Netflix account and password to someone you don’t know or trust entirely.

For older people, we repeat our previous recommendation: create an email and password that you will only use for Netflix and change the latter frequently. Finally, check the connected devices from time to time and make sure that no one “goes off the hook.” Remember that Netflix plans have a screen limitation: the more people share a Netflix account, the more chances the simultaneous screencap will be reached.

Nobody likes freeloaders. In that sense, if you are the person who has been left with a Netflix account, do not abuse it. Do not share the password with anyone, and be grateful; your loyalty will be rewarded.

That said, if you don’t have someone to share an account with (because you live alone or because your friends are more than HBO), the idea is that you go to trusted platforms such as Subscription or Together Price. In no case do we recommend buying Netflix accounts on the black market or looking for partners in certain Internet forums; you have a good chance that it will be canceled or that you pay and do not receive anything in return.

Regarding Together Price, it is a website where you can join a group with acquaintances or strangers to divide the price of the account among several; it works both for Netflix and for another fifty subscriptions. It is especially recommended for sharing accounts with people you know.

Subscription, on the other hand, is more focused on that we can share our accounts with strangers or join the group subscription of other users. It is a 100% secure application with a straightforward interface, ideal for dividing expenses even with strangers; they are presented as the Tinder of subscriptions.

How to manage Netflix payments when sharing an account

For many people who share a Netflix account, payment will only be made to one user, specifically the account holder. Right now, Netflix charges every month, directing the receipt into a single bank account, so if you are the person in charge of paying that monthly payment, the easiest thing will be to tell your family and friends to pay you through PayPal or Bizum .

They can make payments month to month or a single annual payment with the prorated amount. Of course, the idea is to be as transparent and communicative as possible with these payments so that there are no unexpected quarrels in your relationship.

In addition to PayPal or Bizum, you can also use other applications to manage shared payments, such as Twp or Verse. These are all very useful for sharing expenses with friends and family.

In case you want to simplify things a bit more, once again, we recommend that you use Together Price, which, in addition to facilitating the process of sharing accounts, will take care of managing payments.

Although using Together Price increases the final fee somewhat (the platform keeps 1 euro per month ), the result is considerable savings on our subscription. Finally, as Together Price acts as an intermediary, we will save ourselves problems both when paying and collecting and about the account’s security.