Your Days of Free Netflix Password Sharing May Be Numbered

Those who use other people's accounts for free may now have to pay up.

Whether you watch Netflix every night, once a week, or on occasion, it's easy to see why the service appeals to so many people. Not only is Netflix constantly adding new content to its vast streaming library, but it offers a range of content to appeal to viewers of all ages.

Another great thing about Netflix? You don't necessarily need an account of your own to access its content. These days, it's pretty easy for Netflix users to share passwords with one another. For some people, that means getting to split the cost of an account. For others, it means piggybacking off of a friend or parent's account and not having to spend a dime.

But Netflix is tired of effectively giving customers access to its service for free. And now, it has plans to crack down on password sharing -- plans that could cost users money.

Prepare for higher costs for password-sharing

Earlier this year, Netflix raised its monthly costs to $9.99 a month for its most basic tier, $15.49 a month for its standard tier, and $19.99 a month for its top tier -- up from $8.99, $13.99, and $17.99, respectively. Meanwhile, the company has announced that its ad-supported plan will roll out on Nov. 4. Those looking for a lower credit card tab can access ad-supported content for just $6.99 a month.

At the same time, Netflix wants to monetize the practice of password-sharing. And so it will start forcing members to create sub-accounts for those who share their accounts with others -- and impose a fee for those sub-accounts.

What will that fee amount to? That's really the big question. Netflix has been running tests in its Latin American markets that have forced members to pay an extra $2.99 for each additional home streaming device used per account. We could see similar costs come down the pike for sub-accounts. Or, the cost of a sub-account could be higher.

Is Netflix worth the cost?

If you're paying nothing right now to access Netflix because you use someone else's account, then you may need to ask yourself whether the service is worth paying for once fees start applying to a shared account. After all, it's one thing to use someone else's account now when it's not costing them anything, but once Netflix starts charging for shared accounts, you'll want to do the right thing and pick up that cost.

Obviously, the price of a shared account will dictate your decision. But if it's in the ballpark of $2.99 a month, you may find that it's worth forking over that money, even if you only watch Netflix here and there.

Plus, while this password-sharing crackdown may come as a blow to a lot of Netflix users, the reality is that the company has allowed subscribers to get away with the practice for a really long time without taking action. So the fact that it's looking to impose modest fees for shared accounts really isn't all that unreasonable when you think about it.