Max begins charging additional to share your streaming account
The opposite shoe simply dropped for Max password sharers, with the streaming service saying Tuesday that it’s making good on its promise to cost additional for many who wish to share entry to their accounts.
Beginning now, you should purchase an “Additional Member Add-On” that allows you to invite household or mates outdoors your family to create their very own sub-accounts underneath your main Max subscription.
Every “additional member” add-on slot will price $7.99 a month, the similar quantity that Netflix fees its personal members to share their accounts. The worth for additional members would be the similar no matter which Max tier you subscribe to.
On the similar time, Max is launching a instrument that enables former password sharers to switch their profiles particulars to an “additional member” account—once more, a characteristic just like one which Netflix had beforehand rolled out.
Max has lengthy signaled its password-sharing crackdown intentions, together with its plan to promoting sub-accounts to subscribers.
Final December, Max execs introduced that it will start serving up “early, light messaging” to suspected password sharers, whereas additionally bettering its capability to detect doable account freeloaders.
Password sharing has been a thorny challenge for the large streamers. Initially, main streamers like Netflix seemed the opposite means, hoping that the additional eyeballs would ultimately result in extra paying subscribers.
However after the pandemic hit, Wall Avenue demanded earnings relatively than simply massive subscriber bases, and streaming providers started to get critical about cracking down on password sharing.
Netflix led the way in which, imposing its $7.99/month price for sub-accounts in late 2023. Disney+ adopted swimsuit final yr, charging $6.99 a month for Disney+ Primary (the with-ads tier) customers to share their accounts, whereas Disney+ Premium customers should pay $9.99 a month for every additional member.
The password crackdowns seem like working, with Netflix reporting income development of 13 p.c within the first quarter of 2025, a “main earnings beat” for the corporate.
