Netflix will soon charge you extra for shared accounts

Back in January, Netflix announced an unexpected price hike on all of its subscription plans in North America. It was not the most welcome change for its massive U.S. base, but the last such price hike hadn't happened since 2014. That's why we didn't expect yet another such change so soon down the road, but here it is, happening again.

As XDA Developers reports, Netflix is planning to increase the price of some of its plans yet again—specifically, the plans that are being shared between households. In fact, the company is already testing out this change in certain countries, charging customers extra for the addition of members living separately to their account.

Netflix has been open in the past about having issues with people sharing their Netflix accounts illegally across the board with friends and relatives to save some cash. This move shows that the media streaming company is still trying to crack down on the problem, and hopes this solution will work far more in Netflix' favor for those who want to share their accounts with others.

Along with this news, Netflix announced that the countries of Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru are receiving the ability to add up to two non-cohabiting members to their Standard and Premium plans for 2,380 CLP in Chile, $2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru. The new members will get their fully private sub-account, complete with their own login and password, and personalized recommendations.

Over the next couple of weeks, users from these countries will also be able to transfer their profile to a new account (or an Extra Member sub account), regardless of whether they are on a Basic, Standard, or Premium subscription.

Once Netflix finishes its trial period, the change may well be expected to extend to the United States and the rest of the world, meaning that if you share an account with someone who doesn't live with you, you may just have to start dishing out an extra $2.99 a month to keep things going.