If you share a Netflix account in Spain with friends or family, pay attention: the new option to transfer a Netflix profile to a new account heralds the end of shared accounts by 2023. In the meantime, the new Basic Plan with ads arrives to complete the offer of plans existing.
There are many people who decide to share the same Netflix account with friends or family to save money. Until now Netflix had not taken drastic measures in this regard in Spain, but you must be clear that Netflix wants only people who live in the same household to use the same account.
Netflix knows if you share the account or not. Netflix already charges an extra in other countries for those who share an account.
This does not mean that one fine day and without prior communication, Netflix will start charging you automatically if you share your account with someone who does not live with you, but everything points to the fact that the account sharing option, as it is done now, has its days numbered and is expected to end in 2023.
How does Netflix know that you share an account?
Netflix knows when connected devices do not belong to the same household, or at least senses it. To do this, they check the activity of the account and the IP address from which each device connects to the Internet, remember that each device has a unique identifier.
If you connect from a device that is away from home for an extended period of time, Netflix may ask you to validate it.
To do this you must enter, within a maximum period of 15 minutes, a verification code that is sent to the e-mail associated with the account.
Alternatives to share Netflix account
The alternative to having a shared Netflix account in Spain is to transfer your profile to a new account and hire your own Netflix plan.
Since the end of October 2022, the option to transfer a profile to a new account is already available in Spain.
How to transfer your Netflix profile to a new account
Transferring your profile to a new Netflix account is easy, just follow these steps:
Access the Netflix Account page from a computer.
In the “Profile and parental control” section, choose the profile you want to transfer and display the options.
Click the “Transfer this profile” option.
Enter the email and password you want to use for the new account and follow the on-screen steps.
Please note that Netflix will retain a copy of your profile on the original account.
Hire a Netflix plan for you
Once the account is transferred, you can contract your own Netflix plan, but of course, it is considerably more expensive than sharing an account, as you can see if you consult the Netflix rates.
Perhaps that is why Netflix has released a new plan, cheaper, but with ads: the new Basic Plan with ads available from November 10 in Spain.
What is the Basic Plan with Netflix Ads like?
It costs €5.49/month compared to €7.99/month for the “Basic Plan”.
It will show you about 4 minutes of ads per hour before or during the series and movies, except in children’s profiles.
But it has limitations:
It is valid for one device and HD viewing quality, like the traditional Basic Plan.
Some movies and series will not be available due to licensing restrictions.
You will not be able to download movies or series on your device.
An alternative is to find and hire another streaming platform
If this option does not convince you, check the offer of pay TV platforms and the account sharing restrictions applied by the different streaming platforms.
They all apply restrictions: at a minimum they limit the number of registered devices and the number of devices that can connect simultaneously.
Dazn and Movistar+ also apply restrictions depending on the IP address from which you connect to the Internet to use the streaming service.
New possible ways to share an account on Netflix
If Netflix moves to Spain in 2023 the same model that already applies in some Latin American countries, Netflix can be shared by paying an additional fee each month.
It is the price of adding an extra member to the main Netflix account.
The extra member would use their own account and password, but this account would be linked to the main one and their fee would be paid by the person who invited the other to join Netflix.
In Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, it is already possible to add an extra member if you have a Standard plan and up to two extra members if your plan is Premium: the cost per extra member depends on the country, in Peru it is equivalent to 32% of the rate of the Basic plan, in Costa Rica it is 33% and in Chile 40%.
Netflix announced this summer that it was extending this model to Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, but on October 18 it changed its mind and decided to delay the creation of subaccounts (“extra members”) in these countries until 2023.
Looking for a good TV?
Virtually all new televisions are Smart TVs, this means that you can access Netflix or your favourite streaming platform from the television itself and also send content to your television from your mobile or tablet to comfortably enjoy it on a large screen.
