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After warning members for months now that it would happen, Disney has finally begun to crack down on Disney+ password-sharing in earnest. Beginning this week, Disney no longer is OK with people who share their accounts and will ask users to pay for additional access or create their own new account. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because Netflix and others have done similar things in the interest of making more money.
Here’s a quick rundown of how paid sharing on Disney+ works, including the associated fees.
The cost
Disney+ subscribers can share their account with family and friends, but this is no longer available for free. Disney said it’s always been the case that a Disney+ account is meant to be used within the same household. Obviously, people were sharing accounts with friends and family since the service launched. But those days are coming to an end.
Account owners who want to add someone outside their home to an existing Disney+ membership can do say by paying extra to create an Extra Member, as it’s called. In the US, Extra Members costs $7/month for Disney+ Basic and $10/month for Disney+ Premium. Disney also clarified that only one Extra Member is available per account, and that Extra Member accounts are not available for Disney Bundle subscribers or for anyone who gets Disney+ through a partner offer.
Make a new account
If the Disney+ account owner isn’t generous enough to pay for you to become an Extra Member, you will have to make your own account. The original account owner, however, can transfer a profile, retaining the account’s watch history and settings, which is a silver lining at least.
Junior Mode accounts, minors’ profile, and account-holder profiles cannot be transferred.
Other things to know
Disney also let users know that, when traveling, they may now see a prompt that states, “This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account.” You can mark yourself as as “Away From Home” to get around this, in the event you’re traveling. If you relocate permanently, you can reset your household location.
Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown led to a huge surge in subscribers, and Disney will no doubt hope something similar happens with its own efforts.
In other news, Disney+ is now available for only $2/month as part of a promotional offer that ends on September 27. This is just ahead of Disney+’s planned price increase that begins on October 17, when Disney+ with ads goes up to $10/month. The ad-free plan is going up by $2 to $16/month, while monthly rates for Hulu and ESPN+ are rising as well at that time.
After years of losing money (as many new financial ventures do), Disney+ is now profitable for Disney, with projections to add subscribers and grow revenue in the months ahead. The planned price hikes are part of that effort. CEO Bob Iger defended the price increases, saying each time the company raises prices, only a small and statistically insignificant percentage of people leave.
