Netflix is cracking down on users mooching off of their family members, friends, and exes: This summer, the streamer will begin to implement an “extra home” fee for those using the same account with people they don’t live with.
The small fee, which equates to about $2 or $3, will go into effect on August 22th in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. “If your Netflix account is being used on a TV outside of your home, you will need to pay an extra $2.99 per month for each extra home. You will only be charged when you or someone who uses your account chooses to add an extra home—this fee will NOT be automatically charged,” Netflix wrote on their Honduras pricing page.
After a trial period in the previously-mentioned countries, Netflix will start implementing the extra home fee worldwide. Subscribers will have the option of adding one, two, or three extra homes depending on their plan, with prices ranging from from $9.99 to $19.99 in the US. If you’re only using a TV outside your home for a limited time — say, while you’re traveling — you’ll still have a two-week window where you’ll be able to use Netflix at no extra charge, as long as you haven’t used that location.
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This news follows Netflix’s announcement earlier this year that they’d be rolling out a fee for sharing passwords between households, though there wasn’t much of a penalty if that fee wasn’t paid. With this new fee, however, the added TV will be blocked if the fee isn’t paid. Netflix hasn’t clarified whether it will standardize on a single fee, offer users a choice between the extra home and extra member fees, or come up with some other option in efforts to combat their rapid decline in subscribers.
If you’re on a tighter budget, Netflix recently began offering a cheaper, ad-supported tier; unfortunately, it also comes with a smaller, worse catalog.