Netflix introduced its Add a Home feature as a new way of cracking down on password sharing. Add a Home was launched in select countries where the streaming service is available starting August 2022.

However, after a short while, Netflix decided to ditch the feature just a few months after its creation in October 2022. Here's everything you need to know about Netflix's Add a Home feature, including how it works and why it's no longer available.

Netflix Introduces Add a Home

Netflix launched a new feature called Add a Home in July 2022. The new feature was meant to help Netflix enforce its single-household policy.

Add a Home was an alternative to Add an Extra Member, which the streaming company introduced in several Latin American countries in early 2022. Both features are targeted at helping Netflix crack down on password sharing. In August 2022, the feature went live in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

How Netflix's Add a Home Feature Works

According to its policy, Netflix allows you to share your account within a single household. According to Netflix's help center, a household is "a collection of the devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix." Enforcing this rule has been tough for the platform, but Add a Home was meant to help the company. To detect your primary home, Netflix uses different factors such as your IP address, device ID, and account activity.

The streaming service allows you to manually set or update a household on your TV. If you don't, the three mentioned factors are used to set one on your behalf automatically.

Add a Home came into play if you'd like to use your account in more than one home (physical location). You would have the option to add an extra household if you sign in to your account on another TV or TV-connected device for an extra $2.99 per home. However, you could only set up a Netflix Household on a TV. All the other devices using the same internet as your TV are automatically part of your Netflix Household.

When traveling, Netflix would allow you to stream on a new TV for a limited time of up to two weeks. The catch? You must not have used your account in that location previously. At launch, a Netflix support page said the two weeks respite is only allowed once per location per year. As for your main home, you could only change it up to three times every six months.

If you purchased an extra home and decide to change your mind later, Netflix would provide an option to Stop Paying for additional homes. All devices in that home will be signed out when the current billing cycle ends, and you will retain the standard Netflix subscription charge, depending on the Netflix subscription plan you chose.

Why Did Netflix Launch Add a Home?

The main motive behind the feature is cracking down on password sharing, one of the company's biggest problems. In a letter to its shareholders in April 2022, Netflix estimated that passwords are being shared with over 100 million additional households. During the first quarter of 2022, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers, followed by nearly 1 million in the second quarter.

In a Netflix announcement, Chengyi Long, Director of Product Innovation, says, "today's widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service."

What Happened to Netflix's Add a Home Feature?

Add a Home is no longer available as of July 2023. The feature was meant to expand to more countries, including the US, but was removed several months after the announcement. Netflix sunset the feature in October 2022 and replaced it with Extra Member support.

Using the Extra Member feature, you can create Netflix sub-accounts for $7.99/month or more (depending on your plan) that can be used outside your household. Netflix also added a Profile Transfer feature at the same time to help those sharing passwords create new accounts and move their profiles to avoid starting afresh.

Netflix Wants to End Password Sharing

Now more than ever, Netflix is serious about cracking down on password sharing. If you share someone's credentials, don't panic; you might be relieved to hear the company has a cheaper plan dubbed Standard with ads going for $7.99/month. As long as you can put up with ads, this plan makes Netflix more accessible to many.