If Netflix does it, the rest follow. Some faster than others.
Last month, Max became the latest major streaming platform to announce a password-sharing crackdown. On April 22, 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its new “Extra Member Add-On” feature for U.S. Max subscribers; it costs $7.99/month regardless of which tier the primary account pays for. That’s $1 more than the entry-level price to Netflix’s own precedent-setting program, and $1 less than Netflix’s ad-free add-on.
“Extra Member Add-On and Profile Transfer are two key Max advancements, designed to help viewers with a new way to enjoy our best-in-class content at an exceptional value, and offer subscribers greater flexibility in managing their accounts,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming chief JB Perrette said at the time. “These updates provide a simple way for subscribers to add-on a new member to their account, or for existing subscribers who have users outside of their household to smoothly, and in an uninterrupted fashion, transition their profile so that extra member can continue to access Max.”
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On his Thursday, May 8, 2025 first quarter-earnings conference call, Perrette said his and David Zaslav’s “password-sharing crackdown initiative” will take “12 to 18 months” to be “full steam.”
It “will create another boost of both subscriber and [average revenue per user] growth through the extra member add-on,” Perrette said.
“Content is obviously the fuel of this entire thing,” he continued — and content they do have. “The stories are the product.”
What “Casey (Bloys) and the team have curated over the next 18-24 months is stronger than anything we’ve ever had — and more consistent,” Perrette said.
Max is home to all HBO content and the lion’s share of Discovery+ series. Top Max originals include Hacks, The Pitt, And Just Like That… and more.
Netflix has majorly grown membership and profits with what it calls its “paid sharing” option; Disney+ followed. As Perrette noted, there is a significant delay to announcing a new revenue stream and realizing its monetization.
The plan worked wonders for Netflix, and seems to have had positive effects for Disney, though the smaller the service the more limited its impact. And a 12-18 month timeline is longer than what Netflix saw after they implemented it.
And Max has a handicap that its competitors do not: It is still a premium standalone offering, with its $9.99 price (with ads) more expensive than Netflix, and without the bundling options that Disney has. In fact, WBD executives have cited a recent bundle with Disney+ and Hulu as being one of its most successful, indicating that WBD may need to cut more partnerships with other companies to keep growth going and churn low.
Here you can find everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the Max password-sharing crackdown. And you can find Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings here.
Alex Weprin contributed to this report.
