
Itâs time to cleanse ourselves and confess all the subscriptions services weâre not paying for.
First off: Thereâs nothing wrong with using someone elseâs loginâmorally, anywayâalthough it probably breaks some Terms of Service agreements. But in this economy of stagnant wages and longer hours, itâs the modern equivalent of clipping coupons. Friends agree to join a cell phone carrierâs family plan together for the discounts. Trading a Hulu login for an HBO with whoever happens to be within armâs length is no worse. Itâs just something we do now, and have done since internet bandwidth became cheap enough to make these services feasible.
A dilemma (or opportunity, as some might see it) arises when you and a subscription sharer part ways. Do you continue to indefinitely âborrowâ an account by justifying that, well, it doesnât cost them anything extra, and Iâm a nice person who deserves nice things for free. But how do you keep from getting caught?

A Reddit user posted a screenshot today of what they claim is an exâs Netflix account. They made an account named âAdd Userâ. This is dumb. Two âAdd Userâ icons is a big red flag and far more suspicious than messing up an estranged loverâs Recently Watched queue. One commenter suggested toggling off the âFor Kidsâ option and making a second user named âFor Kids.â
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Fucking genius.
I pay for Netflix like the adult Iâm struggling to be, but thatâs about it. Amazon Prime Iâve been borrowing unawares from a roommate three apartments ago. (A Prime customer can share the serviceâs perks with another account if theyâre located at the same address. New addresses can be added down the line. Youâre welcome, Lifehacker.) My partner and I split the cost of a New York Times Crossword app subscription and clear out the dayâs puzzles for each other when we finish. We used her sisterâs HBO Go account to watch Game of Thrones.
Do you have the credentials for one of the six people still paying for Tidal? Did you inherit Spotify from a past relationship? Almost everyone Iâve asked about the topic of login-sharing has some story about how they finagled free shit out of someone they barely know, no longer know, or wish they never knew in the first place. Weâd like to hear yours below.
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