How to Get a Free Netflix Account PLUS 15 Other Netflix Hacks

I love Netflix, and since everything shut down in March of this year following the Covid-19 quarantine, more than ever, my family and I have been leaning on our Netflix subscription.  The title of this blog post is how to get a Free Netflix Account – so you may be wondering how to do that.

Now that the winter months are coming up, I sense a LOT more time indoors binge-watching some of our favorite shows and movies. Netflix subscriptions run between $9 and $16 a month, and while it doesn’t sound like much, over the course of a year and when combined with other expenses, it can add up. I’m sharing my best secret hacks to save money and watch Netflix for free. 

Earlier in the year, I shared my favorite ways to save hundreds of dollars from your budget by “cutting the cord” to cable and taking advantage of different direct tv and streaming services. Netflix is one of my favorite subscriptions. That said, it still costs money from your budget each month. You know I take care of you when I can, so I am sharing my best money-saving tips. 

How to get a Free Netflix Account

1.) Utilize Your Profiles on Your Netflix Account

Did you know you can set up to five profiles on your Netflix account?  I have one set up for myself, and then I made a profile for each of my children. Why did I choose to do this?  Within each profile, you can check the viewing activity. So if you have a 14-year old son, maybe you begin to get curious about what he is doing on his phone all the time. Go into his Netflix account profile and review what he has been watching. 

Also, when you have various profiles set up, you can set up different parental controls for each channel. The profiles also show recommended views based on the ones that have been previously watched within that profile. On my profile, I don’t need a list of My Little Pony, as my daughters watch, and likewise, they don’t need recommendations for Ozarks. 

2.) Block from YouTube

If you have told your child several times to stop watching a particular show, but they continue to watch it (anyone else’s kids do this? It can’t be just me.), you can go into the settings and block an entire show from the YouTube profile they typically use. 

If your children try to sneak and use a different profile, you can block it on all available profiles. This feature gives you a lot of peace of mind knowing you are doing what you can to prevent them from watching something that isn’t aligned with your values. 

3.) Download to Watch Later

Several shows allow you to download episodes right onto your device so you can watch them later. This is great if you do a lot of flying or travel (remember travel?) and need something to do in the downtime without wi-fi or a hotspot. Consider doing this with the kids and their favorite shows if you have long car-rides coming up to visit family or friends with the holidays coming up. 

4.) Recommended Shows for You 

As you watch shows, take a minute to rate them. Netflix will take the time to learn what you like and what you don’t, and it will continue to search for shows that are similar in theme, content, and so on. If you don’t rate shows, Netflix really won’t know what you are watching or what you enjoy. The recommendations won’t be as accurate. 

5.) Netflix Roulette

This is a helpful website I found. Maybe you’ve found yourself wondering what to watch, your recommendations aren’t coming up with anything that seems interesting to you, and you don’t want to post on Facebook asking your friends for ideas, then you can try this. Head to Netflix Roulette and type in the category that you like. It will choose some shows for you that are similar to ones you love on Netflix. I have found this super helpful when I’m not sure what to watch but need a new show. 

6.) Nenhancer

This website is for you if you are the type of person that reads all the reviews before making a decision. Nenhancer is a Chrome extension plugin that gives you the IMDb rating, the SIMKL rating, and the movie trailer.

If you have ever taken someone’s advice about a show and felt like it was a total bomb, this enhancer may be worth your time because it will help you know whether or not to invest your time. 

7.) WhatsOnNetflix.com

This is probably one of my favorite sites. You know when you’ve been invested in a series on Netflix and then one night you go back to watch it and it’s completely gone? LIke totally disappeared?  So The website What’s OnNetflix.com gives you the details about what’s coming and going on Netflix for the month.  I was shocked because I really didn’t know the programming changes every single month. Just in case you need to plan your schedule around binge-watching a particular show before it’s taken off-line, I’m looking out for you. 

8). Share the Love

Did you know it’s okay to split your Netflix account and share it with other people? This is perfectly authorized by Netflix, too. So if you have a family member who wants to subscribe to Netflix, the two of you can go in together and actually share the bill.

Sign up for an account at Netflix and give log-in’s to different people. They can use Venmo, a cash app I love, to easily transfer the money into your account for their share of the bill.  If you choose the popular account package at currently $14 a month and share your log-in with three other people (remember you can have five profiles on one account), each person would send you $3.50 each month for their share of the bill.  You have just saved $10.50 each month on your Netflix bill. Of course, you can share with four people at $3.50 and watch Netflix for free yourself! Either way, this is a great tip if you are on a budget. 

9) Give Yourself the Gift of Netflix

Go and buy yourself discounted gift cards for Netflix. If you are wondering how to get a free netflix account or save even more money on Netflix, you can go to a store like Target. A lot of times they have gift card sales where they give $10 off gift card purchases. Plan it so you buy some Netflix gift cards, and use these to apply to your account. 

Other websites that offer similar incentives are Gift Card Granny and Raise.com. They offer discounted gift cards for stores that sell Netflix gift cards. 

If for some reason they don’t have Netflix gift cards available there, I recommend getting a 10% off card for Rite-Aid, Walgreens, CVS, Target, or Walmart where they sell Netflix gift cards and just redeem them there. It’s a really smart way to stack your savings. 

10.) Get a Free Netflix Account with Swagbucks.com

Following off the tip above, use Swagbucks.com to get free gift cards to some of the stores above where you can purchase your Netflix gift cards. Every time you shop through Swagbucks, it’s like an online portal. You can redeem gift points, and those points turn into gift cards.  You can get gift cards for Netflix and apply them to your account and not have to pay anything. This is an awesome way to watch Netflix for free when you are already shopping for other things. 

11.) Access Secret Categories

This tip is a lot of fun, but it can ONLY be done through a computer website, not your tablet app, not your tv, not Roku. But your computer. Go to Netflix.com/browse/genre/**** In place of the **** you can type in a category code. I have left a list in the description box of the YouTube video for this article for reference.  

If you, for example, wanted to access all the Disney movies on Netflix, you would enter the code 67673, and it will populate a list of what is available. Once you know what is there, you can easily type the titles into the search box on your other devices and find them. This is a simple tip to navigate searching for a movie quickly without having to search through Netflix’s whole library.  If you want to find the entire list of secret categories, check out my video below on 15 Secret Netflix Hacks.

I hope you found some great tips on maximizing your Netflix account and on how to get a free Netflix account! If you are looking for other ways to save within your monthly budget, I have a free budget pack available.