Survey: How Daters Navigate Streaming Accounts After Breakups

Streaming subscriptions have become a part of everyday life and, increasingly, part of modern relationships too. From sharing Netflix passwords to splitting Spotify costs, couples often treat streaming access as a small, yet meaningful, form of partnership. 

But what happens when the relationship ends… and the login keeps working? 

To explore how digital sharing fits into modern romance, Hily surveyed 4,500 American Gen Z and Millennial daters about subscription costs, password sharing and whether it’s acceptable to keep using an ex’s account after a breakup. 

Before we share it all, here are some of the key findings:

• The vast majority (83%) of American daters say they would share a streaming account with a romantic partner to save money. 
• More than half (64%) of American daters say they have shared a streaming password with a romantic partner.
• Nearly a third of those who have shared a streaming account with a partner continued using their ex’s account after breaking up.

Sharing Accounts to Save Money

More than half (54%) of American daters believe a $10–15 monthly streaming subscription is expensive. With multiple streaming platforms in regular rotation, entertainment costs can quickly add up, making shared accounts an appealing option (and cheaper than sharing rent). 

Most Gen Z and Millennial American daters (83%) say they would share a streaming account with a romantic partner to save money. In modern dating, sharing login details can feel like a practical relationship perk; one account, two viewers.

For many, sharing a password is a new opportunity to split the bill. Among those who would share a streaming account with a partner, 42% say they would expect their partner to chip in. 

Sharing a password can be a tiny show of trust, and 64% of American daters say they have shared a streaming password with a romantic partner. It looks like exchanging login credentials has practically become a relationship milestone. Are you really going to meet their parents before you meet their Netflix profile?

Streaming Together, Even After the Breakup

Breaking up doesn’t always mean logging out. Nearly 1 in 3 of those who have shared a streaming account with a partner say they continued using their ex’s account after the relationship ended. Sometimes, the only thing left from a relationship is access to someone else’s subscription.

Among the Gen Z and Millennial daters who used an ex’s streaming account, 26% say they continued doing so for over a year after breaking up. For some, as long as the login works, they’ll keep watching.

In fact, for 23% of American daters who used their ex’s streaming account after a breakup, the password never stopped working at all. Sometimes the digital connection lasts longer than the relationship itself.

If the Password Still Works… Is It Fair Game?

When the password still works, the morality gets a little blurry. Roughly 1 in 4 American daters believe it is ethical to continue using an ex-partner’s streaming account if the password was never revoked or reset. For some, continued access feels like unspoken permission, while others see it as a perk that should end with the relationship.

As relationships become increasingly intertwined with digital habits and shared subscriptions, the rules around who keeps access after a breakup aren’t set in stone just yet. In modern dating, sometimes the relationship ends, but the login lives on.

The methodology

Hily’s research team surveyed 4,500 Gen Z and Millennial daters in the United States to explore how streaming subscriptions, password sharing and digital access function in modern relationships. The study examined attitudes toward sharing streaming accounts with romantic partners, expectations around splitting subscription costs, post-breakup access to shared accounts and whether continued use of an ex-partner’s account is seen as ethical.

About Hily

Hily (pronounced like ‘highly’) is a dating app designed to connect singles with new people while supporting them in remaining authentic. Short for “Hey, I Like You,” it invites users to have fun and not look for a perfect match.

By encouraging everyone to date as they are, Hily is breaking one of the biggest curses of online dating—feeling pressured to hide your true self. Praising self-exploration, self-acceptance, open-mindedness, and inclusivity, the app helps people put real connections first and keep competition at bay by unlocking their unique, fabulous selves. With features like icebreakers, compatibility checks, messaging, Major Crush, and zodiac synastry, Hily helps users express who they really are and connect in genuine ways.

Launched in 2017, Hily has become one of the top 10 dating apps in US app stores, with over 39 million users worldwide.