RealtimeBulkPhone input

Check if a phone number has a Netflix account

Check in real time whether a Netflix account is associated with a phone number, e.g. to spot trial and promotion abuse. Unknowns are free.

Last updated

checks: ["netflix.registered"]
A phone number checked against a grid of generic account tiles, each marked registered, not registered or unknown.A phone number checked against a grid of generic account tiles, each marked registered, not registered or unknown.

The Netflix check indicates whether a Netflix account is associated with a phone number. It runs in real time and in bulk jobs, for numbers from any country, and answers registered: true, false or null (unknown) with the time of the check. It never returns profiles, viewing history or plan details.

What does the Netflix check tell you?

It tells you whether a phone number is linked to a Netflix account. Netflix accounts are paid subscriptions held by one member and shared within a household. A phone number can be added for sign-in and account recovery, but most accounts are created with an e-mail address.

  • registered: true: a Netflix account is associated with the number.
  • registered: false: a conclusive "no". Common, because many accounts have no phone number and many people use someone else's account.
  • registered: null: no conclusive answer. Not charged.

Netflix reported more than 300 million paid memberships in its fourth-quarter 2024 shareholder letter (January 2025). Accounts are spread across most countries, but one account usually covers a whole household. So true says something about the account holder's number, not about each person who watches.

Who uses it, and why?

A paid subscription is harder to fake than a free sign-up, so a number linked to one is a useful signal that the number is established and in everyday use.

  • Trial and promotion abuse. Subscription businesses see repeated free-trial sign-ups from freshly obtained numbers. A number with no history on large consumer services can be routed to extra verification, and one with history can pass straight through. See OTP and sign-up fraud.
  • Account security. When a recovery number changes, history on other paid services is one mild reassurance.

Netflix tightened account-sharing rules in 2023, which pushed more people to hold their own accounts. That trend may make the signal slightly more useful over time, but it is not a reason to rely on it alone.

What do you get back?

Each number gets one result under checks["netflix.registered"], with no extra attributes.

FieldTypeMeaning
registeredboolean or nulltrue account associated, false none, null unknown
statusenumcompleted, pending, unknown, unsupported_country or failed
confidence / confidence_scoreenum / 0–1How sure the answer is
checked_attimestampWhen the answer was obtained
cached / billedbooleanServed from cache; charged or not
reasonstring or nullWhy an answer is not conclusive

How is it billed?

You pay per number checked, only for conclusive answers. You're not charged for inconclusive results (unknown, unsupported country, timeout, invalid, duplicate). Real-time and bulk checks are priced separately. See pricing. Cache hits are free, and max_age: 0 forces a fresh, billed check.

What are the limits?

  • Real time (POST /v1/lookup, up to 100 identifiers) and bulk jobs (POST /v1/jobs, up to 50,000 per job), for numbers from every country.
  • Up to 20 checks per request. Numbers × checks is capped at 2,000 per lookup and 100,000 per job.
  • Requests that look like sequential number ranges or generated e-mail lists are rejected.
  • A daily cap per account applies (GET /v1/limits).

How do I use it responsibly?

Use the answer to protect sign-ups and offers, only for numbers you have a lawful basis to process. Don't use it to infer how people spend their money or to decide on eligibility for anything. The acceptable use policy forbids profiling and unsolicited messaging. People can object at /opt-out.

Example request

With a test key, +447700900001 answers "registered". See test mode.

curl https://api.mobilevalidate.com/v1/lookup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mv_test_publicSandboxn9ZgneuhR1B9CRfKG3fulym" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"numbers":["+447700900001"],"checks":["netflix"]}'

Runs as pasted with the public sandbox key, which answers the test values only. In the SDKs, omit the key to use MOBILEVALIDATE_API_KEY.

Response (excerpt, test mode: the first item of results):

JSON
{
  "kind": "phone",
  "input": "+447700900001",
  "e164": "+447700900001",
  "country": "GB",
  "number_status": "valid",
  "checks": {
    "netflix.registered": {
      "service": "netflix.registered",
      "status": "completed",
      "registered": true,
      "attributes": null,
      "confidence": "high",
      "confidence_score": 0.99,
      "checked_at": "2026-09-25T14:25:31.231Z",
      "cached": false,
      "age_seconds": 0,
      "billed": false,
      "reason": null,
      "poll_after_ms": null
    }
  },
  "test": true
}

Try it now

Realtime lookup via POST /v1/lookup. Every example runs as pasted: it uses the public sandbox key, which answers the test values for free. In the SDKs, omit the key to use MOBILEVALIDATE_API_KEY.

curl https://api.mobilevalidate.com/v1/lookup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mv_test_publicSandboxn9ZgneuhR1B9CRfKG3fulym" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"numbers":["+447700900001"],"checks":["netflix.registered"]}'

Real test-mode result for this check

checks["netflix.registered"]
{
  "service": "netflix.registered",
  "status": "completed",
  "registered": true,
  "attributes": null,
  "confidence": "high",
  "confidence_score": 0.99,
  "checked_at": "2026-09-25T14:25:29.004Z",
  "cached": false,
  "age_seconds": 0,
  "billed": false,
  "reason": null,
  "poll_after_ms": null
}

What you get

Fields of checks["netflix.registered"], generated from the public service catalog.

FieldTypeMeaning
registeredboolean | nulltrue = found, false = not found, null = unknown (not charged).
statusenumcompleted, pending, unknown, unsupported_country or failed.
checked_attimestampWhen the answer was obtained.

Frequently asked questions

Does the check say who in a household uses Netflix?

No. A Netflix account is shared by a household, and the check only indicates whether an account is associated with the number. It returns no names, profiles, viewing history or plan details.

Why is this useful outside the streaming business?

A paid subscription account linked to a number suggests a long-used, everyday number. Subscription and promotion businesses use it as one signal against sign-ups from throwaway numbers.

Can I check an e-mail address instead?

Yes. The netflix.email service answers the same question for an e-mail address, in real time.

Is a number without a Netflix account suspicious?

No. Most accounts are created with an e-mail address, and many households share one account. On its own, false says very little.

Which countries are covered?

Numbers from any country can be checked. Netflix is available in most countries, though not all.

Add Netflix number check to your stack

Request access to MobileValidate. Start in test mode, go live when you are ready.