# Friend vs Home User **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374 "2017-08-05T04:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ctsadmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@ctsadmin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ctsadmin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374/1 "2017-08-05T04:43:39Z")
What is the difference between a friend (can be made with a free account) and a Home User (requires paid account). ---
**Author:** ![JamminR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jamminr/32/4261_2.png) [@JamminR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JamminR)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374/2 "2017-08-05T07:13:54Z")
Home is for local users only and each can have a PIN. It was built as a way to primarily allow parental control, and/or allow more than one person in a household to have various watch histories/etc. Friends can be located locally or remotely. Home = [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200641063](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200641063) Friend = [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204226753-Friends](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204226753-Friends) ---
**Author:** ![ctsadmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@ctsadmin](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ctsadmin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374/3 "2017-08-05T12:28:15Z")
JamminR, Thanks for the explanation, to clarify, if I have my content on a NAS and want to share it with others who will access it both on the LAN and over WAN, will friends work just fine? I have no interest in parental controls, but I do want to have the option of select which videos my friends have access to within my library. thanks! ---
**Author:** ![JamminR](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/jamminr/32/4261_2.png) [@JamminR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JamminR)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374/4 "2017-08-05T15:39:51Z")
Yes. However, “Friends” mode will get a bit trickier for/if you use embedded app TV or set top devices in a ‘common everyone can use’ area. The setting to sign in/out of Plex is usually buried farther into settings, and requires a full email/password normally. Home, I believe, can sign out after an idle time, and only uses a PIN, allows for easier user switching. If the friends are just using personal devices, you’d have no issue ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 11:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/friend-vs-home-user/201374/5 "2020-01-07T23:37:09Z")