How to cancel the subscription services you may be paying for

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With entertainment a necessary expense at the best of times, you might find that you’ve signed up for more subscription services than intended.

Whether that’s free trials that ran over before you canceled them, or a service you subscribed to so you could watch that one show, it’s all too easy to end up with a monthly bill that’s eating your hard-earned cash.

Regardless of how many subscriptions you plan on keeping, it’s time to clean out your subscription list.

Most of the KnowTechie staff did this early on in the pandemic when we realized that most of the services we actually pay for aren’t even ones we use anymore.

That’s nothing compared to Matthew Inman, the brains behind The Oatmeal. He had a rude awakening when he realized that Netflix had been charging him for a DVD subscription for an unlucky thirteen years. Ouch.

Today Netflix was kind enough to let me know that I've accidentally been paying for a DVD subscription for THIRTEEN FUCKING YEARS.

I have been renting imaginary DVDs since
George Bush was president.

The lesson here: keep an eye on your subscriptions. And vote Obama 2008. pic.twitter.com/iNtpuKzkdD

— The Oatmeal (@Oatmeal) January 12, 2021

It’s a good idea to review your inbox for receipts, even if you don’t plan on canceling any services. This way, you can find out exactly how many services you’re paying for each month.

If you were not grandfathered into a great deal, cancelling a service won’t result in a significant loss, and you can always subscribe again later if you find that you miss it.

Here’s how to cancel many of the streaming services

Netflix

If you want to know if you’re still paying for a DVD subscription on Netflix, head to your Account page. You’ll be able to see which plan(s) you’re subscribed to, and if you want, cancel your subscription completely.

Sure, you’ll miss out on the huge number of new movies that are being added this year, but at least you’ll have a little more cash in the bank.

HBO and HBO Max

If the only thing you subscribed to HBO for was Game of Thrones, why have you been paying for it for almost five years since it ended? Did you even noticed it changed names to simply Max?

Go cancel, and save yourself enough to buy a pizza every month. Go do it, unless you really want to watch the second season of The Gilded Age.

Amazon Prime

If you find you’re not using Amazon Prime because you prefer to support local businesses, or if you don’t use Amazon Music or Prime Video, or like the Twitch Gaming perks, you can go cancel your subscription pretty easily.

Just be aware that you might not get any money back, as Amazon’s terms for a full refund only work if you haven’t used any of the services.

Apple services

Whether you realized you prefer Spotify to Apple Music, don’t want to play the games on Apple Arcade, or don’t want Apple TV Plus to continue once your free trial runs out, it’s easy to cancel your subscriptions on an Apple device.

Nintendo Switch Online

If you absolutely need to cut costs, the $20 a year subscription to Nintendo Switch Online or $50 a year to include the Expansion Pack is probably one of the last to go.

I mean, you lose cloud saves for your games, multiplayer with your friends, and all of those sweet retro games that Nintendo adds to every month. It’s only a few steps to cancel though and can be done via your console or the Nintendo website.

Hulu

Hulu is often bundled with other services, or offered through third-parties like Amazon, Roku, or even your cell phone provider. Depending on who you signed up from, the process is slightly different so it’s worth reading Hulu’s instructions page.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV seems to raise their prices every few months, with no real benefits to remaining a subscriber. Heck, you don’t even get most of the NFL for the price.

You can either cancel or pause your subscription from the same page, just make sure you’re signed into the same Google account that your YouTube TV subscription is through.

Disney Plus

Maybe you only subscribed for The Mandalorian, and don’t really want the rest of Disney’s content until it comes back for another season. If so, your Disney Plus subscription can be canceled in a few short steps, via their website.

If you subscribed through the app, you need to cancel via iTunes or the Google Play Store, or the subscription you got it bundled with.

ESPN Plus

ESPN Plus is one of those services that often gets bundled with other streaming services, so you might not be able to cancel it from their own website. It’s also easy to subscribe through third-party sources, like Roku, Amazon, Apple Pay, or iTunes.

If you have an active subscription and want to cancel it, head to this page in ESPN’s help pages, which will tell you how to cancel depending on how you subscribed to begin with.

Fubo

Fubo might be the best place to catch the NFL and many other sports, but it comes with a premium price tag.

To trim your monthly outgoings once the Super Bowl is over, sign into your account on the Fubo website and navigate to the Subscription and Billing area. There’s a dedicated cancel subscription button at the bottom.

Starz

Starz has a ton of original content but maybe you’ve already watched all of Black Sails or subscribed to watch all of American Gods but, like me, got angry when seasons two and three were only available to buy on other streaming services.

To cancel, log in to your Starz account, click on the user icon at the top-right then on Settings. From here, the Billing Plan & Information section will have a link to Cancel Subscription.

It’s even easier on the app, where you tap the More icon then on Settings, head to Account Management and tap Cancel Subscription.

Paramount+

Paramount+ is the best place to catch up on everything Star Trek-related, but with dozens of seasons to get through you might find you’ve had enough of the utopian future of humanity.

To cancel if you signed up on the website, head to Paramount Plus, click on your username at the top-right, and on Account. Scroll down to the bottom and click on Cancel subscription.

Showtime

Showtime is often bundled with other services, like Paramount+, but in case you signed up on the website it’s simple to cancel your subscription once you’ve finished watching.

Head to SHOWTIME.com, sign in at the top-right, then click your profile icon which is also in the top-right. Then go to Account Settings, Your Account, and click on Cancel Your Subscription.

Quobuz

Qobuz has a ton of high quality music from artists that just aren’t on other streaming services, plus a storefront for buying digital tracks, like a more niche iTunes.

If the monthly subscription fee is starting to be a drag, you can head to the My Streaming Plan tab inside your profile and click on the Unsubscribe link. Follow along and you’ll be canceled in no time.

Tidal

Tidal used to be the best place to listen to Hi-Res audio, but it’s also the most expensive for the top tier. Plus, the other streaming services have all caught up with their own lossless or Hi-Res content that doesn’t cost extra.

To cancel your Tidal subscription, head to my.tidal.com in any browser, log in, and click on Subscription. Clicking on Cancel My Subscription then confirming will end things.

It’s nice to see that the cancel routine isn’t hidden behind several layers of menu.

You can also cancel from the app, by tapping on My Collection, then Settings, Edit Profile, and Manage Subscription. Tapping on your subscription then on Cancel Subscription should have you sorted.

Spotify Premium

Spotify Premium might still have the best recommendation engine of any music streaming service, but the constant price hikes get tiresome.

If you want to cancel paying for Premium, head to spotify.com/account and log in. Look for the Manage your plan section and click Change plan. Click on Cancel Premium and confirm.

You can also do this from the app by going to Your Library and opening your account. Tap on View Your Plan, then on Change Your Plan, and finally Cancel Premium.

Through your Roku

Roku devices also serve as subscription stores, and if you sign up for any services while logged in, they’ll all show up in one central location.

The subscriptions page will list every of your subscriptions billed through Roku, and you can click Unsubscribe next to any in the list, then confirm the cancellation.

Through your Fire TV

Amazon Fire TV devices also have a centralized subscription page, in case you subscribed to anything that wasn’t Prime Video.

The Your Memberships and Subscriptions page on Amazon will show a list of anything you subscribed to or were subscribed to previously.

Clicking on Manage Subscription next to any entry in the list, then on Advance Controls will open the main subscription page where you can cancel the subscription’s recurring costs.

Through your Google TV

Google TV also lets you subscribe to many services, by downloading the respective app and clicking on a few options.

To cancel any subscriptions made through Google TV, you should head over to Google Play, where the Payments & subscriptions page will have a list of all subscriptions billed through your Google account.

Click Manage next to any subscription in the list, then on Cancel on the pop-up that appears. Any canceled subscriptions will stay around with a Resubscribe button in case you change your mind.

Now your subscription load should be a little lighter

If you cancelled any of your services, enjoy the extra cash in your account every month. Even if you found that you can’t live without all of your subscriptions, it’s still good to know what you’re paying every month.

Have any thoughts on this? Plan on canceling any subscriptions? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.