This app keeps tabs on all your subscriptions and cancels them before your free trial ends

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Here’s a handy tool for the post-cable, subscription-everything world we live in. DoNotPay bills itself as the “World’s First Robot Lawyer,” but it’s much more than that.

You can use it to help you sign up for free trials of subscription-based services, and the app will cancel for you before the first charge to your card. Nifty.

DoNotPay helps you cancel all those free trials before your credit card gets dinged

See, it’s not really you signing up. The app gives you a virtual credit card number and fake name, to use when signing up for any of the services with a free trial period. Then, something called “Free Trial Surfing” automatically suspends your sub before the actual billing starts.

The app is the brainchild of developer Josh Browder, who created it in conjunction with an unnamed banking partner.

• DoNotPay also masks your email address while signing up, so if you want to sign up with your real credentials you can still take advantage of any “first time user” discounts
• Browder told the BBC that most people seem to be using it for Netflix, or for porn sites
• You can also use it to appeal parking tickets, or sue corporations in small claims court

Hopefully this doesn’t stop companies offering free trials, but who knows? Maybe they’ll have to rethink their marketing efforts to entice new customers to their services. Until then, DoNotPay.

What do you think? Is DoNotPay something you’d use? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• NBCUniversal struts its Peacock streaming service in your sweaty, nostalgic face
• If you’re on Spotify’s family plan, Spotify wants to you know your physical address
• Play Pass, Google’s answer to Apple Arcade, is officially on the way
• Amazon reportedly uses this trick to boost its own products up in Amazon’s search results

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.