Cord cutting has long been touted as the answer to costly monthly cable bills. Don't pay for channels you never watch; just stream your favorite shows and movies online.
That was the dream. But TV and cable execs have caught on. If you want all the popular originals—Heartstopper on Netflix, Andor on Disney+, Star Trek: Discovery on Paramount+, Ted Lasso on Apple TV+—as well as exclusive access to deep movie catalogues on Max and Amazon Prime Video, things get expensive pretty fast.
Then there's the music you enjoy, the workouts you stream, the comics you read, and the video games you play. Every piece of consumable content has its own subscription service that will bill you on a monthly (or yearly) basis. So this begs the question: Are you paying attention?
Mastercard in 2019 implemented a policy requiring merchants to get a cardholder's approval at the end of a trial before they start billing. But you still need to do most of the work yourself. Unless you meticulously examine your statement each month, a small bump in price—or a free trial automatically converting—is easy to miss.
There are apps and websites that will notify you when a service hikes its prices, help you cancel any services you're not using, and—in some cases—provide financial aid services. You can also manage your subscriptions directly from the App Store or Google Play store on your phone.
Manage Subscriptions on Android/iOS
(Credit: PCMag/Google)Android
Open Google Play
Tap your profile picture > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions
Select a service
Tap Cancel subscription OR Manage > Pause payments to put it on hold for a specific time.
iOS
(Credit: PCMag/Apple)If you subscribed to a service through Apple's App Store, you can manage these subscriptions right on the device. Either open the App Store app and tap your profile picture/initials > Subscriptions. Or go to Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions. Active subscriptions may be sorted by name, price, or renewal date. Tap a subscription to see more information (and cancel). Inactive subscriptions may also be renewed.
Manage Subscriptions With a Third-Party Service
It might seem counterproductive to add yet another subscription to the pile in order to keep those subscriptions organized, but some of these apps are free. A number of services will take the guesswork out of when and how much you'll be charged for your music, movies, or other subs.
(Credit: Bobby)Bobby
Platform: Mobile app (iOS)
Cost: Free; in-app purchases from $0.99 to $2.99 include unlimited subscriptions, filters, etc.
Features: Bobby, formerly known as Billy, allows users to manually input subscriptions with a billing date and monthly price—the latter across multiple supported currencies. Display your payment cycles by month or year, and change their order by dragging and dropping them. The app makes use of passcodes and Touch ID or Face ID for added security. It also sends payment reminders and offers the option to filter using multiple categories.
Hiatus
(Credit: Hiatus)Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS)
Cost: Free to download; $9.99 per month for Premium
Features: Hiatus will track your monthly bills and subscriptions and alert you before companies charge you and if rates have increased. It'll also monitor your financial accounts and spending; it can cancel auto-billing and suggest ways to save. Hiatus Premium adds a "consolidated view of your money layered with detailed financial analysis and personalized tips." You also get bill negotiation and subscription cancellation.
Mint
(Credit: Intuit Mint)Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS)
Cost: Free for basic account; $4.99 per month for Mint Premium on iOS
Features: Mint helps you manage nearly every element of personal finance, from income and spending to your credit score, mostly for free. With its Premium tier, Mint also helps users identify and end subscriptions they don't want via a partnership with Billshark. It's $4.99-per-month but only available on iOS.
PocketGuard
Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS)
Cost: Free; Pocket Guard Plus is $7.99/month, $34.99/year, $79.99 lifetime
Features: PocketGuard's In My Pocket feature will track your expenses and show you how much money is left for everyday spending. Upgrade to Pocket Guard Plus to create your categories of things to track, like video-streaming services, among other things.
Rocket Money
(Credit: Rocket Money)Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS), web
Cost: Free for basic app; $3-$12 per month for premium services
Features: Previously known as Truebill, Rocket Money identifies recurring transactions and helps you cancel any unwanted subscriptions. It can also keep track of free trials, so you can void them before getting billed. With a premium subscription, Rocket Money will cancel unwanted services for you and try to get fee refunds. There's also a chat feature, the option to create unlimited budgets, custom categories, and more.
Simplifi by Quicken
Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS), web
Cost: Currently $2.39 per month
Features: Simplifi from Quicken earned a PCMag Editors' Choice stamp of approval for its "fresh, unique approach" to personal finance, including its ability to track and separate bills from subscriptions. It won't offer to cancel unwanted subscriptions for you, but can alert you to upcoming and/or unusual bills.
Sortbilly
(Credit: Sortbilly)Platform: Mobile app (Android, iOS), web
Cost: Free while in open beta
Features: Sortbilly is a relatively new app that expects to charge a fee for services in the future. But for now, the free dashboard tracks active and expired subscriptions, upcoming payments, and spending stats. It also provides a daily/weekly email to notify users about upcoming bills. Subscriptions not available in app may be added manually.
Subby
(Credit: Subby)Platform: Mobile app (Android)
Cost: Free for basic version; additional features purchased in-app for $2.99
Features: Subby (not to be confused with website builder Subbly) invites users to manually enter an unlimited number of subscriptions for free and receive notifications of upcoming bill dates. It also totals subscription expenses by month or year, and offers a way to split subscription costs among friends and family. The gratis version, of course, contains ads; a paid version includes widgets and automatic backups to Google Drive.
TrackMySubs
(Credit: TrackMySubs)Platform: Mac/Windows; mobile app (Android, iOS)
Cost: Free to track 10 subscriptions; paid plans range from $10 per month for unlimited subscriptions to $30 per month for enterprise plans with multiple users
Features: Marketed to small businesses, TrackMySubs can also be used by consumers. Enter subscriptions, costs, and due dates and slot them into categories. A calendar view provides a color-coded way to track payment dates, while easy-to-read graphs highlight subscription costs.
Trim by OneMain
(Credit: OneMain)Platform: Web
Cost: Free for most services
Features: Trim identifies and cancels unwanted subscription services. It's accessible via web browsers; there's no mobile app, but you can sign in on a mobile browser. Create an account using Facebook, Google, or an email address. Personal dashboards can manage subscriptions, negotiate bills, and automate savings.
