Feb 23, 2026
Remember that night you wanted to binge-watch a new TV series, but had to sign up for a free introductory trial to yet another streaming service just to watch it? That must have been a month ago, because now there’s a recurring charge on your credit card for that service.
And while that situation can be frustrating, most people might move to quickly cancel the subscription once they’ve caught it on their bank statement, but some subscription services and memberships can be much harder to cancel than others. Consumer Affairs recently listed some of the problems that consumers face when trying to cancel subscriptions.
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A woman named Kaja in New York booked a flight on Kayak and was, unbeknownst to her, enrolled in a program called eDreams through the fine print — and still saw charges after she supposedly cancelled. Ella in San Diego has been trying to cancel a Roblox subscription. “The only way to get out of these things is to change cards,” she told Consumer Affairs. “Very infuriating!” (1).
And subscription-based businesses are also intersecting with broader consumer movements. In early 2026, a campaign called “Resist and Unsubscribe” encouraged consumers to cancel subscriptions to major tech platforms as a form of economic protest, underscoring how subscription decisions can carry both financial and personal significance (2).
Now Congress is aiming to pass a law that would help protect consumers from unwanted subscription charges with a bipartisan bill called the Unsubscribe Act, introduced in January. Here’s how it would work, and how to take control of your subscriptions.
What the Unsubscribe Act would change for consumers
The Unsubscribe Act would require businesses to obtain your approval before charging you when a subscription teaser period ends. The legislation would also simplify the cancellation process, notifying you before automatic payments occur and allowing you to cancel a subscription in the same manner you signed up for it.
As of early 2026, the bill has been introduced in both chambers but has not yet been passed by either the House or Senate. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed support for cracking down on deceptive subscription practices, but the legislation would still need to advance through committee review and floor votes before becoming law.
This isn’t the first time an attempt has been made to regulate subscription service fees. The Federal Trade Commission introduced a click-to-cancel rule that would have required “companies to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions and memberships as it is to sign up for them,” according to CNBC, but it was struck down last July before it could take effect.
Gonzalo Mon, a partner with law firm Kelley Drye & Warren in Washington, told CNBC that more than half of states have similar laws on the books. “This does seem to be a bipartisan issue, and a lot of regulators are concerned about consumers getting into subscriptions without knowing all the details,” he said (3).
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Negative option subscription contracts are one of the main targets of legislators. These are contracts that automatically renew unless you cancel them — and they’re often difficult to cancel.
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The cost of unused subscriptions
Four out of five U.S. adults (80%) paid for one or more subscriptions between April 2024 and April 2025, according to a survey conducted by YouGov for CNET (4).
The survey found that the average adult spends $1,080 per year on subscriptions: 61% pay for video streaming services, 37% pay for ecommerce memberships and 33% pay for music streaming services. Whether they’re hard to cancel or simply forgotten, unused subscriptions account for $205 of what consumers spend each year (4).
Fees for unused (or underused) subscriptions can creep up. For starters, U.S. consumers subscribe to an average of four video streaming services and spend a total of about $69 a month on these, according to Deloitte (5). It can be easy to lose track of which ones you’re actually watching.
Subscriptions to newsletters, magazines, news aggregators and premium content (like YouTube channels) can also stack up. By letting you read part of an article and then locking the rest of it behind a subscription wall, these services prey on your momentary curiosity and impulsiveness to get you to subscribe to something you may rarely look at again.
How to take control of your subscriptions
To reduce your subscription fees and pay only for services you’re using, you’ll first need to take an inventory of what you’re actually paying for.
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You can inventory your subscriptions by going through your credit card and bank statements to find recurring charges. You may want to do this for a whole year to catch annual and quarterly payments, in addition to monthly or bi-weekly payments. From there, you can decide what you want to keep and what to get rid of.
To keep from stacking up your subscriptions again, put reminders in your calendar ahead of the end of free trial periods. Track which shows you’re watching and which publications you're reading, and then unsubscribe from any unused services. In general, any app or subscription you haven’t used in the last month can probably go.
And while it might sound counterintuitive, there are even subscription apps that can help you manage your subscriptions. For example, Rocket Money’s premium tier includes a concierge service where users can request that the company contact providers and attempt to cancel subscriptions on their behalf. Hiatus offers similar features, including subscription tracking and bill negotiation services.
These tools typically require linking your bank accounts so the app can identify recurring charges, and users pay a monthly fee for access to the cancellation support. While they can help automate the process, consumers still need to monitor their accounts, especially since these apps themselves operate on subscription models.
You can always reinstate streaming services as needed — like, when the next season of that irresistible TV series comes out. But unless the Unsubscribe Act advances in Congress and becomes law, you’ll have to keep marking the end of the trial period in your calendar.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Consumer Affairs (1); Mashable (2); CNBC (3); CNET (4); Deloitte (5)
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Vawn Himmelsbach is a veteran journalist who has been covering tech, business, finance and travel for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, Metro News, Canadian Geographic, Zoomer, CAA Magazine, Travelweek, Explore Magazine, Flare and Consumer Reports, to name a few.
