Money

The Cost of Unused Subscriptions 2025

Data & Guides Money The Cost of Unused Subscriptions 2025

In 2023 and 2024, surveys on behalf of Self Financial asked respondents in the U.S. questions about their subscriptions and how many of these subscriptions went unused. In 2023, 54.6% of respondents had at least one paid subscription going unused each month, and in 2024, this figure increased to 85.7%.

To find out the true cost of subscriptions and the price Americans pay for leaving them unused in 2025, a survey on behalf of Self Financial collected views from 1,138 people, 1,070 of whom have active paid subscriptions.

The results highlight the most popular subscription services, the price attached to them, and how many paid subscriptions are going unused overall.

Key findings from the survey

• The average respondent has 2.8 active paid subscriptions – down from 4.1 in 2024 and from 4.4 in 2023.
• Most people reported spending $37 monthly on average for their paid subscriptions, down from $40.39 in 2024 and $52.97 in 2023.
• 54.9% of respondents admitted they had a subscription going unused each month – at an average of 0.8 subscriptions not being used.
• The monthly average value of unused paid subscriptions is $10.57 – a decrease from $32.84 in 2024 and $25.34 in 2023.
• 45.7% of respondents admit that they would be more inclined to illegally stream TV and movies due to the increased costs of streaming services.
• ESPN+ is the most common unused streaming subscription (25.8%), Hulu is the second most (25.7%), followed by Paramount+ (24.8%).
• Caviar is the most common unused food subscription (58.9%), Grubhub is the second most (54.1%), followed by Postmates (52%).
• 64.4% of paid subscription customers share logins to save money, and 61.8% of streaming users have made changes or are looking to alter their subscription choices based on new anti-password-sharing rules. 

Paid subscription services

To learn more about Americans' consumption habits regarding paid subscription services, a survey on behalf of Self Financial asked respondents a series of questions about the current subscriptions they have in place and the impact these have on their finances and everyday lives.

Most households have 2.8 paid subscriptions active

The number of subscriptions people have can differ hugely based on a number of factors, including household income, expenses, and the amount of free time a person has.

The survey found that most respondents had 2.8 paid subscription services active in a typical month. This is less than the average of 4.1 when the survey was conducted previously in 2024. Some people may cancel and change subscriptions each month, so respondents were asked to answer in relation to a typical month in their household.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (72.8%) prefer to pay for their subscriptions monthly, and one in five (21.5%) opt for a weekly payment. Other respondents indicated other payment periods or may have others who pay for their subscriptions.

Yearly payments are often cheaper than monthly payments, meaning most people don’t opt to claim such financial benefits. For example, Disney+ Premium’s monthly plan as of April 2025 costs $15.99, but paid annually, it costs $159.99, a saving of $31.89. [1] Disney Plus, ‘Select Plan | Disney+’ https://www.disneyplus.com/en/commerce/plans It is, however, important to note that this would only be a saving if a user were 100% sure they were going to use the platform for all 12 months.

Half (49.7%) of respondents think that a price increase on their subscriptions would be unacceptable

Considering some of the most common subscriptions in the study, all of the basic monthly subscription costs either increased or stayed the same since 2024.

When asked what price increases would be acceptable in the coming year, half (49.7%) of respondents said that no price increase would be acceptable. Only 17.7% said that any increase above 2% would be acceptable.

*Sources for the prices can be found in the methodology.

$37 is the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions in the U.S.

Subscription models can come in all shapes and sizes, designed around the customer's needs. But how much, on average, are Americans spending on their paid subscriptions each month?

The survey found that the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions is $37, which is 8.4% less than the $40.39 average in the 2024 survey.

When analyzing the most common price ranges of paid subscriptions, it seems that almost half of the respondents (60.3%) spend less than $40 on subscriptions each month. Just over one in 10 (12.6%) spend more than $100 per month on subscriptions.

2.3 people on average are using paid subscriptions per home

A big draw for people when using subscription services is that they are able to share their experience with others. However, streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ have made it increasingly more difficult to successfully share passwords with others outside of your household. [2] Business Insider, ‘The freeloader era of streaming is over’, 2025 https://www.businessinsider.com/streaming-password-sharing-crackdown-disney-netflix-max-2025-5

In 2024, respondents shared their paid subscriptions with an average of 3.2 people. In 2025, this number has fallen to 2.3. However, only 31% of respondents didn’t share a subscription with someone else, indicating subscriptions are rarely for the individual.

Convenience most cited as a primary benefit of subscriptions

There are a whole host of reasons people may choose to subscribe to a subscription service. In 2024, 51.9% of respondents said that subscription services improve their quality of life, the most common reason in 2024. In 2025, only 38.4% said that their subscriptions improved their quality of life, so what motivates people to subscribe in 2025?

The most common reason why people had subscriptions was the convenience (58.4%), as a nice treat for themselves (43.1%), and value for money (40.9%).

Respondents were 11.1% less likely to report that the quality of streaming services was an incentive to subscribe (51.8% in 2024 and 40.9% in 2025).

Respondents were also 11.1% less likely to report that the quality of streaming services was an incentive to subscribe (51.8% previously and 40.9% this year). A separate study, conducted on behalf of Self Financial on the value of streaming services, found that there was a 30% decrease in ‘excellent’ quality content (content rated 8+ on IMDb) between 2025 and 2024.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

Unused paid subscriptions

To better understand how many paid subscriptions are going unused, the survey asked the subscribers if any of their paid subscriptions were still being paid for each month, despite not being used.

The survey defines ‘unused’ paid subscriptions as those being paid for but that had not been used in the past 30 days. This took into account the popularity of subscriptions paid monthly, which 70% of people prefer, and which indicates that at least one monthly payment would have been wasted if the subscription was not used for 30 days.

The majority (54.9%) of survey respondents said that they have at least one paid subscription going unused. This is down from 85.7% in 2024.

Americans have 0.8 paid subscriptions going unused.

Taking an average from the responses, the results showed that typically subscribers have around 0.8 subscriptions that they aren’t using each month (down from 3.3 the year prior).

Subscribers are wasting an average of $10.57 per month on unused paid subscriptions

The survey also sought to find out how much people were spending on their unused subscriptions each month.

Considering that a respondent has, on average, 0.8 subscriptions going unused, the monthly average value of unused paid subscriptions is $10.57 – a decrease from $32.84 in 2024 and $25.34 in 2023.

Combined with the fact that 40.8% of respondents had already cancelled a subscription in the past year, and that 31.2% intended to, this decrease in the amount of money being wasted on unused subscriptions could suggest respondents are becoming more intentional with their subscription spending habits.

A third of people (34.6%) cancel paid subscriptions due to the high cost of living

For those intending to cancel or those who had canceled paid subscriptions in 2025, the survey looked to understand the exact reasons behind such decisions.

The high cost of living (34.6%) was the most common reason. Two other high-ranking reasons were related to cost, which could imply that many individuals in the survey are canceling their unused subscriptions due to cost reasons. Almost one in three (32.9%) said that the price of subscriptions had increased too much, and 26.3% said they were trying to reduce expenses.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

Almost two-thirds (64.8%) have forgotten to cancel a free trial

When it came to why some may not have canceled subscriptions in the past, or are currently struggling to cancel services, having automatic renewals set up was an obstacle cited by respondents. For example, a grocery delivery pass trial that auto-renews to a paid subscription, like Instacart+. [3] Instacart+, ‘Instacart+’ https://www.instacart.com/instacart-plus

Almost two-thirds (64.8%) admitted that they had forgotten to cancel a free trial and had been locked into a paid subscription.

Sharing paid subscription logins

Sharing paid subscriptions for music, movies, and TV between family members is a good way to reduce costs while still keeping the benefits of the service. Some services, like Netflix, however, are actively discouraging this with 2023 measures stopping password sharing outside of physical households. Disney+ followed suit in March 2024, with HBO Max announcing their own crackdown in 2025. [4] CNBC, ‘Warner Bros. Discovery starts Max password-sharing crackdown’, 2025 https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/wbd-max-password-sharing-crackdown.html

The survey asked the subscriber respondents if they shared their logins, or were recipients of shared logins, for paid subscriptions with people outside of their household. Despite the password crackdowns, almost half (46.5%) of respondents said that they shared their logins with other people. On the other hand, when asked whether they use other people’s logins, 41.8% of respondents admitted that they did. Potentially a result of the password-crackdowns, this is half the people who admitted to doing so in 2024 (88.7%).

Considering only those who admitted to using other people’s logins, 53.2% said they were “freeloading” and not contributing to the cost.

64.4% of paid subscription customers share logins to save money

The most popular reasons to share a subscription service revolve around money. Of those who shared their logins and passwords for services with others, almost two-thirds (64.4%) said they did so to save money – up from 32.8% in 2024. Half of respondents (52.0%) shared their logins because price increases have made subscription services less affordable. Just over two in five (44.4%) of respondents said they simply couldn’t afford the subscription service on their own.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

61.8% of password-sharers are going to make account changes

Of those who said they use a shared Netflix, Disney+, or HBOMax account, 61.8% said they’re planning on making changes to their account setup as streaming services continue to crack down on password sharing among their subscriber base.

A separate 18.7% said they were planning to cancel or had cancelled their subscription, 20.3% said they were planning to stop sharing an account, while 22.8% said that they would consider an alternative streaming service to meet their needs.

45.7% of respondents admitted they would be more inclined to illegally stream TV and movies.

In the U.S, downloading and sharing copyrighted material – like popular TV shows or movies – is illegal. People on the internet can access copyrighted material via peer-to-peer file sharing. Someone found liable for copyright infringement can be fined between $750 and $250,000 per offence. [5] Office of Academic Integrity & Student Conduct, ‘Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)’ https://conduct.uci.edu/dmca/

Despite the risks, 45.7% of respondents admitted that they would be more inclined to illegally stream TV and movies due to the increased costs of streaming services.

ESPN+ is the most common unused paid streaming subscription

In the U.S., a majority (83%) of adults use streaming services. [6] Pew Research, ‘83% of U.S. adults use streaming services, far fewer subscribe to cable or satellite TV’, 2025 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/01/83-of-us-adults-use-streaming-services-far-fewer-subscribe-to-cable-or-satellite-tv/ The survey asked the respondents who currently have unused subscriptions which of the 10 most popular paid platforms they subscribed to but had not used in the past 30 days.

ESPN+ was shown to be the most common paid subscription that they hadn’t used in the past 30 days (25.8%) – although readers should note that only a small percentage, 5.8%, of respondents had a subscription to the service. Hulu came in close behind, with 25.7% of respondents leaving their subscription unused.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

**considering respondents who have this subscription, but have not used it in 30 days or more.

Those who would unsubscribe from a streaming service were most likely to unsubscribe from Apple TV+ (42% of subscribers), followed by Starz (40.8%), and Paramount+ (29.6%).

Caviar is the most commonly unused paid food delivery subscription

A separate study on behalf of Self Financial on the most expensive food delivery apps in U.S. cities found that without a subscription, the average markup on food from a restaurant by a food-delivery service is 68.8%.

Considering these additional fees, if you’re someone who orders takeout food often, it may be worth having a food-delivery subscription. In this survey, 58.9% of respondents said that they had not made use of their Caviar subscriptions in the past month. Grubhub and Postmates subscriptions were the next most likely to be forgotten about (54.1% and 52.0% respectively).

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

**considering respondents who have this subscription, but have not used it in 30 days or more.

Those who would unsubscribe from a food delivery service were most likely to unsubscribe from Postmates (57.3%), followed by Grubhub (57%), and Caviar (56.1%).

Badoo is the most commonly unused paid dating app subscription

The survey also asked which dating services respondents subscribed to but haven’t used in over 30 days.

Badoo was revealed as the dating service that most people weren’t regularly using, with 62.2% not using their dating service subscription in 30 days or more. OkCupid followed (21.9%) and Plenty of Fish came third (22.3%), were also among the dating services most unused by the survey’s respondents.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

**considering respondents who have this subscription, but have not used it in 30 days or more.

Those who would unsubscribe from a dating service were most likely to unsubscribe from OkCupid (59%), followed by Grindr (58.8%), and Plenty of Fish (57.5%).

Best Buy is the most commonly unused paid e-commerce subscription

E-commerce subscriptions provide subscribers with perks like free delivery and savings on items. Of the seven e-commerce platforms listed in the survey, Best Buy subscriptions (which cost $49.99 a year for a basic subscription, and $179.99 for a premium subscription) were the e-commerce service that users were most likely to go unused. [7] Best Buy, ‘Meet the My Best Buy Memberships™’ https://www.bestbuy.com/site/electronics/best-buy-membership/pcmcat1679668833285.c?id=pcmcat1679668833285&intl=nosplash One-half, 57.3% of Best Buy subscribers surveyed had not used the service for 30 days or more. Wayfair followed (57.1%), and Home Depot.com came third (54.7%).

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

**considering respondents who have this subscription, but have not used it in 30 days or more

Those who would unsubscribe from an e-commerce service were most likely to unsubscribe from Best Buy (54.1%), followed by Home Depot (54.7%), and Wayfair (52.9%).

PUSH is the most commonly unused paid fitness subscription

There are a multitude of popular fitness subscriptions to help you keep active. These range from workout planners (like Gymverse) to biometric trackers (like Fitbit) to GPS tracking services (like Strava). Of the nine fitness subscriptions considered in the survey, 60.1% of respondents said that they had not used their PUSH subscription in a month or more, slightly more than the 59.1% of respondents who said they had not utilized their Fitbit subscription in the same period.

*respondents could choose multiple answers.

**considering respondents who have this subscription, but have not used it in 30 days or more

Those who would unsubscribe from a fitness service were most likely to unsubscribe from PUSH (57.4%), followed by Runna (57.3%), and Strong (56.1%).

Methodology

The survey was conducted on 6/13/2025, asking 1,138 Americans from a range of backgrounds questions related to subscription services. Only people whose household pays for at least one subscription service were selected for the survey. For some questions, respondents were able to select multiple answers, so the results do not all add up to 100%.

To establish how many paid subscriptions are going unused, the survey conducted on behalf of Self Financial asked a number of questions in the survey related to paid subscription services, including cost, usage, subscription model, and preference.

‘Unused’ paid subscriptions were defined as those that were being paid for but had not been used in the last 30 days, to tie into the popularity of 30-day trials.

The 2025 costs of the food-delivery and streaming platform subscriptions were found on:

• Apple TV+ https://tv.apple.com/
• Disney+ https://www.disneyplus.com/en/commerce/plans
• DoorDash https://help.doordash.com/consumers/s/article/What-is-DashPass?language=en_US
• Grubhub https://www.grubhub.com/plus
• HBO Max https://help.hbomax.com/us-en/Answer/Detail/000002547
• Hulu https://help.hulu.com/article/hulu-how-much-does-hulu-cost
• Netflix https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926
• Paramount+ https://www.paramountplus.com/account/signup/pickplan/
• Peacock https://www.peacocktv.com/plans/all-monthly
• Prime Video https://www.primevideo.com/offers/nonprimehomepage/ref=dv_web_force_root
• Uber Eats https://www.ubereats.com/uber-one

2024 prices were retrieved via Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/

Sources

• ^[1] Disney Plus, ‘Select Plan | Disney+’ https://www.disneyplus.com/en/commerce/plans
• ^[2] Business Insider, ‘The freeloader era of streaming is over’, 2025 https://www.businessinsider.com/streaming-password-sharing-crackdown-disney-netflix-max-2025-5
• ^[3] Instacart+, ‘Instacart+’ https://www.instacart.com/instacart-plus
• ^[4] CNBC, ‘Warner Bros. Discovery starts Max password-sharing crackdown’, 2025 https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/22/wbd-max-password-sharing-crackdown.html
• ^[5] Office of Academic Integrity & Student Conduct, ‘Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)’ https://conduct.uci.edu/dmca/
• ^[6] Pew Research, ‘83% of U.S. adults use streaming services, far fewer subscribe to cable or satellite TV’, 2025 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/01/83-of-us-adults-use-streaming-services-far-fewer-subscribe-to-cable-or-satellite-tv/
• ^[7] Best Buy, ‘Meet the My Best Buy Memberships™’ https://www.bestbuy.com/site/electronics/best-buy-membership/pcmcat1679668833285.c?id=pcmcat1679668833285&intl=nosplash