How to cancel online subscriptions: Netflix, Amazon & Co.

Why online subscriptions are so tricky

Online subscriptions are deliberately easy to book, but often unnecessarily hard to cancel. Many portals do not present the cancellation button prominently, but hide it several menu levels deep. On top of that come automatic renewals: miss the cancellation date and you silently pay for another year.

The good news: with the big providers you can almost always cancel directly in your account – no call and no email. You just need to know where the function is and which period applies.

The most important portals at a glance

With most services, cancellation goes through the account menu, not customer service:

• Netflix: Account → Cancel membership. The cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
• Amazon Prime: Account & Lists → Prime membership → “Do not renew” or “End”. Prime ends at the end of the current period.
• Spotify: Account → Your plan → “Cancel Premium”.
• Disney+, Sky, DAZN & Co.: each under Account/Settings → cancel membership or subscription.
• Google Play / App Store: subscriptions usually run through the respective store (Play Store → Subscriptions or Settings → App Store → Subscriptions).
• Important: audiobook or magazine subscriptions that run via third parties are often cancelled there – not in the portal itself.

How to cancel an online subscription – step by step

The process is the same on almost all portals. Feel free to do your cancellations once a month when you're in your account anyway.

• 1. Log in to your account (email + password; reset the password first if needed).
• 2. Navigate to the account/profile menu and open the “Membership”, “Subscription” or “Plan” section.
• 3. Choose “Cancel”, “Do not renew” or “End”.
• 4. Ignore follow-up questions like “Are you sure?” or discount offers if you really want to cancel.
• 5. Screenshot, photograph or save the confirmation page as an email.

What to check before cancelling

Before cancelling, check whether a minimum term or a payment period is still running. Many subscriptions continue until the end of the paid month – so you still pay even though you have cancelled. That is normal and not your mistake.

Also check whether the subscription is linked to other accesses: a family or household access (e.g. Netflix household, Amazon family library) affects all members. Instead of cancelling completely, some services also offer pausing or a cheaper plan with ads.

Help, I can't find the cancel button

If the function really is hidden, a written cancellation by email or letter helps. Formulate the subject, the contract end and a request for confirmation. An alternative button creates legal pressure: in the EU, online contracts have been required since 2022 to be terminable via a clearly identifiable cancellation path in the account. If a provider refuses, the consumer advice centre can help.