To cancel a membership, start with your membership agreement, not the app on your phone. Gyms, warehouse clubs, wellness clubs and car-wash clubs often work differently from app subscriptions: some accept cancellation online, some only in person or in writing, and many ask for notice before your next billing date. This guide explains how to cancel a membership through each channel, what to check first, how to cancel a gym membership with proof, and what federal and state rules say in general terms.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your agreement and the law where you live decide the details.

Before you cancel: read your agreement

Find your membership agreement, in your email, your online account or the paperwork from the front desk, and look for five things:

  • Accepted cancellation methods: online, in the app, in person, by phone, email or letter.
  • Notice period: how far ahead of the next billing date your request has to arrive.
  • Minimum term: whether you signed up for a fixed number of months.
  • Fees: cancellation fees, and any annual fee billed separately from monthly dues.
  • Your home location: at some chains, the club that signed you up handles cancellation.

Crunch Fitness is a good example of why this matters. Its membership FAQ says “Cancellation policies vary by location based on state and local guidelines,” and that the notice required before your next billing date “may vary based on the terms of your Membership Agreement.”

Ways to cancel a membership

Online or in the app

Whether you can cancel online depends on the company and sometimes the location. Crunch says some clubs offer online cancellation in the Member Portal under Manage Membership. Sam’s Club points members to Membership Settings in their online account. Where online cancellation exists, it is usually the quickest route and leaves a record on its own.

In person

Some memberships are built around a counter or front desk. Costco’s help page on cancelling a membership says the primary member can speak with a team member at any warehouse membership counter and receive an immediate refund. At gyms that require it, go to your home club and ask for a written or emailed confirmation before you leave.

By phone or email

Phone and email work where the agreement or the company’s help page names them. Costco also accepts cancellation through its Member Services Center. Note the date, time and name of the person you spoke to, and ask for a confirmation number. Use only the contact details on the company’s own website or your agreement.

By certified letter

If your agreement requires written notice, or you want proof that does not depend on anyone’s memory, send a letter to the address in your agreement by certified mail with a return receipt. Keep a copy. A short letter is enough:

To [club name and address]. I am cancelling my membership, effective as soon as my agreement allows. Name: [your name]. Member number: [number]. Address on file: [address]. Please stop all charges and confirm the cancellation in writing. [Date and signature]

You send the letter yourself. Keep the mailing receipt and the return card with your copy.

How to cancel a gym membership

Gym chains vary the most, because policies can differ from one location to the next, as Crunch’s FAQ shows. Our guides cover the details for each chain:

Cancellation at gyms has drawn federal attention. In August 2025 the FTC sued LA Fitness, alleging the chain made it very hard for members to cancel. Those are allegations, not findings. The FTC’s advice in the same alert applies to any gym: if you keep being charged after trying to cancel, dispute the charges with your card company, and know that just changing your card number is often not enough.

Warehouse clubs

  • Costco. Costco cancels at the membership counter or through Member Services, not online. Online, you can remove Auto Renewal so the membership expires instead. Costco’s Auto Renewal page says to do that at least two business days before the first day of your renewal month. See our Costco guide.
  • Sam’s Club. Sam’s Club says that if you do not want to renew, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date, and points to Membership Settings in your online account. See our Sam’s Club guide.

Wellness, spa and class memberships

Massage, spa and class memberships can include sessions or credits as well as a monthly fee. Before you cancel, check your account for anything unused and what your terms say happens to it. Our guides for Massage Envy and ClassPass cover each one.

Car-wash clubs

Unlimited wash clubs renew on a fixed date, so that date is the one to watch. Mister Car Wash’s membership terms, for example, ask members to cancel at least 7 days before the plan renews to avoid the next monthly charge. They list the website, any location and email as ways to cancel, and say the vehicle keeps access through the end of the current billing period. See our Mister Car Wash guide.

Your rights: where the rules stand

Federal rules

The FTC finalized a “click-to-cancel” update to its Negative Option Rule in October 2024, but a federal appeals court vacated it in July 2025. In March 2026 the FTC asked for public comment on a new rulemaking, including whether to adopt provisions of the vacated 2024 rule. As of this writing, no replacement federal click-to-cancel rule is in effect.

An older federal law still applies to memberships sold online. The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act requires sellers of automatically renewing plans sold on the internet to provide “simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges.”

State rules

Many states add their own protections, and they differ:

  • California. The state attorney general’s consumer alert on the Automatic Renewal Law says the law was strengthened effective July 1, 2025, and that consumers who enrolled online must be able to cancel online at will.
  • New York. The attorney general’s page on health clubs and gyms says clubs must let you cancel through methods including the club’s website, email, phone, mail or in person; that you can cancel within three days of signing; and that you can cancel if you move 25 or more miles from any of the seller’s clubs.

For your own state, check the consumer protection page of your state attorney general.

If you cannot cancel

Stopping the payment is not the same as cancelling. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says cancelling an automatic payment does not cancel what you owe, and that a contract like a gym has to be cancelled with the company. Cancel first, keep your proof, then use our guide to stopping automatic payments. The FTC also takes reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Keep the next billing date in view

Most membership problems come down to a missed date. Subex, an Android app, lets you add a membership by hand with its next billing date and set a reminder 1 or 3 days before it, then open the cancel guide for that club. Subex does not contact the club or cancel for you. If your agreement asks for more notice than that, also note the notice deadline in your calendar. Get Subex on Google Play, or browse all cancellation guides.

FAQ

Can I cancel a gym membership online?

Sometimes. It depends on the chain, your home club and your state. Crunch says some of its clubs offer online cancellation, and New York’s attorney general says clubs there must accept cancellation through methods including the club’s website. Check your agreement first.

What is the safest way to cancel a membership with proof?

Use a method that leaves a record: an online cancellation with a confirmation email, or a certified letter with a return receipt. Keep copies until the final charge has passed.

Do I have to pay a fee to cancel a membership?

That depends on your agreement. Some memberships have a minimum term, a cancellation fee or an annual fee billed separately from monthly dues. Read the fees section before you cancel so the last charge is not a surprise.

Does the FTC click-to-cancel rule apply to my membership?

Not at the moment. The 2024 rule was vacated in July 2025, and the FTC reopened the question in March 2026. Federal law on online sales and your state’s rules can still apply.