Wondering how to cancel an app subscription? One rule works for every app: cancel with whoever bills you. That could be Apple, Google Play, the app’s own website, Amazon or Roku, and it is rarely the app itself. If you are trying to unsubscribe from an app and cannot find a cancel button, you are most likely looking in a place that does not handle the billing.
This guide shows how to work out who bills you, where each of them keeps the cancel option, and what to check afterwards. For the screen-by-screen steps, it points to our dedicated store guides instead of repeating them.
The short answer
- Find out who bills you. Look at the receipt email or the name next to the charge on your statement.
- Cancel in that company’s subscription settings. Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Roku and the app’s website each have their own.
- Check that it worked. The subscription should show an end date instead of a renewal date. Keep the confirmation.
Deleting the app is not one of the steps. It does not cancel anything.
Step 1: Find out who bills you
The same app can be billed in different ways depending on where you signed up. A subscription started inside an iPhone app is often billed by Apple, while the same service bought on the company’s website is billed by the company. Two quick checks settle it.
Check the receipt
Search your email for the app’s name and the word “receipt”. The sender tells you who billed you:
- A receipt from Apple means the App Store billed you. Apple suggests searching for “receipt from Apple” or “invoice from Apple” and noting which Apple Account the receipt names.
- A receipt from Google Play means the Play Store billed you, through the Google Account on the receipt.
- A receipt from the app’s company means you signed up directly with them, usually on their website.
- A receipt from Amazon, Roku or PayPal means that company billed you or handled the payment.
Check your statement
If there is no receipt, look at the charge on your bank or card statement. Apple’s charges appear as apple.com/bill, which can cover several purchases at once (see what the apple.com/bill charge is). Roku says the subscriptions it bills show up as “Roku”, “Roku for” followed by a name, or “The Roku Channel”. Our guide to finding all your subscriptions covers the other places recurring charges hide.
Step 2: Cancel with that company
Apple: iPhone, iPad and Mac
Apple-billed subscriptions are cancelled in your Apple Account, not in the app. On an iPhone or iPad that means Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions. On the web it is account.apple.com. Our App Store cancellation guide walks through iPhone, Mac and the web, and Apple’s own instructions also cover Windows and Android.
If the subscription is missing from the list, Apple’s advice is to check which Apple Account is on the receipt and sign in to that one. If the receipt shows a family member’s account, only that person can cancel it.
Google Play: Android
Play-billed subscriptions are cancelled on the Subscriptions page in Google Play, while signed in to the Google Account that made the purchase. Our Google Play cancellation guide has the steps, and Google’s help page is the official reference. For subscriptions on an Android phone that Google Play does not bill, such as carrier or website billing, see how to cancel subscriptions on Android.
The app’s own website
If you signed up on the company’s site, that is where you cancel. Sign in on the web, open the account, membership or billing settings, and look for the option to cancel or turn off renewal. Our cancellation guides for 270+ services explain who bills you for each service and link to the provider’s own cancel page.
Amazon
Amazon manages its subscriptions, including Prime and Prime Video, from Your Memberships and Subscriptions. Amazon’s steps are to find the subscription, select Manage Subscription, then select Cancel Subscription under Advanced Controls. For some digital subscriptions, Amazon also offers an Auto-Renew switch that stops the recurring charge before the renewal date.
Roku
For subscriptions Roku bills, Roku’s instructions are to go to my.roku.com/subscriptions, choose the subscription, select Manage subscription and then Turn off auto-renew. Roku also notes that Disney+, Hulu and Sling TV manage their own subscriptions even when Roku processes the charge, so those are cancelled with the service. Our Roku cancellation guide has the details.
PayPal
If you paid through PayPal, the company still runs the subscription. PayPal lets you cancel an automatic payment in your settings, but PayPal notes that doing so “typically does not cancel the underlying subscription or contract with the service provider.” Cancel with the app’s company first, then tidy up PayPal with our PayPal guide.
Step 3: Check that it worked
Cancelling stops the next renewal. It usually does not end access straight away:
- Google Play: Google says you keep a cancelled subscription for the time you have already paid for, and you are not charged for the next cycle.
- Apple: a cancelled subscription shows an expiration message. If there is no Cancel button at all, Apple says the subscription is already cancelled.
- Roku: access continues until the end of the current billing period, and Roku does not give partial-term refunds.
Take a screenshot or keep the confirmation email, then check your next statement to make sure no renewal went through.
Why deleting the app does not cancel
Google says it plainly: “When you uninstall the app, your subscription won’t cancel.” On an iPhone, Apple’s cancellation also runs through your Apple Account settings rather than the app, so removing the app changes nothing there either. The subscription belongs to your account with whoever bills you, not to the copy of the app on your phone.
Cancel first. Delete the app afterwards if you no longer want it.
Free trials and refunds
Free trials follow the same rule: cancel with whoever bills you. Apple advises cancelling at least 24 hours before a trial ends if you do not want it to renew. Our guide to cancelling a free trial covers the timing for other billers.
A cancellation is not a refund. If you were charged for a renewal you did not want, asking for the money back is a separate request to whoever billed you. Start with our refund guides, or go straight to how to get an App Store refund.
See the next renewal coming
The easiest charge to stop is the one you see coming. Subex is a subscription tracker for Android that helps with that part: you add each subscription by hand, choose a reminder 1 or 3 days before it renews, and open a step-by-step cancel guide when you decide to stop one. Subex does not cancel anything for you, so you still finish the cancellation with whoever bills you. It is free for one subscription added by hand, and the iPhone version is not available yet. Get Subex for Android.
FAQ
Does deleting an app cancel the subscription?
No. Google states that uninstalling an app does not cancel its subscription, and Apple subscriptions are cancelled in your Apple Account settings, not in the app. Cancel with whoever bills you, then delete the app if you want.
How do I unsubscribe from an app on iPhone?
If Apple bills you, open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, choose the app and tap Cancel Subscription. If the app is not listed, the subscription is on another Apple Account or another company bills you. Our App Store guide covers both cases.
How do I unsubscribe from an app on Android?
If Google Play bills you, cancel it on the Subscriptions page in Google Play. If it is not listed there, check your other Google Accounts, then the app’s website or your receipt to see who billed you.
Why is there no cancel button inside the app?
Because the cancel option lives with whoever bills you. For an App Store or Google Play subscription, that is your Apple Account or your Google Play subscriptions. For anything else, it is the account you hold with the company, Amazon, Roku or PayPal.
Can I cancel an app subscription for a family member?
Not for an Apple-billed subscription. Apple says that if a family member’s Apple Account is on the receipt, that person must cancel it, and you cannot cancel it for them.