Subscription Audit Checklist
By MapSub Editorial · Updated
An audit is simply a deliberate look at every recurring payment with one question in mind: is this still worth it? Set aside half an hour and work through these steps.
- List everything. Gather every recurring charge from 12 months of statements, app stores and email. Our guide to finding forgotten subscriptions walks through it.
- Convert to one number. Turn every plan into a yearly cost so weekly, monthly and yearly plans are comparable.
- Mark how much you use each one. Often, sometimes or rarely. Be honest: "rarely" is the strongest signal to cancel.
- Look for overlaps. Two video services, two music apps, two cloud drives or two password managers usually do the same job.
- Check the billing option. For services you will definitely keep, compare monthly and yearly billing. For ones you might drop, monthly keeps you flexible.
- Check for cheaper plans. Ad-supported tiers, student or family plans, and bundles can cut the price of services you keep.
- Note renewal dates. Put every renewal and the last day to cancel in your calendar, with a reminder a few days before.
- Cancel and confirm. Cancel what you decided to drop, save the confirmation email, and check your next statement to make sure the charge stopped.
Questions to ask about each subscription
- When did I last use it?
- Would I sign up again today at this price?
- Does another service I already pay for do the same thing?
- Is there a cheaper plan that covers what I actually use?
- Could I share a family or group plan with people in my household?
For small businesses
The same checklist works for company software, with two additions: compare paid seats with active users, and note each contract's notice period, since many business plans renew automatically unless you cancel 30 or more days before the renewal date. The unused license calculator and the SaaS stack cost calculator help with both.
Check prices before you decide
Before you keep, downgrade or switch, check what the plans cost today; prices change often. MapSub's pricing pages list current US prices read on each provider's site, including streaming, AI assistants and team software, each with the date we checked. Comparing AI assistants? See ChatGPT vs Claude pricing. Curious how your total compares? Our subscription spending research sets out what official data and surveys actually measure.
The MapSub tracker does steps 2 to 5 for you: it totals every billing cycle, flags rarely used plans and overlaps, and shows yearly-billing savings. Mark what you cancel as Cancelled and it keeps a record of the yearly saving.