Suzanne Humphries was a Commerce Editor for Review Geek. She has over seven years of experience across multiple publications researching and testing products, as well as writing and editing news, reviews, and how-to articles covering software, hardware, entertainment, networking, electronics, gaming, apps, security, finance, and small business. Read more... About Review Geek
Suzanne Humphries
Suzanne Humphries
Former Commerce Editor
| 5 min read
You can find subscriptions for just about anything these days, and they can add up quickly if you lose track of them. Luckily, there are services that can find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions and even help negotiate lower rates for your bills and help you better manage your finances.
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These services can tackle anything from Netflix subscriptions to cable bills, but they do not typically handle subscriptions to mobile apps or games. For these, you’ll need to visit the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and manage your subscriptions manually from there. Despite this, the services are a great way to start saving money, evaluate your monthly bills, and get a bigger picture of your basic financial health.
Update, 9/15/21: Checked content for accuracy. Replaced new link for Clarity Money.
Table of Contents
How Do Subscription Cancellation Services Work?
Financial Assistance via Text: Trim
A Powerful Financial Health Dashboard: Truebill
Backed by Goldman Sachs: Clarity Money
Great for Bill Management: Hiatus
How Do Subscription Cancellation Services Work?
When you sign up for one of these services, which are usually run by an AI assistant, you’ll connect it to your credit card or bank account. Then, it’ll scan your charges and look for ones that are recurring and alert you. In turn, you will let the service know which you want to keep and which ones you want to get rid of, and the service will cancel those subscriptions.
Likewise, for bill negotiation, you’ll upload your bills to the service, and it’ll reach out to each company and do what it can to lower your owed amounts or interest rates. This usually happens by switching you to a better plan. Some services might make the changes automatically on your behalf, while others might ask for your stamp of approval first. Either way, they will let you know if it’s a successful negotiation.
The services themselves get paid by taking a percentage of the amount you saved in the first year (and if it can’t save you anything, it won’t charge you anything). Rates vary by company, of course, but range anywhere from 33-50%. There is no way to circumvent these fees if the service does save you money, but at least you still end up with some extra cash each month. Ironically, these services all offer subscription plans that unlock access to all features like financial coaches, medical bill negotiation, and automated credit card payments.
Financial Assistance via Text: Trim
Trim (Free, with possible charges) is one of the original subscription cancellation services, though it’s tacked on additional money management features over the years. It labels itself as a financial health company and can help negotiate cable bills, internet bills, and credit card APRs. It can also analyze your transactions and provide basic advice in addition to canceling your unwanted subscriptions.
Signing up for an account with Trim is free. It lets you access tools like bill reminders and a debt calculator, and also manage your subscriptions from your dashboard without spending a dime. You’ll simply connect your phone number and financial information; the service will scour your purchases and alert you of recurring charges via text. Trim will not charge you anything if it can’t save you any money. If it does, however, the service will charge you a “success fee” of 33% of your total yearly savings.
Trim also offers a premium subscription for $99 per year (with a 14-day free trial, of course). This gets you bank and bill negotiation, simple savings with an FDIC-insured high-yield account with a 4% annual bonus, unlimited email access to its staff of financial coaches, medical bill negotiation, subscription cancellation, and automated credit card payments.
A Powerful Financial Health Dashboard: Truebill
Truebill (Free, with possible charges) can help you manage your subscriptions, but it also has tons of robust finance management tools. These are perfect for helping you learn more about and improve your overall financial health. It also offers beautiful mobile apps for both iOS and Android, so you can check on your finances wherever you are.
There’s a summary page on the service’s dashboard where you can see a general snapshot of the financial accounts you’ve connected (like your credit cards, cash, or investment balances). You can also track upcoming bills from this page. The subscription section shows you all of your subscriptions and displays upcoming due dates on the built-in calendar. You can also view reports that show your monthly earnings and expenditures and break down your bill costs. The service also has tools for lowering your bills and setting up savings goals.
The Truebill app is free, and you won’t be charged anything if the company can’t save you any money. If it is able to save you money, however, it’ll charge you 40% of your first year’s savings. There’s also a premium plan with a choose-your-own price option (between $3-$12 per month) that opens up more options to you. Premium benefits include balance syncing, premium chat, a cancellation concierge, unlimited budgets, and smart savings.
Backed by Goldman Sachs: Clarity Money
With Clarity Money (Free, with possible charges), you can reduce your bills, get rid of unwanted subscriptions, and better manage your financial health. The AI-powered service is a great launching point for taking control of your finances, but it’s also one that will grow with you thanks to its artillery of features. Instead of simply showing you your expenses, you’ll receive an actionable plan that’ll help you control and organize your finances.
Clarity Money can negotiate all kinds of bills for you from a variety of service providers, and it does a good job finding available discounts and coupons. If it’s successful in saving you money, it’ll only take 33% of your first year’s savings (which is tied with Trim as the lowest fee), and it won’t take a dime if it can’t save you money. There’s even a free companion iOS and Android app (though it’s under the name Marcus by Goldman Sachs, since that’s who owns Clarity) that’s full of beautiful simple charts and lists that help you see all of your finances in context, so you can better understand your finances at a glance.
Great for Bill Management: Hiatus
Though Hiatus (Free, with possible charges) places most of its focus on bills, like those for your mortgage or credit cards, it can analyze whatever financial accounts you connect it to. From there, the service can recommend a personalized plan of action to lower your bills and rates through its machine intelligence technology.
The service regularly monitors your accounts and searches for better rates. It can also help you with a wide variety of bills, including medical bills, student loans, and car loan refinancing. Hiatus gives contextualized advice tailored to your budget that’s easy for you to act upon. There’s also an app (for bothiOS and Android) that makes it easy to manage subscriptions, see your connected accounts, and view advice at a glance.
Hiatus charges nothing if it’s unable to save you money. However, if it does, it charges 50% of your annual saved amount. Hiatus also has a premium tier, but the company doesn’t state the amount on its site (though its Terms of Use page mentioned a pay-what-you-want option, as well as the fact that it reserves the right to change the rate and frequency). If you do decide to spring for the seemingly dynamic premium plan, it’ll give you access to financial tools for setting budgets, negotiating bills, and improving your financial wellbeing.
FAQs
How do I get rid of unnecessary subscriptions? ›
Cancel the subscriptions by emailing the service providers. If this proves elusive then go through your bank statements going back for 12 months. Look out for regular subscriptions that you forgot or are fraudulent. Cancel them via corresponding websites or by emailing the respective companies.
Can you negotiate subscriptions? ›One way to lower your monthly bill is to hop on the phone to negotiate with service providers. By calling them up directly, you might be able to cut fees and lower your subscription costs.
How does Truebill negotiate bills? ›Another service Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) provides is bill negotiation. To use this feature, you'll need to take a photo of your bill — like your phone bill or or cable bill — and upload it to the app or website. TrueBill's team will then look for ways you can receive additional discounts on your bill.
What's the best app to cancel subscriptions? ›Truebill was named one of Forbes' 50 most innovative fintech companies in 2021. The company offers its basic services for free, and has a sliding scale for premium services. Users who don't pay will need to cancel their subscriptions manually, but Truebill will cancel subscriptions for premium users.
How much does Truebill cost? ›Truebill allows users to choose their own price for the Premium service — anywhere between $3 and $12 per month. If you choose to pay $3 or $4, you'll be billed annually. A Premium account will be required for some of Truebill's other services, as well.
How does Truebill cancel subscriptions? ›Truebill tracks users' subscriptions by analyzing their bank account and credit card data and helping them cancel those they no longer need, or aren't even aware they have.
What app negotiates your bills? ›Rocket Money can even negotiate bills on your behalf to get you much lower rates. Use Rocket Money as a spending tracker to see where your money goes and how your net worth changes.
Does Rocket Money lower bills? ›Lower My Bills
For Rocket Money to lower your bill, you'll upload a copy of your most recent bill with one of the service providers or connect directly to your online account. Then, you'll provide information about the service you're already receiving. After that, Rocket Money will negotiate a lower rate for you.
On average, consumers who use Experian BillFixer save roughly $263 annually. However, the amount you save could vary. Track Your Credit Score Over Time and See How Different Actions Could Impact Your Score. Credit Monitoring Can Help Detect Possible Identity Fraud Sooner & Prevent Surprises.
What are the pros and cons of Truebill? ›| Truebill: Pros and Cons | |
|---|---|
| Pros | Cons |
| Catches service outages | Takes 40% of savings |
| Monitors subscription renewals | Requires access to sensitive personal information |
| No subscription fee for basic service | Has negative reviews on Better Business Bureau |
Is Truebill worth having? ›
Bottom line: If you're someone who is on top of your budget and spending each month, Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) may not be for you. However, if you're too busy to monitor things like auto-renewing subscriptions or service outages, the free service could be worth it.
Can Truebill be trusted? ›Yes, Truebill is safe to use. Truebill stores data using bank-level 256-bit encryption and its website has an active and verified SSL certificate.
What app finds subscriptions and cancels them? ›Truebill is an app that monitors your credit card or bank statement, and it allows you to view and manage your subscriptions from a single dashboard. You can choose to cancel subscriptions on your own, or Truebill can do it for you if you're signed up for its paid service.
Is Rocket Money worth it? ›Is Rocket Money Legit? Rocket Money is a legit app in the sense that it helps you stay on top of monthly subscriptions and bills. And if you pay for Premium, its team makes the effort to negotiate better rates for you if that's what you want.
What app tracks all of your subscriptions? ›Bobby provides a clear overview of all your subscriptions and upcoming bills. This way you'll always know the amount of money spent on subscriptions, which helps you to control your monthly spendings.
Is there a better app than Truebill? ›The best alternatives to Truebill Budget & Bill Tracker are Bobby App , Trim and Clarity Money. If these 3 options don't work for you, we've listed over 40 alternatives below. Do you use Truebill Budget & Bill Tracker?
Why do people use Truebill? ›The Truebill app identifies your subscriptions and compiles them so they're easy to track. You can also see upcoming payments, helping you avoid late fees and overdrafts. Truebill can help you cancel subscriptions, and if you sign up for a Premium membership, it can cancel them for you.
How does Rocket money cancel subscriptions? ›Click the subscription you'd like to cancel. Once you see the subscription transaction, tap the drop-down menu button in the upper right-hand corner of the website. If you're using the Rockey Money app, tap the three-dot icon next to the charge. Select “Cancel This For Me.”
Is Truebill or mint better? ›Mint – Which Budgeting App Should You Choose? If you just need a budgeting app to help you monitor your spending and to stay on track, Mint is better than Truebill. The free version of the app has everything you need, including budget category customization which the free version of Truebill lacks.
Does Truebill actually save money? ›Truebill securely connects to your accounts using bank-level security with 256-bit SSL encryption and read-only access. The company says it's already helped people save over $14 million, and it's been featured in publications from Forbes to the Los Angeles Times.
Is Truebill gone? ›
Truebill was acquired by Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) in December 2021 and will become Rocket Money in August 2022. The company is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has an office in San Francisco. For more information, go to Truebill.com.
Does BILLSHARK work? ›Is It Worth It? Yes — trying BILLSHARK doesn't cost anything once you factor in that any savings will pay for the fee. If BILLSHARK can't negotiate a lower bill for you, you aren't out anything. You can see how they compare to other tools like TrueBill and BillBargain.
What is BILLSHARK alternative? ›The best alternatives to BILLSHARK are Truebill Budget & Bill Tracker and Earny.
What is the smartest way to pay bills? ›Paying by Direct Debit means your bills are paid on time, so you'll avoid late-payment charges. Some companies offer discounts for customers who pay by Direct Debit.
What bills can I cut to save money? ›- Reducing your home phone and broadband bill.
- Get a cheaper mobile phone bill.
- Cutting the cost of your water bill.
- Cheaper gas and electricity.
- Are you paying too much Council Tax?
- Slash the cost of driving and public transport.
- Pay your bills on time.
- Find out more.
Pricing: Rocket Money has two plans. When you download the app, you'll have free access to track accounts or create a budget. If you would like to utilize Premium features, you'll have to pay a subscription fee. The Premium plan subscription is $35.99/annually, $47.99 annually, or $4.99 to $11.99 per month.
Does having Experian hurt your credit? ›Soft inquiries also occur when you check your own credit report or score or when you use credit monitoring services from Experian and other companies. These inquiries do not impact your credit score, and are listed in a separate section in your credit report from the ones that do.
Can Experian boost hurt your credit? ›Even if it doesn't help you, however, Experian Boost will not hurt your credit score. For one thing, Experian Boost looks at your banking data, not your credit history. This means there is no credit inquiry. Plus, Experian Boost only includes on-time payments, which add positive payment history.
Should you trust Experian? ›Bottom Line: Is Experian Safe to Use? Experian is trusted by millions of consumers and businesses and is safe to use. Their free and premium services are readily available but with several layers of protection to shield your information from fraudsters.
How do I get rid of spam subscriptions? ›- Make every effort to contact the company concerned to cancel the agreement.
- Contact your bank to cancel future payments.
- Ascertain with your bank whether a new card is needed.
How do I delete unwanted subscriptions on my iPhone? ›
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap your name.
- Tap Subscriptions.
- Tap the subscription.
- Tap Cancel Subscription. You might need to scroll down to find the Cancel Subscription button.
- On your Android phone or tablet, open your device's Settings app Google. Manage your Google Account.
- At the top, tap Payments & subscriptions.
- Tap Manage purchases, Manage subscriptions, or Manage reservations.
- To see more details, select an item.
If a spam email or text makes it through to your device, do not click “unsubscribe” in the message options, just delete it quickly and tag it as spam or block the sender.
What is a subscription trap? ›A subscription trap is where a consumer is misled into signing up for a subscription to goods or services. This is commonly done by the retailer promising a free trial, a reduced rate trial or sample goods where the consumer only has to pay for postage and packaging using a credit or debit card.
Is it a good idea to unsubscribe to spam? ›Getting rid of all those pesky promotional emails is a key step toward decluttering your digital life. And if you're simply hitting "unsubscribe" on an email from a legit company, there's really no downside. The problem is, scammers sometimes use fake emails with a phony "unsubscribe" link at the bottom.
How do I restrict subscriptions on Iphone? ›Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions. If asked, enter your passcode, then turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases. Tap In-app Purchases and set to Don't Allow.
Is there an app that manages subscriptions? ›Truebill. Truebill is an app that monitors your credit card or bank statement, and it allows you to view and manage your subscriptions from a single dashboard. You can choose to cancel subscriptions on your own, or Truebill can do it for you if you're signed up for its paid service.
What does Rocket Money cost? ›Rocket Money is a free app to download, but it's not free forever. If you want to upgrade to Premium, you'll have to pay $3 to $12 per month or $36 to $48 per year. If you opt to pay monthly, you can cancel a few services right away, and then downgrade to the free service.
Is Rocket Money the same as Truebill? ›Truebill was acquired by Rocket Companies in December 2021 and its name was changed to Rocket Money in August 2022.
Can I block a subscription payment? ›You can tell the card issuer by phone, email or letter. Your card issuer has no right to insist that you ask the company taking the payment first. They have to stop the payments if you ask them to. If you ask to stop a payment, the card issuer should investigate each case on its own merit.
Can I stop payment on a subscription? ›
The best way to stop these payments is to first cancel your subscription with the company directly by requesting a cancellation via email or phone. If this doesn't work, you should contact your bank or card company online or by phone to cancel the payment.