How to track subscription renewals and free trials

Updated November 2, 2026 · By the 15DayTrial team

The easiest way to track subscriptions is a single list — a spreadsheet, note, or app — with each service's price, billing cycle, renewal date, and how to cancel, paired with calendar reminders a few days before each renewal or trial end. Start by finding every recurring charge in your app-store accounts, PayPal, and bank statements.

Step 1: Find every subscription you have

Subscriptions hide in several places. Check each one:

1. Apple: Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Shows active and expired subscriptions billed through your Apple ID.
2. Google Play: Play Store > profile icon > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions.
3. PayPal: Settings > Payments > Manage automatic payments.
4. Amazon: Your Account > Memberships & Subscriptions, which includes channel add-ons and subscribe-and-save style orders.
5. Bank and credit card statements: scan the last three months — or twelve, to catch annual renewals. Look for repeating amounts, small charges, and unfamiliar merchant names.
6. Email: search for terms like receipt, subscription, renewal, your trial, membership, and auto-renew.
7. Your phone bill: look for carrier billing or premium text services.

Many banking apps now flag recurring charges or have a subscriptions view. Check whether yours does before signing up for a separate app.

Step 2: Build a simple tracker

A spreadsheet works well because you can sort by date and total your monthly cost. Use these columns:

Add a monthly equivalent column so annual plans are comparable: divide annual prices by 12. Then total it — most people find the number is higher than they expected.

If you like spreadsheets, a formula can calculate the next renewal automatically. In Excel or Google Sheets, with a start date in D2 and a monthly cycle:

=EDATE(D2, DATEDIF(D2, TODAY(), "M") + 1)

This returns the next monthly anniversary after today. Billing on the 29th to 31st of a month can shift in shorter months, so treat the result as a close estimate and confirm with the company.

Step 3: Set reminders that actually work

• Free trials: two reminders — three days before and one day before the trial ends.
• Annual renewals: one reminder two weeks before, so you have time to compare prices or downgrade.
• Monthly subscriptions: no individual reminders needed; review them in your regular audit instead.

Put the cancellation path in the reminder note. A reminder that says "Cancel photo app — Website > Account > Plan" gets acted on; one that says "photo thing?" gets snoozed.

Also turn on transaction alerts in your card or banking app, for example for any charge over a small amount. A surprise renewal then shows up on your phone the moment it happens instead of weeks later on a statement.

Step 4: Run a quarterly subscription audit

Every three months, spend fifteen minutes on these questions for each item in your tracker:

1. Did I use it in the last month? If not, cancel. You can usually resubscribe later.
2. Is there a cheaper tier? Ad-supported plans, student pricing, or annual billing may cost less.
3. Am I paying twice? Overlapping services — two cloud storage plans, or a streaming service billed both directly and through a bundle — are common.
4. Did the price go up? Compare the current charge to what is in your tracker.
5. Is a family or bundle plan cheaper than several individual plans?

Step 5: Rotate instead of stacking

For entertainment services, consider rotating: keep one or two at a time, binge what you want, cancel, and switch to another. Most streaming services let you cancel and rejoin without penalty, so there is little reason to pay for all of them every month.

Watch for price increases and renewal notices

Companies often email notices of price increases or upcoming annual renewals. Several state automatic renewal laws require advance notice of some renewals or material changes, but requirements vary — see auto-renewal laws and your rights. Do not rely on these notices; your own tracker and reminders are more dependable.

Tracking apps: convenience vs privacy

Third-party subscription trackers can connect to your bank accounts and spot recurring charges automatically. Before using one, consider:

• What access it requires. Read-only bank connections are common, but you are still sharing transaction data.
• How it makes money. Some apps charge their own subscription or a percentage of savings for negotiating bills.
• Whether you need it. Your bank's built-in tools, app-store subscription lists, and a simple spreadsheet cover most people's needs.

When you find something you do not want, follow the steps in how to cancel subscriptions, and update your tracker with the end date.