A new survey by Self Financial finds that Americans are wasting US$32.84 a month on unused paid subscriptions. The study served views from 1,108 Americans with paid subscription services in place such as Netflix or HelloFresh.
Most households have 4.1 paid subscriptions active
The number of subscriptions people have can differ hugely based on a number of factors, including household income, expenses, and the amount of free time a person has.
The survey found that most people had 4.1 paid subscription services active in a typical month. This is less than the average of 4.4 when the survey was conducted previously in 2023. Some people may cancel and change subscriptions each month, so respondents were asked to answer in relation to a typical month in their household.
$40.39 is the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions in the U.S.
The survey found that the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions in the U.S. is US$40.39, which is down by almost a quarter (-23.7%) from the $52.97 average in 2023’s survey.
When analyzing the most common price ranges of paid subscriptions, it seems that almost half of subscribers (48.2%) spend between $21 and $40 on subscriptions each month. Less than one in 10 (7.3%) spend more than $100 per month on streaming.
Subscriptions are good for the soul, say users
There are a whole host of reasons people may choose to subscribe to a subscription service. From this research, it seems that users choose subscription services to improve their well-being. 51.9% said that subscription services improve their quality of life.
The quality of streaming services appears to be another big pull for users. 51.8% said that they like their subscription because of this. Movies and shows produced by service providers continue to earn industry acclamation, with Netflix content earning 22 Emmy awards in 2024.
Americans have 3.3 paid subscriptions going unused
To better understand how many paid subscriptions are going unused, the survey asked the subscribers surveyed if any of their paid subscriptions were still being paid for each month despite not being used.
The vast majority (85.7%) of survey respondents said that they have at least one paid subscription going unused, while 14.3% said they currently use all their subscriptions each month.
The results showed that most subscribers have an average of 3.3 subscriptions that they aren’t using each month. The monthly average value of unused paid subscriptions was revealed to be $32.84, an increase from 2023’s average of $25.34.
Almost one in six (14.4%) plan to still pay for unused subscriptions
The survey asked those who had paid subscriptions that went unused if they had considered canceling them. Almost one in six (14.4%) were happy to continue paying for these unused subscriptions, while the other 85.6% said they would take action and cancel these subscriptions in the near future. It is possible the survey caused some individuals to review their subscriptions while responding.
More than a quarter of people cancel subscriptions ‘due to high cost of living’
For those intending to cancel or those who had canceled paid subscriptions in 2024, the survey looked to understand the exact reasons behind such decisions.
While choosing better alternatives (42.2%) was the most common reason, it seems that many Americans are canceling their unused subscriptions due to cost reasons. Almost three in 10 (29.4%) said that the price of subscriptions had increased too much, while 27.1% agreed that today’s high cost of living necessitated them cutting back on services they don’t use.
Most people don’t cancel subscriptions because of automatic renewals (39.3%)
When it came to why some may not have canceled subscriptions in the past, or are currently struggling to cancel services, having automatic renewals set-up was the main obstacle cited by respondents. For example, a grocery delivery pass automatically renews each month which causes people to forget the need to cancel.
One in three (33.5%) admitted that the main reason for them not canceling their unused paid subscriptions was a lack of time to dedicate to the process. While 35.3% felt that the company made it difficult to cancel the subscription. Some companies may require you to call them to cancel, rather than actioning this in the account settings for example.
Amazon Prime is the most common unused paid subscription
The survey asked the respondents who currently have unused subscriptions which of the 10 most popular paid platforms (non-streaming) they subscribed to but had not used in the past 30 days.
Amazon Prime was shown to be the most common paid subscription that they hadn’t used in the past 30 days (30.1%). Walmart+ came in second place, with 26.9% of respondents leaving their subscription unused.
The survey also asked these respondents with unused subscriptions which popular video streaming platforms (according to Tom’s Guide) they subscribed to but had not used for the past 30 days.
Netflix was found to be the streaming service that most people weren’t regularly using, with 28.2% not watching its content in the last month. Disney+ (27.6%) and Amazon Prime Video (26.0%) were also among the streaming services most unused by the survey’s respondents.
Sharing paid subscription logins
Sharing paid subscriptions for music, movies, and TV between family members is a good way to reduce costs while still keeping the benefits of the service. Some services, like Netflix however, are actively discouraging this with 2023 measures stopping password sharing outside of physical households. Disney+ followed suit in March 2024 and Max is expected to implement similar account lockdowns in 2024.
The survey asked the subscriber respondents if they shared their logins, or were recipients of shared logins, for paid subscriptions with people outside of their household. The majority (82.6%) said they did, while 17.4% said they didn’t.
46% of paid subscription customers share logins as they can’t afford their own account
The most popular reasons to share a subscription service revolve around money. Almost half (46%) said they couldn’t afford the subscription on their own, while a third (33.6%) are sharing with members of their own family or friends to spread out the service’s usage within a household.
72.1% of Netflix password-sharers are going to make account changes
Of those who said they use a shared Netflix, Disney+, or Max, account, 27.9% said they’re not planning on making changes to their account setup as streaming services crack down on password sharing among their subscriber base.
A separate 16.4% said they were planning to cancel their subscription, 25.8% said they were planning to stop sharing an account, while three in 10 (29.9%) said that they would consider an alternative streaming service to meet their needs.
