On average, 2.6 paid subscription services aren’t being used each month, compared to the average 3.4 paid subscriptions Americans hold, according to Self Financial’s recent survey on wasted subscriptions.

The company recently surveyed 1,272 Americans with paid subscription services in place. Paid subscriptions were broken down for respondents into subscription models, for example streaming, e-commerce, dating, fitness and AI. 

On average, households have 3.4 paid subscriptions active

The survey found that most respondents had 3.4 paid subscription services active in a typical month. This is more than the average of 2.8 when the survey was conducted previously in 2025, but still less than the average of 4.4 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. $35.03 is the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions in the U.S. The survey found that the average monthly cost of paid subscriptions is $35.03, which is 5.3% less than the $37 average in the 2025 survey. 

When analyzing the most common price ranges of paid subscriptions, over two-thirds of the respondents (67.3%) spend less than $30 on subscriptions each month. Just 7% spend more than $100 per month on subscriptions. Seventy percent admit to being locked into a paid subscription because they forgot to cancel it

The 2026 survey found that 70% of participants have forgotten to cancel a free trial at some point, locking them into a paid subscription. When asked how many times this had occurred, 50% said it was twice, while 20% admitted this had happened at least three times.

On average, forgetting to cancel these paid subscriptions has cost participants $34.31 in total and for 37.8%, this unexpected expense meant they had to cut back on other outgoings. Over a fifth (21.7%) said they had to borrow money from a relative to overcome this cost. 

Respondents have 2.6 paid subscriptions going unused, compared to 0.8 in 2025

The survey defines “unused” paid subscriptions as those being paid for but that had not been used in the past 30 days. This took into account the popularity of subscriptions paid monthly, which 61.9% of people prefer, and which indicates that at least one monthly payment would have been wasted if the subscription was not used for 30 days.

Almost three in five (59.9%) survey respondents said that they have at least one paid subscription going unused. This is up from 54.9% in 2025, but down from 85.7% in 2024.

Taking an average from the responses, the results showed that typically subscribers have around 2.6 subscriptions that they aren’t using each month (up from 0.8 in 2025).

Considering that a respondent has, on average, 2.6 subscriptions going unused, the monthly average value of unused paid subscriptions is $26.79 – an increase from $10.57 in 2025 but a decrease from $32.84 in 2024. Per year this means respondents are losing $321.48 to services they are not using. 

In the U.S., a majority (83%) of adults use streaming services. The survey asked the respondents who currently have unused subscriptions which popular paid platformsthey subscribed to but had not used in the past 30 days. Starz was found to be the most common paid subscription that they hadn’t used in the past 30 days (49.6%). 

In 2025, the most common unused streaming subscription was ESPN+ (25.8%), followed by Hulu (25.7%). In 2026, Disney+ came in close behind, with 44.4% of respondents leaving their subscription unused.

Apple TV does pretty well. According to Self Finance, only 19.6% of those who pay for the service don’t use it. That compares to 34.1% in 2025. In fact, Apple TV does better than any streaming service except Netflix when it comes to the percentage of folks who don’t use their subscription. Only 17.1% of Netflix uses don’t take advantage of their subscription.

I hope you’ll help support Apple World Today by becoming a patron. Almost all our income is from Patreon support and sponsored posts. Patreon pricing ranges from $2 to $10 a month. Thanks in advance for your support. 

Also, check out my daughter-in-law’s “Scattered Words” website if you’re interested in unique, handcrafted jewelry made out of an array of vintage dictionaries, books, and even a few antiques.



Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today