Audit your streaming TV subscriptions, so you don’t waste money

In a perfect world, each of us would have ample time and energy to monitor all our subscription video charges. We could keep spreadsheets, regularly check our banking statements, and never forget to cancel.

Reality, of course, is messier. Between work, family, and household obligations, ending unnecessary subscriptions might be the last thing on your mind at the end of the day. It doesn’t help that many subscription services will run your credit card without any kind of notification beforehand.

While I still think immediate cancellation is the best strategy for any streaming TV service you don’t plan to keep year ‘round, a little extra auditing can’t hurt. Here are some links and tools that can help sniff out sneaky charges:

Checking on major streaming services

To check directly on your subscription status with major streaming services, just head to their respective account pages and sign in. Below are direct links for several major services, along with cancellation links where I could find them:

• Netflix account page, cancellation link
• Hulu account page, cancellation link
• Amazon Prime account page, cancellation link
• Disney+ account page, cancellation link
• Max (formerly HBO Max) account page
• Paramount+ account page
• Peacock account page, cancellation link
• Apple TV+ account page
• Discovery+ account page
• Sling TV account page
• YouTube TV account page
• DirecTV Stream account page
• Fubo TV account page
• Philo account page

[ Further reading: The best streaming TV services ]

”Channels” subscriptions and in-app billing

To further complicate matters, several streaming TV platforms now offer their own subscription stores and in-app billing systems, so you can sign up for channels like HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Epix without having to re-enter your payment info every time.

While these stores are useful for managing lots of subscriptions in one place, each one is separate from the other, and your subscriptions do not transfer from one store to another. They also make sign-up as frictionless as possible, with billing info you might already have on file; so if you’re not careful, you could end up with unwanted or even duplicate subscriptions.

Amazon, for instance, has a service called Prime Video Channels, which is available on Fire TV devices and through the Prime Video app on other devices. If you’re a Prime or Fire TV user, you should check the Manage Your Prime Video Channels page to ensure you haven’t signed up for anything by accident.

Roku also offers a subscription store through The Roku Channel, which is an app that’s primarily available through Roku streaming players and smart TVs. This allows you to sign up for services with whatever payment information you have on file with Roku already. In addition, Roku provides in-app billing for certain services, such as Hulu. If you’re a Roku user, you can check on active subscriptions through this link.

Apple, meanwhile, offers a subscription store called Apple TV Channels, available on Apple TV, Roku players, Fire TV devices, and certain smart TVs. Many individual iOS and Apple TV apps also accept subscriptions through Apple’s in-app billing system. If you’re on an iOS device, or you have iTunes installed on a Mac or PC, you can view and manage all these subscriptions through this link.

Subscription monitoring tools

Of course, the best way to monitor your streaming video subscriptions is to see what’s showing up on your credit card statements. But if you’re not in the habit of doing this regularly, or you have trouble parsing the excess verbiage that your bank account uses, payment monitoring apps like Rocket Money (formerly Truebill), Trim, and Hiatus can help. With these apps, you can connect a bank account or credit card, and they’ll sniff out any recurring payments based on your past billing history.

I gave all three of the aforementioned services a try, and I like Trim the best for monitoring subscriptions. While other services try to push a broader range of financial management tools, Trim puts its subscription management features at the forefront.

Just one thing to keep in mind: Most of these services require you to plug in your banking account info, which is verified through a third-party service called Plaid. If you’re not comfortable with that, Bobby is a worthy alternative. This free iPhone app lets you manually add your own subscription details, shows your average monthly subscription expenses, and offers reminders when payments are coming up. It’s less automated than other subscription management tools, but it’s more elegant than dealing with spreadsheets.

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