How to Cancel a Substack Subscription
There is no single Substack subscription. You have subscriptions, plural, one per newsletter, each billed and cancelled on its own. Most guides skip past that. It is the whole story.
First, the thing nobody tells you
Substack is a platform, not a service. Each paid newsletter is its own billing relationship. Support five writers and you have five separate subscriptions, often on five different days of the month, sometimes split between monthly and annual. There is no "cancel all" button.
That is why your card statement shows multiple identical-looking "Substack" charges. Each one maps to a specific writer. Cancel each on its own.
Cancelling one newsletter, four steps
This is the path for web-billed subscriptions. If you subscribed inside the iOS or Android app, skip to the next section.
Sign in at substack.com, same way you signed up
"Sign in with Apple" the first time means Apple every time. Mixing methods lands you in a separate account where your paid subs do not appear, the top reason people think Substack hid their billing.
Go to substack.com/account/billing
Every paid newsletter you support is listed there with its own renewal date and price. Click the one you want to cancel.
Under Account actions, click the cancel link
It reads "To cancel your paid subscription, click here." Substack may offer a Pause option (1, 2, or 3 months, auto-resumes with a 3-day warning email). Real feature, not a dark pattern. Skip it if you want out for good.
Confirm Cancel Subscription
You keep paid access until the current billing period ends, then drop to the free tier. On a 7-day trial, paid access ends immediately, not at the end of the trial.
Repeat for every other paid newsletter. Substack's official help page confirms the same steps.
If you subscribed inside the Substack app
Substack added native in-app purchases on iOS in 2023. If you tapped Subscribe inside the app, you are paying through Apple, not Substack, and the cancel happens on your phone (per Substack's own IAP FAQ). The in-app price is also marked up to cover Apple's 30 percent cut.
iOS (Apple billing)
Settings, your name, Subscriptions, find the publication, Cancel Subscription. Deleting the app does not cancel anything. Also at apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions.
Android (Google Play)
Play Store, profile icon, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions, find the publication, Cancel. Refunds run through Google Play too.
The bit worth knowing before you click cancel
The paid archive might disappear with you.
Most writers paywall their archive to current paid subscribers. The moment your period ends and you drop to free, those posts go back behind the wall: the essay you subscribed for, the back-catalog deep dive, the piece you keep meaning to reread.
Before the period runs out, save what you want. PDF print-to-file, copy into a notes app, Pocket, all fine. Substack does not offer a personal export of paid posts.
When the charge stops, and the refund window
Web cancellations run to the end of the current period. No prorating. Cancel an annual sub three months in, you keep paid access for the remaining nine.
Refunds are a different story. Substack's refund policy is automated for 7 days from the charge. Past that window, the writer decides; many independent creators have no formal refund process and may not respond. If the charge is large enough to matter and you get ghosted, a card chargeback is the realistic fallback.
Questions people actually ask
I subscribed in the iOS app. Why is there nothing to cancel on substack.com?
Because the App Store is doing the billing. Cancel at Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions on your iPhone. Deleting the app does nothing. Android works the same through Google Play.
I got charged for a year I forgot about. Refund?
Within 7 days, yes, automatic through Substack. Past 7 days, the writer decides; email them directly. If they ignore you, a card chargeback is the realistic fallback. IAP refunds go through Apple or Google Play.
Will the paid archive still be readable after my period ends?
Often no. Most writers gate paid posts to current subscribers, so they re-paywall the moment you drop to free. Save anything you want before the period ends.
I cancelled paid but I am still getting their emails. Why?
Cancelling paid drops you to the free email list, not off the publication entirely. Click Unsubscribe at the bottom of any email, or remove the free subscription in Settings. Two separate actions.
Cancelling neighbours of Substack
Now find the other Substacks you forgot about.
The per-publication model is exactly how people end up paying for five newsletters they meant to cancel last summer. Subcut shows every recurring charge on your card in about 60 seconds, including the ones that all show up as "Substack" on your statement.
Download Subcut FreeiOS · Free to use · No subscription required (ironic, we know).