How to Cancel Your
Substack Subscription
Cancel paid Substack newsletter subscriptions in about 2 minutes. Each paid publication is canceled individually through your Substack account settings.
Quick Overview
Difficulty
EasyTime
~2 minutes
Method
Website / App
Refund
Case-by-case
Cancel a Paid Substack Newsletter
Sign in to Substack
Go to substack.com and sign in with the email address associated with your paid subscriptions. You can also use magic link sign-in if you do not remember your password.
Go to your Settings
Click your profile icon in the top-right corner, then select Settings. On the Settings page, find the Subscriptions or Payments tab. This shows all the newsletters you are paying for.
Find the newsletter you want to cancel
Scroll through your paid subscriptions and find the specific newsletter you want to cancel. Each publication shows its name, price, and next billing date. Click Manage next to the one you want to cancel.
Click Cancel Subscription
On the subscription management page, click Cancel subscription. Substack will ask you to confirm and may show you what you will lose access to (paid-only posts, archive, etc.).
Confirm the cancellation
Click the final Confirm button. Your paid access continues until the end of the current billing period. You will receive a confirmation email. Repeat this process for each paid newsletter you want to cancel.
Subscribed Through Apple or Google?
If you subscribed to a paid Substack newsletter through the iOS app using Apple's in-app purchase, you need to cancel through Apple. The Substack website cannot cancel subscriptions billed through Apple or Google.
Cancel via iPhone / iPad
- 1. Open Settings on your iPhone
- 2. Tap your name at the top (Apple Account)
- 3. Tap Subscriptions
- 4. Tap the Substack newsletter in the list
- 5. Tap Cancel Subscription and confirm
Cancel via Android
- 1. Open the Google Play Store app
- 2. Tap your profile icon (top right)
- 3. Tap Payments & subscriptions
- 4. Tap Subscriptions then the Substack newsletter
- 5. Tap Cancel subscription and confirm
What Happens After You Cancel Substack?
You still get free posts
Canceling a paid subscription does not unsubscribe you from the newsletter. You will continue to receive the writer's free posts by email. To completely stop emails, you need to separately unsubscribe from the newsletter.
Paid-only content becomes locked
Once your billing period ends, you lose access to paywalled posts, the full paid archive, subscriber-only podcasts, and any other premium features the writer offers. Free posts remain accessible.
Cancel each newsletter separately
If you pay for multiple Substack newsletters, each is a separate subscription with its own billing. Canceling one does not affect the others. Check your Settings page for a full list of all your paid subscriptions.
You can resubscribe anytime
If you change your mind, you can resubscribe to any newsletter at any time by visiting the publication's page and clicking the subscribe button. Some writers may offer founding member or discounted rates that may no longer be available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cancel all Substack subscriptions at once?
No. Substack treats each paid newsletter as a separate subscription. You need to cancel each one individually through your Settings page. There is no "cancel all" button, since each payment goes to a different writer.
Will the writer know I canceled?
Writers can see subscriber counts and may notice changes, but they do not receive a specific notification saying you personally canceled. Your cancellation is handled between you and the Substack platform.
What about Substack Pro or Substack+ bundle subscriptions?
If you are subscribed to a Substack bundle (where one payment covers multiple newsletters), canceling the bundle cancels access to all included publications. Check your subscription details to see if your newsletters are part of a bundle.
How do I stop Substack emails entirely?
Canceling a paid subscription does not stop free emails. To stop all emails from a publication, open any email from that newsletter and click the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom. You can also manage email preferences in your Substack Settings.
Can I get a refund for an annual Substack subscription?
Refund policies vary by publication. You can contact Substack support at support.substack.com to request a refund. For annual subscriptions, prorated refunds may be available depending on how recently you subscribed.
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