Subscription Cost Auditor
Audit every subscription in one place. Normalize weekly, monthly, and yearly bills, see cost-per-use, get a cancel-first ranking that flags your worst value, and download renewal reminders as a calendar file.
How to use this tool
- Add each subscription: name, amount, billing cycle, and roughly how many times you use it per month.
- Read the normalized monthly and annual totals at the bottom.
- Check the cost-per-use column and the red “cancel first” flag on your worst value.
- Click Download renewal reminders to export an .ics calendar of renewal dates.
- Copy the page URL to back up or share your audit — the list rebuilds from the link.
The classic r/personalfinance advice is “audit your subscriptions” — but the math is annoying: one bill is weekly, another yearly, and the real question isn’t the price, it’s whether you actually use it. This auditor solves both. It normalizes every plan to a common monthly and annual figure, then computes cost per use from how often you open each one.
The invented part is the cancel-ROI ranking: it scores each subscription by annual cost weighted against usage and flags the single worst offender as cancel first — the fastest dollar you can save. When you’re ready to act, one click exports an .ics calendar file with recurring renewal reminders (with a 2-day alarm) so a forgotten free trial never auto-charges you again. Your list is saved locally and encoded into the URL, so a shared link rebuilds the whole table.
⚠ This tool provides general estimates for education only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Figures may not reflect your situation — verify with a qualified professional.
How it works
The Subscription Cost Auditor gives you a single view of every recurring service you pay for. Enter each subscription with its name, cost, billing frequency (weekly, monthly, or yearly), and how many times you use it per month. The tool normalizes all costs to a monthly figure so you can compare them on equal footing.
A cost-per-use column shows what each session actually costs you. The tool ranks subscriptions by worst value — those with high cost per use or no recent use appear at the top of the cancel-first list.
You can download a calendar file (.ics) containing renewal reminders, which you can import into any calendar app so you are never caught off guard by a yearly charge.
Worked example
Audit three streaming and fitness subscriptions
- Add: Netflix, $15.99/month, 20 uses/month.
- Add: Gym membership, $49.99/month, 2 uses/month.
- Add: Meditation app, $69.99/year (tool converts to ~$5.83/month), 1 use/month.
- Review cost-per-use: Netflix = $0.80, Gym = $25.00, Meditation = $5.83.
- The cancel-first ranking places the gym membership at the top.
The gym membership costs $25 per visit — a clear candidate for cancellation or increased use.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Forgetting annual subscriptions — they are easy to overlook but can be the largest single line items when annualized.
- Setting uses/month to zero for a service you rarely use, which makes cost-per-use infinite and flags it for cancellation even if you find occasional value in it.
- Not revisiting the audit after free trials convert to paid subscriptions.
Key terms
- Cost per use
- Monthly subscription cost divided by the number of times you use the service that month.
- Billing frequency normalization
- Converting all subscription costs to a common monthly basis: weekly cost x 4.33, yearly cost / 12.
- ICS file
- A standard calendar format that can be imported into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and most other calendar apps.
Frequently asked questions
- How is cost-per-use calculated?
- The tool normalizes each subscription to a monthly cost, then divides by how many times you said you use it per month. A $15/month app used twice costs $7.50 per use; the same app used 30 times costs $0.50 per use. Subscriptions with zero uses are flagged as “unused.”
- What does the .ics download do?
- It generates a standard calendar file with one recurring event per subscription, set to its billing cadence, with a reminder two days before renewal. Import it into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook so you review (and can cancel) before each charge.
- Is my subscription list private?
- Yes. It is stored only in your browser’s local storage and encoded into the page URL. Nothing is sent to a server. If you don’t want to share the data, simply don’t share the URL.