Out of all the categories, Video streaming services have seen a consistent increase in subscribers, and with the exception of a few plunges in subscription numbers, the trend isn’t expected to die down anytime soon.

While the numbers may be worrisome for people at Netflix, they do speak highly of the ease of unsubscription process at the video streaming giant. 5 clicks once you’re signed in, and you’re basically done. Netflix comes in 2nd in the ‘ease of unsubscription process’ in overall categories with a fantastic score of 18 total points.

Typically most video streaming services have a fairly easy unsubscription process, are possible solely via online channels, and take 5 clicks at the maximum to opt out of the monthly subscription. Across the category, the unsubscription process is fairly straightforward and most services perform in similar patterns.

Audio streaming services have been around forever, but listeners have seen many popular services come and go every few years. Spotify has existed for the better part of 16 years but has had a lot of competition from other platforms such as Apple Music.

It thrived when it went global in a major way last year though, offering free and premium services in more than 180 countries. Despite the fact that Apple Music is available in close to the same number of countries, it doesn’t have a free version, which is why Spotify comes out on top.

The clear category winner is Spotify, which has not only the highest number of global subscribers at the moment but also has a free version for everyone, regardless of location, which makes it all the more popular. The unsubscription process is straightforward, where you can suspend the premium account but still have access to Spotify’s songs library.

In fact, Spotify reigns at the top of our ‘Easy to unsubscribe’ list (overall), scoring a total of 20 points with the general ease of unsub process, online cancellation, and easily visible cancellation button. 

Again, like video streaming services, the general trend for audio streaming services unsubscription usually entails a less complicated procedure, where the rules and cancellation process is easy to understand. Like most modern services that aren’t afraid of the future, audio streaming services make it easy for consumers to opt out of subscriptions when they feel like it.

Meal kits and food box subscriptions have seen a steady rise in popularity with a surge in demand during the 2020 pandemic lockdown. With limited access to grocery stores and pandemic anxiety, the food box subscriptions saw an exploding growth trend in subscriptions and are touted to overtake all digital subscriptions in 2022.

The category winner for the best unsubscription food box service is Green Chef which has an online cancellation procedure, a relatively easy-to-see unsub button, and a low difficulty level overall. 

With an array of services entering the market every month with better and more tailored food choices, consumers may be tempted to shop around for a service they like best instead of sticking to just one. However, food box and meal kit subscriptions do not make it easy at all to cancel the service.

Although consumers may find it relatively easy to pause the meal kit subscription for weeks or even skip a couple of months, canceling the service is a whole other ball game. According to JMG ENTERPRISES, a YouTube account, figuring out how to unsubscribe from Blue Apron for his mum turned out to be an extensive time taking procedure, where there’s no clear process to follow for membership cancellation.

Newspapers subscriptions have been falling for decades, especially because people can now get news via other sources, for example, TV, social media, and free online publications. Print journalism has been dying a slow death in today’s fast-paced world, and newspapers leverage that to blackmail subscribers to cancel their unsubscription plans.

The clear category winner for a relatively easy unsubscription process overall is Washington Journal, where subscribers can initiate a membership cancellation online or via email. While specifically in this category, no digital newspaper has an easy way out, and all of them have a hard time letting customers go, with many roadblocks and speed bumps all the way to intentionally make leaving deliberately taxing, The New York Times ranks at a dismal 8 points as the lowest in the category.

Most reviewers say digital newspaper unsubscription is a maze-like process that is not easy to solve.  It is designed to keep the subscribers not only in, but make it immensely difficult for them to leave.

Despite the fact that signing up for any of the digital or box subscription services takes less than half an hour on average, even trying to initiate the cancellation of said service may take anywhere from a few minutes to hours or even a few days on average. 

Newspapers, especially The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are notorious for making people jump through hoops and making them call the helpline during very specific official hours to cancel the subscription.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), digital newspapers subscription may require customers to call for cancellation initiation only in the US or the UK, globally subscribers can just cancel the subscription online. 

This indicates that the service providers intentionally make the process so cumbersome that most people end up taking months to finally follow up with their cancellation. Newspapers are aware people are suffering from ‘subscriptions fatigue’ that limits the number of publications they are willing to pay for.

And that number is decreasing every day. The digital publications are forced to apply ‘subscriber hostage tactics’, making subscribers explain in great detail to a customer care representative why they’d want to unsubscribe and try to convince them otherwise.

The New York Times even posted an opinion piece in 2020 about why subscribers shouldn’t cancel that newspaper subscription, and how ‘The only thing canceling your subscription to a newspaper will do is hasten the death of journalism itself.’