Beta — 16 of 42 services scored

Subscription Friction Index

How much friction a service’s own cancellation documentation establishes, counted in points. Higher means more documented friction. This is a measurement of published procedures. It is not a rating of the companies, and it makes no claim about anyone’s obligations.

What this page is not

Not the editorial difficulty rating (1–5) shown on each guide. That is one person’s read of a whole guide; this is arithmetic over structured fields. The two are never averaged.
Not reader-reported difficulty. Submissions are collected but do not feed this number, and the code that computes it cannot read them.
Not a scoreboard of good and bad companies. A high count means the documentation describes more steps, routes or conditions.

Scored services (16)

A total is published only when every component was established. Out of 42 services, 16 qualify.

Prime Video
6 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-05 · guide 2026-07.6ee217 · 1 official source
Claude Pro
6 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.8a5dc2 · 1 official source
HBO Max
6 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-01 · guide 2026-07.579a46 · 3 official sources
SiriusXM
6 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-05 · guide 2026-07.c1eef3 · 1 official source
ChatGPT Plus
5 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.c90e0f · 1 official source
Planet Fitness
5 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
2 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-01 · guide 2026-07.1307fd · 1 official source
Google One
4 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.265889 · 1 official source
Microsoft 365
4 / 15 points
Documented steps
2 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-04 · guide 2026-07.09675a · 1 official source
Hulu
4 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.c78ca2 · 1 official source
DoorDash DashPass
4 / 15 points
Documented steps
2 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-05 · guide 2026-07.e554ec · 1 official source
Netflix
3 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.7b47e2 · 1 official source
HelloFresh
3 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-01 · guide 2026-07.32ad39 · 1 official source
Blue Apron
3 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-01 · guide 2026-07.94fa52 · 1 official source
Audible
3 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-05 · guide 2026-07.3f678a · 1 official source
Dropbox
2 / 15 points
Documented steps
2 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.98fc6b · 1 official source
Instacart+
1 / 15 points
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
0 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Observed 2026-08-03 · guide 2026-07.5a1a6f · 1 official source

Measured but not scored (17)

These have real measurements, but at least one component was never established. Showing a total anyway would let an unresearched service look easier than a fully researched one.

Spotify
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Disney+
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
1 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Apple TV+
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
2 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Gemini Advanced
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Perplexity Pro
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Canva Pro
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Adobe Creative Cloud
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
2 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
2 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
PlayStation Plus
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Xbox Game Pass
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
The New York Times
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Peloton
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
LA Fitness
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
not established
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
2 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Costco Membership
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
not established
Can be finished without contacting anyone
3 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
0 / 3
Documented cut-off
2 / 2
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
MasterClass
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Super Duolingo
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
0 / 2
Headspace
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
1 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
3 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
1 / 2
Amazon Prime
No total — insufficient data
Documented steps
0 / 3
Can be finished without contacting anyone
0 / 3
Charges owned elsewhere
2 / 3
Documented cut-off
not established
Documented cancellation fee
0 / 2
How you know it worked
2 / 2

How the points are counted

Every component comes from a field recorded against an official source the guide already cites. Maximum 15 points.

Documented steps: 0 for 2 or fewer, 1 for 3-4, 2 for 5-6, 3 for 7 or more.
Can be finished without contacting anyone: 0 if web or app, 2 if chat only, 3 if phone, mail or store only.
Charges owned elsewhere: 1 point per billing route that is not the vendor's own, capped at 3.
Documented cut-off: 0 when the source says there is none, 2 when it documents one.
Documented cancellation fee: 0 when no fee is documented, 2 when one is.
How you know it worked: 0 for two or more signals, 1 for one, 2 for none.

Limits

9 of 42 services carry no structured measurement yet and appear nowhere on this page. The index describes what has been measured, not the market.
Points are counted from documentation, not from attempts. A procedure that reads simply can still be hard to complete, and this number would not notice.
Components are weighted by judgement. The weights are published above so the arithmetic can be disagreed with.
A snapshot describes one observation on one date. Services change their procedures without telling anyone.

Changes and corrections

Including the ones that removed a total. A log that only records improvements is not a correction log.

2026-08-04 — costco-membership dropped from a published total to no total. Its step count had been read off a block listing the two alternative ways to cancel, not a sequence, so a membership that can only be ended at a counter or by phone was scoring the easiest possible value for procedure length. The routes were already recorded as channels. la-fitness has the same shape and is recorded the same way.
2026-08-04 — prime-video gained a documented cut-off. The field had been marked unresearched under a note saying no cut-off appeared anywhere; the cited article documents one on the Apple-billed route. The condition is kept inside the quoted lead time, because Prime Video has no first-party billing route and a cut-off on one of three is not a cut-off on the service.
2026-08-04 — microsoft-365, doordash-dashpass, prime-video, siriusxm, nytimes, audible and peloton had their fee and refund fields settled by opening the sources the guides already cited. Two of those readings corrected the guides themselves: Microsoft's article does state refund conditions, which our guide had said it did not, and DoorDash's step count was six rather than four.
2026-08-03 — netflix, dropbox and instacart-plus moved from no total to a total. Their cited sources were read directly and state that cancellation has no cut-off, so the deadline field changed from unresearched to confirmed absent. No value was estimated.

How we keep scoring separate from commercial relationships