You can cancel a Substack subscription in your account settings in under a minute

To cancel, log into your Substack account, go to your Subscriptions page, find the publication you want to unsubscribe from, and click the cancel button next to it. Substack will stop charging you immediately, though you may keep access to your current paid content through the end of your billing period. You do not need to contact Substack support or the publication owner — the cancellation is final once you confirm it.

The exact wording and button placement vary slightly depending on whether you are on the web or using the Substack app, but the process is the same. If you have multiple paid subscriptions, you cancel each one separately.

Key Takeaways

  • Log into your Substack account and navigate to your Subscriptions page to see all active paid subscriptions.
  • Click the cancel button next to the publication you want to unsubscribe from and confirm the cancellation.
  • Substack stops charging you right away, but you keep access to paid content through the end of your current billing cycle.
  • Cancellation is immediate and does not require you to contact support or the publication.
  • If you change your mind, you can resubscribe to the same publication at any time.

Step-by-step cancellation on the web

Open Substack in a web browser and log in with your email and password. Click your profile icon or avatar in the top right corner and select Account settings from the dropdown menu.

On the Account settings page, look for the Subscriptions tab or link on the left sidebar. Click it to see a list of all publications you are currently subscribed to, including both free and paid subscriptions. Paid subscriptions will show a price and billing date.

Find the publication you want to cancel and click the Manage or Cancel subscription button next to it. A confirmation dialog will appear asking if you are sure. Click Cancel subscription again to confirm. That is all — the cancellation is complete.

Cancelling through the Substack app

Open the Substack app on your phone or tablet and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the bottom right corner. Select Account or your profile name, then tap Subscriptions.

Scroll through your list of subscriptions and tap the paid subscription you want to cancel. Tap Manage subscription or Cancel, then confirm when prompted. The app will show a confirmation message once the cancellation goes through.

What happens to your access after you cancel

When you cancel a Substack subscription, your access to paid content depends on your billing cycle. If you paid for a monthly subscription on the 15th of each month, you keep access to all paid posts until the 15th of the next month. After that date, you can only read free posts from that publication.

If you paid for an annual subscription, you keep access through the full year you paid for, even after you cancel. Substack does not prorate refunds for early cancellation, so you will not receive money back for unused time.

Your cancellation does not affect your ability to read free posts from that publication or to receive free newsletters. You remain subscribed to the free version unless you unsubscribe separately.

Cancelling multiple subscriptions at once

Substack does not have a bulk cancel feature, so you must cancel each paid subscription individually. However, the process is fast — most people can cancel three or four subscriptions in a few minutes by going through the Subscriptions page and clicking cancel on each one.

If you want to track which subscriptions you are paying for, the Subscriptions page shows all of them in one place with their billing dates. This makes it easy to see which ones you actually use and which ones you may have forgotten about.

If you cannot find the cancel button

Free subscriptions do not have a cancel button because Substack does not charge you for them. To stop receiving a free newsletter, look for an Unsubscribe link at the bottom of an email from that publication, or go to the publication's page and click Unsubscribe there.

If you are looking at a paid subscription but do not see a cancel option, make sure you are logged into the account that holds the subscription. If you subscribed with one email address and are logged in with a different one, you will not see that subscription in your list. Log out and log back in with the correct account.

If you still cannot find the cancel button after checking both of these things, you can contact Substack support through the help page in your account settings. Include the name of the publication and the email address you subscribed with.

Resubscribing after you cancel

You can resubscribe to any publication you cancelled at any time. Go to the publication's page, click the subscribe button, and choose your subscription tier. If the publication offers a free tier, you can resubscribe to that without paying. Substack will not charge you again until you choose a paid tier.

Some publications offer discounts to new subscribers or returning subscribers. Check the subscription page to see if any discounts are available before you resubscribe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I get a refund if I cancel mid-month?

No. Substack does not prorate refunds for monthly subscriptions cancelled before the billing date. If you paid on the 1st and cancel on the 15th, you keep access through the end of the month but do not receive money back for the unused half-month. Annual subscriptions work the same way.

Can I pause a subscription instead of cancelling it?

Substack does not have a pause feature. Your only options are to keep the subscription active or cancel it. If you want to stop receiving emails temporarily, some publications let you mute notifications in your account settings without cancelling.

What if I cancel by mistake?

You can resubscribe immediately by going back to the publication's page and clicking subscribe. You will need to choose your tier again and Substack will charge you on a new billing date. There is no undo button, but the process to resubscribe takes less than a minute.

Does cancelling delete my account?

No. Cancelling a subscription only removes that one paid publication from your account. Your Substack account, your free subscriptions, and any publications you write stay active. To delete your entire Substack account, you need to go to Account settings and select the option to delete your account.

Can I cancel someone else's subscription to my publication?

No. Only the person who holds the subscription can cancel it. If a subscriber asks you to cancel their subscription, direct them to their own Substack account settings. As a writer, you can see who is subscribed to your publication, but you cannot cancel their subscriptions.