Can I cancel Substack online?

Yes. You can cancel Substack online at https://substack.com/settings/subscriptions. Follow the steps on this page.

How to cancel Substack

Last verified 2026-06-16 · official source

Difficulty: EasyTime: About 2 minutes onlineOnlineIn-app

If you subscribed through an app store: Substack is sometimes billed through the app store. If you subscribed inside the Substack iOS app, Apple is the biller and you MUST cancel via iPhone Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions > Substack > Cancel Subscription (cancelling within Substack will not stop the Apple charge). If you subscribed inside the Android app, Google Play is the biller and you cancel via Play Store > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > Substack. Most subscriptions, however, are bought on the Substack website and billed directly by Substack (card), and those are cancelled at substack.com/settings/subscriptions, not in any app store. The Substack iOS app can only manage subscriptions that were originally purchased in the app; web purchases must be cancelled in a browser.

Steps to cancel Substack

WEB (subscriptions billed directly by Substack via card) is the main path. Log in at substack.com.
Click your profile icon in the top right and select Settings, or go directly to https://substack.com/settings/subscriptions.
In your list of subscriptions, find the publication you want to cancel and open its Manage Subscription page (select the publication).
Scroll to the 'Account Actions' section on the Manage Subscription page.
Select 'To cancel your paid subscription, click here.'
Choose 'Cancel Subscription' and confirm. (A 'Pause Subscription' option is offered here as an alternative if you only want to stop charges temporarily; you may need to skip a survey or the pause offer to finalize.)
You keep paid benefits until the end of the period you already paid for; after that you become a free subscriber.
iOS APP: The Substack iOS app can only change subscriptions that were purchased inside the app. To manage any web-purchased subscription, open a browser and use https://substack.com/settings/subscriptions instead.
Apple-billed subscriptions (bought inside the Substack iOS app) are cancelled through Apple: On your iPhone open Settings (grey gear), tap your Apple ID banner at the top, tap Subscriptions, tap Substack, then tap Cancel Subscription.
ANDROID / Google Play-billed subscriptions: cancel through Google Play (Play Store > profile picture > Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions > Substack > Cancel subscription).

Watch for the save offer. Substack presents a 'Pause Subscription' option directly alongside 'Cancel Subscription' on the Manage Subscription page, and the cancel flow may show a short survey or pause offer. Pausing only stops charges for a set number of months and keeps the subscription active, so choose 'Cancel Subscription' to fully end it. This is a built-in retention nudge rather than a discount or save offer.

Things to watch out for

No phone support exists. Substack support is web-only (Help Center at support.substack.com, a chatbot, and email tickets to support@substack.com). There is no cancellation hotline; any third-party number claiming to be Substack support should be treated as a scam.
WHO BILLS YOU MATTERS. If you subscribed inside the Substack iOS app, Apple bills you and you must cancel in iPhone Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. If via Google Play, cancel in the Play Store. Cancelling inside Substack will NOT stop an Apple- or Google-billed charge.
The Substack iOS app can only manage subscriptions that were purchased in the app. Web-purchased subscriptions cannot be cancelled from the app; you must use a web browser at substack.com/settings/subscriptions.
No proration or partial-period refund by default: cancelling stops future renewals but access just runs to the end of the paid period.
Cancel before your renewal date. Substack issues a refund only if requested within 7 days of payment; after that, refunds are at the individual publisher's discretion.
Substack offers 'Pause Subscription' right next to Cancel; pausing only stops charges for a chosen number of months and keeps the subscription active. Choose 'Cancel Subscription' to fully end it.
Each publication is cancelled separately. Cancelling one newsletter does not cancel any others.
Refunds for Apple-billed or Google-billed subscriptions must be requested through Apple or Google, not Substack.

Refunds

No automatic refunds for partial or unused periods. After cancelling you keep access until the end of the period already paid for, then drop to free subscriber. Substack will issue a refund if requested within 7 days of payment; after 7 days a refund is at the individual publisher's discretion (request it from the publisher or via Substack's support form). Substack also issues refunds for dormant publications (inactive at least 6 months for yearly subscribers, or at least 1 month for monthly subscribers). Refunds for Apple-billed or Google-billed subscriptions must be requested through Apple or Google, not Substack.

There is no single account-wide 'cancel everything' button; each publication subscription is cancelled separately from the substack.com/settings/subscriptions list. The official support pages return HTTP 403 to automated fetching, so the exact button labels were verified via Substack's own help-article search snippets (consistent across multiple queries and confirmed by the official 'A reader's guide to Substack' article): 'Account Actions' section, then 'To cancel your paid subscription, click here', then 'Cancel Subscription'. No login was performed; steps are from official documentation only.