How to Audit Your Subscriptions and Cut the Dead Ones
Product guide
What renews, when, and what it costs you a year.
Subscriptions are designed to be forgotten. The annual one that renewed last Tuesday, the trial you meant to cancel, the app you have opened twice. This audit puts all of them on one board with their real yearly cost, so the decision is a decision rather than a drift.
- 3 editions: app, Google Sheets, Excel
- $19 once, no subscription
- Renewal countdowns and calendar export
- Works offline
- No bank connection
What a subscription tracker has to do
Four things turn a list of apps into an audit:
Shows the yearly cost, not the monthly one
A $12 monthly habit is $144 a year. Every subscription is normalised to cost per month and per year, which is where the decisions change.
Counts down to the next charge
Up next shows the next renewal or trial end, and how many renew in the next seven days — so a cancel-by date never passes quietly.
Separates value from price
Each subscription is a dot: left is cheaper, up is more valuable to you. The four corners sort them into what is worth it, the treats, the small leaks and what to cut first.
Keeps score of what cancelling saved
Drag a subscription to Cancel and the saving is added up, so the work shows its own result.
Setting it up
One purchase gives you all three editions, so pick the one that suits how you work. You can use more than one; they do not sync with each other.
The app
Any modern browser. No install.
- Check your email for the Darzen username and password we send right after checkout.
- Sign in at account.darzenstore.com and open Darzen Subscription Audit.
- Download the app and open it in your browser.
- Sign in once. After that it works offline, on up to two devices.
Google Sheets
A free Google account.
- Sign in to your Darzen account and open the Google Sheets edition.
- Choose Make a copy. Your copy lands in your own Google Drive.
- Rename it if you like, then start on the first tab.
Excel
Excel 2010 or later, Mac or Windows, or Excel for the web. No macros.
- Sign in to your Darzen account and download the Excel workbook.
- You get two files: a blank copy, and an example copy already filled in.
- Open the example first to see how it behaves, then work in the blank one.
How to use it, screen by screen
The walkthrough follows the app; the spreadsheet editions carry the same tabs.
Start with the totals
What you pay per month and per year, how many renew in the next seven days, and how much cancelling has already saved. Up next counts down to the next charge or trial end.
Enter each subscription once
Price, billing cycle, cost per month, next charge, how you pay and your decision. Filter by category, cycle or decision, and export a CSV when you want the whole list elsewhere.
Decide on the audit board
Each subscription is a card carrying its category, price, how often you use it and its value to you. Drag it to Keep or Cancel. Seeing use and value next to price is what makes the call easy.
Put the renewals in your calendar
A month view with each day's charges, trial ends and cancel-by dates, plus the next 60 days as a list. Add them to your own calendar with a reminder, so the cancel-by date reaches you where you will see it.
Try it right here
Use the real thing before you buy. The demo is the app with a sample list loaded.
The real app, loaded with sample data, in its own tab. Nothing you type into it is saved.
Questions people ask first
Does it find my subscriptions for me?
No. It does not connect to your bank or email. You enter them, which is also why nothing leaves your device.
Does it cancel anything?
No. It tells you what to cancel and by when; you cancel with the provider.
Is there a subscription?
No — which would be an odd way to sell this. One purchase of $19, updates free.
How do I get the files after I buy?
Right after checkout we email you a Darzen username and password. Sign in to your Darzen account to download the app and the Excel files, and to make your copy of the Google Sheets edition.
Can I add renewals to my phone calendar?
Yes. The calendar export produces a file your own calendar can import, with a reminder on each renewal.
Can I export the list?
Yes, as CSV.
Find the money you are already spending
One purchase, three editions, no subscription. An hour with this usually pays for itself in the first year.