Total your monthly, yearly, and weekly subscriptions, project the multi-year cost, and compare investing it instead.
Subscription Cost Formula
The calculator normalizes every billing cycle to a monthly figure and totals them:
M = Sm + Sy / 12 + Sw * 52 / 12
For the investment comparison, it applies the future value of a monthly contribution:
FV = M * ((1 + r/12)^(12n) - 1) / (r/12)
Variables:
- M is your total subscription cost per month
- Sm is the total of subscriptions billed monthly, Sy the total billed yearly, Sw the total billed weekly
- r is the expected annual return as a decimal, and n is the number of years
- FV is what the same money would grow to if invested monthly instead
Enter the combined totals for each billing cycle – at least one field is required – and pick a projection window. The calculator returns the monthly, annual, and per-day cost plus the multi-year total. The optional investment comparison shows what the same cash flow would become at your chosen return, a useful lens on subscriptions you keep out of habit.
Typical Subscription Stacks
What common combinations cost per month and over five years. Small monthly amounts compound into meaningful money fast.
| Stack | Per month | Per year | Over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (2 streaming, 1 music) | $35 | $420 | $2,100 |
| Average U.S. household | $60 – $90 | $720 – $1,080 | $3,600 – $5,400 |
| Heavy (5+ streaming, apps, boxes) | $150 | $1,800 | $9,000 |
| With gym + cloud + gaming | $200+ | $2,400+ | $12,000+ |
Example Problems
Example 1: Totaling a mixed stack.
You pay $45 per month across streaming services, $240 per year for a cloud plan and a prime membership, and nothing weekly:
M = 45 + 240 / 12 = $65 per month, which is $780 per year and $3,900 over five years.
Example 2: The investment comparison.
At $65 per month for 5 years with a 7% annual return: r/12 = 0.005833, n = 60 months. FV = 65 x ((1.005833^60 – 1) / 0.005833) = about $4,653 – roughly $753 of growth beyond the $3,900 spent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the average person spend on subscriptions?
Surveys consistently find U.S. consumers spend $60-$90 per month, while estimating their own total at roughly half that – forgotten and unused subscriptions are the gap. Auditing a card statement against memory is usually worth one or two immediate cancellations.
Is annual billing worth it?
Annual plans typically discount 15-20% versus monthly billing, so they win for services you are certain to keep all year. Keep new or borderline services on monthly billing until they have survived a couple of honest audits, then switch the keepers to annual.
How do I cut subscription spending without losing much?
Three moves cover most of the savings: cancel anything unused in the last 60 days, rotate streaming services one or two at a time instead of stacking them, and check for bundle or family-plan pricing on the ones you keep. Most households can halve the category without feeling it.
