Instead of a one-time purchase, many of us now subscribe to services that require ongoing payments. With some providers — like Netflix — increasing their fees, getting a handle on your subscriptions can help you cut costs and spend more deliberately.
Using a subscription-management app on your iPhone or Android device can clarify what you’re currently paying for. Several apps even simplify canceling subscriptions or negotiating better rates.
Below are our picks for the top apps to oversee your subscriptions.
Top Apps for Managing Subscriptions
| App | Best for | Price | Available on | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truebill | Taking charge of your subscriptions | $0-12/month | Apple & Android | LEARN MORE |
| Bobby | Monitoring subscriptions | $0-3/once | Apple | LEARN MORE |
| Hiatus | Extra capabilities | $0-21/month | Apple & Android | var quidget_srcs = {‘cc’: https://t.thepennyhoarder.com/aff_c?offer_id=6927&aff_id=2}card_name |
| Chromabill | More advanced monitoring | $0-3/month | Apple & soon Android | LEARN MORE |
| Sortbilly | Simple, free tracking | Free while in open beta | Apple & Android | LEARN MORE |
5 Best Subscription Manager Apps
Truebill
- Helps cancel and negotiate subscriptions
- Finds recurring charges in your accounts
- Links to accounts to monitor budgets
Truebill is an app many Savinly Readers have seen recommended before, and we often point it out as a way to simplify finances. It tops this list thanks to its ability to discover subscriptions, manage them, find savings and even cancel services via a cancellation concierge.
You can connect your bank account to Truebill, giving the app insight into your spending patterns. While some users may be wary of linking accounts, it provides valuable visibility into your finances. For added security, Truebill uses the Plaid platform to make connections.
With a linked account, Truebill will automatically identify recurring charges and keep you informed. If you stumble upon a forgotten subscription, you can cancel it yourself or use Truebill’s Cancellation Concierge to handle the process for you, saving you from repeatedly tapping “cancel subscription.”
Truebill can also try to renegotiate bills like internet, cable and mobile service to lower your costs. If it succeeds, the app takes 30% to 60% of the savings for a year. (If there’s no reduction, you’re not charged.) Truebill also offers budget alerts, credit score monitoring and net worth tracking.
Truebill is free to start, but you’ll need a subscription to unlock more features. The Lite tier lets you budget across up to two categories, view your recurring charges, monitor your credit score and get balance alerts.
Premium features — such as the cancellation concierge, unlimited budgeting categories and net worth tracking — require the Premium plan, which ranges from about $3 to $12 per month. You choose the level you want to support the Truebill team. (It’s basically a pay-what-you-want subscription model for higher features.)
Bobby
- Monitors your current subscription expenses
- Displays average subscription spending
- Can sync across devices
Bobby is a straightforward app that performs exceptionally well. Available only on iOS, Bobby lets you input your subscriptions and track them to gain clarity about your spending. It can sync via iCloud to keep your data consistent across iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices.
When you add a subscription, Bobby suggests popular services — like Netflix or Apple One — to save you time. If a service isn’t listed or you want a custom setup, you can pick your own colors and icons to organize subscriptions visually.
With a few taps, Bobby shows your average subscription spend over a week, month or year. You can also see how much you still owe for the month, which helps with budgeting. Bobby doesn’t provide automated cancellation, but it does make you aware of recurring costs.
The app is free to use, but a one-time $3 purchase unlocks all features: unlimited subscriptions, dark mode, passcode lock, custom sorting and iCloud sync. This is a single payment rather than an ongoing fee.
Hiatus
- Flags bills that might be overpriced
- Provides insights into spending patterns
- Negotiates bills without extra fees
If Truebill isn’t your favorite or you prefer a different fee approach, Hiatus is worth checking out. Hiatus helps you monitor bills and notifies you when you might be overpaying for a service.
By connecting to your bank, Hiatus displays upcoming recurring payments and subscriptions. At a glance you can see everything you’re paying for and manage items — like monthly boxes — with minimal effort.
Hiatus’ team can cancel subscriptions for you and handle auto-renewals. They’ll also negotiate on your behalf if you’re paying too much. Unlike Truebill, Hiatus doesn’t take a percentage of savings; negotiation assistance is bundled into your Hiatus subscription.
Like Truebill, advanced Hiatus tools require a subscription, which ranges from about $2.99 to $20.99 per month depending on the level you choose. The cost reflects how much support and additional functionality you want from the Hiatus team.
Beyond subscriptions, Hiatus also offers net worth snapshots, spending analysis, purchase history review and budgeting tools to help you improve your financial picture.
Chromabill
- Monitors recurring subscriptions and bills
- Organizes subscriptions into categories
- Displays remaining funds after bills
Some users want a simple tracker, while others need deeper control. Chromabill is a solid option for tracking both subscriptions and recurring bills. You can add everything from streaming services to student loans and utilities to see all your recurring payments in one place.
Like Bobby, Chromabill will auto-fill many subscriptions with the service’s logo and details to streamline setup. You can also manually enter items and choose any logo, emoji or image for personalization.
You can customize spending categories with colors or remove them entirely. Chromabill includes preset categories for cards, subscriptions, loans, auto, housing and utilities.
Chromabill tells you about upcoming bills and how much you’ll need each month. The downside is a subscription fee to unlock unlimited bills, transactions and premium tools. Subscriptions cost roughly $2.50 to $3 per month depending on billing frequency.
Chromabill plans to add bank connections and transaction monitoring to better categorize expenses, though these features aren’t available yet. We generally advise caution about paying for promised future features, but Chromabill’s current capabilities are useful for many users.
Sortbilly
- Track upcoming subscriptions and bills
- View subscriptions organized by category
- Free while in open beta
One more option worth considering is Sortbilly. Like Bobby and Chromabill, Sortbilly tracks monthly subscriptions, sports a polished design and is currently free to use.
Sortbilly is in open beta, so the developers are refining the app and offering it at no cost for the time being. The app may eventually switch to a paid model, but it’s presently available for free via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
In Sortbilly you can add existing subscriptions and bills, classify them by category and see what payments are coming up next. The home screen breaks down subscriptions by type so you can quickly see how much of your income is going to different areas like bills or entertainment.
At the moment, Sortbilly lacks advanced features for canceling subscriptions or showing payment totals across different periods. If you want a straightforward, no-cost tracker, though, it’s a strong contender.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Keeping track of all your subscriptions can be overwhelming, which is why an app can be so useful. Some of the top apps for subscription oversight include Truebill, Bobby, Hiatus, Chromabill and Sortbilly. These selections provide extra tools like bill negotiation, cancellation assistance and customization to help you manage subscriptions and other financial details affordably.
Apps such as Truebill and Hiatus can scan your accounts to identify recurring charges. By connecting to your bank, they flag repeated transactions and help you spot subscriptions you may have forgotten.
For most unwanted subscriptions you’ll need to cancel directly with the service provider via its website or customer support. But first you must know what subscriptions you have — that’s where a management app helps. Apps like Truebill and Hiatus even offer automated cancellation services to remove the hassle.
Every app we mention helps with tracking and managing subscriptions to varying degrees. If you want automated cancellation, consider Truebill or Hiatus. For straightforward tracking, Bobby, Chromabill or Sortbilly are solid choices.
Alex Mercer is a senior writer at Savinly specializing in personal finance and technology.
