How to Cancel Netlify in 2026 (Avoid the Bandwidth Bill Trap)

Netlify's free tier is generous for static sites, but the Pro plan ($19/member/month) and bandwidth overages can get expensive fast. Here's how to cancel, downgrade, or migrate.

Downgrade to Free (Keep Your Sites)

If you just want to stop paying but keep your sites running:

1. Go to app.netlify.com → Team Settings
2. Click Billing
3. Click Change Plan → select Starter (Free)
4. Confirm downgrade
5. You lose: analytics, background functions, password protection, role-based access
6. You keep: sites, deploys, basic serverless functions, forms (100 submissions/month)

Delete Your Sites

1. Go to your site → Site configuration → General
2. Scroll to Danger zone
3. Click Delete this site
4. Type the site name to confirm
5. Repeat for all sites

Before Deleting: Export Everything

• Code: Already in your Git repo (Netlify deploys from GitHub/GitLab)
• Forms data: Go to each site → Forms → Export as CSV (there's no bulk export)
• DNS records: If using Netlify DNS, screenshot or export all records before deleting
• Environment variables: Site settings → Build → Environment — copy all values
• Deploy logs: Not exportable — screenshot if needed for debugging
• Redirects/rewrites: In your _redirects or netlify.toml file (already in repo)

Transfer Your Domain Away

If Netlify DNS manages your domain:

1. Set up DNS records at your new provider first (Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc.)
2. Update nameservers at your domain registrar to point to the new DNS provider
3. Wait for DNS propagation (24-48 hours)
4. Then delete the DNS zone from Netlify

Delete Your Netlify Account

1. Delete all sites first
2. Go to User settings (click your avatar)
3. Scroll to Delete account
4. Confirm deletion
5. Revoke GitHub/GitLab OAuth: GitHub Settings → Applications → Netlify → Revoke

Better Alternatives to Netlify

• Cloudflare Pages (free): Unlimited bandwidth, unlimited requests, free. Hands-down the best value for static sites. No bandwidth bills ever.
• Vercel (free tier): Best for Next.js/React. 100GB bandwidth free. Better DX for frameworks.
• GitHub Pages (free): If you just need static hosting. Custom domain support. Zero config.
• Fly.io (free tier): If you need serverless functions or SSR. 3 free VMs.
• Surge.sh (free): Dead simple — one command deploy. No account needed for basic use.